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

[filmmusic 1,826]

5 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

You watch Mad Max films for the plot?

Well, with all the critical acclaim it had, I expected something more of it...

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Just now, filmmusic said:

Well, with all the critical acclaim it had, I expected something more of it...

Well it’s one of the best action movies put to film, with insanely impressive practical effects. The original film doesn’t have much of a plot either. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

Troy (2004)

 

I remember watching this in theaters and thinking Paris was a brat, and Achilles was a vengful, arrogant brute. Granted, a few years prior to that I thought Sir William Wallace was a brute, but Braveheart's hero has nothing on this guy in terms of how sanguine he is. Its not a tragedy if you don't present the would-be tragic hero as a good and sympathetic (if flawed) man, first.

 

That being said, I do appreciate the attempt to tell a true tragedy, and the production is as impressive as you'd expect. I wish we had more productions like this today - only with better scripts.

 

*** out of *****

[Edmilson 7,428]

The screenwriter for this film was David Benioff, who was one of the showrunners on Game of Thrones a few years later.

[Chen G. 3,949]

Yeah, when I saw his name on the credits it gave me a chuckle. Game of Thrones was already in the Braveheart/Gladiator mould anyway. Here we have its immediate precursor.

[A24 4,331]

1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

The original film doesn’t have much of a plot either. 

 

But at least it had a charismatic lead.

[SteveMc 2,674]

1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

The original film doesn’t have much of a plot either. 

The original is great because its plot is so simple and visceral.  It feels like something that is happening, not something written to happen.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Troy (2004)

I wish we had more productions like this today - only with better scripts.

Indeed. They butchered THE ILIAD.

Homer would be turning in his grave!

[Romão 2,274]

Brad Pitt's acting was quite bad. Orlando Bloom was his usual level of awful. Has any actor ever had such an high profile career with so little talent?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

2 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

But at least it had a charismatic lead.

Tom Hardy is fine as Max. It’s not really his story in Fury Road. Furiosa is the center there. 

2 hours ago, SteveMc said:

The original is great because its plot is so simple and visceral.  It feels like something that is happening, not something written to happen.  

And Fury Road doesn’t?

 

To be clear, I love all the Mad Max films. Just don’t get how someone’s response to Fury Road could be “meh.”

[Jurassic Shark 12,053]

I guess it's just not for people who want a proper story and character development.

[Chen G. 3,949]

26 minutes ago, Romão said:

Brad Pitt's acting was quite bad. Orlando Bloom was his usual level of awful.

I was more concerned over Brian Cox. Such a waste.

[Romão 2,274]

Peter O'Toole and Eric Bana were quite good, I thought

[Brundlefly 2,385]

1 hour ago, Romão said:

Brad Pitt's acting was quite bad. Orlando Bloom was his usual level of awful. Has any actor ever had such an high profile career with so little talent?

I fully agree with you, he's very often overchallenged by his roles. Tom Hanks comes close.

[Chen G. 3,949]

1 hour ago, Romão said:

Peter O'Toole and Eric Bana were quite good, I thought

 

In a film filled by what are clearly supposed to be tragic figures, O'Toole's Priam comes closest: a good man, beset by his blind faith in his gods. The others just don't have that strong basis of audience sympathy. Bana's Hector is also wonderful, but he's not tragic in the same way that the others are, which allows him to be much more sympathetic.

 

Part of the issue is how great the cast is overall, and how little so many of them register.

[A24 4,331]

50 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

I fully agree with you, he's very often overchallenged by his roles. 

 

Maybe, but I have a feeling he was simply miscast here. 

[Romão 2,274]

He is always miscast. He is always awful

[A24 4,331]

Not at all. He's very good in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, just to name a few. 

[Jay 37,340]

Alex, Brundlefly and Romão were talking about Orlando Bloom, not about Brad Pitt!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Brad Pitt needs the right sort of role to be decent. Kalifornia was a legitimately good performance. Most of his acting consists of him in relative normalcy and it's the male equivalent of the bimbo model put in showbiz for her looks. Brad Pitt in Troy is shit. Brad Pitt in that Tarantino Nazi movie is a highlight. I think he just basically pulls off over-the-top crazy southern guy.

 

And DO NOT make him the leading man. There was literally no point in casting him in something like the borefest World War Z except for his name and good looks, and he was completely unbelievable as a government scientist guy (or whatever?) who looks like Kurt Cobain.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Troy is terrible. Probably one of the worst “big budget” films I’ve seen. 
 

I’m still confused as to why Elfman’s Planet Of The Apes was tracked in to the Bana-Pitt duel in the director’s cut. 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It is pure shit.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

Bloom is a pretty boy. He always has been, and he always will be. Having said that, he impressed in LOTR, and had just the right amount  of naïvety (none of it by design, I'm sure), in THE CALCIUM KID.

ultimately, though, his name will be added to the thousands of "stars" who are/were incapable of rising above their given source material. In this regard, he's useless.

[Edmilson 7,428]

Troy is crap indeed, but I like the epic visuals of the movie and Horner's score.

[filmmusic 1,826]

3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

 Just don’t get how someone’s response to Fury Road could be “meh.”

Well, I generally like and watch only old films (1930-1990), thats's why i said i was battling with myself to watch this and probably why I had that response.

 

 

16 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Horner's score.

I prefer Yared's one by far.

[Chen G. 3,949]

32 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Troy is crap indeed, but I like the epic visuals of the movie and Horner's score.

 

The visuals are great, and I just love those sort of productions, certainly over the prettified, insufferably-jovial stuff that passes for blockbusters today. It just needed a better script.

 

As for Horner's score...sorry, as far as I was concerned, it was "danger motif - the score" plus the wailing woman.

[Edmilson 7,428]

Yeah, that wailing woman was annoying, but there's some excellent themes in there. I specially like Achilles' heroic theme, and its use when he invades the beach and fights some trojans. Troy's fanfare is great as well.

 

The Achilles-Briseis love theme, on the other hand... could've been better. And don't even get me started on the woeful Josh Groban song for the end credits.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

52 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Pitt is a pretty boy. He always has been, and he always will be. Having said that, he impressed in 12 MONKEYS, and had just the right amount  of naïvety (none of it by design, I'm sure), in MEET JOE BLACK.

ultimately, though, his name will be added to the thousands of "stars" who are/were incapable of rising above their given source material. In this regard, he's useless.

Seven, Snatch, Babel, Jesse James, Inglourious Basterds, The Tree Of Life... these are all “pretty boy” roles to you?

 

Sounds like you haven’t watched a Pitt film since the 90s. 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It goes without saying that if it's an ancient gladiator men movie, Chen G loves it.

[Chen G. 3,949]

If it’s a large-scale action movie that’s unafraid to look graphic violence, tyranny and other unpleasant subjects in the eye, I’ll always at least find something of merit in it.

 

Lightheartedness is killing cinema.

[SteveMc 2,674]

6 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

And Fury Road doesn’t?

To be fair, I have not yet seen Fury Road flag to flag, but from what I have seen I think there is a distinction.  And that distinction is that Fury Road is a movie that sets out to be a blockbuster, a "big" movie.  Mad Max feels like an idea which caught lightning, so to speak.  

[A24 4,331]

7 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Yeah, that wailing woman was annoying ...

 

Weren't the visuals of the same cliched nature? Don't understand the love for it. Where is the evidence? 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

10 hours ago, Jay said:

Alex, Brundlefly and Romão were talking about Orlando Bloom, not about Brad Pitt!

Wrong.

[A24 4,331]

Yeah, I never talk about Orlando Bloom. 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

9 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Seven, Snatch, Babel, Jesse James, Inglourious Basterds, The Tree Of Life... these are all “pretty boy” roles to you?

All solid. Nothing more.

[A24 4,331]

7 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

All solid. Nothing more.

 

In that case, I like to hear from you how Pitt could have improved his portrayal of Jesse James in Dominik's movie. Enlighten me!

 

In my opinion, he's very good at underplaying a character, but not when he's overemphasizing like in 12 Monkeys.

[publicist 4,643]

 

Leonore Carol "Lee" Israel was an American author known for committing literary forgery. Her 2008 confessional autobiography was adapted into 2018's poignant loser ballad 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?', starring Melissa McCarthy.

 

The story follows her attempts to revitalize her failing writing career by forging letters from deceased authors and playwrights, making them her short-lived meal ticket before hunted down by the authorities (Israel took the title from an apologetic line in a letter in which she posed as Dorothy Parker). 

 

It's as much a story about forgery as it is about professional loneliness and, in McCarthy's quite good performance, a stubborn will to be a provocative, wayward personality. Together with Richard E. Grant's even more grand failed actor personality, an irresponsible slob coking himself on sex dates while tending her apartment, they make a perfect couple - and in light of much worse things on god's earth than forged celebrity letters, even make you root for them and their small claims to fame.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

7 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Yeah, I never talk about Orlando Bloom. 

 

He'll always be the 7 Up guy.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

In honour of Honor (Blackman), Goldfinger.

Arguably the movie the Bond franchise has been trying to live up to ever since. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

Its the one that has the most of James Bond's signposts, but its hardly the best.

 

Bond raping Pussy Galore into being straight is really, REALLY wierd!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,513]

16 hours ago, Jay said:

Alex, Brundlefly and Romão were talking about Orlando Bloom, not about Brad Pitt!

Original post amended (shamelessly, I might add ).

[KK 3,307]

Revisited The Tree of Life last night. Fuck the naysayers. This is truly extraordinary cinema.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

23 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Its the one that has the most of James Bond's signposts, but its hardly the best.

 

Bond raping Pussy Galore into being straight is really, REALLY wierd!

It's of its time, which I choose not to judge it for.  

[Chen G. 3,949]

I’m not saying the movie is evil and should be banned or anything of that kind. What I am saying is that when you watch something with such outdated sensibilities, it’s bound to be a distancing factor between you and the story.

 

That’s the true way in which films age: not in their look, but in their sensibilities.

[filmmusic 1,826]

5 hours ago, KK said:

Revisited The Tree of Life last night. Fuck the naysayers. This is truly extraordinary cinema.

Have you seen the extended cut yet?

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Pulp fiction.

 

Okay, wow. What a movie. I love the fact that Tarantino is always determined to tell his story and he doesn’t give a fuck how long it’s going to take or what the viewer might think. I feel like I just watched a four-hour movie and although I didn’t like everything, I had a great time. John Travolta is finally bearable, Samuel Jackson is just fantastic and Uma Thurman sounded quite captivating (and not like her Bel Ami voice at all). The Wolfe scene was long-winded, but Tim Roth was great, I finally watched Eric Stolz and Bruce Willis in something and Christopher Walken was good too.

As usual, the songs were great and the sound mix was surprisingly dynamic.

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Monty Python's Life of Brian.

 

I never knew the title song was arranged by Trevor Jones. It's still one of the best of all Bond songs.

 

I spotted George Harrison for the first time (I've known he's in this for several years, but I kept forgetting whenever I watched it). Kenneth Colley (aka Admiral Piett) is much more obviously recognisable in his initial closeup than I was previously aware (I only learnt he was in this after the previous time I watched it).

 

I also watched the deleted scenes for the first time - the unused prologue has one of the funniest bits of the whole film.

[KK 3,307]

8 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Have you seen the extended cut yet?

 

I have not. I fear it'll be overly indulgent, whereas the theatrical cut just about nails it (well, almost...). But did you feel the extra hour added much to it?

[filmmusic 1,826]

56 minutes ago, KK said:

 

I have not. I fear it'll be overly indulgent, whereas the theatrical cut just about nails it (well, almost...). But did you feel the extra hour added much to it?

I haven't seen it yet too, that's why i asked.

 

[gkgyver 1,645]

On 9. April 2020 at 12:50 PM, Chen G. said:

Its the one that has the most of James Bond's signposts, but its hardly the best.

 

Bond raping Pussy Galore into being straight is really, REALLY wierd!

 

Yet quintessential.

 

Have you read Fleming's novels?