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


Mr. Breathmask

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Badlands.

 

Rather good story, but told very superficially. The lack of any police presence throughout the movie didn't really make sense and I lost interest as the weird conclusion unfolded.

Most of the music was really good and interesting, but it could have been more.

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A Lonely Place To Die - a group of friends on a hiking-and-climbing holiday in the Scottish Highlands stumble across a child being held captive in a pit, free her and head for the nearest town in order to get her to safety and inform the authorities ... however, it's not long before the kidnappers are in pursuit. 

 

Quite engaging chase thriller, with Melissa George and Sean Harris.  

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Ocean’s Eight

 

It’s all completely... fine? I enjoyed the cast (sans Sandra Bullock) but there was so little for any of them to really do. Not as much humor as there needed to be; and everything is planned and executed perfectly. There was no suspense whatsoever. They tried to pull off the same structure as the other films with this big reveal at the end that the audience never saw coming, but it was really nothing important to the plot at all. No antagonist, nothing. Just hey let’s steal these jewels. Very redundant film that kills George Clooney off screen for no relevant reason. 

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Apocalypse Now on Netflix. Never watched it. That's a long movie. I watched the first part, that's enough for today!

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Waitress.

 

Pretty good, great actors of whom Nathan Fillion was the weakest, but too many corny (pie) scenes and some pacing issues. Hope the baby will be okay. As for me, I had pancakes tonight and I'm NOT having an affair.

Nice score and some good songs, though I found the choral baroque music underscoring the kisses really strange.

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Mission: Impossible

The Mission: Impossible series certainly has its highs and lows, but between each and every one of the six installments thus far there's a general sense of top secret fun. Being a spy is the next coolest thing to being a Jedi, at least from my memories of childhood (although I was quite fond of cowboys too!). I had previously seen bits and pieces of this series, but I'd never given it my full time and attention. Over the past two weeks I buckled down and swept through them all at my convenience, and I had a very good time.

 

The first film is probably the best, at least from a critical standpoint. If you're looking for the most popcorn worthy I'd certainly place my vote with Rogue Nation, although all of the last three are very much in the same vein. The second is the one most people dislike, and while it has its flaws and pluses, it's not half bad. There's something to be said for Woo's contrasting techniques- one of chaotic action and the other of extended sequences of slow motion. The latter can be frustrating, especially it almost draws out an otherwise normal scene to the point of laughable melodrama. And then there's his trademark dove (that was interesting). With the third movie, Abrams lens flares can be quite deterring. With Bird and then McQuarrie, there's a fine balance of action and espionage, the mark that the series may have found its true character. The first film is espionage, the second is action, the third gains some balance, and the final three strike it so very well. Predictability isn't really a problem for me here. And the action sequences and (ahem) stunts are terrific. Like, really good! I was also on board with most of the characters, especially the main crew of Benji, Luther, and of course Ethan. In a nutshell, the first is generally a great movie, the second is an acquired taste, the third attempts to find footing for the franchise, and the most recent three are splendid popcorn action flicks. My rankings are listed below. In this case I just went by my favourites, which is not neccesarily the same order as it would be from a critical standpoint.

 

Score

1. Rogue Nation

2. M:I 

3. M:I III

4. Ghost Protocol

5. Fallout

6. M:I II

 

Film

1. Rogue Nation

2. M:I

3. Fallout

4. Ghost Protocol

5. M:I III

6. M:I II

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40 minutes ago, Richard said:

Did you watch APOCALYPSE, NOW: REDUX?

 

It seems to be the original restored one of 2 hours and a half. The image is beautiful.

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3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Ocean’s Eight

 

It’s all completely... fine? I enjoyed the cast (sans Sandra Bullock) but there was so little for any of them to really do. Not as much humor as there needed to be; and everything is planned and executed perfectly. There was no suspense whatsoever. They tried to pull off the same structure as the other films with this big reveal at the end that the audience never saw coming, but it was really nothing important to the plot at all. No antagonist, nothing. Just hey let’s steal these jewels. Very redundant film that kills George Clooney off screen for no relevant reason. 

 

Indeed. Caught this on my last flight. Great cast running a painfully dull carbon copy of the original film.

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Johnny English (2003)

It's hard not to notice that English feels like a slightly more intelligent extension of Mr. Bean. Nonetheless, if there's one humor I can appreciate it's British humor (after witty, morbid jokes of course). I'm game for anything Rowan Atkinson. Of course, some of the laughs are a bit ruder than I'd normally like (including one scene where the archbishop of England's rear end is on full display), but it's all rather tame. It's quite clear that at its heart Johnny English is a good natured Bond parody, essentially, with Atkinson's on-screen persona smeared all over it. It all feels nice and easy, almost flamboyant, even in moments of top secret shenanigans. I don't have access to the sequel at the moment, so I'm jumping to 2018's Johnny English Strikes Again. So far it's quite funny. I don't know. Some may not have the patience for the unintelligent, sometimes slapstick comedy, but I take it as a breath of fresh air. They're meant to entertain after all, and they succeed.

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The Terminal

 

Haven’t seen this one in a long time so it prompted me to finally pick up the blu-ray. Lovely score from Williams. Good cast; Kaminski adds too much glow per usual.

 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

 

Really enjoyed this one. Great production design, with a lively score from Shapiro and some fantastic locale shots. Nice feel good flick. 

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Leon: The Professional.

Ugh.  A masterpiece built on a very shaky foundation.  I'd love to love this movie.  All the elements are here.  Slick editing and camerawork. Compelling performances (even if Oldman leaps gleefully over the top every time he's on screen.  It tires.)  A certain poetic brutality going hand in hand with flickering humanity.  But, with the story, Besson seems to be concerned mostly with declaring and defending his own improprieties.  He exploits Mathilda as a character and Portman as a child actress.  It is all the more upsetting because he had all the necessary ingredients to do something different.  Leon and Mathilda, both in their own ways immature and in the wasteland of lost innocence, could have had a bond much closer to a unique paternal/fraternal one.  Sure, Mathilda is on the verge of puberty, but any emotional confusion on her part could have been dealt with subtly, like when she juts out her shoulder to Leon at the start of the film, or when she changes channels from cartoons to the news later in the film, and then resolved in a non-problematic way.  And I rather like how Besson has Mathilda want to live Leon's life, but then having her change her mind since Leon had been inspired by her to want to live a normal life.   But, having Mathilda dance and dress seductively for Leon and the camera, having her publicly declare Leon is her lover, and having her walk around in his underwear all leave little room for any less damning interpretation of Besson's intentions.   

Plus, he had an underage girlfriend himself at the time, and cast her in the movie as a prostitute or something.  Classy.

 

Anyway, on the strength of the filmmaking, 3/4, and that's being too kind.

 

Le Mans

That is more like it.  I think only racing fans can truly appreciate how great this one is.  Re-watching, I can fault the rather slow pace, particularly at the beginning, but that does not change the fact that racing has never been put to the screen as accurately as this.

4/4 

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Thor 2 is one of the worst MCU films, but it's also one of the ones most relevant to Endgame, so it's kind of in an awkward position in that sense.  In the end I'd proper err on the side of checking it out, you at least get to see Natalie Portman's character get to do more, and it sets up a ton of stuff useful for both Thor 3 and Endgame.

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I agree that IM3 is one of the worse entries, but if Thor 2 is bad, what does that make Thor 3? I really really did not like that one, easily my least favourite MCU entry. IM3 merely… misses something.

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14 minutes ago, Jay said:

Thor 2 is one of the worst MCU films, but it's also one of the ones most relevant to Endgame, so it's kind of in an awkward position in that sense.  In the end I'd proper err on the side of checking it out, you at least get to see Natalie Portman's character get to do more, and it sets up a ton of stuff useful for both Thor 3 and Endgame.

Or check out a some sort of Cliff notes version or something.

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20 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I agree that IM3 is one of the worse entries, but if Thor 2 is bad, what does that make Thor 3? I really really did not like that one, easily my least favourite MCU entry. IM3 merely… misses something.

 

This whole Marvel idea I had is sounding worser by the minute 🤔😲

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As I recall, I really enjoyed phase one minus Hulk. Phase two only has Cap 2 and Avengers 2 as highlights. In phase 3 only Cap 3, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and Black Panther stood out. I'm not saying the other movies are bad: they're very decent, if sometimes a little predictable and then there's Captain Marvel being too feminist-focused (we already have Black Widow). I just wish I would have watched them less quickly. I took ages to finish phase 1 and then caught up much faster, which might be why I still really like most of phase 1, or maybe they're just better, or maybe there are too many now.

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16 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

and then there's Captain Marvel being too feminist-focused (we already have Black Widow)

 

:blink:

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I've consulted a fair few "essentials" lists for these movies, and Thor 2 was never on any of them; however, I did pick up on mention that it features something useful or semi important to the bigger story in a single scene, which I was maybe going to just find on YouTube, if I could be bothered to. I'm thinking it's probably being overemphasised though and I'll be fine watching End Game without it.

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