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

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I don't think so.

[Quintus 5,399]

How sad.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its frustrating that the slow decline of the artform of film scoring happened shortly after we became enamoured with it.

[Quintus 5,399]

Very much so. But at least we'll have our memories! What setpiece cues will the kids of today have to fondly look back on? Something from one of the Avengers sequels? Big wow!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The special effects of ID4 held up incredibly well last time i saw it.

[Quintus 5,399]

Practical effects galore - not necessarily a given even in 1996.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Titanic

 

 

It's the culmination of all the hype that built since the discovery of the shipwreck in the 80s and Leo Mania. Cameron was at his peak here and it really feels more than any of his other flicks like he got off to the subject matter. Gigantic sets populated with period extras, models and cutting edge computer graphics combine forces to bring the voyage to life.

 

For being 20-something years old, it really shows no signs of spoiling. Some charmingly iffy scenes between Leo, Kate and Zane prior to the dinner are just sort of casually likeably bad, not offensive. Romantic declarations of love galore as this high seas journey comes to a sudden final stop in an hour of drama and action the likes of which I've never experienced since. The doomed ship is simply the ultimate setting for a movie and it couldn't have been done better.

[Quintus 5,399]

Why the hell is Bill Paxton dead already? It's BS.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I remember it was like so kewl and edgy bro to hate ID4 on the internet for so long when I first got a computer in 1999. As a 14-year-old I was confused because I thought everyone else loved it!

[Fabulin 3,513]

.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Plus it has Oliver Platt and Betty White!

[Chen G. 3,949]

10 hours ago, Ghostbusters II said:

it really shows no signs of spoiling. Some charmingly iffy scenes between Leo, Kate and Zane prior to the dinner are just sort of casually likeably bad, not offensive. Romantic declarations of love galore as this high seas journey comes to a sudden final stop in an hour of drama and action the likes of which I've never experienced since. The doomed ship is simply the ultimate setting for a movie and it couldn't have been done better.

 

Except for the framing device.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

2 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Except for the framing device.

 

I kinda like the TV I watched it on.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

40 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Except for the framing device.

 

Its fine, though I wonder what the point of it is?

[Chen G. 3,949]

At the top of the film it serves a very important function: to establish beyond any doubt (for audience members who have been living under a rock) that the ship is going to sink. Per Hitchcock, suspense is only ever created when the audience knows something that the characters do not. That's the case here: we know the ship is going to sink, but Rose and Jack don't, and it fuels the film.

 

Its also another excellent use of William Wyler's phrase: "if you want to shock an audience - get them almost to the point of boredom before doing so."

 

My issue is that Cameron cuts back to it near the midpoint. Its as if he's saying, through the older Rose, that "stick around, folks! the sinking will start soon!" Its just a demonstration of the director's lack of confidence with his own material, which I never enjoy, and it saps some of the tension out of the film.

 

Still an excellent film. Anywhere between a **** or a ****1/2 out of ***** for me.

 

GLADIATOR

I haven't watched this in forever. I wasn't even planning on watching it now, but from glancing at the TV screen for five minutes it just sucked me it. Few and far between are the things that movies can do which are more precious than that.

 

Sir Ridley Scott once again proves that he's one of the best producers in history. Outside of a few CG backdrops, the setting of this film looks so convicing. The actors all do a terrific job, too.

 

The camera placement is assured and the movements calculated and smooth. Its never not interesting to look at. Zimmer's score's ho-hum but Lisa Gerard's contributions fare better, even if they have since become a tired calling card for Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern subject matter.

 

How great were the ninties and early 2000s where films that could - lord forbid - entertain the masses, went on to win Best Picture and Best Director?

 

***** out of *****

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1 minute ago, Chen G. said:

How great were the ninties and early 2000s where films with actual character that could - lord forbid - entertain the masses, went on to win Best Picture and Best Director?

 

Before the dark times, before the Empire!

 

 

[Chen G. 3,949]

Meh, the Oscars were always snobbish towards entertaining movies. Heck, many film-buffs, critics and young filmmakers are like that to this day.

 

Its such a joy when a film can be the best of both worlds, as Gladiator and such films are.

[Quintus 5,399]

Stefan hasn't seen Gladiator but he's more of a Braveheart/Gibo guy anyway.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Isnt it basically the same film?

[Chen G. 3,949]

Its certainly deriviative of it, conceptually, in the sense that its a revenge story in a pre-modern setting. I hear Sir Ridley wanted Gibson for Maximus, but that he declined for obvious reasons. One of William's captains is one of Maximus', as well.

 

It certainly owes a huge debt of gratitude for Braveheart for bringing epics back. But then, so do Kingdom of Heaven (also excellent), The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

 

But Gladiator's got its own aesthetic, and it doesn't have the scale of Braveheart in the sense that the revenge story doesn't escalate into all-out war but remains within the arena. There's also a confrontation between the hero and the villain, which Braveheart very deliberately avoids. So it is its own thing. Watch it!

 

22 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Stefan hasn't seen Gladiator but he's more of a Braveheart/Gibo guy anyway.

 

You can be sure I'm more of a Braveheart guy, too. Its my second favourite film of all time. Its a sensation.

 

When I sat down, I expected to have an issue with Gladiator based on my love of Braveheart and Gladiator being deriviative of it. But, as it turns out, Gladiator's terrific in its own right.

[Quintus 5,399]

I enjoyed it so much I saw it twice!

 

I think I can probably credit Gladiator with getting me into Zimmer too.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Gladiator is easier to follow than Braveheart. It's better.

[Chen G. 3,949]

Braveheart has this sweep that Gladiator - terrific though it may be - never quite maintains. Its in many elements: in the script, the directing and the editing. But to single out one element, Gibson had by far the better cinematographer in the form of John Toll, and his film's atmosphere is hard to beat, as a result.

 

He has the better composer, too. Uileann Pipes have never sounded so haunting, and the string writing in the second part of Betrayal and Desolation may not be Horner's best music, but it is the best piece of drama he ever produced. All that melancholic writing turns that big swell of the love theme (a theme we haven't heard for quite a while at this point) into one of the most uplifting pieces ever composed. Brings one to tears.

[Alex 2,835]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

 

Really bad. That’s all.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

58 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Braveheart has this sweep that Gladiator - terrific though it may be - never quite maintains. Its in many elements: in the script, the directing and the editing. But to single out one element, Gibson had by far the better cinematographer in the form of John Toll, and his film's atmosphere is hard to beat, as a result.

 

He has the better composer, too. Uileann Pipes have never sounded so haunting, and the string writing in the second part of Betrayal and Desolation may not be Horner's best music, but it is the best piece of drama he ever produced. All that melancholic writing turns that big swell of the love theme (a theme we haven't heard for quite a while at this point) into one of the most uplifting pieces ever composed. Brings one to tears.

 

Preach it!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

15 minutes ago, Alex said:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

 

Really bad. That’s all.

 

Pfft

[A24 4,333]

Escape Room

 

 

3/10

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Looks great!

[A24 4,333]

You and what's his name will like it.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

7 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

Except for the framing device.

Wrong

5 hours ago, Quintus said:

Stefan hasn't seen Gladiator but he's more of a Braveheart/Gibo guy anyway.

Gladiator is a really really bad film. Bad acting bad music bad effects. Definitely a recipe for millennial love.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

16 hours ago, Quintus said:

Why the hell is Bill Paxton dead already? It's BS.

 

At least we have memorable appearances preserved in many of our favorite movies.

[Chen G. 3,949]

57 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

Gladiator is a really really bad film. Bad acting bad music bad effects.

 

What's it like, not liking things? I can't imagine it being fun...

[Quintus 5,399]

Joey picks things out to really hate sometimes, it's just a pastime.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Catching up on some other films from the past few months:

SULLY

A quick take on this one. I didn't like it. The pacing is mangled by overlong and repetitive flashbacks. The acting is subpar. Tom Hanks doesn't put all that much into this one, and the supporting cast is just, well, there. There were probably a number of better ways this could have been executed. Landing an airplane on the Hudson River with no casualties sounds movie-ready, no? Maybe, but this one wasn't really interesting enough to keep me going.

 

RATING: ** out of *****

CONSENSUAL STATEMENT; "Could've been better, could've been worse. It's all over the place in my opinion." -Jerry

 

THE FINEST HOURS

Another bit of a bummer, but it's not all bad. A rescue mission for a broken-in-half ship in the middle of a terrible winter storm. I wasn't feeling it. Chris Pine and Casey Affleck were the biggest names in this, and they didn't really deliver for me. I do not have much to say about this. It's a survival story, and the scenes of desperation on the half ship are the best part, nailing the neccesary suspense and life-death scenario. Everything else is pretty well forgettable.

 

Carter Burwell's score was quite hard to hear, so there's a poor takeaway.

 

RATING: ** and a half * out of *****

CONSENSUAL STATEMENT: "A mediocre rescue/survival adaptation. 'Meh' acting." -Jerry

 

CONSENSUAL STATEMENT: 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Scully?

[Chen G. 3,949]

2 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I didn't like it. The pacing is mangled by overlong and repetitive flashbacks. The acting is subpar. Tom Hanks doesn't put all that much into this one, and the supporting cast is just, well, there. There were probably a number of better ways this could have been executed. Landing an airplane on the Hudson River with no casualties sounds movie-ready, no? Maybe, but this one wasn't really interesting enough to keep me going.

  

 

Its not your usual subject for a movie, but its very Clint Eastwood, and his minimalistic directorial style really suits it. Maybe its just that I'm sick of the frenetic style of Michael Bay and his cohorts, but I found Eastwoods very simple framing and compositions to be a breath of fresh air.

 

**** out of *****

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Just now, Chen G. said:

its not your usual subject for a movie, but its very Clint Eastwood, and his minimalistic directorial style really suits it. Maybe I'm looking at it too much as the inverse of Michael Bay's style of frenetic directing, but for me Eastwood's very simple framing and shot composition is such a breath of fresh air.

 

**** out of *****

Fair enough. There's certainly a lot of room to breath, yes, and it's fairly simplistic, but that isn't reason enough for me to enjoy it that much.

[Chen G. 3,949]

Eastwood's films certainly aren't for everyone.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Just now, Chen G. said:

Eastwood's films certainly aren't for everyone.

I prefer him in front of the camera smoking and shooting than behind the camera shooting and directing.

[A24 4,333]

Sully felt like a well made 'TV movie of the week' for me, like the ones they made in the '70s. They also dealt with social problems like alcohol addiction, etc. 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

That's a good way to look at it. I can agree with that.

[A24 4,333]

I still need to watch Mule.

[John 2,032]

I liked Sully. Not terribly memorable but well-made and very well-acted. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

4 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I prefer him in front of the camera smoking and shooting than behind the camera shooting and directing.

 

I really like him behind the camera: Unforgiven, anyone? In general I find the actor-turned-director traejectory very interesting. On the face of it, there's nothing about the craft of acting which helps one turn into a good director. And yet, often actors do make for very good directors: Eastwood, Gibson, Clooney, recently Cooper.

 

With Eastwood, specifically, he has that simplistic, laconic style which comes from having been on movie-sets and seeing all the tricks, and growing past them.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 minute ago, John said:

I liked Sully. Not terribly memorable but well-made and very well-acted. 

 

I'd have given Best Supporting Actor to Aaron Eckhart's mustache that year.

[A24 4,333]

7 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

 

With Eastwood, specifically, he has that simplistic, laconic style which comes from having been on movie-sets and seeing all the tricks, and growing past them.

 

He's not impartial towards the moral aspect of his stories and he does use crude manipulative tricks to make sure that you see things his way. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

I was talking more about the style of camerawork.

 

Simple compositions, no umotivated movements or cuts to a closeup. Simple cuts, no flashy long-takes, etcetra.

 

Its refreshing in its plainness.

[A24 4,333]

Yes, that's why there's always a part that I like and a part I don't like. 

[publicist 4,643]

 

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

 

Sam Peckinpah, loose and serene here, presents us with an unorthodox, lyrical western dramedy featuring a sublime Jason Robards as a cranky desert drifter, which we follow through the final years of his life after he is is bushwhacked and left to die in the desert. By divine intervention he discovers a mudhole and turns it into a flourishing business (he sells the water to the horse coaches going by). He falls in love with a local whore (Stella Stevens in her best role) and meets a whole lot of colourful characters along the way (including David Warner as a lecher/priest, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Slim Pickens and Kathleen Freeman).

 

What makes this movie, that has its own, rambling rhythm, so affecting is its 'dying west' tinge: as the story unfolds, the uncivilized wild west of old is on the verge of transforming into the industrialized, orderly 20th century US of A - Peckinpah uses the oblige motif of a car supplanting the old carts - and because the movie doesn't push it and Robards accepts with a peaceful grin that he has to make way for the progress to come, it carries a subtle-yet-profound weight at the end.

 

The low comedy is kept in check, and though the cast is wonderful, at two hours the picture could either have lost 20 minutes or used some alternate storyline to become a real classic but it is pretty swell as it is. DP Lucien Ballard gives it a wonderful look - you can't take your eyes off it - and Jerry Goldsmith's score, which was the real reason i watched this again after so many years, totally gets the poetic soul of the thing. Goldsmith wrote the carefree title ballad, practically a character in itself, mixing silliness with lyrical eloquence, and fuels it with some honky-tonk and bluegrass country stuff (for the comedy bits). Peckinpah found a local singer in a watering hole near the set, who contributes one or two pleasing hippie songs that Goldsmith integrates well with his stuff ('The Guest' is a wonderful love scene that gains a lot by the coupled tunes).

 

The movie has easily slipped in my personal western Top 10 (if such a thing would exist) and gets a hearty recommendation.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

I'll keep that one in mind. I'm just seeing Robards now in Once Upon a Time in the West.