What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART EIGHT - 2015) (ongoing thread)

[Nina]

Just watched an old movie I saw more than once as a teen age fan of Frank Sinatra. The movie was "Higher and High," It was fun to think way back to those times and strangely they used his real name. Maybe it was his first movie. Songs were lovely. One son made it Ok to TX and the other other one let us know he is far as AZ after driving two hours on sleet driven highways this morning till he got out of KS. Thank the Lord they are OK so far.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Just watched an old movie I saw more than once as a teen age fan of Frank Sinatra. The movie was "Higher and High," It was fun to think way back to those times and strangely they used his real name..."

I have that DVD in my Netflix DVD queue.
Glad everyone got home safely.

[Nina]

Thoroughly enjoyed the movie, "Mr. Holmes," that I watched recently. Great setting in Enlish countryside and very good acting even the minor characters.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Thoroughly enjoyed the movie, "Mr. Holmes," that I watched recently. Great setting in Enlish countryside and very good acting even the minor characters."

Thanks, Nina! I will put it on my Netflix DVD queue. Sounds good!
"Mr. Holmes" (2015)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3168230/?...
Stars: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney
"An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes, deals with early dementia, as he tries to remember his final case and a woman, the memory of whom still haunts him. He also befriends a fan, the young son of his housekeeper, who wants him to work again."

http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Mr-Holme...
"Long retired to a country farmhouse, 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes tends his apiary and reflects on his remarkable career. But the legendary sleuth, whose mental powers are fading, remains haunted by the unsolved case that caused him to call it quits."

[Mary JL]

I like historical movies at times. I just watched LINCOLN, a Stephen Spielberg film with Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.

I missed it when it come out in the theaters a copule of years ago so I did really enjoyed the DVD.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks for posting, Mary JL.
" Lincoln" (2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/?...

[Nina]

I am getting the latest messages from goodreads tacked onto the last emails rather than new goodreads. oh well, at least I can read the messages down at the bottom. Sometimes there seems to be an eternal glitzh.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "I am getting the latest messages from goodreads tacked onto the last emails rather than new goodreads. oh well, at least I can read the messages down at the bottom. Sometimes there seems to be an e..."

Nina, that's strange!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I enjoyed a Netflix DVD today:
" No Reservations " (2007) Stars: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481141/?...
"The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece."
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/No-Reser...
"Kate, an uptight chef, finds her life turned upside down when her sister dies in a car accident and she becomes her niece's sole guardian. The arrival of an unpredictable sous chef at her restaurant adds to the chaos."

Good chemistry between Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart!
Zeta-Jones is so beautiful! She seems to have a natural beauty... needs little makeup.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I enjoyed an old movie with Bette Davis:

"Old Acquaintance" (1943)
NETFLIX: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Old-Acqu...
Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins star as two jealous lady novelists who interfere in each other's love live

It's available on a Netflix DVD, but I saw it on TV at TCM-TV.
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036230/?...
"Old friends Kit Marlowe and Millie Drake adopt contrasting lifestyles: Kit is a single, critically acclaimed author while married Millie writes popular pulp novels."

[Joy H., Group Founder]

PS-I found a "Goof" in the movie "Old Acquaintance". The goof was:
===========================================
After "Fur Elise" is played on the piano, Bette Davis states that the composer is Brahms. Actually, the composer of "Fur Elise" is Beethoven.
============================================

I submitted this info to IMDb. I hope they include it in their "Goofs" section for his movie. You can check at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036230/t...

See the facts about "Fur Elise" at Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BC...

[Nina]

Joy, We watched an entertaining movie last night, "Benny Goodman," starring Steve Allen as Benny. Very good music and acting.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Joy, We watched an entertaining movie last night, "Benny Goodman," starring Steve Allen as Benny. Very good music and acting."

Thanks, Nina. I've always loved Steve Allen. He was such a talented man in many areas. I will check out the movie. I may have seen it but it's worth re-watching.
"The Benny Goodman Story" (1956)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047873/?...
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Benn... - "An incredibly low-key Steve Allen makes his big-screen debut in this biopic about the legendary "King of Swing," a real treat for music fans. Allen faultlessly mimes the prerecorded clarinet licks of the real Benny Goodman. The movie is chock full of guest appearances by the likes of Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Martha Tilton, Ziggy Elman and Sammy Davis Sr. (as the genius arranger Fletcher Henderson, who gave Goodman's band its distinct sound)."
Cast: Steve Allen, Donna Reed

[Nina]

Joy, Thanks for the tip on the movie, "Old Acquaintance," I will add it to my Netflix list.

[Werner]

Barb is an avid fan of Christmas movies (she watches them at any season of the year!) and one of her favorites is a 2011 Hallmark TV movie, A Princess for Christmas. It aired this afternoon; and since I'd never seen it, and we had some rare leisure at the time, she took the opportunity to share it with me. (I missed roughly the first five minutes of it, and a few minutes about halfway through, but saw the whole thing otherwise.) IMO, it's a well-done production of its type; I could see why she appreciates it, and I liked it myself, though not quite as extravagantly as she does.

Like all Hallmark films, it's rooted in a basically optimistic view of life and human relationships; but it doesn't ignore the tragic aspects of life and the misguided attitudes and behaviors people are capable of, either. It's set in the Christmas season, and our title character is a single young woman in Buffalo, NY, an antique saleslady who loses her job at the beginning of the movie (the business is failing). She's the caregiver for her sister's kids, a troubled teen boy and a little girl. Their parents were killed about a year earlier in a tragic car accident. The father was the son of a very wealthy British duke, who disowned him for marrying a commoner. The grandfather has had no contact with them until now; but a recent bout of illness has made him aware of his own mortality, and produced an impulsive invitation to these American kinfolks to come over to the ancestral castle for the holiday. So, culture clash and emotional baggage will be on the menu. :-)

Predictably for a movie from Hallmark, this one will feature a romance. (You wonder where the titular allusion to a "Princess" comes in? Well, the kids' late father was a prince on his mother's side --and so's his surviving brother, who's single....) But it's also about class snobbery, how we handle bereavement, emotional engagement and openness vs. shutting others out, family, growing up, and what really matter in life (to name a few themes). And the look at American vs. European attitudes and values peeks into Henry James territory, without his Byzantine plotting and dialogue.

There are fine performances from the cast all around. As usual for me, I didn't recognize any of the younger stars, such as Katie McGrath (who's actually Irish, but plays an American with no noticeable Irish accent) as the title character, or Sam Heughan as the prince. (Though I understand he's best known as Jaime in the Outlander miniseries.) Viewers of my generation, however, will know Roger Moore, who gets a chance to shine here in a serious role (as opposed to the cartoon-ish movie incarnation of James Bond that he often played), and doesn't disappoint as the duke.

Here's the imdb link, if anyone wants more information: www.imdb.com/title/tt1083448 ..

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Werner wrote: "Barb is an avid fan of Christmas movies (she watches them at any season of the year!) and one of her favorites is a 2011 Hallmark TV movie, A Princess for Christmas. It aired this afternoon; and si..."

Werner, I saw that movie on TV about a week ago. I enjoyed it. Roger Moore has certainly aged! But he was around 82 in that movie. So it's understandable. However, Cary Grant kept his good looks to the end at age 82. Lucky man.
Roger Moore: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...
Cary Grant: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...

[Werner]

Joy wrote: "Roger Moore... was around 82 in that movie." Wow! I could tell he'd aged since some of the times I'd seen him on TV; but he could have passed for quite a bit younger than 82 here, IMO. I'd have guessed his age to be maybe in the late 60s.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

True, he didn't look 82 at the time. Wiki says he's 88 now. A long life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_M...

[Nina]

We watched an interesting old movie last night, "The Miracle of the Bells." Strangely, Frank Sinatra played the part of a priest. He did it very convincingly. Fred MacMurrey was the lead actor. It was a totally interesting premise. It was made in the fifties. And Werner we love the Hallmark movies and liked the princess one especially. It is iike during the Depression Hollywood made crazy but funny movies to take people's mind off the troubled times.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "We watched an interesting old movie last night, "The Miracle of the Bells." Strangely, Frank Sinatra played the part of a priest. He did it very convincingly. Fred MacMurrey was the lead actor. It ..."

I remember that movie too, Nina. Amazingly, Sinatra was good as the priest.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

It's the end of the year and I've started a new thread, as a continuation of this thread. See it at:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...