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


Mr. Breathmask

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21 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

Iirc countries like Germany didnt  allow foreign language films with subtitles - they had to  be dubbed into German.

Is that still true?

 

I don't understand what you mean by "allow"? Dubs are still the norm here, so that's what most "normal" people watch, so that's what most theatres show. But you've got many smaller (and a small number of larger) theatres that show original versions, either with or without subtitles.

 

15 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

Dubbing kinda only makes sense to me for animated films. I don’t understand why anyone would want to defend dubs in general.

 

In theory, but even animated films have long been at least roughly lip synced, so you get some complications with that at least. Plus there's a tendency to replace "celebrity voices" in animation with "celebrity" voices, e.g. those kinds of people who aren't actors but have become famous and who people therefore (for often unfathomable reasons) like to see in films, even when they have no acting experience. Or they are famous comedians (who, as far as I recall, are sometimes free reign for their lines - sort of post fact improvisations over a finished film). And then of course many animated films have songs, and you can imagine how that goes.

 

Still animation at least sometimes fared better than live action. Ralph Bakshi's LOTR at least stuck to the correct names, when the original version changed e.g. Saruman to Aruman, because they thought that was necessary to keep people from confusing him with Sauron (of course, the book itself is in many ways untranslatable; while I do think the first German translation was pretty good, you invariably lose a crucial amount of how Tolkien handled names and languages - no wonder he was unhappy with many of the translations during his lifetime, or even found several of the horrible). And I still have a soft spot for the German version of Disney's Robin Hood. Ustinov dubbing himself with a hilarious British accent is certainly a distortion, but it works and has its own charm, and the other voices seem less anachronistic than the very American voices in the original version. But you still have to live with the fact that the translation simply drops a lot of the jokes. I actually like to watch the German dub with English subs in this case.

29 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I don't understand what you mean by "allow"? Dubs are still the norm here, so that's what most "normal" people watch, so that's what most theatres show. But you've got many smaller (and a small number of larger) theatres that show original versions, either with or without subtitles.

 

Also, the situation has improved somewhat more in recent years, because obviously original language versions have become more popular for non-arthouse stuff as well. Many multiplex chains now have semi-regular original language slots for the major attractions. And the local IMAX has actually been showing the original versions for their blockbuster midnight premieres.

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7 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Just read the subtitles!

Functional illiteracy would need to drop significantly worldwide for that.

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JLzFbJZ.png

 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

An interestingly confused film. Lots of potential right off the get go - a good story, great visuals, good enough characters for a Disney kids' movie, a darker tone, a fantastic setting (recent events have only strengthened Notre-Dame's immense iconographic and historical stature as the immovable indestructible all-seeing, all-hearing and all-knowing beauty looking over Paris for nearly a millenium - especially when paired with fire), a much less shaky thematic base than Pocahontas for example. The movie does start off promising too, and fulfills a lot of those promises all the way throughout - except for lapses of cold feet and forced childishness.

 

On paper (heh, get it, because it's based on a quote from the book) the concept of Quasimodo "knowing" the non-judgmental gargoyles, grotesques and statues and talking to them doesn't sound bad, but it sure does when you realise it's just 3 of the obligatory Disney Reneissance Terrible Superfluous Anachronistic Cutesy Sidekicks. All the time dedicated to them could have been cut and only improved the movie (Guy Like You while Paris is burning and innocents are murdered especially) - that time could be spent on developing relationships better and rushing through less conversations to skip time. Seriously, that first dialogue with Frollo! Though maybe Quasi slipping in the alphabet practice and him noticing he wants to go to the festival would be a good setup of that element if we didn't have the gargoyles talking to him about it for 5 minutes beforehand. Similarly, Q&E getting to know each other felt extremely rushed, as if lines were cut when they were afraid the kiddies would get bored of people just talking. I'd have liked an implication of a week or month passing and them having regular conversations and meetings instead of just an hour before she has to escape, because, you know, gypsies can't sit on their ass, nice way to combat racism, reason with more generalisations. But generally it does well enough at telling its good enough story enjoyably enough.

 

The songs are mostly fantastic! The underscore does its job well enough mostly, with well-chosen instrumentations but some Mickey Mousing and some underdeveloped half-formed or not greatly used theme statements at times. I do have a healthy interest in the upcoming Legacy Edition, might be the first of those I'll buy, but I might have to tailor it a bit (like dropping some cues, or cutting out the Wicked Witch theme from the climactic "battle" if that was recorded as part of that cue and not tracked in).

 

Overall I did like it but didn't feel it always lived up to its own promises and potential, sometimes quite actively disliking the different direction it went in instead. Not a full recommend to anyone as a great movie but definitely worth seeing for the great parts and/or as a study piece to learn not to undermine those great parts with less than great elements.

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Last Man Standing - apparently the general critical consensus of this Prohibition-era Western/gangster movie mash-up is that it's an ill-advised remake of Yojimbo ... well meh, I've never seen Yojimbo. So to me, it's an enjoyable actioner with Bruce Willis' gun-for-hire 'John Smith' rocking up in border town Jericho and proceeding to play the rival Italian and Irish bootlegging gangs off against each other. Looks great, and has an excellent score by Ry Cooder.

Also starring Christopher Walken, Bruce Dern and Michael Imperoli.

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5 hours ago, Holko said:

Overall I did like it but didn't feel it always lived up to its own promises and potential, sometimes quite actively disliking the different direction it went in instead. Not a full recommend to anyone as a great movie but definitely worth seeing for the great parts and/or as a study piece to learn not to undermine those great parts with less than great elements.

 

I've always been quite impressed by it, and I never had a big problems with the gargoyles like apparently everyone else. It's still a Disney film, after all - I'd say they simply come with the territory. The film has some of Disney's darkest and most dramatic sequences, but you still have to expect the lighter side to show up as well. It's still a good mix to me, and despite the happy Disney ending, it's in many respects more faithful to the book than the Dieterle/Laughton version, as far as I remember. Disney's most invasive (and perhaps "problematic" when compared to the source material) change might be painting Phoebus as a hero throughout.

 

Nevertheless, it would of course have been fascinating if they had strictly stuck to the original ending. But it would probably have traumatised generations of children as well. ;) 

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On 5/16/2021 at 12:20 AM, Ricard said:

Dubbing is the worst thing that ever happened to cinema. I realized this 35 years ago (not "the age of plenty" you're referring to, right?), after spending all my childhood and part of my teenage years watching dubbed movies. Now you can call me pedantic. ;)

 

You are not from Germany, where the dubbing was (note the distinction) significantly better than in other countries. And no, it wasn't. It's a phantom menace, made by movie fans that take their hobby much too seriously.

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Shrek is a modern classic, so much so that it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". 

 

https://deadline.com/2020/12/national-film-registry-2020-list-the-dark-knight-grease-shrek-blues-brothers-1234655817/

 

It's not because you weren't a kid when it came up that you must hate a kid movie. I was 21 when Inside Out was released and I found that movie great. 

 

Or maybe the people behind the National Film Registry are nothing but stupid 20-to-30-year-olds obsessed with Harry Potter and social media, who don't recognize the greatness of Lawrence of Arabia or something.

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Shrek was selected for preservation because it became a cultural touchstone, not because it is good.

The culture is wrong.

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The Fast and the Furious

A really nice surprise.  I really liked the dynamic between Diesel and the main character.  Paul Walker brings a youthful enthusiastic energy to the role.

8.5/10

 

2 Fast 2 Furious 

Not quite as good as the first movie but still watchable.  The lack of Diesel really hurts the movie (presumably scheduling conflicts with xXx or something).  Though the replacement buddy wasn't too bad.

6/10

 

Ford v. Ferrari 

Not much of a car person but I enjoyed this saga in car history.  

8.5/10

 

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It must be horrible for people born before 1985 to admit that there are great movies released after they became depressed adults with lots of bills to pay that were important to kids. 

 

"mimimi movies released after 2000 are utter shit mimimi cinema stopped being great as soon as hair started growing in my balls"

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Hey, I don't know who you think I am, but you're not describing me.  I see and enjoy plenty of good kids movies through my own children.  We were just agreeing on how good Raya is just a few weeks ago!  I just know that Shrek is bad!

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6 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

It must be horrible for people born before 1985 to admit that there are great movies released after they became depressed adults with lots of bills to pay that were important to kids. 

 

"mimimi movies released after 2000 are utter shit mimimi cinema stopped being great as soon as hair started growing in my balls"

Shrek came out when I was a kid.  I never liked it.  

Watching classic Disney, and the excellence Pixar was putting out regularly at that time, made Shrek absolutely look and feel ridiculous.   

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The first Shrek was a fun twist on the genre when it came out. But it's not really a kids movie.

 

16 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

It must be horrible for people born before 1985 to admit that there are great movies released after they became depressed adults with lots of bills to pay that were important to kids. 

 

Nobody said that bad films cannot be important for kids.

 

;)

 

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9 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

"mimimi movies released after 2000 are utter shit mimimi cinema stopped being great as soon as hair started growing in my balls"

 

On the contrary. The last few years have been a great period for films.

 

I remember that Shrek has a funny line about waffles.

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11 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

"mimimi movies released after 2000 are utter shit mimimi cinema stopped being great as soon as hair started growing in my balls"

 

Hey, I was born with hair on my balls!

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I think Edmilson's post was pretty rude.  Talk about the film and why you like it, not mock other JWFanners for having a different opinion than you do

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I think it might be a case of him not recognizing that I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek with my Shrek opinions.  Side-note: does no one else find the image of Pat Robertson holding a gun as hilarious as I do?

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The Three Musketeers (1993)

 

For 28 years I've been listening to the ost which I love and hadn't seen the film.

Well, yesterday I changed that. It's quite an enjoyable movie, although I'd like more character development which was saved for the cardinal, played by a very good Tim Curry.

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I haven't seen Shrek in a while but from what I remember there was some nice things in it. It's certainly not as good as a Pixar movie but the first one is still really watchable not like its awful sequels.

 

1 minute ago, Disco Stu said:

I think it might be a case of him not recognizing that I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek with my Shrek opinions.  Side-note: does no one else find the image of Pat Robertson holding a gun as hilarious as I do?

Top 30 Haussement D'épaules GIFs | Rechercher le meilleur GIF sur Gfycat

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26 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

does no one else find the image of Pat Robertson holding a gun as hilarious as I do?

 

I don't know who that is

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He's a televangelist (hosting the The 700 Club daily TV show) and sort of the 2nd most important person after Jerry Falwell in the rise of fundamentalist evangelicals as a cultural and political force in America.  He even founded his own private Virginia university just like Falwell (Falwell founded Liberty University, Robertson founded Regent University).  I just thought the picture was funny, but now I realize it might sort of count as political.  Oops!

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Yea I've never heard of any of those things and we don't talk about that stuff on JWFan anyway

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1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

Why watch Shrek when The Princess Bride exists ;) 

 

I watched Shrek at the theatre and don't remember much* other than that it had some nice ideas and a few funny jokes. I watched The Princess Bride on TV and didn't understand what everyone likes about.

 

*) The main thing I remember is that it came with the first Potter teaser.

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On 5/17/2021 at 6:44 AM, publicist said:

 

You are not from Germany, where the dubbing was (note the distinction) significantly better than in other countries.

 

I grew up in Spain, where they've been saying the same thing about their dubbing from day one. So what?

 

Quote

And no, it wasn't. It's a phantom menace, made by movie fans that take their hobby much too seriously.

 

People deciding how seriously other people should take things... Hmm.

But it's very simple, really. My respect is directly proportional to the dedication professionals give to their projects. Which in the case of dubbers is.... 0.

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Must admit that I thought that Shrek article was going to be taking it to task for not being 'woke' enough or whatever, seeing as it's a Guardian piece. Kinda refreshing that it actually doesn't.

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On 5/18/2021 at 5:04 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

Because it's better

On to a loser, there, dude.

 

On 5/18/2021 at 5:05 PM, Disco Stu said:

 

For that, you go to the Pit of Despair!

Screw that; he gets to be president of BRUCEMARSHALLfan.

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3 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

Never understood the love for that one.

 

I'm told its a comedy, but I'd be lying if I said I watched Princess Bride rolling-over laughing.

 

A lot of it is struck me as a straight-faced adventure film.

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5 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Comedy is best she it's played straight-faced.

 

Individually, its fairly easy to judge a comedy:

 

1. How often did I laugh?

2. How hard did I laugh?

 

Can't say I laughed all that much in Princess Bride. I mean, it was fine amusement...

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Added Another Black and White film to my collection. Mary Burn's Fugitive from 1935. Awesome little melodramatic crime movie about a woman who belongs to a sadistic gangster. Its got a surprisingly brutal ending that works to this day. Great cast.

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