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

[publicist 4,650]

SOURCE CODE is one of the select few films i saw this year...cicumstancial, rather.

I find Jake Gyllenhaal hard to take as anything more than a cuddly teddy bear now pumped up to hunk proportions. He's not a bad actor, but lacks any charisma. The film may be daft, but i was halfway entertained when the happy end rolled on and this broke the movie's neck. It's such an eyebrow-tickler to make all dark and gloomy for 80 minutes and then explain everything away with that silly rom-com ending.

(Another worry: since AVATAR, most movie hero role models seem to be the crew-cut Navy Seal types. Me don't like!)

[Quintus 6,496]

I want more, Steef, much more!

We all do, but basically you want the story to be well told.

No, the constraints which Alex places on himself demand that a story must be told through its visual imagery. It's not enough for a film to merely have a great script and strong narrative, if the photography fails to make his eyeballs ejaculate. Which is why he's wasting his time with almost everything he watches. It's a tough ruleset with few rewards.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

Preferring a story being told through strong visual imaginary is just a preference to having the story told a certain way. The film still needs a story. The story is what gives a film purpose.

[Quintus 6,496]

Yep. But I'm personally happy for all manner of methods; not just the imagery approach. There are after all many ways of telling a story.

[A24 5,156]

Bradley Cooper's I look like a model smugness puts me off Limitless.

I worried about that too (I even told the woman behind the counter in the rental store), but as soon as the movie started, I was surprised how easily my prejudice melted away.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

As long as it's done well, I can enjoy any story telling technique.

apart from mime....

[Quintus 6,496]

Okay I'll watch it.

[A24 5,156]

I want more, Steef, much more!

Movies without a story are pointless.Do they even excist?

Maybe in experimental cinema. Did I say I don't want a story? I want more than just a story. I didn't get that from Source Code.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

No, you don't want MORE then a story, you want the story to be told a certain way.

[A24 5,156]

I do?

Well, tell me more ...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

You are just looking for film makers that tell their stories in a specific visual way.

Blade Runner or 2001 are as much story driven films as E.T or Star Wars.

[A24 5,156]

Blade Runner or 2001 are as much story driven films as E.T or Star Wars.

They all have story (again, I have nothing against that) but you can't say all movies are as story driven as Source Code or Inception. In some movies story is merely a basis for other things. And like I said, I did not see other things in Source Code. Did I see great characters or really good writing? Did I see a great filmmaker who plays with visuals as a great writer does with words? No. Does the film make me think or feel? No.

Et cetera ...

[Quintus 6,496]

Yeah, those two are quite similar I suppose. SC was far better for my digestion than that overblown Inception crap, though.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

They all have story but you can't say all movies are as story driven as Source Code or Inception.

You mean plot driven, right?

To me a plot is not synonymous to a story.

[crocodile 9,724]

Yeah, those two are quite similar I suppose. SC was far better for my digestion than that overblown Inception crap, though.

Careful there...

Karol

[Quintus 6,496]

Sorry croc, Inception felt like I'd swallowed the wrong way.

[publicist 4,650]

Zimmer played his INCEPTION-suite at the Gent festival and i was surprised how good it was. Mind you, it's not a great composition (or MASTERPIECE, to beat the dead War Horse), but it's very memorable.

The film ws elevated by it much more than either SOURCE CODe or LIMITLESS by their scores.

[crocodile 9,724]

Sorry croc, Inception felt like I'd swallowed the wrong way.

Karol

[Quintus 6,496]

Zimmer played his INCEPTION-suite at the Gent festival and i was surprised how good it was. Mind you, it's not a great composition (or MASTERPIECE, to beat the dead War Horse), but it's very memorable.

I hated the music during my viewing, but I've since heard it used for all sorts of things from BBC wildlife commercials to Top Gear features and I have to confess... I kinda like it.

[crocodile 9,724]

It makes for a surprisingly enjoyable CD. In a concept-pop album kind of way.

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Zimmer played his INCEPTION-suite at the Gent festival and i was surprised how good it was. Mind you, it's not a great composition (or MASTERPIECE, to beat the dead War Horse), but it's very memorable.

I hated the music during my viewing, but I've since heard it used for all sorts of things from BBC wildlife commercials to Top Gear features and I have to confess... I kinda like it.

Not to mention Battlefield 3's score.

[MSM 194]

Saw 13 Dyas. A good film with Bruce Greenwood and Kevin Costner. I am a big fan of Bruce Greenwood! Why Costner is talking with this weird accent I don't understand, and it spoils the film. Also I begin to wonder if Costner has some obsession as to acting himself into American history. One could almost think he really played a sgnificant role in it, given the characters he played. I'd say it's messing with history, most of those charcters did not even exist and they certainly didn't look like Kevin Costner.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

Zimmer played his INCEPTION-suite at the Gent festival and i was surprised how good it was. Mind you, it's not a great composition (or MASTERPIECE, to beat the dead War Horse), but it's very memorable.

I hated the music during my viewing, but I've since heard it used for all sorts of things from BBC wildlife commercials to Top Gear features and I have to confess... I kinda like it.

its dramatic, well produced and rather generic at the same time. so yea...thats why it works in the manner the BBC likes to use it.

[Quintus 6,496]

Watched Tintin again.

Still brilliant.

[Elmo Lewis 7]

Saw 13 Dyas. A good film with Bruce Greenwood and Kevin Costner. I am a big fan of Bruce Greenwood! Why Costner is talking with this weird accent I don't understand, and it spoils the film.

The movie is serviceable at best, but it speaks to the Kennedy fan inside me (a side effect of being raised in Massachusetts, I guess). I'll pop it in every now and then, if only to laugh at Costner's godawful accent. Has he ever been successful in any of his many attempts at conveying an accent? Why does he even keep trying?

Also I begin to wonder if Costner has some obsession as to acting himself into American history. One could almost think he really played a sgnificant role in it, given the characters he played. I'd say it's messing with history, most of those charcters did not even exist and they certainly didn't look like Kevin Costner.

It's personal branding. If a movie like JFK gives you credibility doing political thrillers set in the 1960s, you do more of them. Just like Dances With Wolves.

[Matt C 605]

J. Edgar

DiCaprio, Hammer, Watts and Dench are good. Script isn't -- the whole movie feels like a history lesson with a budget.

And don't get me started on Eastwood's score. The guy is an acting legend, but he can NOT compose film music to save his life. Just meandering piano lines with string accompaniment. A message to Clint Eastwood: Let someone else score your movies. I would bet money some of the more mainstream composers like Elfman, Alexandre Desplat, JNH, or even Ennio Morricone would love to work with you.

[Xander Harris 9,675]

Let's see:

Casino Royale: I love this movie and I don't really love modern movies. My favorite Bond.

Saving Private Ryan: So I enjoy the movie between the opening and closing scenes. Well, the scenes after D-Day where the military personnel discuss Ryan and the letter, plus the idealized Superman farm are also kinda cheesy. Though Spielberg did capture a pretty great reaction by Bryan Cranston when the letter is read. The cast is wonderful in this, but I expect that from Spielberg. I think my favorites are Tom Sizemore and Giovanni Ribisi.

Dave: Watched this enjoyable little dramedy for the first time. Frank Langella!

Cinemax has been showing Star Treks. Generations is on right now. I've seen them all like a billion times, but I can always tune in at any point or have them on in the background. Generations' opening scene is quite good, isn't it? I have really fond memories of seeing this one. Once TNG cast comes in, it becomes a bloated TV movie. You know, it isn't that fun, especially for a non-Trekkie. The crew just seems so miserable (and well, many of them are) after the first scene. There's little to no interaction between them outside of their Starfleet duties. Boy, I was actually pleased in the later TNG movies when there was more focus on the characters and their relationships.

[Wojo 2,458]

Generations turned Picard into an idiot. "You can leave the Nexus and go anywhere you want, anytime."

Seriously? And he's NOT going back to a point in time when he can prevent the destruction of his ship, the embarrassing kidnapping and subterfuge of his chief engineer, and stop the greatest captain in the history of Starfleet bar none from dying on an unknown planet to save an unknown civilization from destruction?

Huh.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

Generations turned Picard into an idiot. "You can leave the Nexus and go anywhere you want, anytime."

Seriously? And he's NOT going back to a point in time when he can prevent the destruction of his ship, the embarrassing kidnapping and subterfuge of his chief engineer, and stop the greatest captain in the history of Starfleet bar none from dying on an unknown planet to save an unknown civilization from destruction?

Huh.

Not to mention Starfleet could have gone back in time anytime also.

[Brónach 1,330]

Saw The Secret of the Unicorn in Russian, the film's still brilliant.

[Wojo 2,458]

Not to mention Starfleet could have gone back in time anytime also.

That's why time travel in Star Trek is such a weak plot device. It forces you to forget about and disregard any other time travel story that ever happened before.

[Xander Harris 9,675]

I have less of a problem with Picard going back to the canyon these days. I figure that he didn't want to travel back any further than the destruction of the star for his own moral reasons, altering the space-time continuum etc. At least he was more in character in this one. He's a lot more like he was on the show here than in the other ones. The real problem is the whole concept of the energy ribbon. It shows you whatever you want, you can leave it at anytime, time has no meaning, Guinan's, uh spirit, is there to guide Picard, Kirk is in there and can now meet Picard etc. It's all very convenient and stupid. Why wasn't there another Picard in the timeline when he "left", or I guess he never did?

[Wojo 2,458]

Didn't a piece of Guinan stay behind because she -- the character we came to know in Season Two -- was ripped out of the Nexus by the Enterprise-B?

Picard left the Nexus willingly, so there shouldn't be an echo left behind. Even if there was, we wouldn't know. The story focuses on his point of view, not some new character who happens upon the Nexus next.

Picard's decision to only go back to stop Soran instead of saving his ship is just a small problem with the entire movie. I would have no problem if the screenwriters had simply said, "You know what, the torch was passed in VI, we are just going to make Star Trek 7 begin with the TNG crew crashing the Enterprise for some really really fun reason, and then jump thirteen months into the future when the Enterprise-E is christened."

[Xander Harris 9,675]

I mean when he left the Nexus and re-entered the timeline in the past. There should be a Picard native to the past. Because he stops the missile and never enters the Nexus to begin with in the new timeline, it creates a paradox. He never would have met Kirk and come back. The entire thing is stupid.

[hornist 1,261]

Watched Tintin again.

Still brilliant.

[Brónach 1,330]

Indeed, I think Spielberg got here a new achievement to add to his list of films with absolutely perfect rythm like The Temple of Doom or Jaws. Everything leads to seomthing faster, and faster, and before you know it's over, and it's actually been a while.

In the case of The Secret of the Unicorn I find amolts every scene to be interesting in some way, the film is very, very depurated. This makes it dangerously addictive.

[Quintus 6,496]

In the case of The Secret of the Unicorn I find amolts every scene to be interesting in some way, the film is very, very depurated. This makes it dangerously addictive.

Nail. Head.

I reckon for me it might have the rewatchability factor of Raiders and... Jaws.

It's not on their level of course, but you get my meaning. It's very, very pleasurable to watch.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

I can see the similarity. Both Jaws and Raiders are pure 100% skill. They aren't very deep of personal films for Spielberg, but as technical, and creative directorial exercises they are second to none.

[Quintus 6,496]

Bullseye!

And there's the undemanding stories...

[Wojo 2,458]

I mean when he left the Nexus and re-entered the timeline in the past. There should be a Picard native to the past. Because he stops the missile and never enters the Nexus to begin with in the new timeline, it creates a paradox. He never would have met Kirk and come back. The entire thing is stupid.

Ok, I see your point. It's just like Back to the Future, Part II: The audience sees a "duplicate" Marty on stage playing guitar while the "main" Marty is looking for Biff. He's not a duplicate. He's just the real Marty much farther back on the timeline, who hasn't caught up to the Marty that we've been following from films 1 into 2.

Generations rips Picard out of the primary timeline to place him into the Nexus, but when he goes back, it replaces him 1:1. This undoes the organic timeflow of getting Picard to the point where he would originally enter the Nexus.

Let's nerd this up even further. Assume Picard wants to go back in time to right before Wolf 359. Maybe undo the most violated experience of his life, please, prevent thousands of deaths? Time travel according to Generations would "erase" the Picard that is captured by the Borg, and completely undo the entire future timeline from that point. Mrs. Sisko never dies. Picard never has nasty Borg relations with the Queen. Hugh never cries over Geordi's life. Janeway never advocates Seven of Nine as a liasion. And Picard never gets to the Nexus in the first place.

Generations would suggest that if Picard exited the Nexus at the moment of his own birth, Baby Jean-Luc Picard would cease to exist, and be replaced by a fully grown, mature, balding Picard. Hello mommy...

[Naïve Old Fart 13,023]

Watched Tintin again.

Still brilliant.

Still not watched it. Still don't want to.

[Brónach 1,330]

Saw Persepolis but didn't go further than half an hour. I'll stick with the book.

[A24 5,156]

I can see the similarity. Both Jaws and Raiders are pure 100% skill. They aren't very deep of personal films for Spielberg, but as technical, and creative directorial exercises they are second to none.

To an artist creativity is personal, Steef.

[Quintus 6,496]

It is you're right, but I think Stefan was referring to the fact that those movies are flights of fantasy, unlike say, Schinder's List.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Or something like E.T., which is a fantasy deeply rooted in the auteur's personal experiences.

[Quintus 6,496]

Definitely. I wonder if E.T. Is an even more personal film to him than Schindler's.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

Well he came up with the story...

[Brónach 1,330]

Definitely. I wonder if E.T. Is an even more personal film to him than Schindler's.

I think he said E.T. was his most personal film and that he thought Schindler's List was his most important film. I don't know when he said that exactly, though.

There's certainly a very strong connection between Spielberg and that film, after reading several interviews I'm under the impression that he sees it basically as his trademark work.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

The Amblin Logo is still ET, Elliot, a bike and a moon...

[mrbellamy 8,244]

Definitely. I wonder if E.T. Is an even more personal film to him than Schindler's.

I think he said E.T. was his most personal film and that he thought Schindler's List was his most important film. I don't know when he said that exactly, though.

There's certainly a very strong connection between Spielberg and that film, after reading several interviews I'm under the impression that he sees it basically as his trademark work.

He's also said it's the movie that made him decide he was ready - and willing - to be a father. And it's also a tribute in some ways to Francois Truffaut, who told him that he must make a movie about kids one day, after seeing how he worked with the boy on Close Encounters. So I imagine he looks at it with real fondness.