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


Mr. Breathmask

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(Horror of) Dracula (1958) (seen before)

 

Now that's more like it! A great Cushing, better story than the 1931 one, fantastic Technicolor production design and atmosphere, kickass score (I wouldn't need much convincing to buy a proper rerecording with no narration)... A very good flick.

Not without some problems, though. I would have loved to see more of the Count Dracula instead of the Vampire Monster Dracula - moving around his castle, conversing with people, being a man as well as a beast. Not sure why it was all moved to Germany instead of Transylvania, and some pronounciation efforts are hilarously bad. And the quality of the Japanese print is horrific - maybe in this state, the complete destruction sequence and biting Mina should have been bonus features instead of being outright reincorporated in a very noticeably different quality and colour grade.

And I know better than to continue with its sequels. No, I'll take this as it is and not ruin it for myself. That's kind of it for Hammer!

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The Blair Witch Project

 

Oy, it only took me 19 years to finally see this. I remember how huge it was when it came out, but I wasn't interested. I preferred slasher killer movies back then. This just looked stupid. But the kids at school were relentless in promoting the shit out of this movie to the other kids. I copped some abuse because I casually answered them that I hadn't seen it. "Errr what are ya fuckin' scared, cunt?" Sigh. The other teen fad that year was The Matrix. All I wanted was to see TPM in peace.

 

By the way, you're not missing much here. Better "found footage" flicks have been made before and since. Yes, before. Check out the TV mockumentary Alien Invasion. Far better entertainment value.

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19 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

Thinking about watching a film I've always somehow managed to miss, but friends keep recommending...Once Upon a Time in America.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Don't watch any version that's shorter than four hours.

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Comedy of Terrors (1963)

 

My first time seeing Price in anything and I'm not disappointed. Karloff and Rathbone were a nice surprise. 

Very entertaining, but not as funny as the opening scene and the first 20-30 minutes make you expect it to be .

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Upside Down.

 

Hmm... It seemed like it could have been a good movie had Jim Sturgess not been so terrible and the fact that I just couldn't form a mental 'picture' of this whole gravity thing didn't help either.

The bits of score I heard were rather nice. I've been in musical romance mode ever since re-discovering John Williams' amazing love material from Superman. Obviously, this score was nothing like Superman, but it still worked well enough.

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On 10/11/2018 at 8:01 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Long (very much so), but positively epic, with Morricone doing his part in giving it a characteristic, haunting atmosphere.

 

23 hours ago, Richard said:

Just one. Watch it; it's good.

 

👍

 

I'm going to try to watch Once A Time in America (the uncut version, of course) and Miller's Crossing this week.  

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2 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

I'm going to try to watch Once A Time in America (the uncut version, of course) and Miller's Crossing this week.  

 

You mean the lost 6 hour version?

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On 10/7/2018 at 7:03 PM, Steve McQueen said:

Jaws is often put into the "horror" category.  

 

Not by Spielberg, who calls his movie a thriller about normal people, like you and me, and who are taken out of their comfort zone.

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23 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Not by Spielberg, who calls his movie a thriller about normal people, like you and me, and who are taken out of their comfort zone.

 

Ehh sure. But how do you categorise all that at the video shop?

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1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

Not by Spielberg, who calls his movie a thriller about normal people, like you and me, and who are taken out of their comfort zone.

 

Few and far between are the films that truly belong to any one genre. More often than not, films are of a composite genre. One of the reasons being that films often change genre around the midpoint. Alien isn't a horror film in the first half - its a science-fiction mystery film, which than becomes a science-fiction horror film.

 

Similarly, Jaws starts out as something of a horror film (kinda) but come the midpoint it turns into an adventure film.

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23 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

 

Similarly, Jaws starts out as something of a horror film (kinda) but come the midpoint it turns into an adventure film.

 

But not a thriller, like Spielberg says? 

 

23 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Few and far between are the films that truly belong to any one genre. More often than not, films are of a composite genre.

 

We should put this to test and see if that is true. Could be fun.

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18 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Few and far between are the films that truly belong to any one genre. More often than not, films are of a composite genre. One of the reasons being that films often change genre around the midpoint. Alien isn't a horror film in the first half - its a science-fiction mystery film, which than becomes a science-fiction horror film.

 

 

This is true actually. Personally, I consider Jaws to be a thriller with horror aspects. I totally have no issue with anyone referring to the latter when talking about the movie, though.

 

Poltergeist is probably considered a horror, but these days I generally regard it as vanilla thriller about the family bond.

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12 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

It is a thriller, too. Like I said, composite genre.

 

Well, we know that John Williams is responsible for the adventure aspect. His music changed the tone of the movie but Spielberg didn't seem to mind. The power of music!

 

8 minutes ago, Norma's Corpse said:

AlbumArt.jpg

 

'The Girl Is Mine' is definitely not a thriller so maybe Chen has got a point?

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If you look close enough, many movies (if not most) somewhat change genre around the midpoint.

 

The midpoint twist is an important structural "fulcrum" of the movie, and because we're so used to it, we can accept when it "splits" the film in half, whether its genre-wise, tonally, or otherwise.

 

3 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

You would think most directors want their movies to be tonally even, right?

 

Not at all. The idea that a film must adhere to any one tone is a folly of internet "critics", really.

 

After all, the name of the game of cinema is variation: variation of visuals, variation of action and - yes - variation of tone. Without variation audiences become saturated and ultimately bored.

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The mark of an astute director is often the ability to mix elements and tones for interest and excitement and still have the movie be a coherent whole. 

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23 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

If you look close enough, many movies (if not most) somewhat change genre around the midpoint.

 

The midpoint twist is an important structural "fulcrum" of the movie, and because we're so used to it, we can accept when it "splits" the film in half, whether its genre-wise, tonally, or otherwise.

 

 

Not at all. The idea that a film must adhere to any one tone is a folly of internet "critics", really.

 

After all, the name of the game of cinema is variation: variation of visuals, variation of action and - yes - variation of tone. Without variation audiences become saturated and ultimately bored.

 

Chistopher Nolan's films are very "one tone", thats what people like about him.

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On 10/12/2018 at 2:07 AM, Alexcremers said:

It's got the music of Morricone so Koray will say it's another masterpiece.

I mean, I can understand this comment in reference to some unknown Italian film, but for Once Upon A Time In America? Film and score are indeed masterpieces!

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1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

Not at all. The idea that a film must adhere to any one tone is a folly of internet "critics", really.

 

After all, the name of the game of cinema is variation: variation of visuals, variation of action and - yes - variation of tone. Without variation audiences become saturated and ultimately bored.

 

I'm pretty sure have a different understanding of the word 'tone', Chen. For me, the tone of The Silence Of The Lambs, for example, is very homogeneous or consistent all the way through. It has a consequent tone of 'uneasiness'. Just because a movie consists of action and non-action, slower or faster scenes doesn't alter a tone for me. And where did you read that it's an 'internet critics' thing? Didn't people talk about the tone of a movie before the internet? 

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20 hours ago, Holko said:

Comedy of Terrors (1963)

 

My first time seeing Price in anything and I'm not disappointed. Karloff and Rathbone were a nice surprise. 

Very entertaining, but not as funny as the opening scene and the first 20-30 minutes make you expect it to be .

 

Get rid of "very" and the italics, and you wrote my review. But seriously, first Price performance!? Damn, amigo, you gotta watch Masque of Red Death!

33 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

I watched Blade Runner for the first time last night. I always put it off because I thought it'd be pretentious and too up its own arse but I really enjoyed it! 

 

One of the dangers of having a film be celebrated for its "cerebral" nature...glad you went past all that, it's really a very humble and earnest film!

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4 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

For me, the tone of The Silence Of The Lambs, for example, is very homogeneous or consistent all the way through. It has a consequent tone of uneasiness.

 

Good example. But not all films conform to it. I adressed this issue before, and I don't wish to reproduce it, but the point is: yes, you can have more than one tone in your film.

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15 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Blade Runner is a bit pretentious, but in a good way

 

Not confrontationally of course, but is this something you would like to elaborate on, or is it more just a vibe you get from the movie?

 

Does Alien feel pretentious to you at all?

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Is the sequel worth watching? If it contradicts the Deckard is a replicant theory I don't know if I'd want to bother. Watching it it just stuck out to me that he's a replicant himself. 

 

Also, I watched the Final Cut, is there a better version to watch at a later date or have I gone for the right one?

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2 hours ago, Chen G. said:

If you look close enough, many movies (if not most) somewhat change genre around the midpoint.

 

The midpoint twist is an important structural "fulcrum" of the movie, and because we're so used to it, we can accept when it "splits" the film in half, whether its genre-wise, tonally, or otherwise.

 

 

Not at all. The idea that a film must adhere to any one tone is a folly of internet "critics", really.

 

After all, the name of the game of cinema is variation: variation of visuals, variation of action and - yes - variation of tone. Without variation audiences become saturated and ultimately bored.

 

Gotta say I agree with @Alexcremers  on this one. I think that successful films which have inconsistent tones are more the exception than the rule. It's very hard to pull off well.  I completely disagree that "variation" in tone is necessary, or even desirable, to keeping audiences entertained, and in fact I believe the opposite to be true.

 

Even your suggestion that audiences become "bored" unless there are variations in visuals seems to come a bit from left field to me.  Most films (and by most I mean the vast, vast majority) have one visual style throughout the film.  And when there's more than one style, it's usually because the director is experimenting...it's far from the norm.

 

Pacing and tension certainly may ebb and flow throughout a film, and a film has its own beats of course...but most movies nonethelss generally keep a consistent tone and visual look throughout, and when they don't, you notice.  I'm honestly a little stunned you're even making this argument!

 

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We needn't conflate variation with lack of unity, though. A film can have all sorts of different shots, and still have a unified sense to its visuals or camerawork.

 

Same goes for tone. 

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