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What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART SEVEN - 2014) (ongoing thread)

I've been streaming a Netflix documentary entitled: "National Geographic: Inside the White House 1996"
NETFLIX:

IMDb:
"A revealing look inside the most famous house in America."

The narrator is Morgan Freeman.

If you are interested in "behind the scenes" views, this is for you! I've always been interested in what goes on behind the scenes at the White House. This documentary, satisfies that interest and also gives some history about the White House.

Of course, every worker at the White House is investigated by the F.B.I.

Have you ever been interviewed by an F.B.I. agent for information about prospective state employees? I have. (Only once). In that interview, which took place in my own living room, I was asked if the person being investigated could be trusted with state secrets. I had my doubts about that person and so I hesitated when the question was asked. I don't remember giving a negative statement, but that slight hesitation might have meant something. Because that person didn't get the job.

Have you ever been interviewed by an F.B.I agent?

BTW, this reminds me of the book: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman. Mrs. Pollifax is an old lady hired by the C.I.A. as a spy. It's a wonderful book, easy reading, with Mrs. Pollifax as the main character. I would characterize her as an armchair philosopher. Simply marvelous! See my review here: /book/show/1...

I got a coupon from Time Warner for two free Movies on Demand. I can't really think of anything new that I haven't already seen. I'm looking for something relatively new, if anyone has an suggestions, please let me know. I only have 1 month to redeem the coupons and now's a good time as my regular TV series are not back yet.

Jackie wrote: "I got a coupon from Time Warner for two free Movies on Demand. I can't really think of anything new that I haven't already seen. I'm looking for something relatively new, if anyone has an suggest..."

Jackie, since I usually watch only old movies, I can't be of any help to you.

My big complaint about TV shows on Demand is that they are interrupted by commercials. I don't think that's true of the Movies on Demand. But please let us know if it is.

No commercials, I watch new movies that way, but I'm paying anywhere from $3.99 to $5.99 per movie, it's basically renting a movie without having to return it. You have it for 48 hours unless otherwise specified.

Jackie wrote: "No commercials, I watch new movies that way, but I'm paying anywhere from $3.99 to $5.99 per movie, it's basically renting a movie without having to return it. You have it for 48 hours unless othe..."

I see. Thanks, Jackie. I guess when you pay for something, you don't expect commercials. It's the free "On Demand" shows that include commercials. Makes sense. You pay one way or the other. :)

I've seen those, free On Demand, and what's worse is it won't let me Fast Forward them with my DVR control. I don't mind commercials....as long as I can FF through them, hahaha

Jackie wrote: "I've seen those, free On Demand, and what's worse is it won't let me Fast Forward them with my DVR control. I don't mind commercials....as long as I can FF through them, hahaha"

Jackie, the Fast Forward feature makes the DVR a handy item. I still don't have a DVR. I don't watch that many TV series to make it worth-while.

That's one of the drawbacks of the DVR, it allows you to record so much that you just keep recording! If you ever got one, you'd find that you're watching a whole lot more TV. I can't sit through commercials, for every hour of programming, it's 20 minutes of commercials! So if you watch 3 one hour programs, a whole hour is wasted on commercials. Life is too short to waste on commericials, or standing on lines at the store, two things I detest, lol

Jackie wrote: "That's one of the drawbacks of the DVR, it allows you to record so much that you just keep recording! If you ever got one, you'd find that you're watching a whole lot more TV. ..."

Because I can stream (without commercials) so many movies via Netflix or Amazon Prime, I'm not tempted by the programs on TV. Most of the series take "getting into" something I never seem to be able to do because they don't draw me in enough.

Netflix has really changed how people watch TV. Especially the young, they wait for the season to end and do it all as a marathon, no waiting for new episodes and no commercials. I have Netflix on my TV but haven't used it.

Jackie wrote: "Netflix has really changed how people watch TV. ..."

Netflix has certainly changed MY life! I used to go to the movies occasionally but not very often. I depended on the TCM Channel for my movies, or before that, the AMC channel (before it had commercials, if I remember correctly). The choices I have now are an immense improvement.

Marg records more on the DVR, but I don't seem to have any trouble ignoring all the extra programs. I just wind up watching the best ones & ignore the rest. I don't have time or patience for the rest. I don't mind fast fwd through the commercials, either. It's so much better than sitting through them.

I'd like Netflix & other streaming media if we had a better Internet connection, but I honestly don't know when I'd have time or patience to watch any more.

Joy H. wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Netflix has really changed how people watch TV. ..."

Netflix has certainly changed MY life! I used to go to the movies occasionally but not very often. I depended on the TCM Channel..."

Hollywood DROVE me out of the theaters because they wouldn't provide a decent sound track for dialogue. There was 'interference added' noise and music, there was too cheap sound equipment in the theaters. It was horrible, I could pick up 40% of the dialogue if I was lucky. But I was so stupid and a 'creature of habit' I KEPT on going to see movies that I was nearly sure I wouldn't like just to 'go out to the movies'.

What REALLY changed my movie viewing was a pair of Radio Shack headphones (infra red transmission of audio) and a tv that would cooperate with the captions included in nearly everything. My movie experience (off regular broadcast tv) was then about 200% better than what I'd ever see in theaters! AND I had a MUCH wider selection than what the local theater would serve up.

Netflix was then the 'icing on the cake'. Now I had access to the series running on ShowTime and HBO as well as that 2% of Hollywood movies that were worth watching. Call that a 7000% improvement.

Earl, I have perfect hearing and that interference added noise and music ruins most theater movies for me too, I can't imagine how bad it must have been for you.
I only go to the theater to see movies I don't want to wait for DVD, though the time between theater and DVD release is getting shorter all the time, 4 to 6 months after theater release, generally. And because it's something me and my son do together every once in a while.

"The Book Thief," and "Philomena," are two new movies I'd like to see, and "Saving Mr. Banks."

Nina wrote: ""The Book Thief," and "Philomena," are two new movies I'd like to see, and "Saving Mr. Banks.""

Nina, I've got those 3 movies on my "saved" list at Netflix. It says that availability date is unknown.

Earl and Jackie, I agree about the background noise in movies. I guess the directors don't care.

Jim, too bad you don't have a better Internet connection! You'd probably find time to watch more movies. :)

Check out this article:

"More than 80 movies and a handful of TV shows -- including "Titanic," "Top Gun" and some seasons of "Saturday Night Live" -- will no longer be available for streaming through the site as of Wednesday [1/1/14], according to a post on Reddit.

"It was not clear who posted the list, but a search on Netflix for many of the titles reveals that they will indeed expire Wednesday for Netflix's nearly 40 million streaming subscribers. The company's DVD customers -- it has about 7 million in the U.S. -- may still order the discs in the mail."

Here's the list at Reddit:

I don't think I would, Joy. Movies require sitting still for over an hour. I'm not good at that even while balancing dogs on my lap & knitting. I need to get up & move around, do things.

Jim wrote: "I don't think I would, Joy. Movies require sitting still for over an hour. I'm not good at that even while balancing dogs on my lap & knitting. I need to get up & move around, do things."

Jim, sitting still is easy for me. :) I read somewhere that Victor Borge considered it work to sit on the beach.

Actually, when it comes to watching movies, I watch them a little at a time. I usually take breaks in between parts unless the movie is extremely compelling.

The other night I watched a movie called "Reading" "The Reader" starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. It was fairly compelling. It was also steamy in parts. After I watched it, I realized I had seen it before. LOL Only toward the end did it seem vaguely familiar.

"The Reader" (2008)



I would advise people not to read the summaries before seeing the movie. The summaries are spoilers, IMO.

The movie was adapted from the book: The Reader (first published 1995) by Bernhard Schlink.
PS-Even the GR book description is a spoiler, IMO.

I often watch movies in pieces. Unfortunately, if Marg isn't interested in the movie, it might take me a week or 3 to get through it. I have several partially watched ones around.

I agree with you about summaries. Book descriptions aren't usually as bad, but they can be, especially on classics.

Yesterday & today I streamed (in pieces) "McLintock!" (1963), starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. It's a bit outdated nowadays but it's still fun to watch Wayne swaggering down the street. :) And the slapstick fight scenes are fun too.


Wiki says the film was shot near Tucson, Arizona. Interesting to see the scenery, stark brown mountains rising behind the flat mesa dotted with cactus and scrub.

Joy, did you receive my "Birdsong," message? Not worth watching unless you are into depressing; all about WWI deaths and misery with a few sex scenes between an Englishman and a married woman. Her husband mentally unbalanced so he is mean. When we finished watching my husband said, "That was an ordeal."

Yes, I saw your message, Nina. In our other thread, I replied: "Nina, sorry to hear "Birdsong" wasn't so good. I had ordered a DVD of it from our local library. Oh, well, there's always the scenery in France. :)"

You might have a different opinion and yes, there is the glory of France. By the way, I had three grandchildren born in France. It was such fun to visit them. They lived in small villages; sometimes in the Alps where no one spoke English; except their parents.

What a life you've led, Nina.

My new granddaughter will be born in Manhattan. She's due Feb. 5. The parents are still living on their 35' sailboat. They recently bought a stroller. Don't know where they put it. LOL Crazy kids!

Joy, I think that is very interesting that your new granddaughter will be living on a sailboat. Will she still when she is school age?

Nina, I hope not! There really isn't much living space in a 35' sailboat. I don't know how they can STAND it! LOL I need a LOT of space!

GOLDEN GLOBES tomorrow, Sunday, 1/12/14 - 8 PM on NBC!


Has anyone seen any of the nominated films?

Judi Dench has been nominated for Best Actress in "Philomena".

I saw Gravity, meh, the Earth in the background was the best part of the movie. I also saw August: Osage County, and while I have no idea what the point of the movie was, Meryl Streep was fantastic as a pill-popping mean bitch who insisted she wasn't mean but only truthful.
I want to see Philomena but it hasn't played around here yet. I may have to wait to see it at Amy's Dinner and a Movie. And Blue Jasmine too. Dench and Blanchett are both wonderful actresses.
I didn't see the Mandela movie but Idris Elba is another fine actor and if I see the movie, it'll be because he's in it.

Jackie, I watched the trailer to "Gravity". It made me too tense! Haven't seen any of the others you mentioned.

I watch the award shows to find out what's new. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have a clue about new movies. Most of the movies I watch are from Netflix and they've been around awhile.

I also watch old movies on the TCM Channel. The other day they had some wonderful old Joan Crawford movies from the 1930s which I had never heard of. One of them was "The Bride Wore Red". It was great!


Also, "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney". Very enjoyable:


Netflix doesn't carry them, as far as I can tell.

Lone Survivor
This movie made me so angry, it was very good and definitely should be seen. But know that your emotions will run high.

Jackie wrote: "Lone Survivor This movie made me so angry, it was very good and definitely should be seen. But know that your emotions will run high."

Member reviews at Netflix said:
"The movie is purely visceral, generating adrenaline, alarm, and even tears."
"... the audience collectively jumped, gasped, laughed, cried and applauded respectfully at the end. The experience was humbling."

Jackie wrote: "Lone Survivor
This movie made me so angry, it was very good and definitely should be seen. But know that your emotions will run high."

I'm avoiding it because 1. It's not on DVD yet and I'm way too cheap to go out to see a movie I can't hear, and 2. It's a docudrama the likes of which I mostly dislike.

I saw 60 Minutes interview with the actual survivor. I was most struck because he called himself a 'coward' (he felt he did not live up to the Navy Seal code at one point in the battle). I submit that no one who saw that segment would EVER call him such a name! I think it demonstrates the level of, for want of a better term, "brainwashing", that the military subjects these elite warriors to. They've been doing it for thousands of years, it's something the military DOES know something about. Even if the brass is the most hide-bound of the professions in their prosecution of war.

What made you angry about it?

Nina wrote [in another topic]: "Almost finished with the series,"Grand Chef," on Netflix and it's very good;Korean background but has subtitles. Like a good book, can't wait for the next episode."

Thanks, Nina. Here's the IMDb link for "Le Grand Chef":

Earl wrote: What made you angry about it?
If I answer, it will give spoilers. If you want, I will tell you, and put them in the spoiler tags. Or in Private Message if you prefer.

Jackie, I too wondered what made you angry in that movie ("Lone Survivor").

So you want the spoilers?

Jackie wrote: "So you want the spoilers?"

Sure, but use spoiler tags.

Lone Survivor spoilers: (view spoiler)[
1. Faulty intelligence. The 4 man team was to assassinate a Taliban leader, supposedly there were only 10 men with him when in fact he had an army with him.
1a. Relying on enemies to provide that intelligence. Really? In what universe is this ever a good idea? Their informant was from this village, there is no way to know if the informant is with the Taliban or not.
2. Comms not working. For such a tech savvy nation, we cannot provide these men with reliable communication devices?
3. Poor topography maps, which led them to a dead end instead of escape.
4. This is the big one, they made a bad decision to release the men who stumbled upon them strictly because if the media got ahold of the story they would spin it to make them out to be child-killers. One of them was a child. I'm not saying kill them, but they released them, and this part is on the commander because he could have tied them up and given themselves a head-start in getting away and when they found out they were in the wrong area they'd have had time to get out and not be boxed in. You should have seen this one guy, he was like a goat jumping down that mountain!
5. When rescue operations commenced, a flanking unit was grounded so they didn't have sufficient fire-power or coverage.
I give the Survivor credit for telling the truth, no one else lived, he didn't have to tell how his decision to release them caused his men their lives and subsequent rescuers their lives also. That is NOT a coward in any way.

(hide spoiler)]

Just returned from seeing, "Good-by Mr. Banks," and thought it was very good. I hadn't realized Tom Hanks was Disney. Good acting, as usual as is Emma Thompson's. I will probably go see, "Philamena next week if it is still here. I have the book on my Kindle but haven't read it yet. Can't decided if I should see the movie first or read the book first.

Jackie wrote: "Lone Survivor (view spoiler)[:
1. Faulty intelligence. The 4 man team was to assassinate a Taliban leader, supposedly there were only 10 men with him when in fact he had an army with him.
1a. Rely..." (hide spoiler)]

Thank you, Jackie, for taking the time to explain. I now see the significance of the movie's title, "Lone Survivor" (whose name was Marcus Luttrell). They say that hind-sight is 20/20. It's easy to see our mistakes when we look back.

Here is Marcus Luttrell's Wiki page.


I now realize that this movie, made in 2013, was based on the true book written in 2006:
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
by Marcus Luttrell.

I was wondering if they ever got that Taliban leader. Then I found the following at the above-linked Wiki page: "The target of Operation Red Wings, Mohammad Ismail alias Ahmad Shah, survived the American operation but was killed during a firefight with Pakistani police commandos in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April 2008."

Nina wrote: "Just returned from seeing, "Good-by Saving Mr. Banks," and thought it was very good. I hadn't realized Tom Hanks was Disney. Good acting, as usual as is Emma Thompson's. I will probably go see, "Philamena..."

Nina, I would read the book, first, especially if you do intend to read the book at all. ( The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son and A Fifty-Year Search by Martin Sixsmith )

Thanks for mentioning the movie, "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013). I had forgotten about it. It's in my "saved" list at Netflix. I'll see it when Netflix has it available.


"When Walt Disney [played by Tom Hanks] sets his sights on obtaining the rights to the children's classic "Mary Poppins," he reaches out to the book's author, P.L. Travers [played by Emma Thompson], only to find that she proves a tough nut to crack."

NOTE: P.L. Travers is Pamela Lyndon Travers, (born Helen Lyndon Goff). [from Wiki]

That's toward the end of the movie.

I'm looking forward to seeing "Saving Mr. Banks"!

My only problem with the Saving Mr Banks movie wouldn't affect most of you. It was hard for me to understand Emma Thompson; she had acquired an Australian accent and spoke very fast; almost running her words together. I have seen her so often and never had a problem with her natural British accent. I need to order it on netflix and use subtitles.

Nina, where did you see "Saving Mr. Banks"? In a theater?

I saw it at a theater. I am going to check with others in my area and see if they had the same reaction as I did.

Joy, don't know how I missed your message 23 until now! Barb really likes the movie McLintock, and will watch it any time it's on TV. Of course, she's an avid Western fan, and a big John Wayne fan as well. (I'm not as taken with it, but I like it well enough.)

Though I haven't seen Saving Mr. Banks, I have a (very distant!) connection to the real-life P. L. Travers. She was born in Maryborough, Queensland, where my Aussie son-in-law Tony grew up, and where he and Rebekah live. Since she's the only famous person born there, the town makes the most of it; Barb and I saw the monument when we were there in 2007. (If I can find an Internet link later on, I'll post it.)