What are you watching?

A long time ago, in a living room, far, far away.

I remember watching a movie, perhaps 40 years ago entitled “The Seven Little Foys.” It was on like 2 in the morning in 1970. It stared Bob Hope and told the story of Eddie Foy, a vaudeville entertainer. Well I saw it again last night.

First it was not widescreen, instead it was a full screen, Pan and Scan version, so I could only see five of the little Foys! They sanitized the real story (they left out his first two wives and their deaths) and the acting was actually bad. I know Hope was a big star, and the movie is filled with one liners, but everything seemed fake and contrived.

A major point in the movie was that his kids had no talent, but in those days it was a big hit. Well, seeing four or five production numbers with children of no talent is more than anyone should have to bear. I know they thought it was funny (they essentially added a laugh track) but boy did it wear out quickly.

PS I want to see Thief
 
Lefisc said:
PS I want to see Thief
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Go ahead, see it! :)

Lefisc said:
"Last night I revisited this flick"

I live in New York. I revisit traffic every day.
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Lol, that's a good one Barry. I envy you to live in such a beautiful American city.

* Do you guys have still lots of yellow cabs? ...You could always revisit that flick with Bob De Niro - 'Taxi Driver'
 
Yes! I used to watch that show when in my youth years; during the cathode ray tube era - remember those? :) ... Taxi

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* Last night I watched a French flick; it's about a robbery (heist) in Paris, by four guys.
[1955 - B&W - 1.33:1 screen aspect ratio - square picture.]

So, in a similar vein as 'Thief'. :) ...Very very good too.

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- The movie director is the Frenchman Jules Dassin, who was banned from few places,
and blacklisted on the social scene from the art of cinema in America.
 
Prologue: By 1963, TV had caused nearly half of the movie theatres (and other live entertainment) to close down. Movie then had to open big, they felt. Big then meant in Movie palaces with 70mm, widescreen, six channel sound. The Palaces would show the movie twice a day, a daytime and an Evening performance…and you had to buy the tickets in advance. Popular movies would stay for movies and then move on to the local theatres.

Usually it was an edited 35mm version that was shown locally. Films, including 2001, had 20 minutes removed and Mad World went from 202 to 160. Why? Because the locals needed to show the movie 5 or 6 times a day to make their money. And movies were considered disposable: Who’d want to see the same one twice? (A 180 minute version was released on Laser Disc.)
61844dd1_it-s-a-mad-mad-mad-mad-world-original.jpg
The Criterion Mad World tries to restore the film to its original glory. The set (which is in both Blu and DVD) has the 160 minute version, newly restored. And it has a 198 minute version that uses clips from many sources to present the fuller version, including dialogue from the intermission! Sadly about 5 minutes of video is missing and they use still pictures with the correct audio. About 15 lines of dialogue are missing and they use subtitles. And, you get to see Japanese captioning in some section too! I just saw the longer version.

It’s enjoyable, nostalgic and fun to watch. It’s just not that funny. A perfect example is the opening credits. It lists the cast in alphabetical order. Then a hand comes out of a box and places Phil Silvers on top. (That was funny). Then another had comes out and places someone else on top and then another and another. It beats the joke to death and all comic timing is lost. That happens throughout the movie. If one explosion is funny, then five must be funnier. If one silly fall is funny, than two is better and so on. But part of it is that you begin to enjoy and anticipate the results.

It’s filled with stars and cameos.

The film quality for the 160 minutes of restoration is a good four out of five. The restored parts, easy to detect, are maybe a 1 or 2 out of four, but worth having. The sound is 3.5 out of five.

The movie was a success but not a big one. It was released 5 days before President Kennedy was killed. If you were not around then, it would have been as if it was released five days before 9/11. The nation was in no mood to laugh yet.

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'North Star' (1996 film)? ...He starred (James Caan) in it.

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MPW-21607


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Or, 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2' (2013)?
 
Last night I watched this ::

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* My favorite part: The American "negotiator". ...That guy knows how to negotiate!
Great flick, and the music is marvelous. ...Just check the end credits (listen to it); it's beautiful. ...Electronic synthesizer, I luv it! ...Turn it up!
 
jello.jpg
Beware of the blob, it creeps
And leaps and glides and slides
Across the floor
Right through the door
And all around the wall
A splotch, a blotch
Be careful of the blob

From the era of bad horror movies being good fun to watch,. I saw the original Blob from Criterion. I first saw it in a real movie theatre with I Married A Monster From Outer Space!
 
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