And the best Black and White movie ever is:

[headcrash]

Nice double feature on Saturday Night with "In the Heat of the Night" and "The Defiant Ones."

TCM is filling up my DVR this month. Already in the queue are "The Lost Weekend", "Chinatown", "The French Connection" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington."

[Staun]

My experience with streaming services (Playstation Vue, Netflix, & Amazon Prime) is that I've had very few problems and I only have ~24 Mbps internet. From my understanding, you need at most 8 Mbps to stream in 1080p, which is comparable to BluRay. And just to compare, what you get from cable & broadcast channels is 720p/1080i, which are roughly half the resolution and yet still look exceptional compared to the old analog.

You know, given that fact, I don't understand why streaming services don't offer the ability to stream in 720p instead of 1080p. 720p is still HD and you'd have no bandwidth issues at all. I think 720p streams at less than 3 Mbps.

The only consistent problem I had was Vue's DVR function (their interface sucked big time, too).

So, I wouldn't think you'd have any problems unless you're using WiFi. My connections from my router to my PS3 and TiVo are wired.

Something else you may want to try if you have problems is either rebooting your cable modem and/or your router. I have three connections from my router and sometimes one of them will stop working for no discernible reason. Once I reboot, everything's fine. And once in a while, even after rebooting my modem, I will still need to call the cable company to have them send a signal to it. Why any of this happens I haven't a clue.

Hal, it's not that I have lots of wi-fi problems, it's just that I can see them happening more often. Not great if your in the middle of a really good scene. Didn't know anything about 1080 and 720. They don't talk much about this, just the programing. Yep, it's always best to ask.

[Staun]

I think you're right about Starz being available through Hulu. Which probably means Hulu is also in competition with Amazon! It's pretty weird. I can imagine it will take quite a while for things to solidify, if they ever do, but the good thing is that with these services you don't get locked into a two-year contract.

Oh oh, I now see that Hulu axed Starz. However, I think Prime carries the westerns channel so no big loss.

[Staun]

Back to movies, help me remember this movie - I'm sure you guys will know it, I just can't think of the title:

So TCM was showing Goodbye, Mr Chips, and it reminded me of an old, English b&w movie I saw a while back and would like to watch again. It's about a beloved man who runs a boarding school in England, and the group of kids who are there while he's in charge. Later on in the movie, he's older and the kids have grown up and had to go fight in WWII (I think!). But some of them, or one of them, come back to see him, and I'm pretty sure he dies at the end.

This almost sounds like, Son of Flicka. Can you recall who might have been in it?

[Staun]

Nice double feature on Saturday Night with "In the Heat of the Night" and "The Defiant Ones."

You know, the Defiant Ones, had a good supporting cast. Theodore Bikel, Claude Akins and certainly, Lon Chaney Jr. and Charles McGraw. Another great voice. Claude Akins has always been a kind of mystery to me. He was in just about every TV series known to man but no one thought much about putting him in a major film. I could be wrong though.

[Staun]

TCM is filling up my DVR this month. Already in the queue are "The Lost Weekend", "Chinatown", "The French Connection" and "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington."

Luv Chinatown. Could never figure out Faye Dunaway and Peter Wolf though.

[nycsteve]

You know, the Defiant Ones, had a good supporting cast. Theodore Bikel, Claude Akins and certainly, Lon Chaney Jr. and Charles McGraw. Another great voice. Claude Akins has always been a kind of mystery to me. He was in just about every TV series known to man but no one thought much about putting him in a major film. I could be wrong though.

I know I've seen Akins in movies, IMDBed it, he was in 100 movies according to them, The Caine Mutiny and Rio Bravo amoung them. His TV work fills the page. With TV he was the big fish in the little pond. He lacked fish status in the movies I guess.

[Staun]

I know I've seen Akins in movies, IMDBed it, he was in 100 movies according to them, The Caine Mutiny and Rio Bravo amoung them. His TV work fills the page. With TV he was the big fish in the little pond. He lacked fish status in the movies I guess.

How did I forget RB. Just can't recall him as a leading man.

[nycsteve]

How did I forget RB. Just can't recall him as a leading man.

Never IIRC , a leading man. Lacking fish status will do that.

[Hal...]

I just looked over Claude Akins' filmography and there is nothing that I should know him from. Nothing! I may have seen him guest star in some TV shows but I'm pretty sure we didn't watch anything he starred in, except maybe Movin' On, but I'd have to ask my brother about it. So that's impressive he could become that well known without being a star. Altho, he did do some commercials so maybe that's it.

[ronmac]

^^ I know him more from his "Twilight Zone" appearances than anything.

[Staun]

He's like John Dehner. Appeared in everything and nothing.

[Staun]

^^ I know him more from his "Twilight Zone" appearances than anything.

Where they land on a planet with tiny people? Aliens land in a neighborhood and everyone suspects each other of being such.

[Staun]

Wondering how everyone feels about the western, Once Upon A Time In The West? I've tried to watch this thing but it's just a total mess imho. Despite having such great actors.

[ronmac]

I just looked over Claude Akins' filmography and there is nothing that I should know him from.

Not even this?

[nycsteve]

I just looked over Claude Akins' filmography and there is nothing that I should know him from. Nothing! I may have seen him guest star in some TV shows but I'm pretty sure we didn't watch anything he starred in, except maybe Movin' On, but I'd have to ask my brother about it. So that's impressive he could become that well known without being a star. Altho, he did do some commercials so maybe that's it.

I definitely remember him in The Caine Mutiny .

[JKL2000]

Not even this?

Yo, General Aldo! How's it hangin'?

[Staun]

Yo, General Aldo! How's it hangin'?

One of your storm troopers I'll wager, Dr.?

[Hal...]

^^ I know him more from his "Twilight Zone" appearances than anything.

That's one of the TV shows I referred to. The one I remember best is as the astronaut.

He's like John Dehner. Appeared in everything and nothing.

I had no idea who you were talking about but once I saw his picture, I thought, "oh yeah, I know him."

Wondering how everyone feels about the western, Once Upon A Time In The West? I've tried to watch this thing but it's just a total mess imho. Despite having such great actors.

I saw it in the late '80s or early '90s. The only things that left an impression on me were (1) that it was slow moving, (2) it's too long, and (3) Henry Fonda is maybe the coldest villain in movie history; such a masterful performance it's almost worth sitting through. So I tried re-watching it sometime this past autumn and gave up about a half hour into it. I think you're right. It is a mess. But since I haven't seen the entire movie in such a long time and didn't really have a critical eye back then, I still feel I need to see it again to give it a fair shot.

Roger Ebert only gave it 2½ stars (out of 4) upon its release. But it also has a cult following and many other directors (Scorsese, for one) call it a masterpiece. I got a book in 1999 called The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, made up entirely of movie reviews that appeared in the Times from 1931-1999, and Once Upon A Time In The West is not included. FWIW.

I definitely remember him in The Caine Mutiny .

I'm not sure I do. I'm sure when I first saw that movie I thought, "hey, it's Claude Akins," like I usually do when I see an actor in an early movie, but since he has such a minor role I couldn't tell you what it is. And I've seen that movie at least a handful of times. Isn't Lee Marvin in it, too?

As good as Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Jose Ferrer are in that movie, I sometimes feel Bogey is a little over the top... until that final scene. He's so good in it that it redeems his total performance.

And speaking of Van Johnson, does anyone else ever confuse him with Van Heflin? When I see one of them on screen, I know who it is, but if I picture them in a movie or tell someone about a movie they're in, both names pop to mind and I have to go through this quick mental process to determine what their name is. The process, btw, is, "this guy was in Shane and I know Van Heflin was in Shane and this is that guy so it must be Van Heflin;" or "this is the other guy so it must be Van Johnson." It's ridiculous.

[ronmac]

As good as Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Jose Ferrer are in that movie, I sometimes feel Bogey is a little over the top... until that final scene. He's so good in it that it redeems his total performance.

yep.

And speaking of Van Johnson, does anyone else ever confuse him with Van Heflin?

Which one played with David Lee Roth?

[Staun]

Hal, Ronmac, you have to remember that Bogey's performance was probably uneven because his cancer was well advanced. He wasn't doing well at all when this film was shot. I always relate Van Johnson to love stories and Heflin to Shane. It can get confusing though. Hal, don't worry, OUATITW, after the first half hour, doesn't get much better.

[Staun]

I definitely remember him in The Caine Mutiny .

I still can't. Where was he and what was he doing? Like Hal, I remember Lee Marvin.

[nycsteve]

I still can't. Where was he and what was he doing? Like Hal, I remember Lee Marvin.

IIRC he has his shirt off or wrong, Quegg bugs out and while reprimanding circles over the tow line. Action happens on the bridge.

[ronmac]

[Hal...]

What an awesome scene. Does it remind anyone else of the scene with Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men? I immediately think of The Caine Mutiny when I see it.