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[crashryan]

I haven't thought of the Flint films in years, though I enjoyed them (especially the first) when they came out. I liked that they didn't take themselves seriously...I remember a bit in which Flint leads a planeful of Russian (?) passengers in a rousing patriotic song, complete with on-screen bouncing-ball lyric, before bailing out of the plane. I am remembering that right, I hope.

[Captain Audio]

I'll replay it to be sure but I think they were Cubans though there were plenty of Russian troops in Cuba at the time.

[paw broon]

For those of you who follow some of the British shows, I can report that the current series of Death in Paradise has been good fun and Kris Marshall has fitted in well.  Only 1 more episode to go.  BBC started a new, short (3 episode) series of Jonathan Creek and the first episode, last night, was highly entertaining - odd, funny, a bit sad on one occasion and some nutty characters.  A couple of good mysteries, which neede Jonathan to figure out.  Oddly, 2 of the male characters seemed to be trying to be the next David Tennant.

[josemas]

Joe, Masters of Venus is low budget and I'm glad you're enjoying it.  I thought it was good entertainment.  Not sure if we have had this conversation before but, if MoV is entertaining you, you might want to try Pathfinders in Space, another early Britsh childrens s.f. serial.  And very low budgetagain.  Some of it is well thought out, there is a good sneaky bad guy and, if you don't pay too much attention to some of the "effects", it sort of works.  But the real  big one to try is the excellent Timeslip set of 4 six part serials, all connected.  Time travel and s.f.  It was a bit of a cult in its time and still stands up well.  There are some excerpts on youtube
m.youtube.com/results?q=timeslip%20tv%20serial&sm=

Paw,  Thanks for the suggestions.  I already have a couple more British serials in the cache to be watched (The Adventures of Dusty Bates-1947 and Five on Treasure Island-1957) but will keep my open for these as well.

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Watching "Our Man Flint", with "In Like Flint" next up then "The President's Analyst".
In Our Man Flint scientists intent on ending war and pollution are trying to take over the world by inducing Global Warming. Makes you go Hmmm

Rewatched these three a couple of years ago and followed them up last year with the four Matt Helm films starring Dean Martin.  All very tongue-in-cheek and mostly a good deal of fun.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Got me with that one, Joe.  Dusty Bates has  an amazing cast.  Not only Anthony Newley but Bernard Lee, Wally Patch and Ronald shiner, who was a very famous comic actor here.  In fact, one of our favourite old films is Dry Rot starring Shiner, also starring Sid James and Brian Rix. We can act it but it still makes us laugh. Thanks for mentioning Dusty Bates.

I saw the ad last night for a new, short series of "Shetland", coming soon.  Stars Dougie Henshall (Primeval) as a detective and set in Shetland.  Based on stories by Anne Cleeves who wrote the Vera stories which were on t.v. recently.  Last series was good and we're looking forward to it.

[josemas]

Feature films watched the last couple of months-

We're the Millers-2013, Trog-1969, Young Adult-2011, The Snake Woman-1961, The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent-1957, One Girl's Confession-1953, Francis Covers the Big Town-1952, Caged-1949, Over-Exposed-1956, Come on Danger-1932, His Picture in the Papers-1916, The Wild World of Batwoman-1966, The Big Cube-1968, The Three Stooges Meet Hercules-1962, A Perfect Getaway-(unrated)-2009, The Sandlot-1993, Fear No More-1961, The Girl in the Case-1944, The Longest Yard-1974, Rockin' in the Rockies-1945, The Seventh Commandment-1961, Eight Men Out-1988, The Butler-2013, Flashing Steeds-1925, Turbo-2013, Have Rocket Will Travel-1959, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2-2013, The Number 23-2007, My Best Friend is a Vampire-1988, Thunderbirds-1942, J. Edgar-2011, Oblivion-2013, Dreaming Out Loud-1940, Red Haired Alibi-1932, Hoosiers-1986, Stand Up and Cheer!-1934, The Pink Panther Strikes Again-1976, Code of the Secret Service-1939, Monsters University-2013, Superman II (Richard Donner version)-2006, A Bashful Bachelor-1942, Baby Take a Bow-1934, White House Down-2013, The Heat-2013, The Case of the Lucky Legs-1935, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters-2013, The Wolverine-2013, ...And Now the Screaming Starts-1973, Bright Eyes-1934, Teenage Cavemen-1958, Two Weeks to Live-1943, The Way Way Back-2013, In a World...-2013, Charlie Chan in Egypt-1935, So This is Washington-1943, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning-2006, Battle of Broadway-1938, Mr. Popper's Penguins-2011, Cassandra's Dream-2007, Until Death-2006, and Cafe Elektric-1927.

More Pink Panther/Clouseau, Perry Mason, Charlie Chan and Brass Bancroft.  Finished up my Saturday morning Francis the Talking Mule run and followed it up with a trio of Three Stooges features and then the first four Lum and Abner movies.
One strange thing occurred during this batch of films too.  I had started watching some early Shirley Temple films and part way through the third one came the news that she had passed away.  Weird.

Other than that it's my usual diverse mix-old and new, drama, comedy, mystery, action/adventure, western, war, noir, silent, thriller, musical, exploitation, horror, fantasy and sci-fi films.

Best

Joe

[Roygbiv666]

Just to add some thing made in this millennium ...

Breaking Bad; Ripper Street; Community.

[josemas]

Aw c'mon now, about 30% of the feature films I recently watched were 21st century films. 

I also usually find myself following about a dozen or so current series at any one time these days.  Some of the series I'm watching these days are Almost Human, Bones, The Blacklist, Revolution, Arrow, The Tomorrow People, Being Human, Agents of SHIELD, Criminal Minds, Elementary, Grimm, Ripper Street, Vikings and The Walking Dead.   

I just like films from all periods and like to mix 'em up.

Best

Joe

[Roygbiv666]

Just kidding.

On a related note - what do you consider an "old" movie. Some people use "old" to refer to stuff that's only 20-30 years old, which doesn't seem that old. "Old" movie to me is like ... 60+ years.

Aw c'mon now, about 30% of the feature films I recently watched were 21st century films. 

I also usually find myself following about a dozen or so current series at any one time these days.  Some of the series I'm watching these days are Almost Human, Bones, The Blacklist, Revolution, Arrow, The Tomorrow People, Being Human, Agents of SHIELD, Criminal Minds, Elementary, Grimm, Ripper Street, Vikings and The Walking Dead.   

I just like films from all periods and like to mix 'em up.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

Let's see, watched REBECCA again.  After DARK MANSIONS, I knew I would.  Too many parallels, especially the part where the one woman tricks the other one into wearing the dress for the party that will remind the guy of his DEAD wife.  Hadn't even realized, Joan Fontaine played the "matriarch" in the Aaron Spelling thing, and the young bride in the Hitchcock film decades earlier.  No coincidence.

Watched THE UNINVITED again.  This, I think, finally marks the last uncalled-for epilogue for my Dan Curtis marathon.  I'm convinced the bit about Josette going over the cliff comes from this film (that also figures in DARK MANSIONS), plus, there's the woman psychiatrist who runs her own hospital, and is VERY creepy-- just like Julia Hoffman.  It's fun to compare things like this, to see what influenced what else and where.

Finished the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE revival.  Also, all 6 seasons of WKRP (again!).  Closing in on the end of DARIA (again!!!!!).  And plowed thru all 8 CAMPION stories (for the 3rd time-- I think).

Just started on the 3rd season of THE A-TEAM.  They got rid of Marla Heasley ("Tawnia"), and replaced Lance Legault ("Decker") with a new maniac played by Charles Napier.  Stepfanie Kramer was in the same episode.  She must have done this just before being cast as the 2nd lead in HUNTER.  I almost forgot how really beautiful she is.

Also getting to the 3rd season of HUNTER.  I'm missing quite a few 1st & 2nd season eps, unfortunately.  He sure went thru a lot of "Captains" before Charles Hallahan came onboard.  The show slowly evolved from "stupid but fun" to "professional"-- but TV GUIDE never let them forget they were "From the creators of THE A-TEAM!!!", which apparently realy burned up Fred Dryer in the long run.

6 episodes into SPACE PRECINCT again --3rd time I've seen these, at least.  My favorite Gerry Anderson show, it's by a mile the BEST-written and acted and produced thing he EVER did.

Also, 3 episodes into THE OUTER LIMITS.  I've decided to watch this as my new Friday night marathon-- one per week.  Easier to tolerate, I think.  I love the show, but it's not the most fun thing in the world.  Works better for me in small segments.

[Captain Audio]

"Star Cops" is more realistic, better special effects, and had far more interesting stories. I wish the series had lasted longer.

The opening scenes of the first ep "an instinct for murder" were a bit of a shock compared to its contemporaries.

[josemas]

Just kidding.

On a related note - what do you consider an "old" movie. Some people use "old" to refer to stuff that's only 20-30 years old, which doesn't seem that old. "Old" movie to me is like ... 60+ years.

Oh I guess "old" for me would be around 50 years+ or so at this point but I've run into young people that consider stuff barely a decade old as "old."  Sometimes I guess it depends on how old you are as to what constitutes "old."

Best

Joe

[Captain Audio]

Ever notice how great the music is in modern cop movies?
In the 70's most cop films had back ground music better suited to lower grade porno movies.
I figure "Crime Story" really broke the mold and made great music a necessity for cop films.

[jimmm kelly]

I don't know about that. I find current movies have heavy handed scores that intrude on the movie experience and attempt to manipulate the audience, creating a greater sense of drama than what is actually on the screen. Whereas, a lof of '70s movies that I remember had stripped-down scores--sometimes just a modern jazz score. Of course, cheaper movies did get by on using synthesized music, instead of hiring an actual group of musicians--but one has to remember that many movies didn't have huge budgets and had to make due with less.

[narfstar]

I just watched one of the dumbest episodes of SHIELD.

   SPOILERS










To save one agent you kill two and blow up a top secret facility that has some irreplaceable tech. I do not like sacrificing reasonable for action.

[profh0011]

Jimmm Kelly:
"Of course, cheaper movies did get by on using synthesized music, instead of hiring an actual group of musicians"

I think you mean "production" or "library" music.

The 2nd & 3rd seasons of the SPIDER-MAN cartoon (1968-70), the ones produced by Ralph Bakshi and which had Gray morrow doing the storyboards, used a TON of mucis from the KPM & Capitol libraries. GREAT stuff. I suspect if I found myself directing a movie, I'd go for that, instead of either lifeliess modern composers, or "pop" songs that had nothing to do with the scenes (which, as you rightly said, are there to "manipulate" the audience-- to me, they're a cheap-shot short-cut, especially when used in ads or promos... "You LOVE the song-- you'll love THIS!").

https://www1.playkpmmusic.com/pages/category_search/browse.cfm?libraryId=6

[Roygbiv666]

Oh, I forgot SHERLOCK Season 3 - best Best Man speech ever. sob.

[jimmm kelly]

I did some film studies and film making courses when I was at university in the '80s and I also had friends who were making their own movies. From that experience I know that some film productions used music recordings from the Soviet Union to avoid paying royalities. But I also remember that there were guys who had synthesizer machines and they would offer to create your movie soundtrack using their machine--where they could replicate the sound of a full orchestra (or so they said). And if you listen to some movie soundtracks, you can hear that some are entirely constructed from a synthesizer mimicking the sounds of horns and strings.

I rewatched all of the SHERLOCK series last weekend. It's hard to talk about the show, since I never know where people are in watching it and I wouldn't want to give away spoilers. I was wearing my critics hat the first time I watched the 3rd series (I'm going to use the British jargon, since it's a British show), but having watched that series again, I can safely say it was the most satisfying yet.

The episodes I enjoyed most, the second time around from series 1 and 2 were The Great Game and A Scandal in Belgravia. The whole of series 3 hangs together as a complete story and shows everyone working at the top of their game (I could always do with more Lestrade, however).

Unfortunately, even after watching it a second time, I still can't get into The Hounds of Baskerville. It has some nice little moments that don't have much to do with the story--but as a story it leaves me cold.

And this is true of most adaptations I've seen for THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. And yet because it's the only long form story of Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle, it's the one that seems to get adapted most often. I think it's the horror story aspect of the tale that I don't like--it doesn't feel like a real Holmesian story.

[profh0011]

As I understand it, there's 4 Sherlock Holmes novels-- A STUDY IN SCARLET, THE SIGN OF FOUR, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, and THE VALLEY OF FEAR.  None of them are typical Holmes stories by any mean, as far as structure goes.

Something very odd I noticed awhile back, is that SCARLET and VALLEY are almost mirror images of each other.  Like FOUR, they include long, long passages that are flashbacks to events of years ago in another country.  In one, people are chasing after a villain to bring him to justice at whatever the cost, in the other, villains are chasing after an undercover police officer who helped destroy their gang.

Of course, FOUR also involves revenge, but in that case, it's one of the criminals going after the other criminal who betrayed all the others.

Can you say, "variations on a theme"? This can make it confusing, I bet, for some people to remember which story was which.

HOUND has other things involved.  Doyle was sick to death of Holmes, and so killed him off in THE FINAL PROBLEM.  But the public wanted more.  His publisher insisted he do more.  So he did HOUND... the entire story, one long flashback to a point before Holmes got killed!  And why is Holmes missing from most of the story?  Because Doyle was STILL sick to death of him, and wanted to do an entire story where he could focus, instead, on Watson-- who, after all, was much more like Doyle himself!

I find it amusing to look at these things this way...   

[Roygbiv666]

Original Holmes = 56 short stories and 4 novels

jimm - I have the same problem (not knowing where people are in the viewing). I accidentally read a spoiler for the LAST episode of Season 3! Ugh!!

Hopefully, they will tone down the spoken affection in favor of hinting at it ("show, don't tell").

Hound works as a mystery, as there is no supernatural element, only characters thinking something is supernatural. But its probably adapted most because the other novels are a lots-o-flashbacks. The Peter Cushing TV series versions of "the Sign of Four" and "Study in Scarlet" basically cut out of the flashback elements and just covered the gist in dialogue.

I'm still waiting for an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" ...

[jimmm kelly]

My mistake about the other three novels. I just assumed they were shorter--but my book, THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES TREASURY, is not so complete. It includes HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES which is set off in its own section of the book, but it does not include A STUDY IN SCARLET, THE SIGN OF FOUR and THE VALLEY OF FEAR. I'm not sure why those weren't included in my volume--were they published in THE STRAND? My books purports to print facsimiles of the STRAND stories.

I've read some of the contents of my book over the years (I bough it in 1976), but I've never read it from cover to cover. Maybe I'll set myself the challenge of reading the stories that interconnect with SHERLOCK.

[Roygbiv666]

Not sure about the one you have, but I have one that only includes the stories illustrated by Sidney Paget:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Original-Illustrated-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/0890090572/ref=pd_cp_b_3

Which is awesome, but not COMPLETE. Paget illustrated the Strand stories. A Study in Scarlet appeared (first Holmes story) in Beeton's Christmas Annual (1887) before Paget was hired. Valley of Fear was in the Strand, but must not have been illustrated by Paget.

As some Amazon reviewers said, it's a great volume to have - very light for the size, etc.

My only complete Holmes is some slightly mildewed copy I picked up in a used bookstore, and my Kindle edition.

My mistake about the other three novels. I just assumed they were shorter--but my book, THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES TREASURY, is not so complete. It includes HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES which is set off in its own section of the book, but it does not include A STUDY IN SCARLET, THE SIGN OF FOUR and THE VALLEY OF FEAR. I'm not sure why those weren't included in my volume--were they published in THE STRAND? My books purports to print facsimiles of the STRAND stories.

I've read some of the contents of my book over the years (I bough it in 1976), but I've never read it from cover to cover. Maybe I'll set myself the challenge of reading the stories that interconnect with SHERLOCK.

[jimmm kelly]

Yes, mine has the Paget illustrations, too, so it's probably an earlier edition of that. Except that it has a fake red leather bound cover. Very nice looking, I bought it at Cole's along with THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, in the same format. They look very nice--which is why I bought them. And they were cheap (less than ten dollars for both, I think) and have held up quite well over the years.

[profh0011]

Some time back, I discovered that about half of the 1968 Peter Cushing TV series was avaialble on DVD.  It's been on my "git" list ever since... but as I'm having trouble just paying my car insurance from month to month, it's still on hold.

I understand the other half of his series-- and possibly ALL of the 1965 Douglas Wilmer series-- were WIPED by the BBC.  Bureaucratic idiots.

I've read either 1 or 2 different comics versions of SCARLET.  THE VALLEY OF FEAR, I have with Arthur Wontner, and, as a book-on-tape narrated by Christopher Lee!!  He does all the voices, and if you didn't know, you'd never guess they were all him.

I have 3 film versions of FOUR-- Ian Richardson (my favorite), Jeremy Brett, and Charlton Heston. Each is vastly different in presentation from the others.  Brett apparently follows the book, but I don't judge adaptations solely on that score anymore.  His opens with Holmes investigating the crme, and you have the long flashback explaining everything at the end.  The Charlton Heston version actually starts with the flashback, and eventually leads up to the murder that starts the book, only to have the climax veer off in a different direction as they change the identity of the killer.  The Richardson version starts with the murder, then brings Holmes in to investigate.  One reviewer at the IMDB complained that the audience already knew what Holmes was figuring out, but the way the film was done, somehow, that never bothered me.

There's something about Brett's HOUND and FOUR which makes me rank them near the bottom of his entire run.  Both were done right after his wife's death and his nervous breakdown, so his health had taken a serious hit.  But that's not the real problem.  After 2 entire seasons of sheer brillaince, those 2 double-length films suffered frm some of the WORST directing in the entire series.  We're talking straight-out-of-film school amateur hour here-- or at least, that's what they felt like.  The rest of that season was far, far better.