What is the last film you watched?

[odnurega1 0]

I believe that this was the third time that I have seen this film, but I just watched A Beautiful Mind. I was inspired to watch it again after Russell Crowe visited my campus a few weeks ago for a Rugby Match featuring a team that he manages. No, I did not get to meet him, but I did speak to him. I asked for his autograph and in true Russell Crowe fashion, he said "No" and kept walking. Haha. As for "A Beautiful Mind"...I have always loved this film. It has great performances, great directing, and in my opinion, a great Horner score.

[John Crichton 4]

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Too Hollywood and too American to pull it off convincingly. Kevin Costner was a horrible, horrible casting decision (come on, he gets the pants acted off of him by Cary Elwes in a Mel Brooks parody!). Alan Rickman saves the movie with one of his many wonderful villans. I really like the character of Azeem, he adds an interesting new dimension to the Robin Hood group that should have been explored much more. And it was nice to see one of my favorites, Brian Blessed, give a good turn as Robin's father before getting burnt and strung up.

This is generally regarded as one of Kamen's best scores, and it's well deserved. It's only real problem is that it peaks too quick. Right at the start, in fact! The main title overture is quite simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written for a film, it's all downhill after that no matter how good the rest is.

[Trent B 337]

Jeremy Irons makes the movie for me

They did choose the right person to play Hans Gruber's brother for the film. I'm glad they really tied that in with the first film.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I like Jeremy Iron's but he was a piss poor substitute for Hans Gruber, the connection was thinner than rice paper and seemed pointless, a sheer contrivance, when in reality they could have made the heist without ever using McClain and gotten away with it.

[A24 4,333]

Jeremy Irons makes the movie for me

That's one of the 10 worst performances ever! After this movie, I have no longer the desire to watch anything with Irons again.

[Morlock 11]

Jeremy Irons makes the movie for me

That's one of the 10 worst performances ever! After this movie, I have no longer the desire to watch anything with Irons again.

Rubbish. He was hamming it up. And it was great fun to watch.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Too Hollywood and too American to pull it off convincingly. Kevin Costner was a horrible, horrible casting decision (come on, he gets the pants acted off of him by Cary Elwes in a Mel Brooks parody!). Alan Rickman saves the movie with one of his many wonderful villans. I really like the character of Azeem, he adds an interesting new dimension to the Robin Hood group that should have been explored much more. And it was nice to see one of my favorites, Brian Blessed, give a good turn as Robin's father before getting burnt and strung up.

This is generally regarded as one of Kamen's best scores, and it's well deserved. It's only real problem is that it peaks too quick. Right at the start, in fact! The main title overture is quite simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written for a film, it's all downhill after that no matter how good the rest is.

You are so right.

[robthehand 3]

Rubbish. He was hamming it up. And it was great fun to watch.

Agreed. And whatever Alex may think of that performance, it's hardly the role to judge an entire career on. Irons is a great actor, as he's proved many times. The last film of his I saw was The Merchant of Venice, which I had mixed feelings about, but Irons was fantastic as Antonio.

[A24 4,333]

Rubbish. He was hamming it up. And it was great fun to watch.

Neither the movie nor Irons were watchable for me. I turned it off.

Come to think of it, in my entire collection, there's not one Irons movie.

There's an old movie with Irons where he says, "Let the chips fall as they may". I couldn't stand that movie either. Quality for the plebs, I says.

Alex

[fommes 153]

What about Dead Ringers? M. Butterfly? The French Lieutenant's Woman?

Or even Danny the Champion of the World?

[Morlock 11]

What about Dungeons & Dragons, The Time Machine, or Eragon?

Anyhoo....

Continuing my initiation with Godrad....Alphaville. Of the four Godard films I've seen, probably the one that I liked most. It's sci-fi, but it does a fascinating thing: It is filmed in Paris, looks like it's out of the 60's (with heavy nods to film noir, of course), yet, while it is set in a recognizably realistic worlds, has a great sense of unease about it. It constantly felt futuristic, yet very real. It's a rather typical story, of a man looking for the truth in an autocratic, virtually emotionless society. I was actually surprised by it's seeming Franco-phobic nature....the hero comes from the 'Outer Countries' (New York), and ends up fighting the lack of humanity in Alphaville- Paris.

Not especially thought provoking as a Sci-Fi, but I was entranced by this movie. ***1/2/****.

The Hudsucker Proxy. Screw the critics. While it does slow down a bit in the second half, this is a movie that is alive. It is a wonderful throwback to the fast-talking 40's. I watched it with my father, and he, who is rarely a fan of the Coen Brothers, loved it. The opening of this movie is brilliant, one terrific line after another. Slows down a bit, as I said, when becomes too serious about it's satire of big-business....but it is still very good, and ends well.

Great sets, great cinematography, and terrific music, whether it is Carter Burwell's typical stuff, his grand love theme, or his use of Kachaturian for the pivotal montage of the Hulla-Hoop. ***/****, but that's only when compared to other Coen Brothers movies.

The Ladykillers (1955). I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's having misconceptions about the film, because of the remake. Maybe it's the less than stellar technical aspects of the film. But I did not like it. At all. It felt badly plotted, badly pased, entirely lacking any tension (the combination of lackluster sound/music is deadly), not likable, not particularly funny, aside from it's central premise. After seeing it, I'm impressed with the Coen Brothers work. At least that is elegantly staged, has tension, has a ritualistic and inevitable quality about it.

The sloppiness of this plot, the shoddy production values, the ugly, ugly color (I turned the color off, it was so unattractive)- they all overshadowed the wonderful darkly-comic conceit of the title. Most dissapointing, the least of the Ealing films I've seen so far. Kind Hearts and Coronets is better in every single imaginable way.

The Kite Runner. Not nearly as bad as I expected. The first half or so is actually quite good. The movie feels very good and authentic in it's early Afghanistan sequences. The two kids are good enough. Homayoun Ershadi is absolutely fantastic as the father, the highlight of the film for me. Shaun Taub, who seems like Hollywood's resident Middle-Eastern actor, is solid as the family friend.

The Kite flying sequence is pretty nifty, and at times, exhilirating.

Than, there's the infamous rape scene. One of my biggest problems with the movie. The rape scene not only doesn't make sense, and is not believable, but it entirely unnecessary, and entirely unrelated to the story. It seemed like a very cheap and very insulting way of getting some controversy.

Moving on.....the second half....that's not so good. The actor playing the older Amir never quite comes alive. I never identified with him in particular.

The scenes of the Afghan community in the US seemed awfully close to the far superior House of Sand and Fog. Really, almost nothing in the second half of the movie worked. The show-down with the Taliban is absolutely preposterous in just about every way. The last scene is painfully corny.

Still, the first half made for something better than I expected. I woukdn't recommend the movie, but I'm not terribly sorry I saw it.

The score was generally good, although there are a couple of moments where inappropriate electric guitars come in.

**/****.

Last and best, I saw The Diving Bell and The Butterfly. One of the very best movies I've seen from 2007. In fact, along with No Country for Old Men, probably the best movie I've seen from 2007. I am at a loss for words to describe it, aside from strongly recommending it. ****/****.

[QMM 4]

Almaric really shot up in my book as an actor to watch after his great work in Munich. Can't wait to see him in Bond.

[A24 4,333]

What about Dead Ringers? M. Butterfly? The French Lieutenant's Woman?

Or even Danny the Champion of the World?

Yes, what about them? I heard he couldn't "replace" Mason in the remake of Lolita either.

[Morlock 11]

What about Dead Ringers? M. Butterfly? The French Lieutenant's Woman?

Or even Danny the Champion of the World?

Yes, what about them? I heard he couldn't "replace" Mason in the remake of Lolita either.

I haven't seen any of the movies in question...what exactly is your meaning? (Aside from the fact that I'm sure no-one could come close to recreasting James Mason's fantastic performance)

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Rubbish. He was hamming it up. And it was great fun to watch.

Neither the movie nor Irons were watchable for me. I turned it off.

Come to think of it, in my entire collection, there's not one Irons movie.

There's an old movie with Irons where he says, "Let the chips fall as they may". I couldn't stand that movie either. Quality for the plebs, I says.

Alex

amazingly I have your back on this Alex,

I completely agree with you, it was a bad performance. I'm not as kind at these others, I accept the Die Hard movies for the escapism that they are, but as with most films that start 1, 2, 3, 4, the films quality declines as the # grows(in most cases, definately here)

[Morlock 11]

3 is better than 2, though.

[Ollie 1,059]

I disagree, 1 & 2 are the best and then it goes downhill.

3 feels like it was thrown together in 2 weeks and the cast and especially the villians are bland outside of Willis and Irons. Jackson is unneccessary character, it would have been better if they allowed Al from the first two films to tag along since he was black, at least they'd have a stronger chemistry between the two.

4 has some moments but just feels unneccessary.

[Morlock 11]

I'm not gonna defend 3 as anything great....but it works for me for most of it. I love the sense of place it has, and I do like Willis, Jackson and Irons, as well as some of the actors playing the police (Especially Graham Greene). The first three, I feel, all had a very good sense of location. It got bigger with every movie, and, of course, the first is the most indelible, but I got a strong sense of the building, the airport and the city.

[tpigeon 3]

That's a good point, Morlock. A sense of place is rarely achieved in action flicks these days. But the first three Die Hard movies do a good job creating that. I didn't love the third one by any stretch either, but I do find it enjoyable, especially when I'm bored on a Saturday afternoon and I see it on television.

Ted

[QMM 4]

I'll always place 3 above 2, and not really to defend it or anything but 3 was basically the Die Hard name attached to a completely different script called Simon Says. Nonetheless I still really enjoy it.

I mean c'mon, how can you not like Irons when he goes "Holy toledo! Somebody had fun"

[Morlock 11]

I love that line, as well as the way Irons says 'They bought it! You can begin'. Even the totally B-movie gangster lines, like 'Ve Vill go straight to ze wisdrawal'. And I love the way he rattles of the riddle of the man from St. Ives. He's a terrific action movie villain.

[A24 4,333]

Which film stars Bob Hoskins, Patricia Arquette, Gerard Depardieu, Cristian Bale and Robin Williams, has the music of the terrible Philip Glass and is a real turkey? That's right! The Secret Agent. I've never seen such bad direction before.

amazingly I have your back on this Alex,

I completely agree with you, it was a bad performance.

You bet, one of the worst ever! It was also badly written. The lines, his delivery, it was so embarrassing. If you like that sort of thing, I can recommend The Secret Agent.

[Morlock 11]

Never even heard of it.

I forgot, I also saw The Killer of Sheep. Not quite sure what to make of it.

[Music Manifesto 0]

Just watched No Country For Old Men on a SAG promotional copy. I love that there is no music in the film, save the scene where we hear mariachi source music. Great film - f##ked up to say the least.

[Morlock 11]

After seeing twice, and thinking about it for a long time (far longer than any other film in recent memory), it is my favorite film of 2007. No other film from last year has been so thought-provoking, yet still be enthralling and entertaining as a story, as well as being a great example of the technical artistry at work in the making of a movie. Few filmmakers are as good at showing their love for their medium, and, by extension, their audience, as the Coens.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

my sister was telling me about seeing it, she said without a doubt that I would utterly despise it, she wasn't exactly fond of it either but she knows me, she said its just another stupid coen film, and we don't have the gene for liking them

[Morlock 11]

It does not strike me as a film you'd like, no. But you never know. I was more than a little let down the first time I saw it. But then I thought more about it, and everything about it, especially the ending, started thrilling me with the various meanings, possible meanings, intentions, morals, pesimism, optimism....I think there's a good chance you might like the first three quarters, but even some Coen fans are having a hard time with the ending.

Making my way through the Hot Fuzz commentaries now. The one called 'The Villains', with Timothy Dalton, Paul Freeman, Kenneth Cranham and Edward Woodward, is wonderful.

[QMM 4]

I've been listening to the cast commentary on Hellboy again just because the first time I listened to it was so cheerful and funny and I'd wanted to listen to it again. Perlman and Tambor are a great comedic duo.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

It does not strike me as a film you'd like, no. But you never know. I was more than a little let down the first time I saw it. But then I thought more about it, and everything about it, especially the ending, started thrilling me with the various meanings, possible meanings, intentions, morals, pesimism, optimism....I think there's a good chance you might like the first three quarters, but even some Coen fans are having a hard time with the ending.

I hate endings where the bad guy gets away, but the Coen's are not conventional, and the sheer nastiness of the film bothered my sister, I will likely never see it.

[Morlock 11]

Certainly understandable. I think that the film is not as nasty as it initially seems, but it takes a while for one to see that. And even after one sees that- there's no denying that, there are ugly things in the film.

[A24 4,333]

I read NCFOM is a thriller. Too bad. For me, the nature of a thriller weakens a movie's longevity. My hopes for the year's best movie are on There Will Be Blood.

Alex

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Making my way through the Hot Fuzz commentaries now. The one called 'The Villains', with Timothy Dalton, Paul Freeman, Kenneth Cranham and Edward Woodward, is wonderful.

My 3-Disc set is still pending despatch. Dammit.

[Morlock 11]

I read NCFOM is a thriller. Too bad. For me, the nature of a thriller weakens a movie's longevity. My hopes for the year's best movie are on There Will Be Blood.

It is a thriller. But not really. To paraphrase the Coen Brothers (from their Charlie Rose appearance): "Initially, it was the pulpiest thing Cormac (McCarthy) ever wrote- but then.....it wasn't". Three quarters of it is a terrific thriller. The last quarter is the real deal, though. It ceases to be a thriller, and turns into something very different, not story oriented.....it becomes a contemplation, and raises many questions, but directly and indirectly. It is thrilling food for thought. And this is a movie that I was very much impressed with the critical reception. Very few of the reviews I've read felt like the reviewer was jumping on the bandwagon. Critics liked and appreciated this film. When Elvis Mitchell hosts a discussion about it for the sake of the film's publicity (available at the offical movie web-site), you know this is a unique movie.

It is a thrilling thriller, and much more than that.

And speaking of the Coens (Listen up, ?-man), According to this, they're adapting Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Second explicit adaptation, again with Scott Rudin....interesting development. I'm excited about this, though I'm positively psyched about Burn After Reading.

Making my way through the Hot Fuzz commentaries now. The one called 'The Villains', with Timothy Dalton, Paul Freeman, Kenneth Cranham and Edward Woodward, is wonderful.

My 3-Disc set is still pending despatch. Dammit.

I rented the 2-Disc PAL edition. Seems to be largely similar, although it is missing a couple of featurettes and a fifth commentary, with Edgar Wright and Tarantino. Sounds like fun.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I saw No Country for Old Men and Eastern Promises these past few days. The first one is truly amazing, and Bardem completely won me over even though I'm not a big fan (his character was kind of shallow though). The second one... eh. Good writing here and there. Good acting here and there. Not a bad pace. It's just eh. I did see more of Viggo Mortensen that I'd have liked, though.

[Morlock 11]

I became a fan of Bardem through his movie-stealing one scene in Collateral. He's not really human in this story. And I liked Eastern Promises, but it's not a movie that stayed with me. It needed more meat. And I do not like Shore's score.

[A24 4,333]

The Deal: There's a serious shortage of drama in this Grisham-ish and skip-worthy movie.

[QMM 4]

And speaking of the Coens (Listen up, ?-man), According to this, they're adapting Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Second explicit adaptation, again with Scott Rudin....interesting development. I'm excited about this, though I'm positively psyched about Burn After Reading.

I just read this on another site and I'm so excited. I didn't realize it when I read it but looking back on it now, the story is perfect for the Coens, some great scenes they can do a lot of work with. I can't wait.

[odnurega1 0]

What about Dungeons & Dragons, The Time Machine, or Eragon?

Anyhoo....

Continuing my initiation with Godrad....Alphaville. Of the four Godard films I've seen, probably the one that I liked most. It's sci-fi, but it does a fascinating thing: It is filmed in Paris, looks like it's out of the 60's (with heavy nods to film noir, of course), yet, while it is set in a recognizably realistic worlds, has a great sense of unease about it. It constantly felt futuristic, yet very real. It's a rather typical story, of a man looking for the truth in an autocratic, virtually emotionless society. I was actually surprised by it's seeming Franco-phobic nature....the hero comes from the 'Outer Countries' (New York), and ends up fighting the lack of humanity in Alphaville- Paris.

Not especially thought provoking as a Sci-Fi, but I was entranced by this movie. ***1/2/****.

The Hudsucker Proxy. Screw the critics. While it does slow down a bit in the second half, this is a movie that is alive. It is a wonderful throwback to the fast-talking 40's. I watched it with my father, and he, who is rarely a fan of the Coen Brothers, loved it. The opening of this movie is brilliant, one terrific line after another. Slows down a bit, as I said, when becomes too serious about it's satire of big-business....but it is still very good, and ends well.

Great sets, great cinematography, and terrific music, whether it is Carter Burwell's typical stuff, his grand love theme, or his use of Kachaturian for the pivotal montage of the Hulla-Hoop. ***/****, but that's only when compared to other Coen Brothers movies.

The Ladykillers (1955). I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's having misconceptions about the film, because of the remake. Maybe it's the less than stellar technical aspects of the film. But I did not like it. At all. It felt badly plotted, badly pased, entirely lacking any tension (the combination of lackluster sound/music is deadly), not likable, not particularly funny, aside from it's central premise. After seeing it, I'm impressed with the Coen Brothers work. At least that is elegantly staged, has tension, has a ritualistic and inevitable quality about it.

The sloppiness of this plot, the shoddy production values, the ugly, ugly color (I turned the color off, it was so unattractive)- they all overshadowed the wonderful darkly-comic conceit of the title. Most dissapointing, the least of the Ealing films I've seen so far. Kind Hearts and Coronets is better in every single imaginable way.

The Kite Runner. Not nearly as bad as I expected. The first half or so is actually quite good. The movie feels very good and authentic in it's early Afghanistan sequences. The two kids are good enough. Homayoun Ershadi is absolutely fantastic as the father, the highlight of the film for me. Shaun Taub, who seems like Hollywood's resident Middle-Eastern actor, is solid as the family friend.

The Kite flying sequence is pretty nifty, and at times, exhilirating.

Than, there's the infamous rape scene. One of my biggest problems with the movie. The rape scene not only doesn't make sense, and is not believable, but it entirely unnecessary, and entirely unrelated to the story. It seemed like a very cheap and very insulting way of getting some controversy.

Moving on.....the second half....that's not so good. The actor playing the older Amir never quite comes alive. I never identified with him in particular.

The scenes of the Afghan community in the US seemed awfully close to the far superior House of Sand and Fog. Really, almost nothing in the second half of the movie worked. The show-down with the Taliban is absolutely preposterous in just about every way. The last scene is painfully corny.

Still, the first half made for something better than I expected. I woukdn't recommend the movie, but I'm not terribly sorry I saw it.

The score was generally good, although there are a couple of moments where inappropriate electric guitars come in.

**/****.

Last and best, I saw The Diving Bell and The Butterfly. One of the very best movies I've seen from 2007. In fact, along with No Country for Old Men, probably the best movie I've seen from 2007. I am at a loss for words to describe it, aside from strongly recommending it. ****/****.

You do know there was a rape scene in the novel, right?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I became a fan of Bardem through his movie-stealing one scene in Collateral. He's not really human in this story.

I really liked him in The Dancer Upstairs and then saw The Sea Inside. I forgot he was in Collateral. He's a fantastic actor.

[Romão 2,274]

He was unbelivable in Before The Night Falls.

He has been consistenly one of the very best European actors in the last 10 years. Nice to seem him get some worlwide recognition. Trust me, it's not easy for a Spaniard to hide his accent as well as Bardem did in No Country for Old Men.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I became a fan of Bardem through his movie-stealing one scene in Collateral. He's not really human in this story.

I really liked him in The Dancer Upstairs and then saw The Sea Inside. I forgot he was in Collateral. He's a fantastic actor.

Ugh, I dislike The Sea Inside. With a passion.

[Morlock 11]

You do know there was a rape scene in the novel, right?

Maybe it works there. In the film, it's rather shameless and entirely unbelievable

[Morlock 11]

Away from Her. Good movie. Christie is very good, but Gordon Pinset is the core of the film, and he gives a marvelous performance. The fractured time was not very well done (not very effective)...but it's not too harmful. The movie was not easy to watch for me, as it hit pretty close to home (Similar to The Savages in that way). ***/****.

Skimmed the director's commentary on Atonement. The movie seemed even less impressive that the first time (and it was mightily unimpressive the first time). Also skimmed the commentary and making of on American Gangster. Similar deal as Atonement. The lack of passion I feel from this movie is astounding. I don't feel that anybody cared about it. It did remind me of my liking for Marc Streitenfeld's theme, though.

Saw two high-profile documentries- Sicko and No End In Sight. I'd like to be outraged by Sicko, as what it shows is indeed shocking.....but Michael Moore has zero credibility. I don't even know why I watched it. It did make me appreciate my own health-plan, though. Oh, and it's use of Thomas Newman's beautiful 'Baseball' from In the Bedroom is nice.

No End In Sight was more effective. No show-boating, a brass-tacks type of documentry. It's hard to discuss the details here....but this is very effective in fleshing out the details, and bring it down to a more human level, as opposed to the Political level that the subject at hand is generally discussed.

Hopefully, I'll be seeing There Will Be Blood and Sweeny Todd in the next few days.

[Jim Ware 526]

Jaws - The Revenge. Oh dear. At least there was free cake (with chocolate shark fins).

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I became a fan of Bardem through his movie-stealing one scene in Collateral. He's not really human in this story.

I really liked him in The Dancer Upstairs and then saw The Sea Inside. I forgot he was in Collateral. He's a fantastic actor.

Ugh, I dislike The Sea Inside. With a passion.

I thought it was a very powerful film.

[Romão 2,274]

Away from Her. Good movie. Christie is very good, but Gordon Pinset is the core of the film, and he gives a marvelous performance. The fractured time was not very well done (not very effective)...but it's not too harmful. The movie was not easy to watch for me, as it hit pretty close to home (Similar to The Savages in that way). ***/****.

As good as Christie was, I really can't see her deserving the Oscar more that Marion Cotillard

[Morlock 11]

Well, I didn't like Le Vie En Rose at all, and as much as I love Cotillard (I've had a crush on her ever since I saw Big Fish), this felt too much like a performance, and one I didn't particularly like.

[Romão 2,274]

It was a personification. As showy and meaty as role may have been, there's no denying it was a powehouse performance.

And yes, Cotillard is real easy on the eyes <_<

[Jeshopk 8]

I watched Poltergeist again and the acting is very intense and realistic. In the "escape"scene at the end, I just love the over the top intensity of all the actors and Goldsmith's score really enhances that.

Recently, I also saw King of California. While it's a unique little drama/comedy I found it also seemed to be a little bit of an extension of Michael Douglas' other "treasure hunter" character from Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile.

[Trent Hoyt 13]

Jumper. I love Rachel Bilson.