PDA

View Full Version : Movie Movies on ABC 2


sandeano
1 Sep 2009, 23:22
For those of you with Foxtel or access to digital tele, ABC 2 have been screening a most interesting array of films on a Saturday night. From Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn mini-festivals to some fine, stand-alone features including the likes of

"Blue Collar" - Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor in Paul Schrader's look at union machinations in the auto industry.

"The Seven Per Cent Solution" - Sherlock Holmes meets Sigmund Freud in this very effective black comedy starring the great Nicol Williamson, Alan Arkin and Robert Duvall.

"Anne of The Thousand Days" - Genevieve Bujold and Richard Burton in the Oscar nominated tale of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.

The Wrong Box" - Michael Caine leads an all star cast in a comedy about the funeral trade (directed by the always dependable Bryan Forbes).

"Gilda" - Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford in the seminal noir classic.

"The Silencers" - Dean Martin's Matt Helm at his martini swilling best.

"Fat City" - John Huston's brilliant neo-noir take on the boxing caper with Stacey Keach and Jeff Bridges.

These films all played in recent weeks and most were followed by second features that were just as interesting.

This coming Saturday is Orson Welles' landmark "Touch of Evil" with Charlton Heston and the luscious Janet Leigh caught in corruption on the mexican border.

Future Highlights include Joseph Losey's fascinating "The Damned" and Jimmy Stewart starring in "The Glenn Miller Story".

To my mind, these often rare films have been more interesting (to those of a film buff's bent) than all that the pay-TV movie channels have managed to muster over the same period.

If you are a movie lover (especially for films over over 30 years vintage) and you have access to ABC2 then Saturday nights are proving to be a great night in.

mdc
1 Sep 2009, 23:47
Wow, that's a seriously impressive list, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully this exercise proves sustainable for the ABC.

As an aside, Blue Collar's been sitting in my to-watch pile for a while; what did you think of it?

Will also have to pick up The Seven Per Cent Solution, sounds intriguing.

sandeano
2 Sep 2009, 00:00
Wow, that's a seriously impressive list, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully this exercise proves sustainable for the ABC.

As an aside, Blue Collar's been sitting in my to-watch pile for a while; what did you think of it?

Will also have to pick up The Seven Per Cent Solution, sounds intriguing.

Cheers mdc, I too hope it can work seeing that there is bugger all else in the way of older movies shown on any form of TV these days.

I am a big fan of "Blue Collar". It is a tense, taut drama that operates just as well as a thriller and is also a savage indictment of how the average working stiff is stuffed from every angle. Harvey Keitel before he became too mannered and Richard Pryor proving he was a terrific dramatic actor. Well, well worth watching.

A lot of people love The Seven Percent Solution, mind you, many dislike it just as much. I fall into the former category, enjoying its quirkiness and fine performances.

likka
2 Sep 2009, 09:11
Recorded The Birds from a few Saturday nights previous, haven't got around to watching it yet though.

Falchoon
2 Sep 2009, 14:33
Not to mention Hornblower on a Sunday night

Damon_3388
3 Sep 2009, 01:53
I loved it earlier in the year when they were playing earl '70s Jack Nicholson movies on Saturday nights - Five Easy Pieces, The Saint of Marvin Gardens, The Last Detail. All great, underrated films that deserve a wider audience with young people today.

jacqui9
3 Sep 2009, 10:42
I am purchasing a DVD Recorder and a new TV tomorrow. At the moment, I am getting a friend to record all the noirs ABC 2 is screening. I absolutely love film noir.

Gilda is one of my favourite films. Columbia are actually remastering it and releasing it in a Rita Hayworth set next year. They are also releasing two film noir collections, a Samuel Fuller Collection and a Ladies of Film Noir Collection. So my bank account is crying already!!

Warner Bros used to do a marvellous job on their noirs, but in a ridiculous move that is signalling the death knell of classics on DVD, Warners are now just slapping an original master onto a DVD-R and are flogging them off to the general public for $20 a disc.

You are better off recording them.

janiek
3 Sep 2009, 14:58
"touch of evil" this week (orson welles, charlton heston janet leigh , marlene dietrich)

Dry Rot
3 Sep 2009, 16:59
Thanks to the OP.

If you haven't seen Touch of Evil, watch it - Welles's best work IMO and I love one description of it:

"A masterpiece of sleaze".

UpForGrabs
3 Sep 2009, 18:04
'Touch of Evil' is brilliant.

The opening shot is one of cinemas most famous and rightly so;

Yg8MqjoFvy4

Watching that makes you think Scorsese must have been channeling it when he did his famous tracking shot into the club during Goodfellas

sandeano
4 Sep 2009, 14:55
Yup,

"Touch of Evil" is landmark stuff - sleazy and sordid but downright brilliant. Yes, the clever technical stuff is there, but rather than just a series of well staged gimmicks, it is a stunning act of seamless storytelling.

Oh, and Janet Leigh (one of the most gorgeous women ever on screen) spends a great deal of time in her bra.

What more could you ask for?

Dry Rot
4 Sep 2009, 23:18
Yup,

"Touch of Evil" is landmark stuff - sleazy and sordid but downright brilliant. Yes, the clever technical stuff is there, but rather than just a series of well staged gimmicks, it is a stunning act of seamless storytelling.

Oh, and Janet Leigh (one of the most gorgeous women ever on screen) spends a great deal of time in her bra.

What more could you ask for?

Perhaps a visit on her from some young Mexican drug spivs? Fantastic scene, and an eye opener for those who think you really need explicit violence.

Or maybe Marlene Dietrich as a clapped out border town whore?

EagleMan87
10 Sep 2009, 01:13
Not to mention Hornblower on a Sunday night

Great miniseries, just bought the box set.

sherrinorburley
10 Sep 2009, 12:57
Or maybe Marlene Dietrich as a clapped out border town whore?
To be fair Ms Dietrich really did love a soldier or 3 during her wartime effort.
She looks great in Touch Of Evil.
Excellent flick.

Rooface
12 Sep 2009, 14:14
Tonight's 'The Damned' or These Are The Damned'' looks interesting. Clockwork Orange Stranglove mix of some kind.

Dirtywhirl
19 Sep 2009, 17:47
SBS 2 also show a very decent variety of foreign films, almost daily.

Tsotsi was on a few weeks ago, Oldboy is on tonight (very interesting movie if you haven't seen it) and Lilja 4-ever is on in the next few days as well.