CaptainWaggett

Doctor Who, obviously. A very interesting twist on the 'Doctor-lite' episode we've come to expect in this slot and very unsettling. The Confidential about it was interesting on just how tricky it must have been to record. And nice to see a Troughton involved again (though I think that the director Alice Troughton is no relation)

Harbottle

The Hypnotist (1957) DVD-R. Full length film from second feature specialists Merton Park Studios. Not a bad one at all, following a crash test pilot Paul Carpenter is treated by shrink Roland Culver, a friend of fiancee Patricia Roc. Perhaps a little flabby in the central part of the film, which includes an appearance by Chris Barber and his Jazz men. Livens up considerably when things take a sinister turn and inspector William Hartnell investigates!

Gazza

I took a look at the extras of the Sweeney Todd film. Some very good documentaries:

- one about the myth of Sweeney Todd, whether he was fact or fiction - and of course, Todd Slaughter got an honourable mention.



- Sweeney's London, a socio-political look at the city in the 18th and 19th centuries

- Theatre du Grand Guignol. This was great and you can easily see the influences on the Hammer and other horror films

CaptainWaggett

The Passionate Friends at the NFT. It's really a 1940s version of Closer but with less swearing (apart from a few waiters and hotel porters, there are only 4 speaking parts). Good stuff with some scenes that make you realise what a great editor Lean was but it suffers from Ann Todd being a really, really dull actress.

wadsy

Yesterday I watch a strange pair of films Suddenly Last Summer for

the first time , good performances all round I thought & Elizabeth Taylor

looking great. Then The Incredible Shrinking Man, which I have seen

before but I still enjoy.

batman

Charles Crichton's Dance Hall. An engaging melodrama with good performances all round.

Jingle bells Batman smells ... I heard that at school Daddy.

BAT QUIZ 16 HAS JUST BEEN POSTED IN THE COMPETITION THREAD - 06/01/09

Windthrop

Rebecca - I think it was Hitch's first Hollywood movie and you can see the change in style immediately. Had a very 'modern' feel for a '39 film (except for the organ music). Thought Larry was so much better as De Winter than he was as Heathcliffe or Mr Darcy around the same time and IMHO so much like Ronald Colman (who turned it down).

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

dpgmel

Robert Siodmark's excellent little thriller "The Suspect" with excellent performances from both Charles Laughton and Henry Daniell.

Windthrop

Made during the so-called doldrums of Laughton's career I liked it and from the same era there is The Big Clock from John Farrow which I also liked.

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

Harbottle

In The Doghouse (1961) DVD-R. Mildly amusing star vehicle for Leslie Phillips, not yet in leering mode. The highlight of this vet comedy is definitely Rosie the chimp, especially when she peddles off

smudge

Must say that I enjoyed this weekend's DOCTOR WHO - this seems to have been the strongest season both in terms of production values and stories. This one was pretty much the management test about throwing people out of the lifeboat, but it was very effective. What I liked was the fact that it wasn't clean and simple - there was a solution to the problem, but there was no real resolution. We never determined what the entity was and whether it (or others) survived at the end.

Very good from a technical standpoint as well - I loved learning about all the challenges of the production in the subsequent DW Confidential. Very well made episode.

Still watching more Marker and rapidly approaching the end of the final series. Thought the blackmail story (with Alun Armstrong) was the weakest so far. Just watched LIFER - excellent playing all round.

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

DB7

The Armchair Thriller, Quiet as a Nun, hence the avatar as it was the only aspect of the story that has stayed with me since childhood. Also Cat and Mouse recorded from M4M, a very effective little crime drama.

Steve Crook

Also because it wasn't actually the Doctor that solved the problem.

Steve

smudge

Indeed - and I liked the point that Russell T. made in Confidential - here was the face of officialdom, the anonymous person in a uniform, who made the supreme sacrifice to save the others.

I read something akin to that sentiment many years ago, about how many people take 'service people' for granted and never really look at them. I took it to heart and have always tried to remember that it is a person there, not just somebody I need to do something for me. If I meet such people regularly, I try my hardest to get to know them and have a little dialogue where I can - it all helps the world go round...

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Third Man

That's the best version of the Dr Crippen story, very good indeed even though there are differences to the real story it tells the story of the murder of Cora Crippen really well, definately part of the main film-noir cannon for me.

Simon