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


Mr. Breathmask

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20 hours ago, Jay said:

Overly sentimental endings and rushed endings are a Spielberg trademark, especially in this era of his career (see also: War of the Worlds)

 

To be fair to War of the Worlds, that came straight from the source.

 

19 hours ago, LSH said:

sideways.jpeg

 

One of my favourite films ever. For that reason I try not to watch it too much... once a year usually. I felt that it was time, appropriately with some good wine to accompany.

 

Fantastic jazzy score from Rolfe Kent.

 

Those people are harmfully photoshopped.

 

I just watched Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Fun film. Probably the film where the franchise became "Watch Tom Cruise do his own insane stunt work." That part certainly wasn't an element of 1, 2 is best forgotten, -- I'm fuzzy on 3. All I remember is they actually gave the "masks" a "science", Philip Seymore Hoffman was great, the plot with the wife. If there were insane Cruise stunts I don't recall. GP is also the only M:I film (I think) where the villain is not either a mole or created by the IMF. Lots to recommend.

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Twister

 

Oh gosh, I love this movie. Always loved it since I was just a little boy. Watched it countless times on VHS.

 

Watching it today, I still think it's a fun movie with great direction and cinematography and an excellent score by Mark Mancina - I loved how he used the choir to represent the tornados. But of course, some of the digital effects don't hold up these days.

 

Anyway, happy 25th birthday!

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A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Haven't seen it in quite a few years. Might have been back in the DVD days actually. If this film has a flaw then it is telling an allegorical/symbolical Kubrick story in Spielberg's more grounded real-life style. With a less literal approached this could have been a masterpiece. The film is nowhere near a disaster, however, and there are images and moments that really stay with you. Well, they definitely lingered in my memory for the past 20 years. So no, I wouldn't dismiss this film at all. It's somewhat of a mess but an ambitious one at least and showing Spielberg at his most cynical. Yes, cynical as the saccharine ending is nothing short of cruel if you think about it.

 

Donnie Darko. This time it was the director's cut as that is the only disc from recent Arrow release that actually works. It's another curiosity from 2001 that serves almost as a teenage Lynch film. It's perhaps not as great as I remember but at least there's something there for the brain to digest.

 

Karol

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11 minutes ago, crocodile said:

A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It's somewhat of a mess ...

 

Not during the first act, which is very good indeed. I can't do anything with the rest of the movie. 

 

11 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Donnie Darko. This time it was the director's cut 

 

Everyone said to avoid the DC and so that's what I did. I only have seen the TC. Incredibly promising debut from Richard Kelly but he never did anything good after DD

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19 minutes ago, crocodile said:

The theatrical cut is better because it explains less.

 

I like the DC - I'm not a big fan of deliberately not explaining something that is an essential part of a film's story/logic, to the point where you have to make up your own explanations when "real" ones do exist. And I found the DC to be confusing enough (or perhaps I'm just too dumb to pick up on that kind of narrative logic on my own).

 

In any case, while it's not the greatest film ever made, I like it a lot. There's something special about it - the combination of its story, setting, narrative, and atmosphere. In one way (especially atmospherically) it fits nicely with Dark City, another good-but-not-great favourite of mine; in another way, the setting and mood even share something with the much more recent The End of the F***ing World (which I do firmly place in the "great" category).

 

And its version of Mad World is also very much worth mentioning.

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6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

or perhaps I'm just too dumb to pick up on that kind of narrative logic on my own ...

 

Self-knowledge is the beginning of all wisdom, Marian.

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1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Twister

 

Oh gosh, I love this movie. Always loved it since I was just a little boy. Watched it countless times on VHS.

 

Watching it today, I still think it's a fun movie with great direction and cinematography and an excellent score by Mark Mancina - I loved how he used the choir to represent the tornados. But of course, some of the digital effects don't hold up these days.

 

Anyway, happy 25th birthday!

 

I keep thinking i should watch this with my kids. It's the kind of popcorn they don't make anymore. 

 

And is this the best score Mancina has ever done? 

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2 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

It's the kind of popcorn they don't make anymore. 

 

 

Sadly, they do still make them:

 

greenland-movie-review-1200x900.jpg

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12 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Meh, this one wasn't as good.

 

Maybe the last decent disaster flick was 2004's The Day After Tomorrow?

 

For me they need to balance "Am I enjoying this?" with "This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life." DaT acted like it was trying to TELL ME SOMETHING. Maybe I would have liked 2012 (that was an End of the World movie, right?) better.

 

EDIT: Oh, and: BILL PAXTON! (I still hated Philip Seymour Hoffman because of Scent of a Woman at this point.)

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1 hour ago, crocodile said:

the saccharine ending is nothing short of cruel if you think about it.

 

Oh, it's an extremely dark ending, and the saccharine feel to it is of course intentionally misleading, that's the whole point.

 

I think the only people who might view the film as having a happy ending an inattentive or young/inexperienced viewers

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23 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Twister

 

Oh gosh, I love this movie. Always loved it since I was just a little boy. Watched it countless times on VHS.

 

Watching it today, I still think it's a fun movie with great direction and cinematography and an excellent score by Mark Mancina - I loved how he used the choir to represent the tornados. But of course, some of the digital effects don't hold up these days.

 

Anyway, happy 25th birthday!

Its not so fun when you experience the live version.

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36 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

Its not so fun when you experience the live version.

 

More sitting and playing cards in the basement and talking to insurance adjusters, less minivans exploding like TIE fighters.

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Australia. 

 

That was pretty great. Nicole Kidman was fantastic and fortunately did not come across as unrealistic with a British accent. This was also the first movie in a long time that required me to read subtitles and I found the beginning rather rushed, or maybe that was just because both Drover and Fletcher sounded so awfully alike. There’s a little too much singing in it and I’m guessing the aboriginals are being portrayed in a rather patronizing way, but what the hell, I had a great time. I’ll definitely re-watch this one when I don’t have to keep an eye on iTunes copying music to my phone, e.g. asking me to update my phone’s firmware and software and then telling me it’s waiting for changes to apply (what the fuck does that even mean?) Where are the days you could just plug in an MP3 player and copy-paste files? No, I don’t want a library, I want music.

I’m tired of the 20th Century Fox logo, but the score was really great most of the time as well. Its uses of minor and major was excellent, but the sound effects overwhelmed it at times, though that might just have been my copy. Some of the romantic cues could have been a bit better and it took me an hour to realise the classical piece that sounded so familiar was Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze. The sped up Nimrod at the end also worked really well. Am I going to have to re-evaluate Moulin…? No, I’m not doing it. I’M NOT DOING IT, MRS BOSS!

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10 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

More sitting and playing cards in the basement and talking to insurance adjusters, less minivans exploding like TIE fighters.

8 flat tires in 1 week, finding a part of someone's roof in the yard. The funnel cloud was a mile wide. It didn't look like a tornado.

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On 7/8/2021 at 12:11 PM, Jay said:

The Watch movie review & film summary (2012) | Roger Ebert

 

The Watch

 

One of the few mainstream comedy films of the 2010s we had never seen.  It ended up being pretty funny and interesting; Not at all a cliched or by the numbers comedy.  It's really a sci-fi/action/comedy blend kind of like a ghostbusters or men in black or whatever.  As a big fan of The IT Crowd it was great to see Richard Ayoade in something else, and he was very funny here.  Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller were more or less their usual selves, but Jonah Hill was actually not a variant of his usual characters which was nice.  R Lee Ermy, Billy Crudup, Erin Moriarty (from The Boys!), Nicolas Braun (from Succession!), Will Forte, Mel Rodriguez (Last Man On Earth reunion!), and all three Lonely Island guys even show up.  It was all quite fun!

 

It's free on HBO Max

Gave this one a go the other day. Wasn’t a huge fan at the start, but once all the main characters got together I thought there were some pretty funny moments.

 

”There’s an orgy… locally?”

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On 7/25/2021 at 9:37 AM, crocodile said:

A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Haven't seen it in quite a few years. Might have been back in the DVD days actually. If this film has a flaw then it is telling an allegorical/symbolical Kubrick story in Spielberg's more grounded real-life style. With a less literal approached this could have been a masterpiece. The film is nowhere near a disaster, however, and there are images and moments that really stay with you. Well, they definitely lingered in my memory for the past 20 years. So no, I wouldn't dismiss this film at all. It's somewhat of a mess but an ambitious one at least and showing Spielberg at his most cynical. Yes, cynical as the saccharine ending is nothing short of cruel if you think about it.

 

Donnie Darko. This time it was the director's cut as that is the only disc from recent Arrow release that actually works. It's another curiosity from 2001 that serves almost as a teenage Lynch film. It's perhaps not as great as I remember but at least there's something there for the brain to digest.

 

Karol

Most people I know will disagree with you. A.I. is a disaster. The acting is all over the place. Frances O'conner gives the single worst performance of any actor in Spielberg's catalog of films.  The number of false endings is ouzzling since they are all bad. Morose is a fitting word for the film but one no director would like being used to describe their film.

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e78c5d70259875.5b9da9b42e44d.jpg

 

Feels like a product that students of an art academy would make to impress their teacher. Because it's 6 acts and an epilogue, I watched it in three sittings (like a miniseries). Overal, there's too much focus on ugliness (as if that's all there is in the world), and to be honest, it makes too much use of a dated film language (and yes, probably deliberately). 3/10 for the uncompromising aspect of the movie. I'm pretty sure there's an audience for this but it isn't me (I'm thinking of crocs when he's in one of his snob moods ;)).

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Free State Of Jones (2016)

 

free-state-of-jones-1200-1200-675-675-cr

 

Matthew is quite good in this. Everyone is. But director Gary Ross wants to put too much elements into this Oscar bait movie while it would have been better if he had focused on only one or two aspects. He would have been able to dig deeper and we, the audience, would have perhaps had a weightier experience. A missed opportunity (and no Oscars).

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On 7/26/2021 at 10:44 PM, bollemanneke said:

Australia. 

 

That was pretty great. Nicole Kidman was fantastic and fortunately did not come across as unrealistic with a British accent. This was also the first movie in a long time that required me to read subtitles and I found the beginning rather rushed, or maybe that was just because both Drover and Fletcher sounded so awfully alike. There’s a little too much singing in it and I’m guessing the aboriginals are being portrayed in a rather patronizing way, but what the hell, I had a great time. I’ll definitely re-watch this one when I don’t have to keep an eye on iTunes copying music to my phone, e.g. asking me to update my phone’s firmware and software and then telling me it’s waiting for changes to apply (what the fuck does that even mean?) Where are the days you could just plug in an MP3 player and copy-paste files? No, I don’t want a library, I want music.

I’m tired of the 20th Century Fox logo, but the score was really great most of the time as well. Its uses of minor and major was excellent, but the sound effects overwhelmed it at times, though that might just have been my copy. Some of the romantic cues could have been a bit better and it took me an hour to realise the classical piece that sounded so familiar was Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze. The sped up Nimrod at the end also worked really well. Am I going to have to re-evaluate Moulin…? No, I’m not doing it. I’M NOT DOING IT, MRS BOSS!

 

I absolutely and unabashedly love Australia. The kind of big, epic, earnest, heart on its sleeve movie that just doesn't get made any more. There's not an ounce of cynicism or irony here, which is much welcome.  It's not perfect, but it's perfect for what it is. And much better than its given credit for.

 

I watch Australia at least once a year, even in the years I don't need do.

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Cold Pursuit - when Colorado snowplough driver Nels Coxman's (Liam Neeson) son is killed by a drug cartel, he goes after those responsible. 'Looser', more leisurely and with more humour than the usual Neeson 'a man's gotta do' flick.

Road House - it's the OTHER '89 Michael Kamen-scored flick with somebody called Dalton in it! Bar brawls, booze, boobies 'n' blood abound as 'best in the business' bouncer Patrick Swayze is hired to clean up the 'Double Deuce' bar. Perfect 'brain off and beer' blokey Saturday night entertainment.

That said, I could've done without the 'contains violence, highly offensive language and sexual content' *warning* every time the film was about to recommence after an ad break ... some of us watching are capable of understanding that a movie released 32 years ago just might not (quelle horreur!) have *2021 values* (and that it is consequently, let's face it, more entertaining as a result). 

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Child’s Play (2019)

IMDB

 

Stupid and fun. I thought it was pretty good - for what it is.

 

In my mind, I’m comparing it to Fear Street, since that was the last “slasher” movie(s) I saw. I thought Child’s Play had more heart, better horror and good tongue-in-cheek humor lacking in said trilogy... better actors, better direction.

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22 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

That said, I could've done without the 'contains violence, highly offensive language and sexual content' *warning* every time the film was about to recommence after an ad break


What’s an ad break?

22 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

some of us watching are capable of understanding that a movie released 32 years ago just might not (quelle horreur!) have *2021 values* (and that it is consequently, let's face it, more entertaining as a result). 

 

Drax? Is that you?

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Ad breaks are things that you encounter if you are a dinosaur like me and still sometimes watch things on commercial channels at their scheduled broadcast times. They make for excellent drink-fetching/toilet-visiting opportunities.

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Joker 2' is happening, but DC fans aren't happy about it

 

Joker (2019)

We live in a society.  Fortunately, it is not quite as bleak as the society in this movie, no matter how relevant and important the movie seems to think it is.  Todd Phillips is to be commended, though, for making a movie that is not afraid to stand out a little, do its own thing, even if that thing feels very obviously indebted to the likes of Scorsese and Nolan, if more humorous.   Thematically, the movie is a little confused, however.  It wants to be about too much, from mental illness, to Wall Street, to current politics, and ends up not speaking to anything particularly well.  Phoenix's over the top Oscar winning performance is part Travis Bickle, part demented Kaufman, and all Joaquin Phoenix.  He never loses himself in the Fleck/Joker character, the audience is always aware of the him and all the mannerisms and shirtless gallivanting come off as self-indulgent somehow.  

Guðnadóttir's score is surprisingly frank about its role in the movie, upfront without much apology, and I appreciated that even if its style is not my cup of tea, really.

 

3/4

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I appreciate it too, but I have to say, despite all its social commentary, the film's so-called substance turned out to be very fleeting, something I can't say about Taxi Driver, for example. Still, I don't think every comic book movie should feel or look the same, so there's points for that. 

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On 7/31/2021 at 6:11 PM, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

I absolutely and unabashedly love Australia. The kind of big, epic, earnest, heart on its sleeve movie that just doesn't get made any more. There's not an ounce of cynicism or irony here, which is much welcome.  It's not perfect, but it's perfect for what it is. And much better than its given credit for.

 

I watch Australia at least once a year, even in the years I don't need do.

And to think there's no official OST.

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The Magnificent Seven (2016)

 

The-Magnificent-Seven.jpg

 

A return to the classic western, but I already gave up after 10 or 15 minutes, because classic Westerns are boring.

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6 hours ago, AC1 said:

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

 

The-Magnificent-Seven.jpg

 

A return to the classic western, but I already gave up after 10 or 15 minutes, because classic Westerns are boring.

 

I started reading your post, but I gave up after 10 or 15 words because it was boring.

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121689.jpg

 

Darkest Hour (2017)

This is not the somber, reverent historical drama that the title and the subject would lead you to expect.  Indeed, historical liberties are in abundance.  What this movie is instead is a dramatic presentation built around a historical event and larger than life national figure.  All this becomes extremely clear when Churchill descends into the Tube, for a Henry V style scouting of the opinion and feelings of those doing the fighting.  Here, Churchill, in his embodiment of Britain, seeks guidance from how the common folk feel about the present European menace.  Do they want to follow the elite and make peace with it all, or do they want to embrace a defiant civic nationalism, and along with that bastion of tradition the monarchy, and with the nations of the colonial legacy, hold on and hold out to remain a truly free England.  They choose the latter, and the movie seems to say this message should be heeded now too.  

Oldman's performance is, of course, great.  Lily James is a breath of fresh air as well.  Everything moves with purpose and engagement  in Wright's direction.  Only the lighting is a bit off, but maybe it just reinforces how the whole proceedings are pretty much a cinematic play.

Solid all around.  

 

3.5/4

 

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18 hours ago, AC1 said:

:blink:

 

That you of all members should say that. 

 

 

So many personal attacks, I guess you peeps really must like this movie. :sarcasm:

 

Just pulling your leg, Alex. ;) Haven't seen the film, but I found this score to be totally unremarkable and very much recycling Horner mannerisms.

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It's possible I watched last night's double-bill in the wrong order.

The Lost Boys - breezy 80s vampire comedy-horror with Kiefer Sutherland, Dianne Wiest and Coreys Haim and Feldman. Actually relatively restrained-ish until the finale when the gang of bloodsuckers attack the central family's home.

Death Line - 70s Brit 'cannibals in the London Underground' horror, with Donald Pleasance heading up the cast as the investigating copper (also has a Christopher Lee cameo). Icky and unsettling, with an atmosphere akin to that of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Left me feeling a bit melancholy, hence me saying that I watched in the wrong order ... The Lost Boys would've 'blown away the cobwebs' nicely afterwards.

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1408

 

This is the kind of horror movie I like: psychological and slightly surreal. John Cusack gives a great performance as a guy who writes books about supposedly supernatural hotel rooms - until he finds one that is really demonic.

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Instant Family.

 

Rose Byrne is mostly great, but occasionally has trouble getting angry. Mark Wahlberg isn’t bad at all: I think I’ve been confusing him with someone else, I want to say Ben Affleck, but can’t be sure. The opening is rushed, though, as are some emotional twists: they’re there when they need to be and don’t make any sense to me while the people in the story just go with it. Some jokes are corny, the ending is ridiculously optimistic and that support group has to be hell for all its attendees since they only seem to want to mock and humiliate one another. There are pacing issues too, but Lizzie is great and taught me two words: pretend mom and shit show.

The songs are great and the electronic score is excellent: I particularly loved the guitar version of Carol of the Bells when the kids are ruining Christmas dinner.

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The best Mark Wahlberg movies are Boogie Nights, The Big Hit, and The Three Kings... then later in his career The Departed, The Other Guys, and Ted

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film_so90presumedinnocent.jpg

 

Presumed Innocent 

Nice mystery where Ford continues to transition from 80s action hero to 90s everyman.

A lot is made of how Ford's character is an effective passive protagonist, but this works since the central action of the character is his choice to have an affair.  The rest is a morality play.  We now want to see how he will get his comeuppance for that and for the murder he just may have committed.  When it seems he will get away with it all, the level of suspense jumps through the roof.  Something must be coming, because that is how morality plays work.  And this one's ending does not disappoint.

 

Stylistically, the movie has that warm late 80s/early 90s feeling, which I normally love, but here it feels just a bit conventional for the proceedings. 

Oh, and there is a John Williams score, mostly a theme and variations sort of thing.  Works well.

3.5/4   

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