What is the last film you watched?

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Friday night I watched Airplane!  

I'm guessing you watched it on TMC, cause that's where my buddies and I found it Friday night. It's such a hilarious film, and that was only my second time seeing it. So many great moments . . . "Excuse me stewardess, I speak jive"

Ray Barnsbury

[MrScratch 294]

Saw a forgotten little gem with Val Kilmer called Top Secret.

Forgotten?? Not by me, I love this film. Peter Cushings best work!

"Souvenirs, Novelties, Party Tricks! Souvenirs, Novelties, Party Tricks!"

[MrScratch 294]

This past weekend I watched Lawrence of Arabia (for the first time!), The Getaway (1972) and The Ninth Gate. I also so 'The Order' in the theater. 'Order' is a snoozer. I think Heath Ledger is a terrific actor, its just too bad all of the films I've seen of his have sucked. The Getaway was worth watching just for the Steve-McQueen-decks-Sally-Struthers scene alone, something Archie and Meathead should have done more often on AITF.

Speaking of Getaway, I didn't know it had Slim Pickens in it until I popped it, what a pleasant surprise. He's one of the finest actors of the century!

[Lurker 5]

Friday night I watched Airplane!  

I'm guessing you watched it on TMC, cause that's where my buddies and I found it Friday night. It's such a hilarious film, and that was only my second time seeing it. So many great moments . . . "Excuse me stewardess, I speak jive"

Ray Barnsbury

Actually it was on TCM, but yes, that's where I saw it. I have the DVD, but I figured what the hell, its on now and it's un-edited and letterboxed so it's really no different than watching the DVD.

Neil

[MrScratch 294]

TCM is the best channel on cable, period. What other station would air Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin films alongside Airplane, Spaceballs and Austin Powers. All unedited and letterboxed...

[Uni 306]

Saw a forgotten little gem with Val Kilmer called Top Secret.

Forgotten?? Not by me, I love this film. Peter Cushings best work!

"Souvenirs, Novelties, Party Tricks! Souvenirs, Novelties, Party Tricks!"

Without a doubt, the best work the Zucker/Abrams trio ever did. One of the most stylish and downright hilarious parodies of all time. Great stuff!

"Let me know if his condition changes." (Hangs up phone.) "He is dead."

- Uni

[Lurker 5]

Last night I watched The Phantom of the Paradise.

Neil

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Tonight: The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain. Non-anamorphic doesn't look very good when it's too big, and in this case the video was jerky too.

Marian - suspecting a PAL to NTSC transfer or something.

Triology Plays Ennio Morricone

[MrScratch 294]

Last night I watched, for the first time ever, Sleeping Beauty.

[A24 4,333]

Much better than I expected and with a very moving ending: About Schmidt

Jack Nicholson and the rest of the cast are just great. Have no doubts on this one and see it.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The last film I watched has to be Mission: Impossible, which I watched last Wednesday. I've also been watching an episode of Band of Brothers every day (I watched part 9 today), and this afternoon I watched three of the short films from The Animatrix (World Record, Beyond and Final Flight of the Osiris. I also caught a short bit of The Godfather Part II last night on TV, but I only saw about 10 minutes.

- Marc

John Williams - Daryl Arrives from The Witches of Eastwick

[MrScratch 294]

I just saw Cabin Fever last night, what a terrific movie, the best horror film I have seen in quite a while. Its a fairly original plot, something the horror genre has been severely lacking lately. Its also quite a humorous film with a fun score that pays homage to both Psycho and Deliverance and probably other great horror scores as well, but I was having to good a time to notice. If you are a fan of horror films, this is a must. No CGI, great makeup and lots of fake blood.

"That man asked us for help. We lit him on fire."

"Pancakes! Pancakes!"

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

La Fille sur le pont (The Girl on the Bridge). Great French movie, breathtakingly stylized cinematography. Highly recommended.

Marian - who wants it on DVD now.

[Lurker 5]

I watched Jaws the other night. I think it wasn't the second time in as many weeks that I watched it.

Neil

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Last night they showed Raiders of the Lost Ark in the primetime, so I plunked down in my chair and watched it with my friend. Woow! Great stuff. They will also be showing Temple of Doom (my fave) the next week and The Last Crusade 2 weeks from now as well, so it'll be huge. A little bit detracting these Czech-dubbed versions may appear, but it's still fun seeing it after all those years.

Roman.-)

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I watched Ragtime the other day - kinda disappointing, makes me want to give up on Milos Forman, although I still have a bit left to watch.

And yesterday I sat through Quills. Talk about an excellent movie going awry in the second half. At least it had Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Caine in it, so that made up for Geoffrey Rush's nude scene.

[Morlock 11]

I could never give up on Forman. Although I find Cooku's Nest to be generaly misunderstood, Amadeus is my absolute favorite movie (along with a few others).

I liked the theory and message of Quills, but I didn't find it a very enjoyable two hours. I didn't like Winslet's character, or how they used her.

[Uni 306]

Saw The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the other night, by far the most Extraordinarily Bad Movie I've had to endure since The Matrix Regurgitated. It infuriated me for precisely the same reason as M2, too: I find it intolerable that anyone could have their hands on such a magnificently imaginative premise and screw it up that badly. By the end of the film, my neck was so stiff from shaking my head at nearly every shot in the film that I half thought I might be suffering from the West Nile virus. Stupid, severely overacted characters, writing that made me certain I was watching the work of a perennial attendee of the George Lucas Screenwriter's Convention, a plot as predictable and melodramatic as a daytime soap opera, gobs more of the CGI mildew so many of us have been complaining about recently (including that most annoying new fad of shots intermittenly and inexplicably speeding up, a horribly anochronistic parlor trick for a story like this), and an ending....oh, dear Lord, the ending! Attrocious enough to make the slick of movie-theater butter coating my stomach come to a slow boil, leaving me ill for hours afterward.

I think it speaks volumes about the current trends in Hollywood that the only way these children are able to cinematically represent some of the greatest personalities in all of literature is to shred them to bits and rebuild them according to the Jerry Bruckheimer Theory of Modern Characterization. They're left stripped of intelligence, coherent dialogue, logical action, and everything else that distinguished their original incarnations....but hey, they can blow up the world real good. Real good.

- Uni

[A24 4,333]

Uni, don't you have sensors that protect you from these flicks? Didn't you see it coming? It took 3 seconds on TV for me to know never to see or rent this shameless turkey.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Magnus 0]

Saw North by Northwest the other day, on the comp... was actually gonna watch it in school but I caught a cold and couldn't join in so... yeah, you get the picture...

[Justin 2]

I watched Masada last night. A very good film, great score. Peter O'Toole was awesome. He stole the spotlight from the other leading actor Peter Strauss. O'Toole's screen prescence dominated the picture.

Justin

[Uni 306]

Uni, don't you have sensors that  protect you from these flicks? Didn't you see it coming? It took 3 seconds on TV for me to know never to see or rent this shameless turkey.

Yeah, but my wife pulled a Sensor Override. She wanted to see it, thought it would be "fun." She tried her best to get into it and just be entertained, but try as she might, even she couldn't hide her disappointment. I didn't make even the smallest attempt to hide mine.

- Uni

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I've watched four films this weekend (so far, four-and-a-half if you count Friday night ).

I taped The Patriot Friday night and watched it yesterday morning. I liked Williams' score A LOT, but the movie... not so much. The battle scenes are awesome, but the movie is very unbalanced. Several times, the makers tell us that violence and killing is bad, and cannot be justified, and then within 10 to 15 minutes, the brutal killing starts again, in a way only blockbuster spectacle films can bring them. The score was used in what I feel was a very maniputalive (yet very effective) way. The music gave goosebumps several times, which is not something that quickly happens. A nice ride, but not a great film.

I missed the first 10 minutes or so of Jerry Maguire on Saturday night, but that didn't stop me from watching it, and thoroughly enjoying it. This is the kind of drama I like. Good acting, A-standard production, and an occasional dose of humor. Cuba Gooding Jr. is brilliant in this film, Tom Cruise is an above-okay actor (not great, but good nonetheless), and Renée Zellweger is always nice to watch, both as an actress and in her appearance.

Gladiator and Trainspotting were also on last night, and I taped those two right after each other and watched them this morning. In Gladiator I took special notice of Zimmer's music, as it is a score that often leaves filmscore fans devided over whether it's good or not. Well, the music is good, and the action stuff is pretty neat at times, but it's just not fitting for the story. I mean, he used the same musical techniques on M:I-2 for crying out loud! There's too much modern pseudo-synth coolness and not enough symphonic kick-in-the-pants bombast. I already saw this film over two years ago, but it's still quite enjoyable. It also contains more graphic violence than The Patriot times two, but then again, it's a more brutal environment this film takes place in.

Trainspotting was good, and sometimes makes you feel like your tripping yourself. The scene where Ewan McGreggor has to go to the loo suddenly is great, and what follows is both disgusting and amazingly fun. A good movie, but I don't feel it really came out well, being broadcast right after the mega-spectacle dollarfest that is Gladiator.

- Marc, who wanted to watch Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace too this afternoon, but didn't feel like it after sitting through both Gladiator and Trainspotting.

BTW, that half film I watched was Beverly Hills Cop II on Friday night, just the last hour or so.

John Williams - Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale from Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones (OST)

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I watched the 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame yesterday, with Charles Laughton and music by Alfred Newman. I want the CD now.

Marian - who's going to watch Obsession tonight (finally!)

[DU Lou 1]

Underworld.... Kate looks hot in Vinyl!!!

[A24 4,333]

It also contains more graphic violence than The Patriot times two, but then again, it's a more brutal environment this film takes place in.

That reminds me, in Gladiator, what's all that image flickering during those action fight scenes about? It's very much there. It doesn't look natural and it's distracting. Is everybody happy with that?

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

You mean in the opening battle? Yeah, that did annoy me, but I guess it was meant to show the chaos of the battle. Unfortunately, due to the violent shaking and the crappy pan & scam, I couldn't see what was going on half the time. I just shrugged to myself and ignored it. If anything important had happened, they'd probably explain it later.

- Marc, who will go to Paris tomorrow.

John Williams - Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (OST)

[A24 4,333]

The Life of David Gale. Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet in a "not bad, not good" thriller, you know the kind I'm talking about. Some good scenes (although not many) but some really lame moments too (often with Winslet). The longer I'm thinking about it, the badder this movie actually is.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I didn't have time to watch any movie this weekend, unless you count the Superman 90's cartoon pilot (55 mins.) a movie. A very good movie by the way.

-Ross, off to see Catch Me if You Can.

[Lurker 5]

I had a double feature today. I saw Tony Scott's first film The Hunger (which I had never seen before) and then I saw Scarface at another theater. It was a long day, but worth it.

Coincidentally, both films came out in 1983.

Neil

[Hlao-roo 389]

Lost in Translation

[MrScratch 294]

Lost in Translation

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this film, how was it? Late last night we watched "Picture of Dorian Gray", George Sanders at his best.

[Hale-Bopp 0]

I saw Pollock for about the 20th time last night.

Best Ed Harris performance I've ever seen, unless someone could possibly turn me on to another piece of his work that tops this.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

Theater: Pirates of the Caribbean

Very cool... I think I'm very likely seeing it at least once more, preferably the OV, as I've heard many people say Johnny Depp sounds much better there than in the dub (as if he wasn't likely to be anyway). The score... well, some interesting parts (the more "piraty" music), much MV-bombast as always, sometimes fitting, mostly not.

At Home: Girl, Interrupted

(Today)

Saw it for the first time, I found it very good, better than I thought it'd be. Really gripped me, superb acting.

[CYPHER 1]

Saw The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the other night

How's this for coincidence? The very moment I was reading your post, my best friend swung by my place and dropped off a copy of the original graphic novel! Freaky. This film hasn't come out here yet and while I'm sure I'll end up seeing it, my hopes are not high...

I watched the 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame yesterday, with Charles Laughton and music by Alfred Newman. I want the CD now.

Me too! 8O Except I've wanted it for several years, but I am consoled by the fact that I have a cassette recording from the radio. It's rather marvelous isn't it? Speaking of older scores by classic composers, I've been listening to Shostakovich's The Gadfly and Five Days - Five Nights over the past week. Very impressive .

CYPHER - Last film I saw? On DVD: Jesus' Son ( LOL ). At the cinema: Pirates of the Caribbean ( 8O )

[Justin 2]

Close Encounters.

Justin -Who loved it of course.

[Uni 306]

Saw The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the other night

How's this for coincidence? The very moment I was reading your post, my best friend swung by my place and dropped off a copy of the original graphic novel! Freaky. This film hasn't come out here yet and while I'm sure I'll end up seeing it, my hopes are not high...

Nor should they be. Your opinions of popular literature have impressed me enough to be sure that, if literary characters really spoke and acted like they do in this film, you and I would have a lot fewer books to recommend to others.... :?

- Uni

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Watched some movies on the bus to and from Paris this week. What Women Want (yawn), Miss Congeniality (slightly better) on the way to Paris and Braveheart (great film, always a pleasure) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (poor script, macho violence, annoying kid) on the way back home.

- Marc, not feeling like discussing these films, and wondering why he can't see any new posts since this morning. :?

[IrishCal24 0]

I went to see Secondhand Lions tonight. I gotta say I enjoyed the heck out of it. It's the kind of movie Spielberg would have made in the early 80's. That's not a knock on Spielberg, it's just that he left a void for this kind of movie as his directorial tastes matured. McCanlies direction is solid and gets great performances from Caine, Duvall and Osment. Just don't expect a strong plot, as it?s more of a character driven film. Oh, and Patrick Doyle's score serves the movie very well, though maybe not quite Oscar-worthy.

Last night, I picked up an old childhood favorite on DVD, The Last Starfighter. While not exactly a classic, it still keeps my glued to the screen. It is, at least, a landmark movie in terms of its use of CGI spacecraft and such in place of models and miniatures. I also watched the "making of" documentary, directed by Michael Matessino, that's also included on the disc. It's a really interesting look at early CGI and features interviews with some familiar names, including Ron Cobb, Dennis Muren and John Knoll.

Finally, I caught the first half-hour or so of Below on Starz last Friday, but had already made plans to go out so I couldn't watch the rest of it. It really looked intriguing; have any of you seen it? All I really knew about it other than its most basic plot elements is that it's David Twohy's directorial follow-up to Pitch Black, which I really liked.

I think I'll watch Gremlins and maybe Gremlins 2 over the weekend. I haven't watched either in a while but I've humming the theme for the past couple weeks for some strange reason.

Alan, what did you think of Lost in Translation? I'm rather interested in seeing it. I've been hearing great things about Bill Murray's performance.

[UCFKevin 0]

Ooh! I might see Secondhand Lions today, it looks quite good. Either that or Lost in Translation.

[A24 4,333]

I watched Mulholland Drive for the second time. It didn't make me any wiser, though. Anyway, I liked it more the first time, in other words, it's not a keeper. Best scene of the movie: The Cowboy scene. This is still an amazing idea. It's crazy. I could easily watch it 20 times. It's the "Bobby Peru" of Mulholland Drive, if you know what I mean.

----------------

Alex Cremers

[Elmo Lewis 6]

What Women Want (yawn), Miss Congeniality (slightly better)

I actually found What Women Want to be better than Miss Congeniality - especially because the first had a purpose and a message. Maybe not a special one, but it was there, unlike that shallow nonsense that was Miss Congeniality in which emptiness and superficiality are worshiped like the values of a good society.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

That's a good point, but I enjoyed the latter one more as a comedy, while What Women Want didn't have as much good jokes, IMO.

- Marc, who will now watch the RotK trailer. And again, and again, and again...

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

I just rented "Gosford Park" DVD to watch tonight with my friend. I have read mixed reviews, characterizing the movie as boring to even amazing, and so I have mixed hopes about it. I had had high hopes before I read them. But since I like Robert Altman's stuff or basically most of it, I hope to like this picture. Reviews somewhat concur on the captivating cinematography and solid acting if nothing else. I'll tell ya tomorrow.

8O

Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

The finale of 24 - absolutely terrifying, I'm shocked! Also, the ROTK trailer.

Marian - who can't wait for ROTK.

[Jeshopk 8]

POLTERGEIST

It was great on the big screenmonster at Fenway theatre in Boston last weekend. Speilberg wrote and storyboarded and it shows. He did some directing and that shows too. Tobe Hooper did great job when Speilberg was off the set fiming ET.

The entire audience was scared stiff when the clown was no longer in his chair. And then the whole theatre screamed louder than I've heard in any past film.

Jerry Goldsmith really carries the movie and all the performances and special effects stand up to today's standards except one or maybe two shots.

Anyway, it was great in these days of quick cutting and lack of character development to see how rivited first time viewers were at this slowly paced (at times), character driven effects film. I heard many people before the film saying that they never saw it or only saw bits and pieces of it. After the film, people were saying things like "I was so scared" and "Steven Speilberg's twisted".

I like how this film has not been seen so many times as an Indiana Jones movie, but still delivers that early 80's dramatic quality to many surprised viewers. It is a film that was made before producers left behind the brevity to tell a story in broad strokes. The lengthly shots of the mother in the tub made viewers uncomfortable because of the suspense missing in today's quick cut "scary" movies. Uncomfortable as they were, they knew something was going to happen and they were hooked. The extremely long shots of the rooms at night as the American Anthem plays are also effective, and I would imagine that todays producers would fear for audience boredom and cut it down. Audience reactions to Poltergeist tell me that the world is ready for some relief from far too brisk storytelling.

[MrScratch 294]

POLTERGEIST definitely deserves a lavish DVD release. Poltergiest is one of several films (including Burtons original Batman) that I refuse to buy because they deserve remastered releases with lots of extras. At the very least, they could include the E! true Hollywood story on Poltergiest which I found to be pretty interesting.

I just watched 'Images' the other night, thought it was ok. The score NEEDS to be released. Master tapes missing or not, the bootleg exists, somebody needs to do with it what they can and put it on CD.

8O 'In Search Of Unicorns' from IMAGES

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The finale of 24 - absolutely terrifying, I'm shocked! Also, the ROTK trailer.

Marian - who can't wait for ROTK.

Good for you, Marian! On both fronts. Now, bring on Day 2! (...and RotK)

- Marc, 24-nut, and fan of Fikhtorr Drrazzen. 8O

[MrScratch 294]

The finale of 24 - absolutely terrifying, I'm shocked! Also, the ROTK trailer.

Marian - who can't wait for ROTK.

Good for you, Marian! On both fronts. Now, bring on Day 2! (...and RotK)

- Marc, 24-nut, and fan of Fikhtorr Drrazzen. 8O

I almost stopped watching 24 when Terri got amnesia. How lame. In the same episode she thought she witnessed the Kims death and then lost her memory. This show was so good up until this, amnesia and characters coming back to life are the kind of ploys used by soap operas. I still have one disc to go and I'm starting to get interested in it again. If it wasn't for Dennis Hopper (whom I had no idea was in this show) I might not even finish it.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Good for you, Marian! On both fronts. Now, bring on Day 2! (...and RotK)

I'm only waiting for DV-Depot to get Robin Hood in stock. Day 2 will be in the same order. 8O

Maestro, I did find Kim's supposed death to be overdone and annoying (and I never hated cars blowing up for no apparent reason more than when watching this show). But I found the amnesia bit good, and not surprising either.

Anyway, don't stop watching, the end is absolutely shocking.

Marian - who wonders what Day 2 will be like.