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

[A24 5,156]

Cloud Atlas.

Both admirable and cringe-inducing.

Karol

Care to develop?

I appreciate the effort, it is quite an interesting exercise in narration and a curious mashup of genres. Some of the acting is great and, for the most part, film is well made. Didn't like make-up in general - it was a bit distracting sometimes. And I also feel from the cinematic point of view it kind of goes nowhere. I can imagine all those six stories worked well as a book, but on film, I never quite reaches any sort of meaningful resolution, if you will. It just doesn't seem to be suited for this medium. Kind of like Watchmen, Perfume or even Atonement. Those films operate on an almost literary level, which makes them both interesting and flawed (depending on how you look at it). I am happy that I've seen it, though. It was far more imaginative than most big films, anyway. An impressive failure is what I call it. I'd recommend to watch it - an interesting but head-scratching experience.

The score was avarage as well.

EDIT: Just read your review, BlueBalls. It's spot-on, for the most part. What really separates you and me is that you gave it a higher rating overall.

Karol

Watchmen is a picture book. What do you mean it's isn't suited for a picture?! In fact, the aspect that impressed and affected me the most are its pictures*, not the story or the acting. You place Watchmen in the same category as Perfume? Wow, Watchmen is one of my best film experiences from the last 10 years and I switched off Perfume after 20 minutes.

*: The way the story is told

Alex

[crocodile 9,724]

Not exactly what I mean. It's just that when I watch them it occurs to me they weren't designed to be films in the first place. I think that the best thing about them was already achieved in the other form. Not comparing films here, it's just how they don't give me that intellectual satisfaction (if there is such a thing).

Karol

[A24 5,156]

Yes, Watchmen is designed to be a comic book, of course, just like 95% of movies have been designed to be novels. Preferring the book over the film is as old as movies themselves. Take 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example, a movie classic, if ever there was one, but some will always prefer the book.

BTW, aren't comic books and films somewhat related? A comic book could be like a storyboard for a film. I know that's how Snyder treated 300 and presumably Watchmen as well.

Alex

[crocodile 9,724]

Yes, Watchmen is designed to be a comic book, of course, just like 95% of movies have been designed to be novels. Preferring the book over the film is as old as movies themselves. Take 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example, a movie classic, if ever there was one, but some will always prefer the book.

BTW, aren't comic books and films somewhat related? A comic book could be like a storyboard for a film. I know that's how Snyder treated 300 and presumably Watchmen as well.

Alex

It's not about preferring one medium over another. It's about translating literary form into the screen in a straightforward manner. The book/comic book says this and this so I'm going to show them exactly what it says.

Storyboards are not like comic books. They are supposed to help you see the movement and pacing of the film. Comic books tell stories in a different way and have their own tools to convey things and meanings.

Karol

[Quintus 6,499]

Still, comic books do convey movement and dynamism in a similar way to storyboards, more vividly, granted, but I see what you're saying, Croc.

[crocodile 9,724]

They can do that in a similar way, but don't have to. Comics can be really static, actually. Watchmen is a great example here actually.

Karol

[A24 5,156]

Comic books and storyboards both use graphic illustrations and tell a story in sequence. With comic books, there is less visual information between two images than with film but it would be hard for me to deny there aren't similarities between the two.

So you think Watchmen the movie is too much Watchmen the graphic novel? Is that really a problem? It would be if the movie didn't feel cinematic, but that is hardly the case.

[crocodile 9,724]

So you think Watchmen the movie is too much Watchmen the graphic novel? Is that really a problem? It would be if the movie didn't feel cinematic

Yes, doesn't work for me as a film. Bogged down by too much detail. Which is why I put it in the same category as Cloud Atlas: admirable failure.

Karol

[A24 5,156]

If it was a more streamlined adaptation, others would say, where was all the detail of the novel?! How could he not have included this or that?!

[crocodile 9,724]

I'm sure you're right here.

As for the detail, it is very reverential to the first four (out of twelve) chapters of the novel, which constitutes almost a half of the film. But as it moves forward it becomes more and more streamlined. And where it really chickens out is the ending.

Karol

[A24 5,156]

A bold ending, in my book. The protagonist must die because he cannot accept the only solution to the problem. Not only did I not expect that, I thought it was very satisfying.

[crocodile 9,724]

Not as bold as the original one. Which is weird, because they're similar. But I guess when you spend so much money on film you can't serve a calculated and cold ending as this to the audience. You've got to smooth it out a bit, give characters some closure, condemn the villain, never really show how atrocious his crime was. If only a tiny bit. It's a Hollywood-ised version of Watchmen ending. Disappointing, given how bold the rest of the film seems to be,

EDIT. Oh yes, he does die. But he has a witness who delivers an iconic "nooooooo!" and then gives the villain a good beating and tells him how evil he is. In the comic book no one gives a shit where Rorschach's gone, they don't know he's dead.

Karol

[Quintus 6,499]

Do you think it's possible you might have appreciated and enjoyed the film more had you not read the original telling first?

[crocodile 9,724]

Good question.

Karol

[A24 5,156]

Give the villain a good beating? There is no villain ... and what beating are you referring to?

[crocodile 9,724]

Right after Rorschach's death.

Karol

[A24 5,156]

Hmmm, I don't remember no beating after Rorschach's death. Perhaps I wanted the movie to end with that image.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

Nite Own II gives Ozymandias a beating after Doctor Manhattan kills Rorschach

[A24 5,156]

April Fool's day is over, Steef!

[JoeinAR 1,957]

Red Dawn(blu), Slither(netflix), JPIII(blu), Phantom of the Opera(blu), and the Wolfman(blu).

The color on Universals Phantom is sumptuous. Less of a horror and more of a comedy/thriller. If you like Opera its got loads of that.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

How was JPIII

[Brónach 1,330]

Not as bold as the original one. Which is weird, because they're similar. But I guess when you spend so much money on film you can't serve a calculated and cold ending as this to the audience. You've got to smooth it out a bit, give characters some closure, condemn the villain, never really show how atrocious his crime was. If only a tiny bit. It's a Hollywood-ised version of Watchmen ending. Disappointing, given how bold the rest of the film seems to be,

EDIT. Oh yes, he does die. But he has a witness who delivers an iconic "nooooooo!" and then gives the villain a good beating and tells him how evil he is. In the comic book no one gives a shit where Rorschach's gone, they don't know he's dead.

Karol

I always thought on these points. I will always miss the shock of the giant "alien creature" among the buildings and millions of corpses and the rivers of blood in the film.

The film chickens out other times. For example, in the "you're locked in here with me" scene. In the book, Rorschach throws the boiling oil to the guy authomatically just after hearing his name whispered. In the film, he does it afterwards. Book Rorschach is actually a more disturbing character.

[JoeinAR 1,957]

How was JPIII

it's a terrible movie but watchable. don davis sure knows how to screw up a great theme

[Matt C 605]

Spirited Away

Miyazaki's crowning achievement. It's such a marvelous film, easily balancing the awe, beauty, magical and otherworldliness of the world he establishes within. While Miyazaki tends to meander in films like Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo, every scene here has a place here. I can't remember any recent North American film being as engrossing and magical as Spirited Away, and yes, it's better than all of the Pixar films. The only recent animated film that comes close to recapturing the magic is, funny enough, a non-Miyazaki Ghibli film, The Secret World of Arriety.

It's also one of the few anime films that boasts as good a voice cast as the original Japanese dub. Suzanne Pleshette was born to voice Zeniba/Yubaba, IMO.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,025]

Yes, Watchmen is designed to be a comic book, of course, just like 95% of movies have been designed to be novels. Preferring the book over the film is as old as movies themselves. Take 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example, a movie classic, if ever there was one, but some will always prefer the book.

BTW, aren't comic books and films somewhat related? A comic book could be like a storyboard for a film. I know that's how Snyder treated 300 and presumably Watchmen as well.

Alex

Which book, Alex, "2001", or "The Sentinel"?

[Brónach 1,330]

Heheh. I have read the Sentinel but I haven't read 2001.

I heard the book Discovery has all the big heat radiators that Kubrick didn't use because he feared people but think they were wings.

[A24 5,156]

Yes, Watchmen is designed to be a comic book, of course, just like 95% of movies have been designed to be novels. Preferring the book over the film is as old as movies themselves. Take 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example, a movie classic, if ever there was one, but some will always prefer the book.

BTW, aren't comic books and films somewhat related? A comic book could be like a storyboard for a film. I know that's how Snyder treated 300 and presumably Watchmen as well.

Alex

Which book, Alex, "2001", or "The Sentinel"?

2001, which was written during the same time the movie was made, but it's a book, so according to book people, it's better by definition.

[Brónach 1,330]

I've actually known people who said books are always better than films by default. I thought it was ridiculous.

[Jay 46,245]

Spirited Away is just sublime. Maybe the only film I've given a 10/10 to.

[Wojo 2,458]

I often prefer books but am intelligent enough to look at each case individually.

[A24 5,156]

A fantastic Spike Lee joint: 8/10

Alex

[JoeinAR 1,957]

I've actually known people who said books are always better than films by default. I thought it was ridiculous.

it is. Just read and watch Jaws and you realize one is a pulp novel the other is a masterpiece on film. replace Jaws with Carrie and you get pretty much the same, pulp horror novel, great film.

then there is is Silence of the Lambs...a truely great novel, and an equally great film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,390]

Psycho. Trashy novel. Great film!

[Brónach 1,330]

The examples might be on the dozens and dozens or even hundreds.

[Wojo 2,458]

Jaws is one of the best examples of a film that becomes far superior to its source material, in this case a novel. The Princess Bride is another.

I have yet to read any Clancy beyond The Hunt for Red October, but while the book is far more detailed, the film is still a very entertaining thrill ride.

First Blood is based on a book, but one that ended in such a way as to prevent sequels. And Die Hard was also based on a book. I can't comment on whether the books are not any good, but I do simply know how fantastic their films are.

I keep forgetting to find a copy of Lew Wallace's unabridged work, but I find it hard to imagine Ben-Hur the novel surpassing the Wyler version.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Die Hard was a book?

It's not typical for me to see a film of a book I've already read, but in the opposite case, I tend to prefer the films. I don't know if we just prefer the things we experienced first, or something else. I think for most people it's that the book allows their imagination to fill everything in, and the film counterpart betrays that. As a medium, I prefer film, because imagining is one thing, but seeing it realized is so much more gratifying on a visceral level.

I still need to see The Hunger Games and On The Road, the latter being one of my favorite books, so we'll see how that one goes. I think it looks excellent.

[Ollie 1,375]

Die Hard was a book?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_%281979_novel%29

Disregard my previous post, it was The Towering Inferno that was based on 2 books.

[JoeinAR 1,957]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_%281979_novel%29

Disregard my previous post, it was The Towering Inferno that was based on 2 books.

The Tower and the Glass Inferno, read them both. the movie is better.

[Ollie 1,375]

I don't think I've ever read those.

[Matt C 605]

Spirited Away is just sublime. Maybe the only film I've given a 10/10 to.

I think Arriety has that same kind of spellbinding aura Spirited Away does. It's not as emotionally potent as that movie, but it's just a pleasant movie to really soak in. I can't recommend it enough, especially as a non-Miyazaki helmed Ghibli film.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Spirited Away is the best film ever made, Jay?

Talk about overrated.

[Quintus 6,499]

Still brilliant, though.

[Jay 46,245]

I didn't say that, don't put words in my mouth

[crocodile 9,724]

I've not seen it. I might tonight.

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I didn't say that, don't put words in my mouth

You said it's the only film you'd give a 10/10, thus making it the best film ever made, in your opinion.

[Jay 46,245]

You're jumping to an incorrect conclusion that I never made!

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I think that's the only logical conclusion. If there's only ONE film you would give a perfect score to... am I just repeating myself here?

[Jay 46,245]

For one thing, I haven't sat down and assigned a rating to every movie I've seen.

For another, I would never say anything is the best "ever made" unless I had seen all of that thing. i haven't seen every movie ever made, so I'd never call a movie the best ever made, just the best I'd ever seen..... which I didn't do.

Anyway, why are you arguing semantics? Don't you have better things to do?

Have you even seen Spirited Away?

[JoeinAR 1,957]

lets just take it that as movie go it's the highest Leblanc rated film, that doesn't mean best ever, or best of all time. It might not even be his most favorite?

[Jay 46,245]

I saw the film in the theater in 2001, thought it was brilliant, gave it a 10 out of 10, and haven't seen it since. End of story.