Jump to content

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


Mr. Breathmask

Recommended Posts

9 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Now, just a damn minute!

There are two "box sets" of The Virgin Years" (unless you mean the recent giant box?).

I'm talking about the studio recordings of the newer Virgin Years of the two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 30/07/2022 at 10:22 AM, 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.

Tenet is an absolute beast if a movie but not in any good way. 

Its ugly, as all Nolan film, and its plot is the written version of the rolling skyscrapers in his other film 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jurassic Park 3D

 

I don’t know the film as well as some fans here, so when I watch it, it’s usually fresh.  But my takeaways:

 

The 3D conversion is spectacular, better than some native 3D I’ve got.  If this is any indication of what we can expect from Jaws in 3D IMAX , we’re in for a treat. 
 

I‘d love to see this today with an audience to hear the reaction to the shirtless Goldblum shot. 
 

There are some script ideas that are a bit odd.  Like not having any dinosaurs appear on the tour. Why?  I mean, yeah it shows they can’t be controlled, but the chaos makes that point just fine. The characters are disappointed and bored, and I think we feel it too as an audience. 
 

Why the subplot about the toxic plants and the sick triceratops?  I guess they just needed a reason to split up the group?

 

Laura Dern is adorable. Her “Oh my god” expressions really sell things like the baby raptor. 
 

I think the edit of Welcome to JP in the T-Rex scene was the right thing to do.  It’s clunky because we know it shouldn’t be that way, but I bet none of us noticed first viewing.  It needed the friendly melody as a relief that the cavalry had arrived. 
 

Good movie.  I’ll never adore it, because I do think it’s flawed and made past Spielberg’s peak. But I’m always impressed how well those effects hold up 30 years later!  Plus they had a INTERACTIVE CD-ROM, AND YOU CAN TOUCH THE SCREEN AND IT TAKES TOU WHERE TO GO!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Andy said:

Why the subplot about the toxic plants and the sick triceratops?  I guess they just needed a reason to split up the group?

 

Because it was in the book? It even actually resolves in the book. It was the next example of the park not being as tightly controlled as it was supposed to be. (Edited for clarity.)

 

It's also a chance to see a full scale triceratops on location. It started out as plot but even when you get rid of that it's there to add to the "Oooooh! Ahhhhh!" factor. If I recall the history that was originally going to be shot in the studio. When they realized how amazing that would be to see it in a 100% real environment they scrambled to make it happen. Kudos to all involved!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadler didn't find evidence of the plant in the poop.  Maybe I missed it, but did they resolve what was making it sick?  It's just the script I'm not grasping, and it could just be me being daft.

 

And the ooh ahh factor wasn't lost on me.  It's glorious... the performances, the effects, and of course the music make it profoundly wondrous.  Dern's tears and Neill's expression of wonder as he feels its belly breathe are unforgettable.

 

I also think taking Malcom out of action was a mistake.  Don't care if it was in the book.  Goldblum being Goldblum was delightful, and the latter half of the film has him doped up on morphine, literally as a prop on which to lay the schematics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I edited my post. It's been 30 years since I read it but the sick tri is solved in the book, not the movie.

 

Malcolm being sidelined in the book is just an excuse for him to lie around and be the voice of the author. Maybe the movie could have used more of that. Or maybe Spielberg wasn't interested. I'm not sure where he would have been of use if he'd been up and mobile.

 

42 minutes ago, Andy said:

and of course the music make it profoundly wondrous.  

 

Probably a very underrated section of the score. Certainly by me. Time to fix that.

 

(Incidentally this is why Jurassic World works gangbusters for me and the sequels don't. JWorld leans into that kind of moment. We get to see for a good long while what it's like when the park WORKS. Like we always wanted it to.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can’t remember if I’d finished the book, but yeah that sounds amazing because he was useless after his injury. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The call of the wild.

 

Wow. Well, I’m not a dog person, and especially not this week because those noisy dogs of that stupid cow upstairs just won’t allow me to sleep anymore, but I’m genuinely moved now. Ford and Gee were great. Can’t really say anything else, except that I hate villains.

 

And how fitting for me to hear a score like this just as my third holiday in Ireland is coming closer (knock on wood). I might have to listen to some bad film music, though, because it took way too long before Powell’s music made me as enthusiastic as it usually does. God, I could cry.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having purchased the DVD of ARRIVAL from my local thrift store (for the outrageous price, ladies and germs, of 10p!), I popped it in my player. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that it was not a documentary about ABBA!

No matter. I decided to watch the extras, first. Big mistake. Big mistake.

Now, I know that filmmakers need to market and promote their products, but, honestly, the extras make it sound as if it's the greatest thing since sliced bread!

"The most original cinematography" (it isn't). "The most original creature design" (it isn't). "The most original sound design" (it isn't). "Villeneuve is a genius" (he isn't).

Gimme a break.

I felt simultaneously battered over the head with hyperbole, and insulted. I felt that no viewing could live up to the publicity.

In the end I gave up, and watched DIE ANOTHER DAY. It's not the best film in the world, but, at least nobody said that it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blue Steel - nothing to do with Derek Zoolander, rather a Kathryn Bigelow cop thriller with Jamie Lee Curtis as a newly-graduated NYPD officer and Ron Silver as the psychotic Wall Street trader who dates and then stalks her, a-murdering as he goes. Low on plausibility but pretty high on everything else, and also starring Clancy Brown.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I don't care if it's the biggest pile of bantha poo-doo; I'll watch anything with Clancy Brown.

 

There's a lot of overlap there. But he was great in Rebels. And to me he'll always be Rawhide in Buckaroo Banzai. He was 25!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Breaking the waves.

 

Yeah, whatever, fuck it. I had ten more minutes to go, but I turned it off. Read the remainder on Wikipedia. So many things were working against it.

 

First, the narrator who was determined to only say the bare minimum during the entire movie. I might have looked for a better version had it been my cup of tea.

 

Second, the music. Or rather, the complete and inexplicable lack of it. We get around eight great songs and they are very effective. There could have been a score too because thematic possibilities were truly endless. But what do we get? Nothing. Nothing at all. This makes David Yates seem like a genius.

 

Third, some scene transitions were incredibly choppy, but that might have been the file.

 

Fourth, religious nonsense.

 

Fifth, Bess suddenly dying over-dramatically.

 

7.8 on IMDB, indeed… Emily Watson is fantastic, but that’s it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Including SpongeBob Squarepants?

I have not yet seen this particular piece of motion picture entertainment. I shall look out for it.

 

 

6 hours ago, Tallguy said:

...he'll always be Rawhide in Buckaroo Banzai. He was 25!

Is that all you can say?

He's The Kurgan, dude!

 

 

 

 

@bollemanneke, Lars Von Trier has always been a little...experimental.

Although made before Dogme95, I've always considered BREAKING THE WAVES to be a kind of tryout, for it. Indeed, the next two films in this trilogy were Dogme films, which might give you an indication of BREAKING THE WAVES's...er... oddness.

Try it again, sometime. You might like it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I have not yet seen this particular piece of motion picture entertainment. I shall look out for it.

 

It's a TV show for kids that premiered in 1999 and continues to this day. I think it is extremely funny, but others may find it grating or too silly and stupid, specially those who didn't watched it as kids. 

 

It also spawned three movies. The first one is great, the second is pretty funny until the boring climax, and the third is crap. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/08/2022 at 9:29 AM, Naïve Old Fart said:

Wasn't Ron Silver a psychotic Wall Street trader, in TIMECOP? :lol:

I don't care if it's the biggest pile of bantha poo-doo; I'll watch anything with Clancy Brown.


Hey, it's a living. 

I watched Blue Steel via All 4, so you should still be able to catch it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

War horse.

 

Eight years ago, I loved it and made a note I should order the DVD at one point. Today, I can’t really understand why I made that note. It’s certainly nothing I want to listen to on my surround system right now.

 

The first half contained most of the annoying elements. The cast is great, but Albert irritated me and only became better in the final act. Emily Watson is, of course, magnificent, except for that outburst to Thewlis. Then Loki appeared and with him came the first instance when an adult would spectacularly and inexplicably start to worship Joey in no time at all, a recurring plot point that only worked for me when the two soldiers cut him free.

 

Then we travelled to France and obviously, obviously all the foreigners had to start speaking English with comical accents that belong in a Tarantino movie because Hollywood will apparently never ever ask their American viewers to read subtitles, something we do from the age of 12. It’s just ridiculous and even in bad taste. This is World War I, I’m not supposed to sit there chuckling at Emily speaking Eenglish wizz grand-père (why not grandfazzer?) – ooh, this actress is from Brussels! My God, I’m feeling Belgian national pride! Possibly for the first time in my life. Anyway, so she’s great and would have been even better had she just been allowed to speak French. But it gets better, Germans speaking English until they have to shout commands because I guess you can’t do that in a fake accent. It could have been so poignant to have the two brothers speak German and to have everyone switch to English when they needed to interact with other nationalities. But no.

 

The ending felt rather rushed too, most particularly the soldiers chipping in for Joey in two seconds and Rose could have had another line or two as well (I want more Emily Watson!)

 

The score is great and it would be pointless to try and list all my favourite moments. I can give it a go, though: Joey ploughing, Joey running away before getting stuck, the trumpet material for the war, and most especially the family reunion. Unfortunately, most of the recording also sounds atrocious. What is it with these LA recordings? This sounds like a Giacchino score. And it shouldn’t, it should have gotten the glorious McNeely/RSNO treatment, sound-wise.

 

Boy, I’m being hard on Spielberg tonight, aren’t I? Well, I’m a strange beast after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Raw Deal and Red Heat - sometimes, after quite a few nights of heatwave-related iffy sleep, it's possible that all you'll be bloody well fit for on a Saturday night is watching Ahnult thumping and shooting wrong 'uns for 3-and-a-half hours or so. And so it proved last night.

 

  

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

War Horse is not a great movie. I don't really see the point of it where it was meant to work on stage. It does, however, look fantastic. One of Kaminski's finest. And that paired with Williams' scores elevates it to a guilty pleasure status for me.

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, crocodile said:

War Horse is not a great movie. I don't really see the point of it where it was meant to work on stage. It does, however, look fantastic. One of Kaminski's finest. And that paired with Williams' scores elevates it to a guilty pleasure status for me.

 

It's a faker movie. Spielberg uses mimicry to set up appropriate scenes like they were from old John Ford or Jean Renoir et al. movies, but it becomes a problem if that is the whole raison d’être. He never seems to have a real grip on the story, or more than a feigned interest in it. The same for WSS, but much more acutely. In the olden days, directors were assigned stuff they had to shoot and tried to get done with things they weren't interested in as quickly as possible. Why the Spielberg of late so often seems drawn to material that gives you exactly that kind of feeling is anyone's guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frenzy - the tone of this late-period Hitchcock is set early on, when a Thames-side politician pontificating about how the river will soon be cleaned up is ironically interrupted by the discovery of the latest victim of the 'Necktie Killer' floating in it.

'Wrong man' plotting, a sexually deviant killer, macabre humour - what better director than Hitch for this sort of thing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Frenzy - the tone of this late-period Hitchcock is set early on, when a Thames-side politician pontificating about how the river will soon be cleaned up is ironically interrupted by the discovery of the latest victim of the 'Necktie Killer' floating in it.

... while Hitch himself looks on :)

Don't forget to great title sequence, accompanied by Ron Goodwin's stirring music, and the single-shot pullback from the victim's flat.

All 'n' all, I'd say that it's his best post-PSYCHO film.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, so his little cameo is in amongst the crowd listening to the MP? Missed that! 

Actually did find myself wondering how the shot that 'closes in' on the MP from above the Thames was achieved ... obviously the early 70s were the days long before drones, it seems to descend from too high up to be a crane shot and if it had been from a 'copter you'd have seen the downdraught from the rotors rippling the water's surface. 

The sequence in the back of the potato truck with Anna Massey's body is darkly hilarious. Also after most of the tributes to Bernie Cribbins after his recent passing focusing on the likes of The Railway Children, The Wombles, Jackanory and Doctor Who it was quite the jolt to see him in this as an abrasive publican :lol: .   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hitchcock really went far with the humour in this one - further than he was allowed to get (however, as far as he probably would have got, if he was allowed to) in his older movies pre-dating 1968.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Commitments - adap of the Roddy Doyle novel directed by Alan Parker, this gritty but life-affirming musical comedy is a joy. A ragtag bunch of working-class Northside Dubliners form the titular soul band ... but can they make it to the big time? Very funny, with (naturally) a terrific soundtrack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So, say it once, say it loud: "I'm black and I'm proud".

 

A typically joyous, and life-affirming film from Parker (he even has a cameo), with a very energetic cast. It gets better with age.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.