What Is The Last Film You Watched? (Older Films)

[Quintus 5,399]

Still clubbing at your age? Lol

[publicist 4,643]

I know. Just to keep me away from film music.

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

On 9.12.2017 at 4:47 PM, Alexcremers said:

 

Without needing to think about it.

 

The "thinking about leaving wife and kids" scene was cut because it would make Roy more human (he's an alien in disguise). It will be reinstated for the 50th anniversary.

[Holko 9,520]

The Empire Strikes Back (Revisited Edition with most of the music restored by me) Movie - 9/10, Edition - 10/10

 

(Second viewing of this version, grew up with the dubbed 97, wathed the 2004 on DVD a few times, lately been watching the Despecialized.)

 

I gotta say, I've always preferred Star Wars over Empire, even though I recognize it's technically superior. It has some of my favourite parts of the whole saga (Battle of Hoth and the Asteroid Chase), but they all come a bit early in the movie and after these it kind of struggles to keep my attention. I'm not saying I don't love it, I still give both a 9 out of 10, I just love Star Wars a bit more.

 

About this edition. Do you know that movie you used to obsess over in your childhood, watching it every day? You have such fond memories of it, you could almost recite the whole thing, but you haven't seen it in more than 15-20 years? Partly because you left it behind as part of your childhood, partly because you know it can never live up to those idealised memories. Well, Empire:Revisited is THAT version of the movie you remember it being, but couldn't recapture until now. It's exactly the same, only better. All the effects are cleaned up, horrible mattes are replaced with actual models and miniature dioramas, continuity mistakes you never even knew existed are fixed so seamlessly you wouldn't even notice if nobody told you, the colours have never looked so good (the deep golden shine of 3PO against the dark blue shadows of the Hoth hangar, the beautifully redone blue and red lightsabers in the hands of two black silhouettes clashing against the orange and blue of the Carbonite Freezer room...), and the Battle of Hoth is simply spectacular. Even in its original form it's my favourite Star Wars battle, but in this one, effects are cleaned up or redone, all subtle mistakes are fixed, the geography's cleared up and perfectly established, the number of the Walkers can be immediately assessed in every other shot, we can see the battle strategies evolving instead of a few isolated takedown maneuvers... it's like seeing it for the first time again, only better. The only change I can think of that can be controversial is adding subtle movements to Yoda's mouth so it's not just an up and down puppet mouth, but even that is done restrained and tastefully. I can only recommend this one to everyone, it's an amazing counterpart to the Despecialized.

[Fancyarcher 350]

Macbeth (1948) - Interesting Shakespeare effort from Welles. The black and white nature works to the films advantage as it has some killer lighting and cinematography. While it does feel stagey, it still has a lot of impressive sets as well, and good performances. Also despite complaints I understood the accents just fine. - 7.5 / 10

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

12 hours ago, Quintus said:

Still clubbing at your age? Lol

 

Clubbing? Those poor seals!

[Holko 9,520]

Return of the Jedi (Semi-Specialized, Regraded Edition) Movie - 7.5/10, Edition - 7/10

 

Grew up with the dubbed 97 version, watched the 2004 on DVD a few times, lately been watching this and the Despecialized.

 

This used to be my favourite when I was a kid, because Ewoks were cute and funny. I still enjoy it, but it's not NEARLY on the same level as the previous two. It's still definitely above the prequels in competence and character investent. 

 

Unfortunately both the theatrical and the bluray have flaws which make them hard to watch (the bluray is worse one, though - even though I've never subjected myself to those pieces of shite and I never intend to), so my preferred way is this horribly Frankensteined version - Lapti Nek, Victory Celebration, original Sarlacc Pit, Shaw as Anakin Ghost, no blinking Ewoks. no NOO, no CGI abominations shat a layer above the puppet abominations, improved lightsaber colours.

 

Also, the music editing in this is goddamn atrocious!

[A24 4,331]

The Emperor saved it!

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

He's alright.

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

And now he's back as Snoke...

[Holko 9,520]

1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

The Emperor saved it!

 

 

Oh yes, and the Vader-Luke-Emperor storyline is the absolute best thing about the whole movie. I also enjoy most of the Jabba stuff in the way I enjoy Phantom Menace - it's very dumb and goofy, but a fun variety, and a lot of creativity went into it. Most of the Ewok battle slapstick is just dumb.

[KK 3,307]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

And now he's back as Snoke...

 

Well stumbling onto spoilers is always fun... 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

14 minutes ago, KK said:

 

Well stumbling onto spoilers is always fun... 

 

 

I'll be very surprised if it's actually a spoiler  

[Quintus 5,399]

Anyone who openly spoils the new Star Wars film on here should be perma banned immediately, I'm not joking. 

[Jay 37,350]

Han Solo Is Killed By His Son Kylo Ren

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

Han Solo Is Killed By His Son Kylo Ren

 

...with the great plot twist that Han's not really dead, and he returns in TLJ disguised at the Rose character.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Seeing it tomorrow at 1pm, GMT+1.

 

After that all bets are off! 

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

1 minute ago, Stefancos said:

Seeing it tomorrow at 1pm, GMT+1.

 

After that all bets are off! 

 

I bet it'll be good.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I will tell you all about it seconds after I leave the cinema!

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

3 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

I will tell you all about it seconds after I leave the cinema!

 

 

 

rogerebert.com gave it 4 of 4 stars, but I don't want to read the review before watching the film...

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Seeing it tomorrow at 1pm, GMT+1.

 

Wednesday afternoon?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

SPOILER

 

Spoiler

There are scenes set in space.

 

[publicist 4,643]

9 hours ago, Stefancos said:

I will tell you all about it seconds after I leave the cinema!

 

Well-considered reviews are the best!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I bet nothing much really happens in it and spoilers are pretty much all hype and non-existent.

[A24 4,331]

I hear a lot happens but nothing really happens. It's all stage setting for the next episode. You leave the theatre thinking Disney is going to make them forever.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

We didn't need that film to think that.

[A24 4,331]

 What will you people do knowing you won't live forever to see the next Star Wars movie? 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

 What will you people do knowing you won't live forever to see the next Star Wars movie? 

 

I'll just learn to live with it.

[Jay 37,350]

The Force Awakens

 

 

I'm seeing The Last Jedi tonight, so last night I rewatched The Force Awakens.  I saw this film in theaters 2 years ago and didn't like it, but figured I should see it again now on the eve of the new one.  I was wondering if my thoughts on the film would change at all... they didn't.

 

I think the film starts off completely fine, and is pretty good for a while.  Around the time Han shows up, it starts going off the rails and never recovers for me.

The problem with this film is pretty much entirely the script.  I love the new characters and the actors who play them, I love the score, I even admire JJ's direction.  I noticed a bunch of shots that were genuinely well-composed, and the general pacing and individual scene setups of the film are fine.

 

But the screenplay lets ALL of that down.  Poe is introduced as a cool charismatic character you want to follow, then disappears for most of the movie only to return in a very small pilot role that could have been anyone.  Finn is introduced as a very unique character in the SW canon - a stormtrooper that doesn't just follow orders - but then all he wants to do is abandon everyone and go hide.  Rey is the same archetype as Luke, sure, but Ridley's performance and charisma instantly elevates the character to something more, but then she gets abducted and ends up perfectly flying new ships and using lightsabers and controlling the minds of stormtroopers even though Luke had to be taught to do all that... I dunno.

The real biggest problem with the script are two-fold: its "coincidence plotting" and nostalgia-reliance.  The opening credits set up some characters and a macguffin, the opening of the film follows nicely from there as the map piece mentioned in the crawl goes from Sydow to Poe to BB8 to Finn and Rey and they escape off the planet.  But then they just HAPPEN to bump into Han and Chewie for no REAL reason - its EXTREMELY LAZY scripting.  And once we get there, its the worst action sequence in the film (like JJ was scared to let the film go too lot without action) and then its just a big nostalgia trip (retreading ANH plot) until the end.  The detour to Maz's place is equally poorly scripted, with her just HAPPENING to have Luke's lightsaber, no explanation given for why... when Rey touches, which gives her a weird flashback for some unexplained reason, etc etc.  The film kinda drags to the end, the final battle stuff isn't as exciting as it should have been.

 

Once all the "planet destroying" stuff is over with and we're back to the mystery the crawl sets up of where Luke is, and Rey is now in a place where she'd rather go find him then go back to Jakku and wait for her parents, the film comes together again, but by then there's only minutes left and we end on the never-ending helicopter show of her holding out his lightsaber.

 

I hope Last Jedi is better!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think the film starts off completely fine, and is pretty good for a while.  Around the time Han shows up, it starts going off the rails and never recovers for me.

 

The first 35, 40 minutes are absolutely smashing yes. Tight, fun, exiting but after they leave Jakku....i dunno what happened.

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

I have no problem with Finn being portrayed as a human character, with a lot of fear to overcome. And Poe is the new Han, so he had to disappear.

 

At first I was also thinking it was weird that Rey could control the mind of the stormtrooper, but I guess she just picked it up from Kylo Ren when he tried to access her mind, and she had probably heard stories about jedi mind control.

 

Han obviously tracked the Falcon once it left the planet and came within tracking distance to his freighter.

 

I agree that the shot of Rey holding out the lightsaber at the end dragged on for too long. Luke has clearly gotten slow, or, to be fair, Rey should have introduced herself as any normal person would do.

[Quintus 5,399]

Poe is the absolute replacement for the Solo character now, and it works. The casting there is impeccable. 

[Jay 37,350]

The casting of the whole film is really great.  All the new leads shine, as do all the villains, and all the little side roles too.

The screenplay just doesn't give them enough, or the right things, to do.

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

The first 35, 40 minutes are absolutely smashing yes. Tight, fun, exiting but after they leave Jakku....i dunno what happened.

 

I believe it has to do with Abrahms, prior to SW, having been involved in an infamous little TV show called Lost - to a much greater extent than he gave the impression of when he was announced as the director of TFA. That also started well, but then... Maybe a more fitting episode title for TFA would be Lost in Space?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Didn't JJ only direct the pilot?

 

That was ages ago anyway.

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

1 minute ago, Stefancos said:

Didn't JJ only direct the pilot?

 

That was ages ago anyway.

 

I'm joking.  But I do believe Abrahms underplayed his role in Lost when he was announced for TFA, saying he only did the pilot.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jurassic Shark 12,063]

4 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

The whole map business is really hazy... So, Luke went into exile, wanted to retire from the world, yet he apparently left a map to lead to him? And how did Sydow's character got that map? Did Luke give it to him? Did Luke even make that map? Why was that map split into two parts?

 

I know, some are going to say: "Oh, fuck's sake, we don't need everything to be explained in detail!!". Sure, it's all nice and well, but here we're talking about a central plot point: basically the whole plot revolves around that map leading to Luke. But nothing about it explained. It's just "Shut up and roll with it". Some might be able to do that with no problem, but to me, it feels like too convenient a plot point to really ignore all those questions (especially since there's even a dotted trajectory on the map going from point A to point B (fuck knows what point A is supposed to be. See what I did there?).

 

And no, please, don't say: "But's it's explained in a book..." It's not in the film, it's not explained at all.

 

It will be explained in the Special Edition, when George Lucas buys back the rights.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

The birds.

 

I usually avoid old movies like this because the obsolete sound usually reduces the enjoyment for me, but I felt I had to try this one because it's kind of iconic and, well, nothing good was on anyway.

It all lasted too long. The women, minus Cathy, sounded really weird and artificial and Tippi Hedren's voice sounded so artificial that I had severe trouble trying to guess her age. Also don't understand why Melanie had to come after Mitch, her character is just odd and, let's see... oh yes, why exactly did the birds attack? Wouldn't an explanation have been nice after two hours?

There was no score in this movie and that worked quite well. Despite everything coming from one speaker, the tension was always palpable, even though lots of birds sounded like angry cats to me.

[Jay 37,350]

22 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

The whole map business is really hazy... So, Luke went into exile, wanted to retire from the world, yet he apparently left a map to lead to him? And how did Sydow's character got that map? Did Luke give it to him? Did Luke even make that map? Why was that map split into two parts?

 

I know, some are going to say: "Oh, fuck's sake, we don't need everything to be explained in detail!!". Sure, it's all nice and well, but here we're talking about a central plot point: basically the whole plot revolves around that map leading to Luke. But nothing about it explained. It's just "Shut up and roll with it". Some might be able to do that with no problem, but to me, it feels like too convenient a plot point to really ignore all those questions (especially since there's even a dotted trajectory on the map going from point A to point B (fuck knows what point A is supposed to be. See what I did there?).

 

And no, please, don't say: "But's it's explained in a book..." It's not in the film, it's not explained at all.

 

Oh don't get me wrong, I don't think its satisfactorily explained later, but all that doesn't take away from how good the first 45 or whatever of The Force Awakens is.  The film just abandons everything it was doing for the next hour and a half before suddenly returning to it after minimal character growth forced on my coincidence & nostalgia plotting.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Oh, my post wasn't against anything you said. 

 

Just some random thoughts about that whole map business I wanted to mention. I simply quoted your post as an excuse to bring that up.

[Jay 37,350]

After watching both films in the sequel trilogy back to back and thinking about the differences between how JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson handled certain things, I really just am not expecting Episode 9 to be any good at all.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

After watching both films in the sequel trilogy back to back and thinking about the differences between how JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson handled certain things, I really just am not expecting Episode 9 to be any good at all.

 

I would not come to that conclusion straight away, but I understand your concern.

Johnson brought quite a different vibe to his film. Both as a writer and a director. And now JJ has got to follow up on that. If JJ is gonna do "his thing" again than the middle chapter is really gonna stand out like a sore thumb. It would probably have been better if the third one had been left to a different film maker rather than the one who did the first film. (not Trevorrow though).

 

But who knows.....

[Quintus 5,399]

10 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

The birds.

 

I usually avoid old movies like this because the obsolete sound usually reduces the enjoyment for me, but I felt I had to try this one because it's kind of iconic and, well, nothing good was on anyway.

It all lasted too long. The women, minus Cathy, sounded really weird and artificial and Tippi Hedren's voice sounded so artificial that I had severe trouble trying to guess her age. Also don't understand why Melanie had to come after Mitch, her character is just odd and, let's see... oh yes, why exactly did the birds attack? Wouldn't an explanation have been nice after two hours?

There was no score in this movie and that worked quite well. Despite everything coming from one speaker, the tension was always palpable, even though lots of birds sounded like angry cats to me.

 

I imagine this film to be nigh on impossible to get through for a blind person. As a person who can see, I wouldn't change the ending. It's an extremely effective film for what it is, but it was always a bit too long, I agree.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

For a 60's film, it has incredibly ambitious special effects.

 

It's basically like a 1963 Roland Emmerich disaster flick directed by Hitchcock.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Sorry, "obsolete sound"? Please elaborate.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Sounded alright.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

In 1963, sure!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Can't expect everything to be friggin Dolby Atmos.