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

[A24 4,326]

7 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Slow West

 

Really bad, in almost all respects. The only point of relief was that it was 80 minutes long.

 

Poor writing, acting, cinematography, editing... just, baffling in its student level of quality. 

 

I guess that's why it's probably the most highly praised Western movie of the last decade.

 

Personally, I loved it! And I don't recognize anything that you are saying here.

[Sweeping Strings 2,344]

Diamonds Are Forever - the series entry with which EON thought 'Whatever the '67 Casino Royale can do, we can do better' perhaps? There is admittedly a decent amount of fun to be had if you go with it, and highlights include the elevator scrap (do like the 'mano a mano' confined-space confrontations, see also FRWL and GE) and Jill St John. Gray's urbane, drag-favouring version of Blofeld is easily the series' least threatening version of the character (and I'm including Waltz in that).

Danger : Diabolik - cult 60s Italian 'master thief' comic-book adaptation ... groovy, baby! The influence of the Adam West Batman and Bond on this is pretty clear (and indeed Thunderball's Adolfo Celi stars as a gangster). A new adaptation of the character was apparently announced in 2018.

Punisher : War Zone - 'Violent escapism that's entertaining in a trashy way' said my listings magazine of choice ... yep, that pretty much covered it. This does at least seem closer in spirit to the character than the plodding Thomas Jane flick that preceded it.
 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

4 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

I guess that's why it's probably the most highly praised Western movie of the last decade.

 

Personally, I loved it! And I don't recognize anything that you are saying here.

All of the action and plot beats are forced and poorly written and executed. The film is edited in such an amateurish way where you never see the full motion of anything. Chock it up to low budget but man, I really couldn’t stand it. Characters appear within scenes unnaturally from off screen. 

[A24 4,326]

 

Did you watch this movie alone?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

No. 

[Quintus 5,399]

Watched the first two Back to the Future movies with my kids. They still appeal, even the 2015 problem of the second film was a none issue after 5 minutes. The first one though is so good, its up there with Star Wars, E.T. and Raiders.

[Edmilson 7,376]

The BTTF trilogy is probably Alan Silvestri's best scores.

[Quintus 5,399]

Probably. At a push I'd say it's a toss up between BTTF and Predator.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Part II is a bit too zany, especially after watching the first flick, but it has Biff in excess and not to belittle the rest of the cast, but Thomas Wilson really carries the movie. 

[Quintus 5,399]

He comically chews the shit out of it, and he's hilarious yes.

 

Even though he's only in one of 'em, Crispin Glover was the most brilliant comedy performance in the whole series. 

[Chen G. 3,942]

The Godfather: Part II

Its exquisitely well-made, especially in the visuals, which are gorgeous. But as someone who doesn't glean much enjoyment from crime dramas, I had my fill with the original film. That film showed Michael fall from a virtuous man (who just happened to be born into a mafia family) into a mob leader himself, which was very compelling. This film...just has him fall some more.

 

***1/2 out of *****

[A24 4,326]

The world sure loves them Godfather films. However, I wonder if they really love them, or do they merely say they love them simply because of social pressure?  Actually, these days, the Godfather series has been exchanged for the LOTR trilogy. People are now obligated to declare Jackson's trilogy the end-all and be-all of filmmaking. Those who have a different idea are met with unbelief and suspicion. Ah, well ...

[Quintus 5,399]

And isn't it great that this irks Alexcremers no end 

 

Quintus - never saw Godfather Part II

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I always preferred Apocalypse Now. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,012]

19 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Jackson's trilogy the end-all and be-all of filmmaking

 

Well, it's not.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

28 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

I always preferred Apocalypse, Now. 

Which cut do you prefer, Koray?

 

31 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Quintus - never saw Godfather Part II

Oh, you should, Lee, it's magnificent.

I prefer it to THE GODFATHER.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I prefer The Freshman.

[Quintus 5,399]

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Zzzzzz...

[gkgyver 1,645]

1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

The world sure loves them Godfather films. However, I wonder if they really love them, or do they merely say they love them simply because of social pressure?  Actually, these days, the Godfather series has been exchanged for the LOTR trilogy. People are now obligated to declare Jackson's trilogy the end-all and be-all of filmmaking. Those who have a different idea are met with unbelief and suspicion. Ah, well ...

 

It's equally as tiresome when people think so highly of their superior taste, that they develop a reflex to "oh well" anything a large amount of people think is amazing, and feel so threatened in their self-suggested uniqueness, that they deliberately over exaggerate the justified praise something gets into the ridiculous, so they can feel justified in their snubby behavior, and mask the feeling of being left out. 

 

To support this, I present exhibit A. 

 

The A stands for Alexcremers. 

 

 

And Annoying. 

[Quintus 5,399]

20 minutes ago, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

Zzzzzz...

 

You not a fan of the pyramids of Giza?

[Jurassic Shark 12,012]

16 minutes ago, gkgyver said:

they deliberately over exaggerate the justified praise

 

When it comes to LotR it's not really possible to over exaggerate the praise of fanboys.

[SteveMc 2,674]

The Godfathers Part 1 and 2 and The Lord of the Rings Parts 1, 2, and 3 are great and deserve their reputations.  And I say this without their ranking among my subjective favorites.      

Let's separate the films themselves from the folks who think jumping on a convenient and obvious bandwagon is a sign of good taste and being edgy, shall we?.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

I like both THE GODFATHER, and THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogies...but I know which trilogy I could live without.

[SteveMc 2,674]

The Mighty Ducks trilogy?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I mainly enjoy movies due to social pressure. It just takes the edge off knowing you're enjoying something everyone else does.

[A24 4,326]

 

13 hours ago, gkgyver said:

 the feeling of being left out. 

 

Is that why you yield to populism, MacGyver? To achieve 'social acceptance' by liking what the majority dictates? Well, pressure all you want, it won't work. I feel privileged to be "left out" from your group. 

 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I only like The Bold and the Beautiful because Alex does.

[Quintus 5,399]

Alex is enjoying his white privilege again. In black neighbourhoods folk have no choice but to enjoy universally beloved movies.

[A24 4,326]

A UK survey shows that the social pressure is so great that people even lie about having seen The Godfather. Could it be that MacGyver has never even listened to Zimmer? And who here has never watched The Godfather? My guess is it's Gruesome. He only watches Titanic (ad nauseam) and some old Batman movie. 

[publicist 4,643]

And you think this tragic fanboy monoculture needs to be pointed out now, in 2020? I remember comprehensive Greedo and Gimli threads that soon will celebrate their 20th birthday.

[Holko 9,491]

41 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

And who here has never watched The Godfather?

[Chen G. 3,942]

I actually didn't watch The Godfather until a couple of years ago. I did see Part II when I was young, but I remembered very little of it. Nevertheless, I had every reason to believe I would enjoy it as much if not more than The Godfather. I was wrong.

 

There's nothing wrong with the movie. I just got my fill with the original film.

[Edmilson 7,376]

During this quarantine I've been watching movies that got a lot of praise during my youth to see how they hold up ten years later. Yesterday was the day of...

 

Avatar

 

I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Sure, the plot is predictable and seen countless times on Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai and Disney's Atlantis. But here the plot is merely an excuse for Cameron to take us on a journey to a detailed, rich world that still looks as beautiful and eye popping as in 2009.

 

Cameron's direction make us glued inside that world, feeling the impact that every plant, Na'Vi or animal has on that world.

 

I don't know about you, but I'm eagerly anticipating where he'll take us on the sequels.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I think Avatar is a well crafted action movie, but cannot comprehend Cameron’s vision for 4 sequels. 

[Romão 2,274]

For all the technological tools he had at his disposal, I found Cameron's world building fairly boring and unimaginative. It's basically a rain forest on steroids. 

[LSH 968]

I watched the excellent SIDEWAYS last night for the 156millionth time. Still one of my favourite films ever. Great score too, from Rolfe Kent.

 

Was also the first 15 certificate (R-rated) film I saw in the cinema.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Sideways is good.  I like endearing low-key comedies about people coming to terms with life's banality.

[Chen G. 3,942]

2 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I think Avatar is a well crafted action movie, but cannot comprehend Cameron’s vision for 4 sequels. 

 

But then, if there's one thing James Cameron how to do inhumanely well its how to sequel.

[LSH 968]

I don't doubt that it's gonna be ambitiously huge and all that, but his other sequels happened during a time when he was in a more gradual stage of acquiring increasingly large budgets to work with. The budget of The Terminator was something in the region of just $6million. Just seven years later, Terminator 2 cost $100million. That must have given him the most wonderful scope (not least because the technology had advanced enough for him to go even madder with the scale of it). Nowadays (since Titanic and the first Avatar) he can do absolutely anything he wants. And that makes it less exciting in my eyes.

 

The man is a visionary, no doubt, but he was more exciting in the late 80s/early 90s when the scale of his films actually felt extraordinary. Avatar 2 better be fucking incredible if he wants to trump the scale of concurrent projects on the go in Hollywood. I don't think I've even met anyone who is looking forward to the Avatar sequels, and they are people who actually know they're happening.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,490]

Unfortunately, I, for one, will never find out how good AVATARs 2 through 5 will be.

[LSH 968]

Why's that?

[A24 4,326]

He stole everything from Roger Dean. Visionary my a$$!

 

 

Right Richard? 

[Chen G. 3,942]

James Cameron is a great filmmaker.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

50 minutes ago, LSH said:

I don't doubt that it's gonna be ambitiously huge and all that, but his other sequels happened during a time when he was in a more gradual stage of acquiring increasingly large budgets to work with. The budget of The Terminator was something in the region of just $6million. Just seven years later, Terminator 2 cost $100million. That must have given him the most wonderful scope (not least because the technology had advanced enough for him to go even madder with the scale of it). Nowadays (since Titanic and the first Avatar) he can do absolutely anything he wants. And that makes it less exciting in my eyes.

 

The man is a visionary, no doubt, but he was more exciting in the late 80s/early 90s when the scale of his films actually felt extraordinary. Avatar 2 better be fucking incredible if he wants to trump the scale of concurrent projects on the go in Hollywood. I don't think I've even met anyone who is looking forward to the Avatar sequels, and they are people who actually know they're happening.

 

He wasn't any less exciting to me when he made Titanic, but just after that was clearly the point where he stepped away from directing and we all lost out. He wasn't working on Avatar all that time. He was just living his life, doing deep dives and other shit, occasionally producing crap and toying around with technology. He does seem content at this point with only directing Avatar movies.

[LSH 968]

Titanic was the last great film he made.

 

The Terminator is the best horror film ever made. Terminator 2 is the best action film ever made.

 

Change my mind.

[A24 4,326]

3 minutes ago, LSH said:

The Terminator is the best horror film ever made.

 

Never heard anyone call it a horror movie. Even IMDb doesn't seem to be aware of it. 

[Chen G. 3,942]

8 minutes ago, LSH said:

Titanic was the last great film he made.

 

Its also the second to last narrative film he's made, so methinks you're making conclusions off of very little information.

 

A great filmmaker doesn't stop being a great filmmaker. The kind of innate feel that a person like Cameron has for where to place the camera, how to draw a performance from an actor and ESPECIALLY how to cut a sequence together, how long to dwell on a shot, etc - that doesn't go away.

 

I believe in James Cameron.

[A24 4,326]

Just now, Chen G. said:

I believe in James Cameron.

 

[LSH 968]

21 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Never heard anyone call it a horror movie. Even IMDb doesn't seem to be aware of it. 

 

But it is though.

 

20 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Its also the second to last narrative film he's made, so methinks you're making conclusions off of very little information.

 

A great filmmaker doesn't stop being a great filmmaker. The kind of innate feel that a person like Cameron has for where to place the camera, how to draw a performance from an actor and ESPECIALLY how to cut a sequence together, how long to dwell on a shot, etc - that doesn't go away.

 

I believe in James Cameron.

 

Yeah, I get what you're saying but Avatar (which, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed in the cinema), is so far the only Cameron film I feel has no re-watch value whatsoever. So something changed.