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

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Zombeavers. Its the best zombie beaver film I've ever seen. 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Wind River

 

Brutal. Riveting. A contemporary Fargo. Love the slow pacing and Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ haunting score. Disliked Elizabeth Olsen’s terrible acting, thought it and a handful of some genre clichés weren’t enough to bring this one down. Great film. 

[Jay 37,318]

I liked it too, though not as much as Hell or High Water or Sicario

Elizabeth Olsen?  Terrible acting?  She's one of the best actresses working today!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

She's okay.

[Jay 37,318]

What actresses working today under the age of 30 are better?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I find them to mostly be interchangeable.

[A24 4,326]

I only know her from Marvel flicks and didn't know she was regarded as one of the best actors working today. 

[Jay 37,318]

She's wasted in the Marvel flicks

 

She's great in Martha Marcy May Marlene, Very Good Girls, Oldboy, Ingrid Goes West, etc

[Wojo 2,453]

Watched Age of Ultron last night. She's only there to add Jean Grey's powers to the team, and for her respectable plunging neckline in that open shirt. Since Natasha doesn't show anything other than tight outfits. 

 

But Linda Cardellini... 

[Jay 37,318]

Linda Cardellini is nice, she's in both Daddy's Home films if you want more of her

[Wojo 2,453]

I'm wishing for ER to show up on the streaming services. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

What actresses working today under the age of 30 are better?

 

Julie Christie.

She'll always be under the age of 30, to me 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The Seven Year Itch

 

My god, it's like Billy Wilder knows me somehow. Immensely funny movie.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

Its not my favourite Wilder, but I like it a lot, and not just for that shot. Tom Ewell is great.

[John 2,032]

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

 

Wonderful film. The characters are very simple but well-defined, the story is streamlined and amusing, the dialogue is sharp and witty, and the film overall looks lively and whimsical, like a children's book come to life. I can see how some might find his shot composition and cinematography a bit rigid, but I feel like every frame is a painting. It's carefully crafted in a way that is beautiful and unique among any filmmaker I've seen. Very much looking forward to seeing his latest stop-motion film, Isle of Dogs.

 

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

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

Huge Anderson fan here. Went to see Mr Fox with two friends, audience mostly kids with their parents. I had been sceptical of Anderson and animation but it's a spectacularly neat film. I have high hopes for Isle of Dogs.

 

--

 

sadly my last film was nowhere near Anderson. Being the new F1 season, Rush

 

boy, to go back in time to the 70s and see Hunt in his prime. Yes, one hit wonder I suppose with the championship but the man had a certain legend. 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

What actresses working today under the age of 30 are better?

Emma Stone 

Alicia Vikander

[KK 3,307]

Saoirse Ronan

Margot Robbie

Mia Wasikowska

Brie Larson

 

[Fancyarcher 350]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - rewatch, though it was my first time watching the extended cut, which unsurprisingly goes on way longer then it should - 7 / 10

[Koray Savas 2,251]

23 minutes ago, KK said:

Saoirse Ronan

Margot Robbie

Mia Wasikowska

Brie Larson

 

Margot is under 30?! Hot damn. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

She was only born in 1990. She's a baby!

[Fancyarcher 350]

6 hours ago, John said:

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

 

Wonderful film. Being a fan of stop-motion features, especially those by Aardman and Laika, I thought I'd give this a watch. The characters are very simple but well-defined, the story is streamlined and amusing, the dialogue is sharp and witty, and the film overall looks lively and whimsical, like a children's book come to life. I can see how some might find his shot composition and cinematography a bit rigid, but I feel like every frame is a painting. It's carefully crafted in a way that is beautiful and unique among any filmmaker I've seen. Very much looking forward to seeing his latest stop-motion film, Isle of Dogs.

 

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

 

Fantastic Mr. Fox is awesome. I'm really looking forward to Isle of Dogs. Anderson excels tremendously with stop motion. 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

41 minutes ago, Margo Channing said:

She was only born in 1990. She's a baby!

My age!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

10 hours ago, Strangways said:

sadly my last film was nowhere near Anderson. Being the new F1 season, Rush

 

boy, to go back in time to the 70s and see Hunt in his prime. Yes, one hit wonder I suppose with the championship but the man had a certain legend. 

 

That James Hunt, he was "a modern-day warrior" 

[Jay 37,318]

On 3/25/2018 at 10:05 PM, Koray Savas said:

Disliked Elizabeth Olsen’s terrible acting

 

On 3/26/2018 at 10:44 AM, Jay said:

Elizabeth Olsen?  Terrible acting?  She's one of the best actresses working today!

 

On 3/26/2018 at 10:50 AM, Margo Channing said:

She's okay.

 

On 3/26/2018 at 10:53 AM, Jay said:

What actresses working today under the age of 30 are better?

 

15 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Emma Stone 

Alicia Vikander

 

Are you joking?

 

13 hours ago, KK said:

Saoirse Ronan

Margot Robbie

Mia Wasikowska

Brie Larson

 

 

Oh yea, Saoirse is talented indeed!

But the others, no way!  Especially Margot Robbie, you must be joking!

 

I'm not talking about favorites here, who you personally enjoy watching the most, I'm talking about raw acting talent. Elizabeth Olsen can act circles around all these ladies other then Saoirse.

Have you guys seen Martha Marcy May Marlene or Ingrid Goes West?

[KK 3,307]

I've seen Ingrid Goes West. She didn't exactly blow my mind, not that that role seemed especially challenging anyways.

 

I like Olsen, but I haven't seen enough to compete with the range of the actresses above. 

 

And Margot is fantastic. Have you seen I, Tonya? What do you have against her!

[Jay 37,318]

I saw I Tonya, it was great!  Margot was good in it for sure.  She's perfectly fine, nothing amazing.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

 

Finally got to see it. I'm conflicted on this movie. I can see why it's so divisive, and I think the backlash relates to the fact that the core conflict of the story has been smothered by all this other unnecessary crap they threw in for whatever reason. It felt like I watched a rough cut they rushed into release, and this is the overstuffed Frankenstein's monster we're now stuck with. I'm not against the story beats in the Luke/Rey/Kylo arc, but it needed a stronger focus with the aid of a more assertive editor. As corny as ROTS was, it moved like force lightening. But TLJ meanders for ages, you'd think they'd know better than that.

[Holko 9,499]

A tanú (The Witness)

 

An amazing Hungarian satire (at parts quite grotesque) about the communist dictatorship and personal cult of the late 40s-early 50s. Made in 69, it was banned until 79, then instantly became a classic, and is looked upon as one of the best works in Hungarian cinema. 

 

József Pelikán, a not exactly bright, but peaceful and kind dike-keeper gets in prison facing a possible death sentence for slaughtering his pig at home (that part's no satire, it made you enemy of the state), but gets out and put into various high and honourable positions by Comrade Virág, a creepy secret statesman (not really managing with any of them, usually at the expense of Comrade Bástya, another respected high-ranking statesman) when they discover he was friends with a politician who fell out of favour with the leadership, and can be used as the crown witness in a spectacularly ridiculous show trial (hence the title). 

 

The DVD has a compilation of various newsreel footage (with glourious propaganda voiceover) from the era, and there I could see some grotesque parts can basically be considered hot-by-shot remakes. For example, a scene where Pelikán's house burns down, and Virág immediately orders it to be rebuilt in under a day, just for Pelikán to realise late in the afternoon that the builders forgot the doors and windows, is shot, staged and scored in the exact style of footage of a "great soviet master demonstrating his quick and efficient building technique", which is just throwing bricks onto each other with still liquid mortar flowing all over the place, but it's quick all right. Virág and Bástya are also directly based on real-life politicians.

 

There are many memorable scenes - Pelikán becomes the director of the amusement park, and rebuilds the Spirit Train (filled with scary, ghostly apparitions) into the Train of the Socialist Spirit, replacing the imagery, but keeping the sound effects, causing Bástya to faint at a jumpscare shriek paired with his own portrait - Comrade Virág visits him at home with his two "sons", but when a child makes a popping noise in the next room, they immediately get their machine guns out, shoot all the lights and cover every exit - Pelikán becomes the leader of the Hungarian Orange Institute (whatever the filthy West can do, we can do, too!), they manage to grow a single orange for the opening ceremony, but his son eats it, and it has to be replaced with a lemon, so Bástya has to smile along while eating it not to blow the cover (Hungarian Orange - a bit more yellow, a bit more sour, but ours!) - this last quote is still one of the most popular phrases from the movie, used daily, along with "Life is not a whipped-cream-cake!" and "The international situation is ever escalating!". Through its grotesque satire, it managed to capture the era not in a documentary, or dramaticized fashion, but exactly how people were talking about things at home (whispering behind 3 locked doors so the Authority of National Defense wouldn't come for them in the middle of the night in their Big Black Car), and that's why it became so relatable and legendary.

 

It was at a festival for banned films, it was in Cannes in '81 and had a number of premieres in other countries, but I guess a foreigner, especially a non-european can never have the same attachment to it, hell, most won't even understand large parts of it unless they read up a little bit on the history and culture of that era - by now, even we, the younger generation have to do that to fully get it (thankfully!). But it still remains one of my favourite movies of all time.

[Fancyarcher 350]

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug - 7.5 / 10

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

@Holko, I'm afraid that I know precious little about Hungarian cinema, but I'm willing to learn. Can you advise about you favourite films, directors, etc?

[Holko 9,499]

On 2018. 03. 28. at 8:34 AM, Richard said:

Can you advise about you favourite films, directors, etc?

 

Whew. I'll start off with a quick list of musts in no particular order. I unfortunately have no idea of the foreign popularity and availability for most of these. Most DVDs have English subs, but it's impossible to figure out which ones are OOP, and if not, where one can buy them, even here.

 

Mágnás Miska (1949) - Film adaptation of the comedy operetta about class differences in the 1910s, still holds the record for the all time most cinema viewings.

Isten hozta, őrnagy úr! (Welcome, Major!) (1968) - Grotesque dark comedy about a family worrying at home about their son fighting in WW1, having to deal with the nervous ticks of his major visiting them on leave, in order for him to go easy on the son, who unbeknownst to them had already died on the front.

A Tanú (The Witness) (1969) - see above

Macskafogó (Cat City) (1986) - I know this one was kinda popular internationally. Cartoon about heroic mice rebelling against the cat government, playing with/parodying a lot of action, cop and spy movie tropes.

A Pál utcai fiúk (The Boys of Paul Street) (1969) - Shot in English and adapted from the book that is obligatory reading here as well as in many other countries, it's basically a miniature war story with boys around 1900 who are fighting for the ownership of an empty lot as their playspace with themes of heroism, bravery, honesty, and at the end, dealing with loss.

Egri Csillagok (Stars of Eger/Eclipse of the Crescent Moon) (1968) - What I hold as the last of the Hollywood Historical Epics genre, adapted again from a book that's obligatory reading (meaning literally everyone watches this at least once in their life instead of reading the book), it's about defending the castle of Eger from the invading Turkish forces in 1552, with an epic love story mixed in, of course. 

Valahol Európában (Somewhere in Europe) (1948) - A group of orphaned kids in WWII run from the authorities after living on stolen food for some time, and find an abandoned castle with an old conductor living inside who teaches them about freedom, rights and morals, then eventually fight back against the adults who want to punish them. (It's about ideals and the horrors of war, not the cheesy kid empowerment movie I managed to make it sound like )

Csöpi Quadrilogy (1980-1991) - A series of (standalone) crime/investigation/comedy movies with over-the-top fight sequences (inspired heavily by Bud Spencer's works, particularly Piedone) that are cheesy, very popular, and great affrescos of the country from the late 70s to the early 90s. A Pogány Madonna (The Pagan Madonna) - 1980, Csak Semmi Pánik (No Panic!) - 1982, Az Elvarázsolt Dollár (The Enchanted Dollar) - 1986, Hamis a Baba (The Doll is Fake) - 1991)

István, a Király (King Stephen) (1983) - The filmed version of the original premiere of our beloved rock opera about the conflict around the founding of our country in 1000.

Zimmer Feri (1998) - Absurd comedy in both its setup and execution, it's about the exploitative lodging culture by Lake Balaton in the early 90s.

 

Supposed greats I haven't seen so I can't give my own recommendations about: Körhinta (Merry Go-Round) (1956); Szegénylegények (The Round-Up) (1965); Mephisto (1981); Sátántangó (Devil's Tango) (1994); A Torinói Ló (The Horse of Turin) (2011); Az Ötödik Pecsét (The Fifth Seal) (1976); Saul Fia (Son of Saul) (2015), Kontroll (2003)

 

Since I haven't seen a lot of these bigger, or more "serious" movies, I can't say much personal about our big directors, I more just know about these ones:

Tarr Béla you must have heard of.

Korda Sándor (Alexander Korda) was also pretty famous back in the day, though he immigrated to the west, so a lot of his work can't really be considered Hungarian Cinema.

Jancsó Miklós made a lot of movies about simple rural life and simple people, master of the long take.

Fábri Zoltán was very stylish, often grotesque, his main thing was people staying themselves while history is happening around them.

Bacsó Péter was very versatile, but mostly satirical towards current politics.

Jankovics Marcell adapted many folk (or folk-like) tales into Yellow Submarine-style animation.

Dargay Attila was our greatest animation director, his children's cartoon features are greatly beloved (I know some were distributed to the West, there's an english trailer on Youtube for Vuk / The Little Fox), and his short titled Variations on a Dragon is something you must watch right now.

 

Then there are filmmakers who immigrated and are famous worldwide, like producer Andy Vajna (who turned into an in-joke here by now) and of course legendary DP Zsigmond Vilmos.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

...or as we say, Vilmos Zsigmond 

Wow, thanks for all that, @Holko!

Alexander Korda! Of course!

I internetted Hungarian cinema, and I got SON OF SAUL, which is very highly regarded.

A further search revealed Laszlo Kovacs, who shot the wonderful, and underrated NEW YORK, NEW YORK, and the equally underrated INSIDE MOVES.

Andrew Vajna gave us EXTREME PREJUDICE, JACOB'S LADDER, and NIXON, so he can't be all that bad.

Of course, both Kodaly, and Bartok are Hungarian. That f***ing CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA! Oi vey! I think that Bartók's bella. Get it? Bartok? Bel- never mind.

Again, thanks for all this!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

21 minutes ago, Richard said:

 

internetted

 

Hehe

[Holko 9,499]

37 minutes ago, Richard said:

Andrew Vajna gave us EXTREME PREJUDICE, JACOB'S LADDER, and NIXON, so he can't be all that bad.

 

It's more like how he literally owns half the media outlets and controls the film industry of the country.

And he's good firends with the current leading political party. A dangerous combination, these two.

And how he has a "loving girlfriend" 40 years younger than him.

 

Course, if we already went to Kodâly and Bartók, there's also Liszt (kinda) and Rózsa F*cking Miklós and Lugosi Béla and Edward Teller...

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

I'm sure she loves the bulge...in his bank account 

[Holko 9,499]

Yeah, she has a walking ATM!

[A24 4,326]

So what about Belgian cinema, huh?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

I prefer their chocolates.

[A24 4,326]

And Bruges makes for a fine decor.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

Fuckin' Bruges!

 

In all fairness, I don't know much about Belgian cinema. As Bilx once said: "You teach me, lord".

[A24 4,326]

You would like the movies of the Dardenne brothers, Richard.

 

 

 

But that's about it ...

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

It seems that there are some great Belgian films. A bit of internetting showed L'ENFANT, TOTO THE HERO, and FARINELLI, to name but three. I'll investigate, asap.

[A24 4,326]

C'est Arrivé Près de Chez Vous is also universally loved:

 

 

The best ones are made by the French speaking part of Belgium.

 

L'enfant is also a Dardenne movie. It's good.

[Holko 9,499]

Mr Nobody?

[A24 4,326]

One could consider that a Belgian movie because of the director but to me it's an international production.

[Holko 9,499]

19 hours ago, Richard said:

Again, thanks for all this!

 

How could I forget?

Just to make the list complete:

Zimmer Feri (1998) - Absurd comedy in both its setup and execution, it's about the exploitative lodging culture by Lake Balaton in the early 90s.

[KK 3,307]

 

Jaws

 

I got to see a live to projection concert of this classic last weekend. This really is a remarkable piece of filmmaking, on all fronts. Tight-knit thrill rides with this kind of craftsmanship isn't so easy to find anymore. The moody shots of the blonde's silhouette running through the beach at dusk, the iconic dolly zoom on Scheider on the beach, the shots of rushing blood in the waters without a shark in sight, the intense shark cage scene...the whole thing is a masterclass on building and developing tension. A real showcase of the finest of the trade.

 

The TSO served Williams' score very well, from those opening pitches (which threw the whole audience into a fit), to those lovely Korngoldian seafaring tunes. Hearing this moment in the concert hall, with the shark circling around its victims, really sent the chills down my spine:

 

 

Grabbed a couple of beers after. It was a good night.

[Jay 37,318]

Nice, glad you had a good time!  I really enjoyed seeing the LTP concert myself.

 

What did you think of the intermission break placement? I love how it perfectly segments the film into having the entire Amity portion pre-Intermission and the entire sea adventure post-Intermission.

Did you notice that they put music back in that had been dialed out of theatrical cut?

[KK 3,307]

I loved the intermission segue-way. Great place to break the film, and the way the music cued the audience out and warmed us up before we got back into the film. I also love those weighty mystical chords. Really adds an otherworldy tone to the adventure (which was more commonplace in this score than I remembered it being).

 

And I didn't notice exactly what was added back in, but figured some non-theatrical material would be in there.