What is the last film you watched?

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Bradbury also mentioned how Herrmann's score was great.

Well, he *is* a Herrmann fan, as far as I know.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He just gives the public what they want.

He gives his opinion, which is what he gets payed for.

[A24 4,337]

I do agree, Alex, that the movie did seem to dumb down a bit in the second half. The rather obvious and biteless shot at consumerism (though it did have it's moments) did feel out of place, not to mention hypocritical, considering the huge Apple presence in the film. But still, a magical film. And the character was great throughout.

It's not so much the shot a consumerism that I have problems with, it's the shot at conventional spectacle. The middle part felt all too familiar. I think the magic lies in the first act: A lonesome robot, a planet of garbage, the visiting of an alien ship, seducing EVE, no words are spoken, ... Beautiful!

He just gives the public what they want.

He gives his opinion, which is what he gets payed for.

Get out of here! He pleases the readers and the masses of IMDB. Ebert is guilty of commerce.

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You have no evidence of that.

[A24 4,337]

You have no evidence of that.

Of course I have!

On one side we have:

- IMDB score for Equilibrium: 7,9

- Roger Ebert's score: ***/****

On the other side:

- Rotten Tomatoes score for Equilibrium: 36% (!)

- Alex Cremers' thumbs down

Case proven.

Alex

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Yes, yes, that is a completely valid argument with no possible reproach. Disregarding sarcasm, I usually ignore Mr. Ebert.

[Quintus 5,399]

Mark Kermode on BBC Radio 1 is better and funnier than Ebert.

That isn't him at the top of the page btw, that is presenter Mark Chapman. Just thought I'd point that out.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Forrest Gump (****)

I forgot how brilliant this movie is. It was a pleasure to catch it from the beginning and watch it all the way through. Just a little unrelated question: Why is Robert Zemeckis obsessed with CGI?

[crocodile 8,017]

It's not so much the shot a consumerism that I have problems with, it's the shot at conventional spectacle. The middle part felt all too familiar. I think the magic lies in the first act: A lonesome robot, a planet of garbage, the visiting of an alien ship, seducing EVE, no words are spoken, ... Beautiful!

My thoughts exactly.

The Hearts of Darkness.

A great documentary on making of Apocalypse Now. I was amazed how honest and intimate it was at some points. The conversations between Coppola and his wife were particualary interesting.

Shadow of the Vampire.

Not as strong as I thought it would be. In fact quite an interesting idea turned out to be a flat bore. How sad. Dafoe is great though. And I liked the score somewhat.

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

'The Dark Knight'

I was somewhat appaled by the transformation of the Dent character. The shiny symbol stumbled because what happened to his girlfriend? And then he threatens children of people who don't really are responsible? Then he certainly had serious psychological issues before that happened...

And what about this whole 'destroy the social order' by the Joker? He brags about being ahead because he doesn't follow plans but his whole scheme depends on slavishly executed.....PLANS? I'm too old for comic movies.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Hamlet 2 (***)

The poster has a quote saying "Dementedly hilarious." I think that's a good descriptor of this film. It's extremely weird, like something Kauffman would write, and just oddly funny. Great cast, and the most ridiculous, outrageous, and most stupid sequel ever made

I can't get the song "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" out of my head.

"I feel like I've just been raped... IN THE FACE!"

[MissPadmé 17]

The Dark Knight:

Fantastico! but somehow confusing for me over the first 40 mins..got better to perfect when there was less Mafia, more Joker!

Saw the German and the English Version.. WOW didn't know Ledger has such a deep voice! and the german batman compared to bale sounds like Sauron!! It is sooo over the top, even more than the english

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Fantastico! but somehow confusing for me over the first 40 mins..got better to perfect when there was less Mafia, more Joker!

Me too. Although the Gordon decoy thingy then confused me again. Not because of the (expected) twist, but because I missed the point of it. Side note: I love Oldman in these films, he's brilliant. Even knowing it's him, I don't recognise the actor, even less than usual.

Saw the German and the English Version.. WOW didn't know Ledger has such a deep voice! and the german batman compared to bale sounds like Sauron!! It is sooo over the top, even more than the english

I can't even imagine what it must be like in the dubbed version. But that's true for most films.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Although the Gordon decoy thingy then confused me again. Not because of the (expected) twist, but because I missed the point of it. Side note: I love Oldman in these films, he's brilliant. Even knowing it's him, I don't recognise the actor, even less than usual.

If you saw the trailer, you knew he wasn't dead, because it was before the whole "Nothing in his pockets besides knives and lint..." jail scene.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I didn't watch the trailer. I think. I like to be kept in the dark about these things. But it's Gordon... plus when the current Commissioner was named as a target, it was clear that this would end in Gordon's promotion.

[Henry B 50]

Well, they suckered me in. I actually did think Gordon was dead.

[Red 75]

And what about this whole 'destroy the social order' by the Joker? He brags about being ahead because he doesn't follow plans but his whole scheme depends on slavishly executed.....PLANS? I'm too old for comic movies.

He was obviously lying about not having plans, in an effort to manipulate Dent.

[indy4 155]

Well, they suckered me in. I actually did think Gordon was dead.

Same here.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Finished watching Generation Kill on HBO. It's pretty doggone good. It's not very similar to any other war movie (or series, in this case) that I've ever seen, but that's a good thing. Highly recommended.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I finished watching "1941".

[indy4 155]

You poor soul.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I enjoyed some parts of the film. John William's march is fantastic.

[indy4 155]

I love the score, it is absolutley brilliant. But the film...that is a very different story. It's the worst film I've ever seen.

It's like WotW, only reversed--WotW was a great film with a bad score, 1941 was a bad film with a great score.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I have seen films far worse than "1941" ("Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem" comes to mind).

[A24 4,337]

Thanks for spoiling all the twists and turns of TDK.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

I love 1941, personally. It's a big mess, but so what? It's funnier than most comedies, it's better-made than most movies, and as far as supposed cinematic disasters go, it's one of the titles that ought to be struck from the list.

[A24 4,337]

It's a big mess ... it's better-made than most movies.

[publicist 4,643]

I love 1941, personally. It's a big mess, but so what? It's funnier than most comedies, it's better-made than most movies, and as far as supposed cinematic disasters go, it's one of the titles that ought to be struck from the list.

It's just not very funny...this makes it considerably less exciting than many 'not-better-made' comedies (read: those not equipped with an oversized budget). I'll give you that some setpieces are good, apart from that most people i know have turned it off after 40 minutes because there's just no real point to it.

I pity someone who cannot at least name 50 films which are considerably funnier...so i guess i pity you.

And what about this whole 'destroy the social order' by the Joker? He brags about being ahead because he doesn't follow plans but his whole scheme depends on slavishly executed.....PLANS? I'm too old for comic movies.

He was obviously lying about not having plans, in an effort to manipulate Dent.

That's swell! And with this genius story stunt we again are in the sorrow territory of late afternoon TV dramaturgy. Let's be realistic here: the best thing they could come up with to get their radiant hero from upmost-defender-of-the-societal-justice-and-morale to the lowest form of sociopathic felon is

the death of his girlfriend

?

And then comes Heath Ledger in a nurse uniform to inform him, a presumably 40 year old man (!) about the ways of the world and after 10 minutes he's so shaken he kills innocent children?

When was the last time the arch defenders of this kind of bollocks have experienced human behaviour in the real world?

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

It makes reasonable sense to me. Dent had been in a funny mood ever since he woke up at the hopsital. And white knight or not, I'd always had the feeling that he could snap at least a notable bit if he knew of the Wayne/Batman/Rachel connection.

Thanks for spoiling all the twists and turns of TDK.

I'm sorry. I thought about using spoiler tags, but there was too much info the previous posts already anyway, so I just skipped them.

[A24 4,337]

This year the Alex Cremers award for best TV series goes to ... Mad Men! Damn, I can't wait for season 2. Is The Sopranos really that good?

Alex

[Morlock 11]

I think so. But I didn't like Deadwood. But I think Sopranos is a safe gamble. The House Next Door loves it (Deadwood and Mad Men, too).

[A24 4,337]

The House Next Door loves it (Deadwood and Mad Men, too).

Hm, I didn't know that site. Any particular reason why you mention them?

Alex-who noticed they picked L.A. Confidential as the best L.A. film of the last 25 years.

Alex 2-who thinks they made a mistake not to include Hollywoodland in the top 25

[Morlock 11]

Discovered them through Mr. Pigeon. Fantastic site. They show what film-blogging at it's best can be (IIRC, the two of us are big Barry Lyndon fans, and Matt Zoller-Seitz has a beautiful look at the film that I recently re-read). THND, Bordwell and Jim Emerson are my current bloggers of choice (all recommended by Ted). A good article by one of those people can satisfy my love for good film talk to an amazing degree. I think you'd enjoy checking them out every once in a while (Emerson recently had a fantastic and enlightening thread on Fight Club).

The more I thought about it (and heard your thoughts on it), I respected Hollywoodland's intentions more. I still think it's direction did not manage to pull off the script's concept (i.e. to disguise the sad truth with gossip and intrigue).

[Quintus 5,399]

Is The Sopranos really that good?

The Sopranos by far the best show of the last twenty years.

[A24 4,337]

Discovered them through Mr. Pigeon. Fantastic site. They show what film-blogging at it's best can be (IIRC, the two of us are big Barry Lyndon fans, and Matt Zoller-Seitz has a beautiful look at the film that I recently re-read). THND, Bordwell and Jim Emerson are my current bloggers of choice (all recommended by Ted). A good article by one of those people can satisfy my love for good film talk to an amazing degree. I think you'd enjoy checking them out every once in a while (Emerson recently had a fantastic and enlightening thread on Fight Club).

The more I thought about it (and heard your thoughts on it), I respected Hollywoodland's intentions more. I still think it's direction did not manage to pull off the script's concept (i.e. to disguise the sad truth with gossip and intrigue).

Okay, I'll put them in my folder of favorites and check them out.

BTW, it wasn't 'The House Next Door' but the 'Los Angeles Times' who compiled that top 25 list of L.A. films. My mistake. Hollywoodland might not be fully accomplishing its major theme but it's a film that contains 'moments'. And impressing with 'moments' is already quite an achievement, for it's what I remember movies by. I will never forget Ben Affleck's last scene on the bed.

Alex

Is The Sopranos really that good?

The Sopranos by far the best show of the last twenty years.

Some will say that honor goes to Six Feet Under, a show which I haven't seen either.

[Quintus 5,399]

Me neither. I personally haven't heard that said said about it tbh.

[crocodile 8,017]

And then comes Heath Ledger in a nurse uniform to inform him, a presumably 40 year old man (!) about the ways of the world and after 10 minutes he's so shaken he kills innocent children?

When was the last time the arch defenders of this kind of bollocks have experienced human behaviour in the real world?

Well, he was crazy at that point already. I can buy that. His arc Harvey Dent was even less believable in The Long Halloween comic book series. I wouldn't make remarks on how unbelievable these situations are. After all the whole point of Batman is unrealistic, even if you explain it like they did in Batman Begins.

As for Joker's plans. I wouldn't expect this character to be particulary... consistent.

Karol

[Bryant Burnette 654]

I love 1941, personally. It's a big mess, but so what? It's funnier than most comedies, it's better-made than most movies, and as far as supposed cinematic disasters go, it's one of the titles that ought to be struck from the list.

It's just not very funny...this makes it considerably less exciting than many 'not-better-made' comedies (read: those not equipped with an oversized budget). I'll give you that some setpieces are good, apart from that most people i know have turned it off after 40 minutes because there's just no real point to it.

I pity someone who cannot at least name 50 films which are considerably funnier...so i guess i pity you.

You pity me? You can't even read, apparently, so save the pity for yourself. Nowhere did I indicate that this movie is one of the fifty funniest movies ever made. I'm sure I could come up with a list of a hundred movies that are funnier. But what has that got to do with anything? I still laugh every time I watch 1941, and I don't understand most of the criticism that gets aimed at it. The movie is a farce, and anybody who isn't taking it on that level is on the wrong track. As a farce, I think it works pretty well. It's no classic, but it's better than its reputation.

This year the Alex Cremers award for best TV series goes to ... Mad Men! Damn, I can't wait for season 2. Is The Sopranos really that good?

Alex

We're about halfway through season two of Mad Men here in America, and I don't think it's lost anything. A great, great show.

I can't speak to the entirety of The Sopranos, but the first two seasons are awesome. I'm hoping to knock out the rest of it sometime this year.

Similarly, I've seen only the first season of Six Feet Under, but I loved it and look forward to the rest.

[Ollie 1,059]

Well, they suckered me in. I actually did think Gordon was dead.

Same here.

Not me.

I love 1941, personally. It's a big mess, but so what? It's funnier than most comedies, it's better-made than most movies, and as far as supposed cinematic disasters go, it's one of the titles that ought to be struck from the list.

[A24 4,337]

Chopper: Andrew Dominik's (The Assassination Of Jesse James) debut film. Eric Bana portrays Mark "Chopper" Read, a bad ass killer, and it's the role of his life. No wonder every actor wants to work with this director. Recommended, that is, if you have the stomach for extreme violence!

Alex

[publicist 4,643]

You pity me? You can't even read, apparently, so save the pity for yourself. Nowhere did I indicate that this movie is one of the fifty funniest movies ever made. I'm sure I could come up with a list of a hundred movies that are funnier. But what has that got to do with anything? I still laugh every time I watch 1941, and I don't understand most of the criticism that gets aimed at it. The movie is a farce, and anybody who isn't taking it on that level is on the wrong track. As a farce, I think it works pretty well. It's no classic, but it's better than its reputation.

VS.

I love 1941, personally. It's a big mess, but so what? It's funnier than most comedies

And i can't read, smartypants?

[Morlock 11]

1941 has some excelent pieces, but I don't feel like it comes together at all. I think my favorite portion is the Mifune/Lee/Pickes parts. Not really for the content, but just for the idea of these three very different icons together.

Anyhoo, I completed New York Stories. Scorsese's is still the best. Coppola's is just bad in most respects. Woody Allen's, though, was surprising. It totally felt like a segment out of Everything you Wanted to Know About Sex. A pure bit of joke-telling. It's scary how much his mother here reminds me of my grandmother.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. This was a surprising one. It's not a particularly good movie, being way too fluffy...but it's arc is surprising, how the Cindarella/Mary Poppins tale develops on parallel levels. Amy Adams seemed a bit all over the place early on in the film. She did calm down and become more solid as the film progressed, though. Frances McDormand is wonderful. But the best part of the movie was Cieran Hinds. I've loved Hinds since I first noticed him in Road to Perdition and The Sum of All Fears, and he's yet to dissapoint (he was a great presence in There Will Be Blood, even though his character was a tad underdeveloped). Over here, he is an island of sanity and humanity. The last scene of the film is one of the most touching closers I've seen in a long time.

The Last Waltz. Martin Scorsese's documentation of The Band's final concert. There was this nagging voice going through my head as I was watching this film that I should have loved: I do not like the vast majority of this music. I do not get it why The Band is worth this treatment. So, no, I do not think this is the greatest rock concert documentry ever. It doesn't come close to Shine a Light, as far as I'm concerned. Still, there's plenty to like about it, and I was rarely bored. The performances of 'The Weight' and 'Caravan' (with Van Morrison) are fantastic, though.

Also did a Back to The Future marathon. First one is very good. Love the Oedipul depravity. I think that Fox and Lloyd's performances here are probably the least centered of the three films. I don't get the feeling that had as strong a take on the characters as they did in later movies. Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover are the wildcards of the movie, and they are really the core of the film for me. Glover in particular. As Pauline Kael noted in her review of the film (one of the most spot on review I've seen her write), it's hard to put a finger on exactly what Glover is doing, but whatever it is, the movie would be far more innocuous without him. He is certainly missed in the latter two films. The script is very smart, and without most of the smartass-ness of the second one, although the ending is extremely off-mark. I can't believe they saw the yuppification of this family as the ideal. I do not think that this score is one of the greatest ever, or even among Silvestri's best, but that theme is perfect. For most of the film, the score s not terribly interesting, though it does have it's moments. The finale is quite well-scored. Doc's reaction to Marty's successful travel, the one scene that occurs in all three films, is a wonderful sight, and the theme shows a quality that is surprisingly touching.

Pt. 2 moves so fast that it never feels like it really begins, and never feels like it settles into a steady pace until it gets back to 1955. But the film is still quite fun, interesting, and smart, and it is a relief to see an optimistic and bright view of the future, as opposed to the dystopian norm. In this movie, Lloyd and Fox are far mroe confident in their roles, though also here, they are usurped by Tom Wilson as Biff. I never appreciated Wilson's work until this time around...he gets a lot of mileage out of douche-baggery, and I mean that as a compliment. I can't say I noticed anything particularly noteworthy about this score, aside from the uses of the theme. The one before the last scene is fantastic, and iconic to me. I love the Western union guy.

Pt. 3 is the simplest, slowest, and most clearly narrative of the bunch. It is quite fun, but the least imaginative of the three. It's also the film in which Fox and Lloyd come off quite strongly, though Wilson is fantastic here as well. The scene with Steenburgen could have been excruciating, but Lloyd pulls them off wonderfully (accompanied by the lovliest scoring of the series). The climactic chase, though it feels particularly contrived, is beautifully shot and constructed for maximum effect. You see Zemeckis' eye working the hardest in this film. The last scene drags on the film's pacign a bit, but Doc's costume, together with that beautiful looking train make it quite a nice finale. Too bad that ZZ Top had to take over the opening of end credits.

Overall, a very good and very fun trilogy, with tremendous nostalgia value. The movies do get less distinguished as they carry on, but all of them have a huge amount of charm. I do not think that the movies or the scores are the great works a lot of people seem to see them for, but the combination of skill, brains, adn good-will is damn near irresistable.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I watched the last 30 minutes of The Breakfast Club this morning.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Have you ever seen the edited version? I do not condone profanity, yet it is outrageous (and slightly hilarious) when Emilio Estevez starts calling people things like "fruity cupcake" or "jerk face". Leave classics alone to be classics (I sense Lucasfilm-"stripping" in the near future).

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Have you ever seen the edited version?

No I haven't. Editing movies for cable television should be prohibited IMO. I remember watching a featurette on my Scarface DVD, and they replaced the line:

"This town is like a pussy, waiting to be f*cked." with "This town is like a chicken, waiting to be plucked."

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Have you ever seen the edited version?

No I haven't. Editing movies for cable television should be prohibited IMO. I remember watching a featurette on my Scarface DVD, and they replaced the line:

"This town is like a pussy, waiting to be f*cked." with "This town is like a chicken, waiting to be plucked."

yeah because the first line is so good.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I never said it was, but it's an example of how stupid the lines become. I can't stand watching the green band version of the Burn After Reading trailer.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

The re-dubbed US version of Basic Instinct is hilarious.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

You pity me? You can't even read, apparently, so save the pity for yourself. Nowhere did I indicate that this movie is one of the fifty funniest movies ever made. I'm sure I could come up with a list of a hundred movies that are funnier. But what has that got to do with anything? I still laugh every time I watch 1941, and I don't understand most of the criticism that gets aimed at it. The movie is a farce, and anybody who isn't taking it on that level is on the wrong track. As a farce, I think it works pretty well. It's no classic, but it's better than its reputation.

VS.

I love 1941, personally. It's a big mess, but so what? It's funnier than most comedies

And i can't read, smartypants?

This is laughable. You indicate that I find 1941 to be one of the fifty best comedies ever made. Nowhere in any of what I said -- including, by the way, the sections you've quoted from -- do I say anything of the sort. What I said was that it's funnier than most comedies. And guess what? It is.

Maybe I was unclear. I don't think you can't read. Obviously, you can. I think you can't read well.

And I appreciate you proving that point.

[Quintus 5,399]

Even when one considers that 1941 was conceived as a farce, it still isn't a particularly funny one. A few belly laughs yes, but its hardy laugh out loud material. Most of the lines fall flat or misfire completely. The visual comedy is a bit more successful, but that is mostly a result of the decent special effects. Considering it's budget, 1941 is pretty much an embarrassment. None of this makes it any less watchable of course, in a car crash sort of way.

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is how to do a farce properly. Spielberg's take on the genre doesn't come close.