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Joe Dante recommended The Old Dark House (1932) in Movies (curated)

"To go back to the ’30s, which is the movies I saw when I was growing up on television — it was one that they never showed, because it was lost for years and it was by James Whale. It’s called The Old Dark House, 1932. It’s currently about to be reissued on Blu-ray. For years, all you could see were these sort of beat-up prints I think they found in the mid-’60s, and they had been lost, because of a remake and some rights issues and stuff. Now, it’s sort of come back, and it’s got a great cast of Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Raymond Massey. It’s the classic “travelers stranded in the haunted house and the bridge has washed out”, but it’s the template for all the movies that followed it. It’s still one of the more watchable and disturbing movies from that period. And it’s a shame that it isn’t better known; it never got television distribution, and it wasn’t included in the package of Universal horror pictures because it wasn’t in their library anymore. It’s a chance, I think, for people to catch up with it now. I’m a big James Whale fan, and this might be his best picture."

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Kudos

Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Gods and Monsters (1998) in Movies

Jun 10, 2019

McKellen teamed up with director Bill Condon in 1998 for Gods & Monsters. This period drama recounts the partly fictionalised last days of the life of film director James Whale, whose experience of war in the First World War is a central theme.

Although criticised for being overly-simplistic, McKellen’s performance received rave reviews, and he was nominated for his first Academy Award in the Best Actor category. Unfortunately, he didn’t go on to win this time around, but it remained a highlight in a career filled with fabulous work.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/05/25/top-5-ian-mckellen-performances/

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2103 KP) rated Mr. Monk Gets Even (Mr. Monk, #15) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

There are several accidents in San Francisco that Monk decides are murders. Meanwhile, Dale the Whale is out of prison for an operation. Is he going to try to escape? And will that distract Monk from the other case? For those who have been following the books, this is a great pay off for the arcs that Lee has been building. I loved seeing where the characters wound up and am interested to see how the next author will pick up from here.

<a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/01/book-review-mr-monk-gets-even.html">My full review at Carstairs Considers</a>.