What Is The Last Film You Watched?

[Charlie Brigden 7]

The original seemed a lot less self-important, had a better and more sympathetic central performance,

There we go again, always the need for characters we can sympathize with. Are we children? The forte of Vanilla Sky is that it happens precisely to someone like Tom Cruise, a selfish, cocky Wall Street character.

Alex, no matter how patronising you try and be, your high horse will always be shaky when you call us children but still profess that Zack Snyder is an unknown genius.

[A24 4,338]

Blame Cormac McCarthy. Like I was saying, the screenplay is the novel transcribed for the screen. The movie is better, I wish Mortensen acted more.

I also read that Hillcoat isn't really in tune with the poetic proza of McCarthy and that in this respect the Coens did a much better job with No Country For Old Men. I going to blame the director. I hated The Proposition too. The whole film has a wrong kind of pushy seriousness which you can also hear in the voiceover of Viggo, the score, the acting, the father-son relationship and the flashbacks of the wife. It's a kind of seriousness that makes me unforgiving for some of the sillier aspects of the movie.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

THE MOVIE IS THE BOOK. There's nothing to misunderstand. All the narration in the movie, all the dream sequences/flashbacks, all the dialogue, all the action, is lifted from McCarthy's narrative. The book is serious. You say the kid is whiny, but let's see how well your kid would do if his only purpose in life was to not be eaten by cannibals and avoid all types of confrontation with human beings.

[Wojo 2,453]

I would just carry around a dead guy's arm as a decoy to throw to the wolves other people. Mmm, yum, nom nom nom, you want?, go fetch, RUN!

[A24 4,338]

THE MOVIE IS THE BOOK. There's nothing to misunderstand. All the narration in the movie, all the dream sequences/flashbacks, all the dialogue, all the action, is lifted from McCarthy's narrative. The book is serious. You say the kid is whiny, but let's see how well your kid would do if his only purpose in life was to not be eaten by cannibals and avoid all types of confrontation with human beings.

There are different kinds and tones of seriousness, Koray. Kids become immune to their daily environment, no matter how grave, and propably much easier than adults too. This kid acts as if he's completely unfamiliar with the presented world, which is typically Hollywood. The audience identifies with the kid. The fear and impressions that the kid experiences are hopefully going to be the fear and impressions the audience will experience. It's cheap, crude and very transparant Hollywood manipulation. Maybe the tone of the book is exactly the same (disputed by the one review I have read) but that doesn't change the fact that it's a typical Hollywood film. Perhaps you need to see more films. Check out Le Temps Du Loup to see the difference.

And it's not just the kid! It's everything! This movie gets too caught up in its own seriousness. There nothing to put things in perspective. It's more or less the same with The Proposition. Too me it feels like a beginner's fault or someone who doesn't yet have the right finesse. The fact that this movie 'oversimplifies' and that there's no complexity further demonstrates that.

Alex

[Koray Savas 2,251]

This kid acts as if he's completely unfamiliar with the presented world which is typically Hollywood.

He is completely unfamiliar. He knows nothing about the world before and nothing about it now, only from the minimal and vague responses that his father gives him.

Pretty much all of the dialogue goes like this:

Papa, how many people are there in the world?

I don't know.

How many do you think?

Not very many.

Okay.

Okay.

[Ollie 1,059]

Tangled.

Felt like a direct to video Pixar film. Cute but not anything I'd want to revisit.

[Brónach 1,302]

Back to the Future Part 2

Back to the Future Part 3

The New World

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The New World

Thoughts?

[ST-321 4]

Galaxy Quest. I would certainly buy the score to that, if I could.

[Jay 37,369]

I moved Chaac's nice review of The New World out into its own thread in the Review forum here:

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20074

[King Mark 3,631]

Hannah

First 30 minutes were pretty promising. Then it turns into a standard cat and mouse chase movie.

There's also the type of plot holes that are hard to overlook . Like in one scene Hannah is being interrogated and she spots all the cameras and high tech weaponry to plan her escape. In the next scene she's scared of a ceiling fan and an electric coffee maker and doesn't know what a TV is because she was raised in isolation in the forest(yet had read several encyclopedias and mastered several languages in her forest cabin)

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I thought the trailer was interesting, and I love Cate Blanchett, but then I saw it was Rated PG-13. You can't have a kid assassin going around killing people and not have blood.

[Delorean90 42]

It's a movie. You can do whatever you want.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

'Age of the Dragons', an adaptation of Moby-Dick with dragons and Danny Glover as Ahab, also starring Vinnie Jones. As cobblers as it sounds.

[King Mark 3,631]

I thought the trailer was interesting, and I love Cate Blanchett, but then I saw it was Rated PG-13. You can't have a kid assassin going around killing people and not have blood.

there was blood and gory scenes. Maybe it's other things that affect ratings

[Richard Penna 3,694]

The Shining

Continuing my quest to see the classics. I felt this was rather slow to heat up, but the last half hour is pure tension. Fantastic performances, and great use of the steadicam too.

[Brónach 1,302]

I've been meaning to see that one for a while. I've only seen three Kubricks and I like them a lot.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

The Shining

Continuing my quest to see the classics. I felt this was rather slow to heat up, but the last half hour is pure tension. Fantastic performances, and great use of the steadicam too.

by who?

Surely not Shelly Duvall, who gives one of the worst performances in a career filled with bad performances?

[King Mark 3,631]

Usually films regarded as classics or "best of" in their class don't have a terrible performance by one of the lead actors

That being said, I've never seen The Shining. Other classic horror films I haven't seen are Rosemary's Baby and Carrie

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Jack Nicholson pretty much makes The Shining what it is. Shelly Duvall is bad, but Nicholson's performance more than makes up for it. All the supporting actors are great in their roles as well.

[Quintus 5,399]

Shelly Duvall is TREMENDOUS in The Shining - better even than Nicholson; though a far less appealing performance than his, of course.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Unknown Identity

I liked that alot!

I find that the twist is pulled off brilliantly, and the story unfolds nicely as well. I mean, once the truth is revealed, it all becomes a copy of Bourne pretty quickly, but that doesn't detract from a very enjoyable film.

[A24 4,338]

A.I.: The film looks fine on Blu-ray but don't expect the sharpest of images. The first half will always be pretty intriguing in my book while the second halve will always be a mess.

The Thing: The John Carpenter version. The blood sample and needle scene is a downright classic. The stare of the dog was quite chilling too. The score was good too ... lots of strings. Who wrote the music? That can't be Carpenter himself, right?

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Thing: The John Carpenter version. The blood sample and needle scene is a downright classic. The stare of the dog was quite chilling too. The score was good too ... lots of strings. Who wrote the music? That can't be Carpenter himself, right?

Alex

Very tense film indeed. The score was a mix of John Carpenter, Alan Howarth and....Ennio Morricone.

[Quintus 5,399]

Only Morricone is credited, though. I think.

So who did the brill two-note synth music which plays over the opening? I've always assumed it was Ennio, but it sounds like a Carpenter, clearly.

[crocodile 8,017]

It is probably Carpenter. Unless you're talking about the music that starts after the title card which is Morricone. Everything he wrote is on the album, I think. And I love it. It needs a re-issue.

Karol

[A24 4,338]

The synths definitely sound like John Carpenter.

[crocodile 8,017]

We're talking about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpSO9mqwcRw

Karol

[A24 4,338]

Yes. I definitely recognize the Carpenter signature. Morricone can't do this, nobody can ... only Carpenter. The rest of the album (the strings or orchestra) is too complex for Carpenter. I also noticed the strings in the movie are beautifully recorded using 'close miking' (very dry and lots of detail).

[crocodile 8,017]

Nope it is Morricone:

"Carpenter flew to Rome and showed me his film," Morricone says. "He was very insistent, and I liked his movie, so I decided to do it. The thing is, though, we barely talked about what he had in mind. When I went to Los Angeles to record the score, I brought a tape along that contained some synthesizer music I had recorded here in italy. It was really difficult for me to understand what kind of score he wanted, so I composed an array of totally different things, hoping he would find something of particular interest to him. Now, I have been in this business for 30 years and I think I know what my clients want, and guess what? He picked the piece that mostly resembled his own personal compositions. That is of course the main theme, which can be heard throughout the movie."

Confirmation of this claim comes on the film's soundtrack, which contains a great deal of music which never made it into the film. The main theme is virtually the sole composition heard during the film, and collectors consider the album a rather peculiar one as a result. "I wrote an hour of music for The Thing, and I just can't believe the way it was ignored," he frowns. "So when they asked me what to put on the album, I recovered all the stuff we had previously recorded. You can't sell a soundtrack album with one theme only; it's like cheating your potential buyers!"

This is a quote from FSM board which quotes a magazine.

Apparently Carpenter and the other guy did like two cues for the film and only because of the changes to the picture.

Karol

[A24 4,338]

He picked the piece that mostly resembled his own personal compositions. That is of course the main theme, which can be heard throughout the movie."

Hehe, ya think Morricone did that on purpose?

[crocodile 8,017]

It would make sense. Either way, I love the track...

which means I actually enjoy a piece of electronic music.

Karol

[A24 4,338]

Yes, it's simple and very atmospheric, especially when put together with the images of the helicopter flying above the snowy landscapes. It can only be achieved through the vibrant sound of real, analog synthesizers. Do the same piece with sampled waveforms and it sounds dead.

Alex - now waiting for crocs to come up with an article that says Morricone used a cheap digital synthesizer for The Thing.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Never doubt Morricone again.

[Ollie 1,059]

For those discussing The Shining, if you can find Wendy Carlos' 2 volumes of Rediscovering Lost Scores, you can hear her original compositions. Also included is the music used in the original trailer, elevator door version. The music with all the voices and heartbeat effects is quite disturbing at times when listening to it away from the film.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The film is disturbing enough on its own, I don't want to experience that away from it!

I'll keep a look out, I never knew that music was released.

EDIT

Alright, easy to find, but insanely expensive!

[Ollie 1,059]

Yikes!

Barnes & Noble used to have these in their classical section and I always put off buying them, until one day I went back to get them and they were gone....

I was fortunate to find them last year on Amazon for about $12.00 each, but I guess I grabbed the last few.

[crocodile 8,017]

Alex - now waiting for crocs to come up with an article that says Morricone used a cheap digital synthesizer for The Thing.

Yes, I will strip you of any dignity and expose your incompetence and wretchedness to the world! Sadly... I know virtually nothing about synthesizers and stuff like that.

There Will Be Blood. Well, 2/3 of it.

Karol

[Quintus 5,399]

A good film, but I didn't like it. Daniel Day Lewis distracted me nearly all the way through it.

It was as if he was competing with the score.

[Sixers 0]

Black Dynamite

Hilarious movie

[A24 4,338]

There Will Be Blood. Well, 2/3 of it.

One of the best films of that year, featuring a Daniel Day-Lewis who's larger than life, which is what the film is about, a larger than life pioneering dinosaur.

Red (2010): I don't think I going to watch action/comedies anymore.

Alex

[A24 4,338]

Lakeview Terrace: I almost forgot I watched it. Not as good as Pacific Heights but fun nevertheless.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I AM A POLICE OFFICER! YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT I SAY!!!

[Quintus 5,399]

Red (2010): I don't think I going to watch action/comedies anymore.

The right decision.

[Jeff 10]

I thought Red was pretty funny for a one-time viewing. I have nothing against it, anyway. The Other Guys had some insanely funny moments as well. I wouldn't shut the door on a whole genre unless even the good stuff in that genre doesn't appeal to you.

[Quintus 5,399]

I thought Red was well worth a watch and really funny, too. A very silly movie indeed and I wouldn't mind a sequel.

[King Mark 3,631]

I saw Your Highess

It's not great by any means, but better than most paint by number mainsteam comedies

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The movie with Natalie Portman in a thong?

A.I.: I enjoy it. I know, there's something wrong with me.

[Delorean90 42]

If there is, there's something wrong with me, too.