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

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Saw A History of Violence and Eastern Promises the other week or so.  Loved the former and liked the latter.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

9 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

I am a big Cronenberg fan. I have seen all his movies, and I would say, this is probably his best. Naked Lunch is close. 

If you liked A History of Violence, you could probably like Eastern Promises as well.

 

Eastern Promises is good, but for me it was never on the same level as the brilliant A History of Violence. The final scene of that on its own is better than some entire films.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Eastern Promises is good, but for me it was never on the same level as the brilliant A History of Violence. The final scene of that on its own is better than some entire films.

A History of Violence better plays to Viggo Mortensen's strengths

[GerateWohl 4,365]

I found it funny that in the first movie Mortensen plays the bad guy pretending to be the good guy and in the second he plays the good guy pretending to be the bad one. But in both he represends both sides, but in both aiming for the good in the end.

[Jurassic Shark 12,074]

Are you referring to LotR?

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Eastern Promises is good, but for me it was never on the same level as the brilliant A History of Violence. The final scene of that on its own is better than some entire films.

That was my initial preference, but meanwhile it's the other way round. In the end, it doesn't matter. They both magnificent.

[GerateWohl 4,365]

22 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Are you referring to LotR?

Yes, but Cronenberg spin-offs.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Shore sure scored Violence like one.  

[bollemanneke 3,348]

The time traveller's wife.

 

This was another re-watch, I only remembered bits and pieces. Most of the actors are great. I wasn’t always happy with Rachel McAdams, but she certainly had her moments and I’m still not a kid person, but I definitely want to re-watch The Other Boleyn Girl as well now. The subway scene with his mother was a little cheesy and I just wish he would have told her not to get into that car so we would know what happens if he tries to alter the past. The moment Clare is watching something about time on TV is rather corny too, but I was genuinely moved at the end and want to read the novel now, which is saying something, though that sequel idea sounds like a lame idea.

The score employed a very interesting reverse sound technique to illustrate time travel and there is some genuinely outstanding piano material for Alba too, not to mention the source music. End credits still rolling here.

 

[A24 4,333]

8 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

The time traveller's wife.

 

 

This has to be one of the worst titles ever. No way this movie can be any good!

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Worst titles ever? What would you call Godzilla vs Kong then, or whatever it was? Or Terminator Salvation?

[A24 4,333]

2 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

No way this movie can be any good!

 

I knew it!

 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/time_travelers_wife 

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Rotten Tomatoes sucks. It says Moulin Rouge is good.

[A24 4,333]

The Astronaut's Wife was bad too. Doesn't Hollywood learn from previous mistakes? 

 

And before you start praising The Astronaut's Wife, Bolle:

 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronauts_wife

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

5 hours ago, AC1 said:

This has to be one of the worst titles ever.

What? You think it's worse than FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL?  

[bollemanneke 3,348]

The Wife was great too!

[Jurassic Shark 12,074]

14 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

I’m still not a kid person

 

Are you saying you're a grown-up?

[bollemanneke 3,348]

I'm saying I generally don't like kids in movies.

[A24 4,333]

8 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

What? You think it's worse than FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL?  

 

Nothing beats The Wife's Wife.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

8 hours ago, AC1 said:

This has to be one of the worst titles ever. No way this movie can be any good!

Why? It's the title of the book, which I liked very much. (It's also the seed behind about half of Moffat's Doctor Who stories). I haven't seen the film, mainly because the poor ratings have kept me from seeking it out.

[A24 4,333]

57 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 It's the title of the book ...

 

Still doesn't make it a good sounding title. 

[Edmilson 7,441]

Sinister II

 

As I said here a few days ago, the first Sinister is one of my favorite horror movies from the last decade. So, I decided to watch the controversial sequel. Sure, it couldn't be that bad... could it?

 

Yeah, it's pretty bad. The nightmarish atmosphere that made the first one so memorable is not here, and instead we get a lot of jump scares. The creepy snuff films of the first now have some Tom & Jerry style booby traps, which makes them hilarious instead of horrifying. The only exception was the Sunday Service film, which is rather disturbing, but even that would be more effective if I hadn't watched 2 Fast 2 Furious.

 

Anyway, the movie is super boring, slow and unengaging. This is the reason why this franchise stopped on the second movie while stuff like Conjuring get a lot of sequels. I'd love for a talented filmmaker to make a genuinely frightening reboot for the franchise.

[Jay 37,359]

 

Sex Ed

 

Nice little flick with Haley Joel Osment as a teacher who cannot find a teaching job, and ends up taking a job covering after-school detention in an inner-city middle school.  After realizing how little these students have been educated about sex, he begins teaching sex ed, which soon causes his "class" to grow in size with other students wanting to learn.  Other subplots involve him being a virgin himself, attempting to date the (much) older sister of one of his students, and the sexual antics of his roommate.  Decent enough Friday night fluff with a nice message.

 

It's free on Amazon Prime or Hulu

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Speed. 

 

Keanu Reeves sounded a lot like Bill Paxton in the beginning, but there’s just something so incredibly… stupid in his voice that makes the corny dialogue he sometimes had ten times more laughable. The beginning was a bit slow, but once we got onto the bus, I had a great time. Bullock was pretty good, especially after I’ve just watched her in The Blind Side, where she plays a completely different character. Dennis Hopper was amazing too, but I definitely could have done without that final act on the train. It somehow deflated the tension they had been building up so carefully.

This was also my first Mark Mancina score. And what a score it was. This is how you write action music, Lorne Balfe. Don’t go for repetitive themes that go nowhere, don’t brick-wall the orchestra. Write moving melodies, use minor and major and use percussion when necessary (so not all the time over uninspiring string ostinatos). The Fox logo also started out in mono, but then became stereo, which was kind of fun. The exploding elevator sounded like gunshots, weirdly enough. I have to watch the sequ… Wait, it has a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes? Hmm.

[Jay 37,359]

Yea Speed is a super fun film, and the score by Mancina is aces.  The old 41 minute score album released a little after the film is pretty representative of it and flows very nicely, despite being one of the most non-chronological score albums I've ever seen in my life.

 

LLL later issued a complete score program (65 minutes) that is in chronological order and is also a very good listen, though its OOP now.

 

Speed 2 is a bad movie unquestionably, however, it's a guilty pleasure of mine!  Sandra Bullock is still good and while Jason Patrick is a poor romantic lead and action lead, Willem Dafoe hams it up as the villain and is pretty great (not saying he's better than Dennis Hopper was, but it's a different type of character anyway)

 

The score to Speed 2, on the other hand, is incredible. It's one of my favorite action scores of all time.  It's no longer an electronic affair, but a massive orchestral one with pounding drums forming the backbone of many amazing action tracks.  That had a short composer promo that leaked out but no official score album; LLL came to rescue and gave it a premiere release where Mike Matessino chose 70 minutes of highlights and it's a great album.  A holy grail of mine is a 2CD complete version, though I doubt it's high on LLL's to-do list despite their initial release eventually selling out.  And there's never been a leak of the unreleased music either, all "leaks" and "boots" are fan edits combining the composer promo, the LLL CD, and DVD rips

[bollemanneke 3,348]

I'll go for the LLL program for Speed 1 for now. No need for incomplete, unchronological assemblies here.

[A24 4,333]

The Invasion

 

 

Hard to believe this movie is made in 2007, it looks/feels more like a typical '90s movie. With it being overly simple and naive, the humiliating score on RT is justified. There's also a complete lack of chemistry between Kidman and Graig. And yet it's kinda watchable. 3/10

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

INVASION? Schminvasion!

Stick with the 1978 version. It is - arguably - the best version.

[A24 4,333]

 

"That's right, Richard!"

[Bespin 8,481]

Yesterday I watched the first 30 minutes of Citizen Kane.

 

Pffffffffff....

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Ready Player One.

 

That was pretty good. Some key dialogue is treated a little too quickly (no pun intended), so I’ll definitely have to watch it again at some point. And Ben Mendelsohn was actually great in this one. No idea why he had to be so annoying in Captain Marvel. I really did not like Olivia Cooke, though, but Helen grew on me. The first half is definitely the better one and I shudder to think about the sequel unless Spielberg and Silvestri stay involved.

Speaking of which, the score was truly magnificent. Why did Marvel even bother employing Silvestri only to waste his talents afterwards? God, I’m really laying into marvel today, aren’t I? The main theme was great and its variations fantastic, but most importantly, the orchestra was doing interesting things during quieter scenes. I even recognised some JW traits and honestly don’t understand why Williams wanted to do The Post instead. Not complaining, though. Also, someone had the idea to turn down the volume of the score so that the audio-describer would be more understandable, I guess? Another reason to buy the DVD. Wishlist, here I come. This has been a good film weekend.

[Bespin 8,481]

Alan Silvestri definitely add something more consistent to those kind of movies!

 

8 hours ago, Bespin said:

Yesterday I watched the first 30 minutes of Citizen Kane.

 

Pffffffffff....

 

I watched 1 hour more of Citizen Kane today, it's better than the beginning (done with all sort of quick clips, as an obtuary).

 

Woaaaaa, for a 40's movie, the edit is completely crazy!!!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

3 minutes ago, Bespin said:

Woaaaaa, for a 40's movie, the edit is crazy!!!

That's Bob Wise, for ya! 

[Tallguy 3,386]

Did I mention we watch 2019's Midway?

 

Sorry, haters, I LOVE this movie. For lots of reasons but one of the really big ones is the way they shoot the airplanes, especially the cockpit shots. There is the "slippery-ness" you get in a real cockpit that I don't see in many other movies. (OTOH, nobody gets WIND right. Those cockpits are open!)

 

I wish I'd gotten to see it on the big screen.

 

I thought "Wow, this is the kind of movie Emmerich can make?" Then yesterday we saw the trailer for Moonfall. Well... Darn. Sadly I guess Emmerich knows which side his bread is buttered on now.

[A24 4,333]

18 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

That's Bob Wise, for ya! 

 

Hmm, mostly for the technical side, I'm sure.

[A24 4,333]

Immortals (2011)

 

 

Watched it for the second time yesterday (the first time is already 10 years ago), and I have to say, except for the somewhat weak performances (though Mickey Rourke and John Hurt are decent enough) and the dubious digital colors, it's a lot more fascinating than the average DC superhero movie.

 

[Holko 9,526]

Finally watched Paddington 1 and 2. I absolutely adored every attosecond of the first one, the warm feelings at its core, the music, the visuals, the writing, the wide array of verbal and visual humour, the impeccable timing, general style, all of it. Unfortunately I felt 2 started out a bit slower/weaker and took its time getting back up to 1's level. But hoo boy, once it did it really did! Also it might have struggled just a tad to perfectly juggle a bit too many parallel lines and not all of them were wrapped up that well, for example I was waiting to see that treasure used to set up a charity fund of free marmalade for everyone or something.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I think both are secret masterpieces, but weirdly I've always preferred 2, probably because Hugh Grant is a way funnier/more interesting villain than Nicole Kidman (plus the way Knuckles says "Mah-mah-lade?").  Either way, both just beat you over the head with good vibes into utter submission and delight.

[Tallguy 3,386]

I always heard nothing but raves about 2. But I never got around to seeing it.

[Edmilson 7,441]

Yeah, me too.

[Edmilson 7,441]

Van Helsing (2004)

 

I watched and liked this movie when I was 11, but seeing it again now as an adult I can see why it was so poorly received. It's atrocious. It has horrible dialogue, laughable CGI and a boring story. The only good thing about it is Alan Silvestri's gothic score. 

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

 

Fantastic score by John Williams!!!! Probably one of the best he ever wrote.

Now about the movie, well it's gorgeous, so many beautiful shots thanks to a great cinematography, framing, and production design. The actors are all really good too.

A really good movie.

[A24 4,333]

Before I Go To Sleep (2014)

 

 

Very average thriller but you keep watching because you want to know who the evil guy is: Colin Firth or Mark Strong. Who do you trust? 5/10

 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

1 hour ago, AC1 said:

...you want to know who the evil guy is: Colin Firth or Mark Strong. Who do you trust? 5/10

It's time for "Who do Ya Trust?". Hubba, hubba, hubba. Money, money, money. Who do ya trust?

Well Colin Firth played Mr. D'arcy, then turned out to be gay, in MAMMA MIA, and Mark Strong was Tosker, who was unfaithful to his wife, so...neither of them 

[A24 4,333]

4 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Well Colin Firth played Mr. D'arcy, then turned out to be gay, in MAMMA MIA

 

Have you seen A Single Man? One of my favorite movies of the last 15 years. I had to watch it 2 times before I realized that though. Hard to believe this is a debut film of a fashion designer. I wish Tom Ford was a little more productive as a movie director ...

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

Ha, ha! I completely forgot about A SINGLE MAN.

A good film. It reminded me of FAR FROM HEAVEN, probably because of the presence of Julianne Moore.

[Bespin 8,481]

Yesterday I watched the documentary "Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street".

 

 

It's about the guy who played in the sequel of Nightmare on Elm Street, "Freddy's Revenge", Mark Patton.  A movie that was not loved by the fans at the time of it's release, a movie which disturbed many people... and now regarded as a cult movie.

 

I was eleven in 1985, and I'm pretty sure I saw the movie as soon at it came up on TV, or as soon as I was able to rent it at the Video store...

 

As a sequel to the first movie, it completely failed.  The third movie is actually a direct sequel to the first one.

 

But this movie shocked me on another level, because of all his homoerotic scenes. I was like : oh it's not the sequel I wanted to see, but hmmmm... they went very far!!! And I like it....

 

The documentary helps to put in perspective the "era" in which this movie was made and released in 1985... which is right in the middle of the AIDS crisis, where people still believed they could catch AIDS by just touching a gay man.

 

The personal story of Mark Patton, the young actor who's being possessed by Freddy in the movie, is the main subject of the documentary, because the movie changed completely his life, and at first, not for the better...

 

So that was a very interesting documentary.

 

It made me purchase the DVD, to rewatch the movie, because I never saw it since I was a teenage boy, and I'll surely rewatch it with another perspective...

 

Are you ready for the Nightmare Behind The Gayest Horror Film Ever Made?

 

[Edmilson 7,441]

Enter the Dragon

 

Great kung fu movie! Certainly one of the best martial arts movie ever made. Fuck Tarantino, Bruce Lee was awesome. And Lalo Schifrin's score was great as well.

 

I watched it on HBO Max. Since it's a WB movie, I imagine it's available in other countries as well.

[Sweeping Strings 2,358]

On 9/5/2021 at 12:00 PM, AC1 said:

The Invasion

 

 

Hard to believe this movie is made in 2007, it looks/feels more like a typical '90s movie. With it being overly simple and naive, the humiliating score on RT is justified. There's also a complete lack of chemistry between Kidman and Graig. And yet it's kinda watchable. 3/10

 

 

Craig's box-office tally outside of Bond has been iffy, to say the least. Knives Out must've been a huge relief to him. 

Come To Daddy - dark 'n' weird little comedy thriller/horror with musician Elijah Wood summoned to the beach house of his estranged father, who walked out on the family 30 years ago. All, however, is not as it seems ...

Also starring Stephen McHattie, Martin Donovan and NI's very own Michael Smiley.

[Tallguy 3,386]

 

United 93. Powerful film. Still holds up.

 

I'm not sure what it would be like just as a narrative, but that's not its job.

 

Powell's score. Whew! I figure that must have seemed like an impossible task and he threaded that needle perfectly.