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


Mr. Breathmask

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15 hours ago, Stu said:

I thought Rosemary’s Baby was really bad the one time I saw it.  Tess is my favorite of the Polanski films I’ve seen.

As a totally left field thing, I was recently on holiday in Brittany (north

west France for the geographically disinclined) and went to the town of Locronan where Tess was filmed. It has become quite a tourist spot as it’s broadly devoid of modern buildings, lighting and aerials etc. I haven’t seen the film but on our way there we listened to Philippe Sarde’s beautiful score. Perhaps we should check on the film.

 

Latest film actually watched was Spielberg’s Munich. Not sure if I loved it, certainly a thought provoking film and the flashbacks to the original terrorist act are brutally matter of fact. It did feel a bit long by the end but still a gripping thriller. The prayer for peace is genuinely haunting but a lot of the rest is fairly anonymous, but probably appropriate. Spielberg mentions JW’s busy schedule during 2005 and I suspect these days he’d have passed on one of the projects he was down for. Sadly it was a year after Jerry Goldsmith’s death as this would probably have been a perfect project for him. 

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16 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Am I the only one here who actually loves Chinatown? Polanski's second best movie, behind Rosemary's Baby.

Nope, you are not the only one. Both films are absolutely gorgeous masterpieces.

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22 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

... and so is THE TENANT, and KNIFE IN THE WATER, and the aforementioned TESS (well-deserved Oscar™ for Geoffrey Unsworth).

I know it's silly, and not thought of as one of his best, but I really like PIRATES.

 

Thank you for mentioning the two I was going to bring up. The Tenant is one of the most frightening films I've ever seen, and the much maligned Pirates, in all its deliberate silliness (there are a few similarities to Monkey Island that are so striking that I wonder if they can be accidental - not least the Frog's close resemblance to Guybrush) remains one of my favourite pirate films, with a wonderful Sarde score and an outstanding performance by Matthau.

20 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Death and the Maiden.

 

Also stunning!

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1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Thank you for mentioning the two I was going to bring up.

You're more than welcome :)

 

 

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

...Death and the Maiden.

 

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Also stunning!

 

I brilliant tour-de-force, by Wilson, Kingsley, and Weaver.

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SHOCK TREATMENT

 

I watched this for the Jerry Goldsmith score.

JG music  is best appreciated in the context of the film especially as his action music is his forte!

 

I think I've now seen all the films for which I have his  soundtracks

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I don't think I've seen Death And The Maiden but it reminds me of another movie where someone holds a person tied to a chair. It was an extremely over-the-top dramatic movie. 

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Superb film!

When Polanski is on his game, he's a terrifiterrific director.

10 hours ago, filmmusic said:

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I really enjoy this movie and the James Newton Howard score is top notch!

Haven't seen the Ulysses cut which runs at 171 minutes though. 

The directors cut I saw seriously hurt the film.

The whole last part was changed- not for the better.

And, the nudity was removed😰😜

6 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

The Pianist is his best film, in my opinion. 

I should probably check that one out!

4 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

... and so is THE TENANT, and KNIFE IN THE WATER, and the aforementioned TESS (well-deserved Oscar™ for Geoffrey Unsworth).

I know it's silly, and not thought of as one of his best, but I really like PIRATES.

TENANT?!

 

Almost as silly as TENET😉

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3 hours ago, AC1 said:

I don't think I've seen Death And The Maiden but it reminds me of another movie where someone holds a person tied to a chair. It was an extremely over-the-top dramatic movie. 

 

There's probably more than one other film with that (part of the) basic premise. ;) For what it's worth, the Polanski is based on a stage play, so the limited set (with just a few exterior sequences) is surely part of the original source material.

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I'll put in a good word for Polanski's underrated Oliver Twist adaptation.  It doesn't break new ground, it's quite straightforward, but it's a good watch with good performances.  Kinda funny that the two Polanski films I've singled out are both adaptations of Victorian English novels challenging the morality of their times.

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Has it happened to you to buy films that you don't like? :P

Well, it happens to me sometimes.

I have bought the Criterion edition of Death in Venice, which I have seen before but I find it incredibly slow and boring without anything to say.

It might be beautiful to look at at times but... I struggle to get through this film.

 

6Sih2y6NRUfuPxa5MOSpbNEim3ydUM_large.jpg

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17 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

As a totally left field thing, I was recently on holiday in Brittany (north

west France for the geographically disinclined) and went to the town of Locronan where Tess was filmed. It has become quite a tourist spot as it’s broadly devoid of modern buildings, lighting and aerials etc. I haven’t seen the film but on our way there we listened to Philippe Sarde’s beautiful score. Perhaps we should check on the film.

 

It's a beautiful film that occasionally falls prey to its picturesque aesthetic.

 

Polanski varies his old theme of the struggles of innocence in a corrupted world (like Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, it comes with a heavy dose of symbolic encoding) about peasant girl Tess, who breaks from the hypocrisy and exploitation of victorian society and suffers a tragic fate for it. It's a very sensitive movie, probably because Polanski filmed the favorite novel of his late wife Sharon Tate(to whom the movie is dedicated). I love the Sarde score, but not being attached to a big hit nor a big Hollywood composer makes a C&C release rather unlikely.

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32 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Has it happened to you to buy films that you don't like? :P

Well, it happens to me sometimes.

I have bought the Criterion edition of Death in Venice, which I have seen before but I find it incredibly slow and boring without anything to say.

It might be beautiful to look at at times but... I struggle to get through this film.

 

6Sih2y6NRUfuPxa5MOSpbNEim3ydUM_large.jpg

Why would you buy a film you know you don’t like?

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4 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

Why would you buy a film you know you don’t like?

I don't know. :P

Maybe I felt I'll like it the next times I will see it and re-evaluate!

Maybe I want to feel like an important cinephile, having it in my library.

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36 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I have bought the Criterion edition of Death in Venice, which I have seen before but I find it incredibly slow and boring without anything to say.

It might be beautiful to look at at times but... I struggle to get through this film.

 

Neither Criterion nor anyone else will change that (the same with Ludwig II). Visconti really was lost in his own cumbersome weltschmerz in his later years, though i recommend 'Conversation Piece', his 1974 movie with Burt Lancaster as an aristocratic old professor, who is forced to live with a bunch of hedonistic bums in his expansive Rome apartment. The collision of milieus gives this movie a much needed humoristic shot, something Visconti movies always were in dire need of.

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Ah, so that's the secret to making good movies! Adapt a literary masterpiece! Who knew it was that easy?!

 

(Not that I think Tess is a good movie though ;))

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5 hours ago, publicist said:

I love the Sarde score, but not being attached to a big hit nor a big Hollywood composer makes a C&C release rather unlikely.

 

Well, Kritzerland expanded & remastered his Pirates, and that film's reputation is the polar opposite to Tess's, so who knows.

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I have purchased both Legend and Conan. I suppose I didn't know for certain that I didn't like Conan but I absolutely knew I didn't like Legend.

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Ford v Ferrari - entertaining account of Ford's attempt to appeal more to the 'youth' end of the car-buying market by winning the '66 Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, enlisting ex-race driver Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and brilliant but hotheaded Brit driver and mechanic Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to develop and drive the car that will do just that.
 

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5 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

THE KRAYS was a decent enough film, with a great turn from Billie Whitelaw.

LEGEND, on the other hand, is superb.

Hardy should have been nominated for an Oscar™, for his performance(s).

Tbh

 

I LOVE HARDY!

But....

I just didn't want to see him play yet another gangster.

He can do more.

Much more.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I have purchased both Legend and Conan. I suppose I didn't know for certain that I didn't like Conan but I absolutely knew I didn't like Legend.

Oh, I thought you meant the Ridley Scott film Legend.

 

I just finished Whisper of the Heart (1995).

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I simply adore this film. A feel-good movie with the usual high aesthetics of Studio Ghibli.

It's my favorite film of this studio (along with Only Yesterday).

I think @Jay you haven't seen these two and have only seen the Miyazaki directed ones?

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5 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

I did.

Oh, right then.

I first saw that movie when I was 16-17 years old on TV.

Yeah, it's not the greatest and it gets a bit boring I think towards the end, but I love the whole fairy-tale aesthetics, the villain of course, and the Jerry Goldsmith score is my favourite score of this composer.

Haven't seen the Tangerine Dream version, but I have listened to some samples and I left it at that.

 

By Conan, do you mean Conan the Barbarian with Schwarzenegger?

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1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

Studio Ghibli.

It's my favorite film of this studio (along with Only Yesterday).

I think @Jay you haven't seen these two and have only seen the Miyazaki directed ones?

 

So far, yea

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23 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

But it's the extended cut that features the Jerry Goldsmith score.

 

23 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

But it's the extended cut that features the Jerry Goldsmith score.

the version I saw had the JG score.

released in early 2000s

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16 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Both the European, and extended, cuts of LEGEND, feature Jerry's score.

I know.

I saw the Euro cut.

I had to fight to stay awake.

Why would anyone want to watch a longer version?

 

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2 hours ago, filmmusic said:

But it's the extended cut that features the Jerry Goldsmith score.

 

And it's still mixed 50% too low and features egregious shuffling - obviously a Rawlings speciality.

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5 hours ago, AC1 said:

The fact that I don't have it in my collection is proof that it's not a good movie. Best scene? The waltz!

You're right, Alex; it's not a good movie, but it can be appreciated for its many technical aspects (production design, score, cinematography, special effects, makeup).

Personally, I like it, and it think that it is far superior to some of his later works.

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Watched the Dark Knight yesterday. Finally got the bad taste out of my mouth from the Batman. 14 years ago this phenomenon hit the screens and today it still packs a punch. Of course the real pleasure are the performances. The acting elevates the film. Few performances are as nuanced like the roles of the Joker and Alfred's. 

The Batman is unwatchable compared to this masterpiece.

 

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I watched about half of Annette starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. I gave up about halfway through (but was pretty much done by the half hour mark). Its a kind of weird musical about a celebrity couple (avant garde comedian and opera singer) who have a baby is which is represented by a puppet. It’s all quite stylish and Driver’s dark stand up routines are impressively staged. Some of the songs are quite well staged (notably the opening number which is staged as one long shot) but a lot fall flat. The leads are weak singers (but good actors) so the best sections tend to be the crowd numbers such as when the audience starts to musically heckle/answer back to Driver on stage. Having said that, the lyrics are repetitive and trite mostly and a lot of the songs are promising music that is then wasted when it gets going. A terrific John Adams/Philip Glass type orchestral backing that could have been either a great modern operatic number or orchestral pop song never really goes anywhere or does anything. Such a shame. The other half got to about 3/4 of the way through then gave up but says he’ll persist to the end. I won’t.

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Adam Driver's karaoke scene (Being Alive) in Marriage Story is all I need.

 

 

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

You're right, Alex; it's not a good movie, but it can be appreciated for its ... cinematography ...

 

About the cinematography of Legend, it starts good but it gets very generic or even ugly-looking during the last act right after The Waltz. It's like they ran out of money.

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10 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

I know.

I saw the Euro cut.

I had to fight to stay awake.

Why would anyone want to watch a longer version?

Because in the director's cut the film starts to make sense and show some qualities.

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4 minutes ago, Holko said:

That was the forest set, wasn't it?

Yes. Apparently, it developed its own ecosystem, including its own weather.

 

 

5 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Because in the director's cut the film starts to make sense and show some qualities.

Indeed. It's, at least, approaching Scott's original vision. It's my go-to version.

I like to listen to TD's score, but not accompanying the film.

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Soundtracks, live, studio, or all of it? They went through a lot of changes, but their most popular era seems to be "The Virgin Years". Aah: RUBICON, CYCLONE, STRATOSFEAR, FORCE MAJEURE, TANGRAM, EXIT, WHITE EAGLE, LOGOS, HYPOBOREA; it all takes me back :)

Their stuff on Jive Electro isn't too bad either. LE PARC, and UNDERWATER SUNLIGHT are fine records.

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