What Is The Last Film You Watched?

[Henry B 50]

Using the word "film" broadly, I just noticed that a "Spaceballs" cartoon was produced on G4TV. Though I was never that big a fan of the film, I like Mel Brooks, so I started watching it. For the five minutes that I watched before changing the channel in disgust, I noticed a few positive things (more or less). Though Bill Pullman and John Candy (God bless his soul) are noticeably absent, the cartoon provided serviceable imitators. Another strength was Mel Brooks himself. If you liked him in any of his other films, you will like him here. And, well, that is about it. Ultimately, the show feels like it was created by two random people on the Internet. I am not looking forward to any further installments ( from the little I saw).

Yikes... I watched some preview clips on iTunes. Awful. No wonder I didn't even hear about the launch of this series. The animation looks like a Flash video and the writing is trash. And where is John Morris's theme music?

[QMM 4]

Choke

Had a bit of a rocky start for me since the opening struck me as a bit too similar to Fight Club, with the narration and self-help group, not to mention it's the same author for both, but the rest of the film proved to be quite good. The plot actually surprised me as it went on. Rockwell and Huston were solid as always, but Kelly Macdonald (of No Country for Old Men fame) really brought some heart to the movie.

Good stuff, I recommend it.

[A24 4,326]

Fine if it was in the 1950s, but when we have so few westerns today, wasting such a great cast on such average material was a shame.

That's exactly what I was thinking, Charlie. 3:10 To Yuma feels like a classic Western from the fourties and fifties, a time when the Revisionist Western not yet existed. Yuma clearly wanted to celebrate the old Western but therefore turned out a bit too old-fashioned and naive for my taste.

KS: You have Yuma in Blu-ray? Why?

Why? Because it was a great film and I loved it. 2007 is my favorite year for movies.

So great that you want it in Blu-ray? I'm glad I got this title for free on standard DVD. The reason I asked is because sometimes I have the impression that you buy everything on Blu-ray. Me? I'm can watch most movies in standard resolution and be perfectly happy. John Adams looked great on my screen (thanks to good upscaling, I'm sure). It doesn't even occur to me of getting that on Blu-ray. If I'm going to pay three or four times more for a movie, it really has to be top 30 material. Of course, I'm going to think differently when Blu-ray becomes more affordable.

My Date With Drew: An extremely light but likable, charming, little documentary.

Alex

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Recount

A very entertaining, extremely well-made movie. I'm kinda stunned that it was directed by the guy who made the Austin Powers movies; I'm even more stunned by the fact that it was written by the guy who played Jonathan during season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wouldn't necessarily have expected credentials like that to have produced a hard-hitting film about one of the most important political events of my lifetime, but looks like that's exactly what happened.

HBO: still capable of kicking ass once in a while.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Choke

Had a bit of a rocky start for me since the opening struck me as a bit too similar to Fight Club, with the narration and self-help group, not to mention it's the same author for both, but the rest of the film proved to be quite good. The plot actually surprised me as it went on. Rockwell and Huston were solid as always, but Kelly Macdonald (of No Country for Old Men fame) really brought some heart to the movie.

Good stuff, I recommend it.

I really liked it as well. One of my favorites so far of '08.

Fine if it was in the 1950s, but when we have so few westerns today, wasting such a great cast on such average material was a shame.

That's exactly what I was thinking, Charlie. 3:10 To Yuma feels like a classic Western from the fourties and fifties, a time when the Revisionist Western not yet existed. Yuma clearly wanted to celebrate the old Western but therefore turned out a bit too old-fashioned and naive for my taste.

KS: You have Yuma in Blu-ray? Why?

Why? Because it was a great film and I loved it. 2007 is my favorite year for movies.

So great that you want it in Blu-ray? I'm glad I got this title for free on standard DVD. The reason I asked is because sometimes I have the impression that you buy everything on Blu-ray. Me? I'm can watch most movies in standard resolution and be perfectly happy. John Adams looked great on my screen (thanks to good upscaling, I'm sure). It doesn't even occur to me of getting that on Blu-ray. If I'm going to pay three or four times more for a movie, it really has to be top 30 material. Of course, I'm going to think differently when Blu-ray becomes more affordable.

Well if I want to buy a movie and there's the option between DVD and Blu, I'll always go for Blu. Actually, I stopped buying DVD's altogether. I really want In Bruges, but it's not on blu-ray, so I won't buy it.

And I only paid like $20 for 3:10 To Yuma.

[A24 4,326]

Actually, I stopped buying DVD's altogether.

I'm buying more DVDs than ever. They're so cheap these days (that is, if you're willing to wait 6 months before you buy them) that my renting days are over.

[Maglorfin 196]

I'm buying more DVDs than ever. They're so cheap these days (that is, if you're willing to wait 6 months before you buy them) that my renting days are over.

Good thinking.

[Marian Schedenig 8,176]

I'm buying more DVDs than ever. They're so cheap these days (that is, if you're willing to wait 6 months before you buy them) that my renting days are over.

Same here. Well, I never had renting days, but I've been buying lots of DVDs, too. With several weeks of final uni stress, I've built a stack of 30 new DVDs which I only just started watching this weekend.

Although with Blu-Ray now completely cracked, I guess there'll soon be decent player software. Might be time to switch before long.

[Hitch 57]

Recount

A very entertaining, extremely well-made movie. I'm kinda stunned that it was directed by the guy who made the Austin Powers movies; I'm even more stunned by the fact that it was written by the guy who played Jonathan during season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wouldn't necessarily have expected credentials like that to have produced a hard-hitting film about one of the most important political events of my lifetime, but looks like that's exactly what happened.

HBO: still capable of kicking ass once in a while.

Caught this on TV last night....and what a cast...Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Bob Balaban, Laura Dern, Bruce McGill. Ed Begley Jnr was brilliant I thought.

[indy4 155]

I saw Recount a while ago, and it was fabulous. It got me shaking with anger.

[A24 4,326]

No Country For Old Men: Wow, the first two thirds were simply spectacular! I haven't felt tension like this in 30 years. Sadly, the last part feels like a different movie to me and left me a bit unsatisfied. No, I didn't need a final shoot-out or a big showdown at the end, but this? I really don't know what to think of it. Maybe I will understand it after a second viewing.

The film somehow reminds me of the Blood Simple.

Alex

[Morlock 11]

After seeing it the first time, I didn't know what to make of the last third. But upon contemplation, it became my favorite film of 2007. Like Ethan Coen said about the book- "It was the pulpiest thing Cormac had written, until all of a sudden...it wasn't". A spectacular thriller, which then evolves into something far bigger. The way I see it, the focal point of the film is Ed-Tom. The Chigurh-Moss element is about testing Ed-Tom.

Saw Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy for the first time in 6 years. Marvelous film.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

No Country is not just my favorite film of '07, it's one of my favorite films of all time.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

That is quite a statement. Is it really that good?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

In my opinion, yes.

[Red 75]

Like Alex, I don't completely know what to think of No Country right now. I do know it's extremely well made and throughout most of it very entertaining. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something.

Rabbit--saw for the first time recently

[A24 4,326]

If you think about it, the first two thirds are the Coen brothers doing their take on The Terminator. I suppose that's not what they wanted for the rest of the movie.

[MrScratch 294]

I wasn't crazy about the ending either. Like Alex said, I didn't need some big showdown but

Javier being hit by a car

just felt random and pointless given everything that came before it.

[Henry B 50]

No Country For Old Men: Wow, the first two thirds were simply spectacular! I haven't felt tension like this in 30 years. Sadly, the last part feels like a different movie to me and left me a bit unsatisfied. No, I didn't need a final shoot-out or a big showdown at the end, but this? I really don't know what to think of it. Maybe I will understand it after a second viewing.

I thought the ending was great because of its lack of showdown/resolution. I'm not sure if I was sold on that old guy raving about the world going to hell to Tommy Lee Jones, though. No pop philosophy, please.

[Quintus 5,399]

I wouldn't put it in my top 100, but No Country is still a fine film. I'd have preferred it if the film ended on Bardem though and not with Jones.

[Red 75]

I wouldn't put it in my top 100, but No Country is still a fine film. I'd have preferred it if the film ended on Bardem though and not with Jones.

I don't think I would have preferred that at all. I like the speech the Sheriff has about his dreams, and I think it cements his character as the true protagonist of the story (although it can be argued otherwise).

[Quintus 5,399]

Oh I have no problem with the what the Sheriff's epilogue symbolises, but from a purely pacing pov, it grated ever so slightly. Not enough to spoil it, you understand.

I tend to view the structure of film from a technical pov first and foremost, but that's just me.

Return of the King for example; I personally love the long extended ending, but from a technical perspective, it's a mess. I am of the opinion that a sound grasp of technical savvy in the editing department amounts to basic audience satisfaction. Consider that most of the 'poetry' goes over the heads of your average Joe and you will get my meaning.

[A24 4,326]

I wasn't too happy with the sherrif telling about his dreams. One of my favorite scenes is the coin-flip scene. He doesn't say what's at stake but we know that the outcome means either life or death. It tells a lot about the killer's state of mind and it terrified the bejesus out of me.

Alex

[Quintus 5,399]

Yep, surely one of the most chilling scenes of recent years. Factor in the fact that not much actually happens and you're touching on cinematic mastery. Which IS a rare thing.

[A24 4,326]

Yes, it was very clever.

[Maglorfin 196]

Passenger 57. Great, scary performance by Bruce Payne.

[Morlock 11]

I'd have preferred it if the film ended on Bardem though and not with Jones.

I think that it had to end with Jones. The movie's moral and philosophical weight is entirely his story. And without the dream at the end, I'm not sure I would love the movie. The touch of potential optimism, even if beyond reach, was what made the nihilism of the film bearable.

[Quintus 5,399]

I personally didn't find any optimism, indeed any naive mention of it (by Jones et al), is just that. I view this film as a piece of cynical cinema, albeit drawn in old fashioned strokes, even warm sentimental ones, at times. Brilliantly deliberately so imo.

The basic message I got from the film was one very similar to that of The Pledge, in that sometimes very bad MEN go unpunished.

[Red 75]

I'd have preferred it if the film ended on Bardem though and not with Jones.

I think that it had to end with Jones. The movie's moral and philosophical weight is entirely his story. And without the dream at the end, I'm not sure I would love the movie. The touch of potential optimism, even if beyond reach, was what made the nihilism of the film bearable.

I wouldn't call it potential optimism, but rather a flicker of hope. The film is quite pessimistic, but there is still a small measure of hope in Sheriff Bell's dream. If the movie had ended with Bardem walking away I think it would have been too much.

[Quintus 5,399]

I'd have loved it! I'm a fan of realistic downbeat endings.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It was a realistic downbeat ending. The ending was perfect.

[Delorean90 42]

That's something I've never really gotten. I, for one, don't go to a film just to feel like crap afterwards. A movie doesn't have to have a bright, cheery, happy ending always, but it should at least be satisfying. I fail to see how a true downer ending can really be satisfying. If you can enlighten me, though...

[Quintus 5,399]

It was a realistic downbeat ending.

With just a really boring pinch of drawn out optimism. But who am I to complain? I love that movie, I just think its quite flawed.

As a Brit, the fact that I had to strain an ear just to understand Jones' final southern drawl, didn't exactly help the ending.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

There are no flaws with this film.

[Quintus 5,399]

Come back and say that again, when you've got some hairs around your dick.

[Delorean90 42]

Are you talking to me or Koray? What's so boring about optimism? If we didn't have optimism, we'd all go mad.

[Quintus 5,399]

I am chit-chatting with Koray.

There is nothing boring about optimism, thank God. Please don't get me wrong. The subject matter is my be-all-and-end-all.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'm confused. All of my posts have been directed at Quint. There's nothing wrong with optimism, I never said there was any. And I never said everything needs to have a downbeat ending. Quint was saying a realistic ending is a downbeat one, so I was telling him that No Country has one.

[Quintus 5,399]

Indeed, I got that!

[Red 75]

There are no flaws with this film.

There will always be some flaws, even in the best pictures ever made.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

There are no flaws with this film.

There will always be some flaws, even in the best pictures ever made.

I suppose.

[Delorean90 42]

I'm confused. All of my posts have been directed at Quint. There's nothing wrong with optimism, I never said there was any. And I never said everything needs to have a downbeat ending. Quint was saying a realistic ending is a downbeat one, so I was telling him that No Country has one.

Yeah, I was talking to Quint, too.

-Ben, who still hasn't been informed of the appeal of the downer ending

[Quintus 5,399]

Well never mind.

[QMM 4]

As a Brit, the fact that I had to strain an ear just to understand Jones' final southern drawl, didn't exactly help the ending.

Now you know what it was like watching Snatch.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

I'm confused. All of my posts have been directed at Quint. There's nothing wrong with optimism, I never said there was any. And I never said everything needs to have a downbeat ending. Quint was saying a realistic ending is a downbeat one, so I was telling him that No Country has one.

Yeah, I was talking to Quint, too.

-Ben, who still hasn't been informed of the appeal of the downer ending

Find a dictionary, look up the word "catharsis" -- there's your answer.

[Quintus 5,399]

As a Brit, the fact that I had to strain an ear just to understand Jones' final southern drawl, didn't exactly help the ending.

Now you know what it was like watching Snatch.

Hey, I could understand what the cast was saying and I still thought that movie was sh*t.

Edit: Pfft, just noticed a HARMLESS sentence under my sig congratulating Obama has been deleted. This place is f*cking pathetic. Whoever removed is a racist fascist. Stick it up your arse.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Edit: Pfft, just noticed a HARMLESS sentence under my sig congratulating Obama has been deleted. This place is f*cking pathetic. Whoever removed is a racist fascist. Stick it up your arse.

Why thank you.

Care to post elswehere for a week? Keep it up then.

[Quintus 5,399]

I gotta say, it honestly didn't occur to me that it may have been you. I apologise wholeheartedly for the insulting remarks, since I do like you actually Mr B.

I do however still take issue with the draconian censorship which is in place here and I always will. It's heavy handed and downright stupid. OUTDATED.

As for the ban 'punishment', well that one goes right over my head you see.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Thanks. No need for a ban, btw. Although you may like to cut back on statements like this:

Come back and say that again, when you've got some hairs around your dick.

Anyway.

Casino Royale

Fantastic. It's not just a great Bond film, it's not just a great action film, it's a great film period. It tells a story, it has characters that are fully fleshed out and grow throughout. It's not a checklist of set pieces being worked off and for that, I love it. It may have something to do with it being number 21 or my getting all the previous Bond films in a big box set a year or so before this one came out, but it really feels like there's 20 Bond films. And then there's this one, in a league of its own.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Excellent adaptation. I have a few gripes (Sirius' knowledge of the Marauders' map being annoyingly unexplained and the entire movie being cast in clouds and rain, which - while justifiable to set the tone - make Hogwarts look a lot less like the place of magic and wonder we'd want to visit), but most of the film is fantastic. Cuarón really uses his camera and makes this a justifiable movie, doing things he couldn't do on the page through visual storytelling - unlike the previous two films, which simply feel like they just filmed scenes from the book and cobbled them together. Examples of this are the use of reflections and recurring images such as the Whomping Willow (seemingly a funny gimmick but really a setup for the third act) and the giant clock (hinting at the time travel element) throughout.

The score is fantastic and there's wonderful unreleased material. Five stars for Johnny.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition

Decided to watch this again for the heck of it, although I may have seen it too many times already. One thing I noticed is how small scale the first hour or hour and a half or so feel. Lots of close-ups and generic forest settings. The movie doesn't really open up until we get to Rivendell (where most of the scenery actually opens up as well - we see forests and waterfalls in the background many times). I'm curious to see the other two again with this in mind. It seems like a deliberate choice to tone down the "epicness," if you will, of the first act to let the later parts have more impact.

[Quintus 5,399]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition

Decided to watch this again for the heck of it, although I may have seen it too many times already. One thing I noticed is how small scale the first hour or hour and a half or so feel. Lots of close-ups and generic forest settings. The movie doesn't really open up until we get to Rivendell (where most of the scenery actually opens up as well - we see forests and waterfalls in the background many times). I'm curious to see the other two again with this in mind. It seems like a deliberate choice to tone down the "epicness," if you will, of the first act to let the later parts have more impact.

I absolutely love the first act of that film. I like how it takes its time to introduce the key players and I simply adore The Shire scenes. That movie is my favourite.

Oh and my comment to Koray was in complete jest, albeit delivered in my usual dry manner. I should imagine he knew that.