The Last non-Monster movie you have watched?

[Mike Scott]

They Might Be Giants (1971)

Love it! Need to get a copy.

[Monsters For Sale]

Revenge of the Nerds - 1984
Animal House - 1978
American Pie - 1999
Road Trip - 2000
National Lampoon’s Vacation - 1983
The Belles of St Trinian’s - 1954
The Mouse That Roared - 1959
 

[Monsters For Sale]

A Christmas Story Christmas, 2022

I saw A Christmas Story in 1983 and loved it so much that I practically dragged a friend off to see it.  If you remember, the first year it was released it was poorly promoted by a studio who couldn't decide on the way to advertise it.  Was it a kids' movie or was it for adults?  The result was almost no one went to see it.

I remember taking my friend into a huge theater with only one lady, head bowed, seated in an aisle seat.  I embarrassed the woman I was with my stopping at the seated lady and asking if she would mind moving over two places so we could sit together.  The lady looked up from the paperback book she was reading and said, "Huh?' in the confused way of someone being awaken from a deep sleep.  My friend quickly dragged me away.

The next year, I went to see the movie's re-release and the theaters were full.

I have loved the original movie ever since, so I was reluctant to watch this sequel that takes place in 1973, thirty-three years later.  Much of the original cast was to be in the film, but Darren McGavin was dead and Melinda Dillon was too ill to participate.  I did not have high hopes.

My curiosity got the better of me and I bought a BLU-Ray off eBay.

The simple premise of the movie is that grown Ralphie gets a call that the Old Man has died and he goes home to spend Christmas with his mother - now played by Julie Hagerty.  Beyond that, I will say nothing.

The sequel may have been a little unsteady in the very beginning, or maybe I was still adjusting to the adult Peter Billingsley, but I was soon thoroughly engaged and actually welled up a little at the end.  WOW, did I love this sequel!  The several payoffs at the end were like a John Williams score climaxing over and over.

This was my best movie purchase in a LONG time.  If you are a fan of the original movie, give this one a chance.  You might be like me and have another must watch movie for the holidays.

[Mike Scott]

WOW, did I love this sequel!

I was afraid to watch it, 'cause I've been burned, before, on such things. Glad to hear it's good! Maybe I'll give it a go, now.

[Mike Scott]

Picked up 3 Woody Allen movies I didn't have, at a dollar store ($1.25 ea.), the other day. Watched "Stardust Memories" and "Radio Days" (stil have "Shadows and Fog" to watch. It's been so long since I'd seen any of them, I had forgotten how good SM and RD were.

I wasn't around in the early '40s, but "Radio Days" gave me a warm nostalgic feeling for the era. Woody narrates, throughout, as the adult version of a young boy (played by Seth Green) who lives with his extended family in a house in Far Rockaway, Queens. There's also a 2nd story line with Mia Farrow as a cigarette girl who becomes a radio star.  '40s pop songs played in the bkgnd (and forgnd) throughout the entire movie. It really earns its title!

"Stardust Memories" is Woody's homage to Fellini's "8 1/2".

[Hepcat]

The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) - Trailer



Somewhat disappointing. Given how early and the way Stella Stevens was introduced in the movie, I thought she would be the female co-star around whom the plot would revolve. But her role was an aside, an inconsequential sub-plot.

 

[Lunkenstein]

Sound of Freedom (2023) - a great and important film
The Invisible Menace (1938)
Broadminded (1931)
Fear Strikes Out (1957)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1947)
The Shadow Strikes (1937)
The Snake Pit (1948)
They Drive by Night (1940)