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

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

Predestination

 

@Jay It took me a while, but thanks very much for the recommendation. This was incredible!!! Exactly my type of film.

Very clever and indeed a film you have to go into completely blind. And it payed off.

 

Thanks again

 

[Jay 37,351]

Yea!

Wasn't Snook really good in it?

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Yea!

Wasn't Snook really good in it?

Yeaah. Incredible. And it took me about 7 minutes into the first scene to see it was her🤯

[Jay 37,351]

[Holko 9,525]

The Color Purple - Spielberg here is full of his energetic creative juices... overflowing and spilling on the floor at times, I felt the tone and approach in many scenes was completely off/wrong for the subject matter. But then I adored the rest, especially the letter reading sequence and most of the stuff after. Immediately after viewing that helps leave a good impression but overall I'm more mixed on it.

 

Always - And here his juices ran out. This is a mess of some well done scenes (I liked a lot of the firefighting shots), not very well done scenes, half-done scenes with characters that disappear, the pilot guy sucked, and this bad doesn't feel like it tries to do or say anything, it's just... there. The LLL release of JW's score is a far better piece of anything in every way.

 

And with that, I've seen all of Spielberg's directed feature films, except for Duel (depends on how you count it) and West Side Story which I somehow am not drawn to at all.

[Jay 37,351]

Nice I've seen all of his now except Color Purple

 

West Side Story is boring, Duel is really fun

For Duel I'd actually recommend a bootleg of the original TV cut over the theatrical cut (which adds scenes that don't improve the film IMO)

[Tallguy 3,385]

6 minutes ago, Holko said:

Always - And here his juices ran out. This is a mess of some well done scenes (I liked a lot of the firefighting shots), not very well done scenes, half-done scenes with characters that disappear, the pilot guy sucked, and this bad doesn't feel like it tries to do or say anything, it's just... there. The LLL release of JW's score is a far better piece of anything in every way.

 

I still love Always. But yeah, Brad Johnson was not good.

[filmmusic 1,826]

26 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

I still love Always. But yeah, Brad Johnson was not good.

But he was so handsome! 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I still love Always. But yeah, Brad Johnson was not good.

 

He was good at being not good. Er...

I thought that he trod that middle ground between serious, and goofy, quite well. I don't find his performance embarrassing, by any standard.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

But he was so handsome! 

He was ruggedly handsome, in a basic kind of way. He was a glorified Marlboro Man.

[Tallguy 3,385]

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

He was ruggedly handsome, in a basic kind of way. He was a glorified Marlboro Man.

 

He looked like he was won in a raffle.

[filmmusic 1,826]

(theatrical cut)

 

And a legend is born...

A fantastic film from Spielberg!

With a very simple plot and so many angles of filming the chase, the director manages to create a very suspensful film.

Of course I listened to it with the original mono audio.

I haven't seen the TV version, but I've read about the differences, and I couldn't do without the train scene that is in the theatrical cut.

If none knows yet, this is coming to UHD (along with the TV cut on blu-ray)!

 

and here's an easter egg! I managed to pinpoint the director himself, in his reflection to a telephone booth.

This is one of those great errors you like to see and are part of a film,  and I surely hope it doesn't get altered for the UHD. (to be frank, I'm surprised they didn't alter it for the blu-ray)

 

[crocodile 8,006]

Watched Rocky Balboa from 2006 for the first time today. It was actually really good, poingnant but also hopeful. Very nicely done. Also liked Bill Conti's score.

 

Karol

[filmmusic 1,826]

Just now, crocodile said:

Watched Rocky Balboa from 2006 for the first time today. It was actually really good, poingnant but also hopeful. Very nicely done. Also liked Bill Conti's score.

 

Karol

I have watched it once and don't remember anything, I just remember that the boxing scenes in the end looked hideous to me, since they were shot on digital, comparing to 35mm for the rest of the film.

[Matt C 452]

The Secret of NIMH

 

Don Bluth's best animated film, bar none. It distills the book's story to its essence while effortlessly weaving in darker fantasy elements that were popular during the early 1980s. The animation, despite the lower budget and tighter production schedule, holds up well today and even dazzles at times (like the climatic home sinking sequence). Jerry Goldsmith's score -- amazingly his first animated film -- fits the movie perfectly. 

 

It's sad that this movie doesn't get the five star treatment it deserves, like a Criterion release.

[Sweeping Strings 2,357]

Some have suggested that Duel represents some sort of existential struggle, as the protagonist's surname is Mann and the truck driver is never seen. It's a damn good thriller, in any case. 

[A24 4,331]

There was never even a truck! 

[filmmusic 1,826]

 

I think I still like the first one better, because it is held in my favorite time of year too (Christmas).

Fun film, but maybe it went too far this time with the spider gremlin, the bat gremlin and the female Gremlin?

By the way, I paid 50 euros in total (incl. shipping and customs) for it, because the blu-ray seems to be OOP! 

[Tom Guernsey 2,284]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

 

I think I still like the first one better, because it is held in my favorite time of year too (Christmas).

Fun film, but maybe it went too far this time with the spider gremlin, the bat gremlin and the female Gremiln?

By the way, I paid 50 euros in total (incl. shipping and customs) for it, because the blu-ray seems to be OOP! 

Funnily enough, also watched this earlier in the week, although got the blu-ray from our DVD/blu-ray by post supplier, clearly a good job they have a copy! We watched the first one the week before and guess I enjoyed them both more or less equally. I always remembered the sequel has having basically no plot, but it has (slightly) more story than I recall, but not a lot. Having said that, the various gags and general daftness are sufficient to keep it going. Plus of course, two superb Jerry scores, although the music seemed mixed somewhat lower in the sequel, which was disappointing. Guess he didn't want to drown out his own line as yoghurt customer...

[Tallguy 3,385]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

maybe it went too far

 

It's Gremlins 2. Of course it went too far! Is there Joe Dante movie that is more Joe Dante?

 

Funny story: Saw this on opening night. When it got to the "Gremlins are taking over the theater" scene and it looks like the film breaks we all groaned and complained. I mean, it's opening night? How the hell can the film break?!? Then the gremlin shadows showed up and we died laughing.

 

A few years later I was watching it on VHS with a friend who hadn't seen it before. It was about to get to scene where the film breaks. I was telling him that "This won't really make sense on video" and was about to tell him the story when all of a sudden it looked like the VCR was eating the tape! I was in the middle of getting super pissed off. Then I realized they got me AGAIN.

[Bespin 8,480]

[bollemanneke 3,342]

The mule.

 

That was really good, although I suppose I wanted another ending. I mean, I’m glad I didn’t get a ridiculous shoot-out, but… I felt for Earl from the first minute and he doesn’t deserve prison. Also, Eastwood sounds exactly like John Williams! And also also, how on earth did the cartel not put a tracker on his phone?

The music is great and the score very good, but the final scenes needed music.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

In every conceivable way, GREMLINS 2 far outshines the original.

[LSH 968]

 

It's a good easy romp for a late 90s film. Not brilliant but there's a lot to like. 

 

One of Connery's last films but he's massively watchable, as always, and he has good chemistry with a young Catherine Zeta Jones [good lord].

 

Always good to see Ving Rhames as well.

 

Christopher Young's score is there, anonymously for the most part, but I really do like the 'love' theme -

 

 

[filmmusic 1,826]

 

Do I commit sacrilege if I say I'm bored in the second half of the film and prefer Jaws 2?

I guess I do.

I tried tonight to see it 3 times and I always slept in the second half.

Also, the film is supposed to be a horror movie, isn't it?

Well, when the music score becomes adventurous (like pirate music according to Williams), it takes me out of the mood. (2nd sacrilege! Hehe)

[Edmilson 7,436]

Wait, Jaws was really rated PG when it came out? 

[filmmusic 1,826]

21 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Wait, Jaws was really rated PG when it came out? 

What do you mean? It should be restricted?

[Edmilson 7,436]

14 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

What do you mean? It should be restricted?

Here it is rated "inappropriate for children under 14". And I guess it was rated again in the USA?

[Faleel 5,346]

3 hours ago, LSH said:

It's not brilliant but there's a lot to like.

Hehe...

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

In the UK, Universal wanted JAWS to have an "A" certificate, but the BBFC wasn't convinced, so they asked a few child psychiatrists to watch it. The BBFC then asked them their opinion. They recommend that the film be an "A". The BBFC said "Won't it give children nightmares?". The psychiatrists replied: "What's wrong with children having nightmares?"...

 

JAWS was passed uncut, and with an "A" certificate.

[Sweeping Strings 2,357]

'What's wrong with children having nightmares?' ... ha, brilliant. They'd probably get drummed out of the profession for that nowadays. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

9 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Do I commit sacrilege if I say I'm bored in the second half of the film and prefer Jaws 2?

I guess I do.

 

 

9 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I tried tonight to see it 3 times and I always slept in the second half.

 

The problem could also be watching it three times when you're already tired.

 

9 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Also, the film is supposed to be a horror movie, isn't it?

 

Not really, no.

[A24 4,331]

9 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Do I commit sacrilege if I say I'm bored in the second half of the film and prefer Jaws 2?

 

Perhaps not sacrilege but you would be the only one in the universe with that opinion. TBH, the part that bores me today is when Quint is telling his war/shark story when they all sit around the table in the cabin. Loved it when I first saw the movie but over time I became allergic to movie characters telling stories to other movie characters.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

2 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

'What's wrong with children having nightmares?' ... ha, brilliant. They'd probably get drummed out of the profession for that nowadays. 

 

This was back in the day when people working with children had guts, instead of unlimited amounts of cotton fucking wool!

[Brónach 1,302]

I had dinosaur themed nightmares. They were interesting. Once i grew up, the nightmare material deteriorated quickly.

[mrbellamy 6,278]

18 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Here it is rated "inappropriate for children under 14". And I guess it was rated again in the USA?

 

I don't think Jaws was ever re-rated, it's technically still PG

 

Of course it would be PG-13 today, like pretty much everything is 

[Bellosh 3,418]

22 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Also, the film is supposed to be a horror movie, isn't it? 

 

yeah whenever people say Jaws is a horror movie, I wonder if they've even seen the out to sea portion.  It's literally an adventure movie at that point.

 

I think they like to claim it as a horror because Jaws is arguably a perfect movie and the horror genre has so many shitty movies, that they'll take what they can get.

[Edmilson 7,436]

5 minutes ago, Bellosh said:

I think they like to claim it as a horror because Jaws is arguably a perfect movie and the horror genre has so many shitty movies, that they'll take what they can get.

I don't think of horror as inherently shittier than other genres. And it certainly produced some of the biggest classics in all the history of cinema: Psycho, The Exorcist, The Shining, etc.

 

Every genre has movies great, good, decent, mild, shit and uber-shit, including horror but also adventure, sci-fi, drama, historical, comedy, etc.

[Bellosh 3,418]

 

@Edmilson oh you're right, for sure.

 

The Exorcist is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. Not just horror.  I guess what i meant was that general audiences view horror as 'mostly bad'.

 

But 2 of the 3 you listed, have supernatural elements.  MOST horror movies have that.  There are a few outliers of course.

 

I think that's also important when considering Jaws as a horror film or not.

[filmmusic 1,826]

7 minutes ago, Bellosh said:

The Exorcist is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time.

I would like to buy the upcoming 4k blu-ray of this, but I don't think I can watch it again.

It's great, yeah, but it makes me sick!

[Edmilson 7,436]

Tbh, I kinda prefer The Exorcist as a drama of a mother unable to protect her child against unspeakable evil than a straight horror movie. But mostly because I don't think the exorcism subgenre is that scary.

 

Exorcism movies and shark movies are two horror subgenres I don't particularly care for (and I'm a big horror fan). They were started by two classic movies but 99% of what followed after is just schlock.

[Bellosh 3,418]

8 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Tbh, I kinda prefer The Exorcist as a drama of a mother unable to protect her child against unspeakable evil than a straight horror movie. But mostly because I don't think the exorcism subgenre is that scary.

 

Exorcism movies and shark movies are two horror subgenres I don't particularly care for (and I'm a big horror fan). They were started by two classic movies but 99% of what followed after is just schlock.

 

The Shallows (a great shark flick!) is way more horror than Jaws i think.  Same with Open Water.  Those are what I consider 'horror' that involve a shark.

 

I refuse to believe a film with this cue, could ever be considered horror 

 

 

[mrbellamy 6,278]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

I don't think of horror as inherently shittier than other genres. And it certainly produced some of the biggest classics in all the history of cinema: Psycho, The Exorcist, The Shining, etc.

 

What's interesting about those three movies you listed and what Jaws does have in common with them is that they were based on popular suspense novels, and Jaws came out at a time when big studio horror was more literary. Rosemary's Baby also goes in that category. Spielberg's directing is also so indebted to Hitchcock when horror and suspense were more synonymous. Horror at that time in the 70s was either very fringe and exploitative, or classy and psychological with esteemed character actors, themes of paranoia and panic, protecting your family from mysterious forces. Jaws plays with all these latter tropes, along with horror's older history of "creature features." Also above all it always rightly had a reputation for being SO SCARY! 

 

The game changed soon after, especially with Halloween three years later turning the genre's attention to slashers, and I think the way the horror genre progressed through the 80s and 90s moves everything much further from Jaws. While also seeing the way Spielberg's career developed, I think that reclassifies Jaws more appropriately as a thriller-adventure. 

[filmmusic 1,826]

 

A very impressive visually film and with a delightful score by Hisaishi, but I didn't understand a thing! 

I guess that's why I prefer slice of life, more realistic in plot anime because they don't go too far in fantasy.

(Fortunately I see I'm no the only one with low IQ! Haha! Many write at imdb that they didn't understand it.)

[Sweeping Strings 2,357]

Thunderball - at the time, the first Bond to pass the 2 hour mark and it's maybe a little indulgent ... we're a good half-an-hour in before 007 attends the mission briefing. Still, it's fun enough ... the pre-credits action tickles, we have the first ever 'Q equips Bond in the field' scene and the bevy of beauties is well up to standard (particularly the magnificently-chested Fiona Volpe ... Fiona Voluptuous, more like).

Eat Locals - cheap 'n' cheerful Brit comedy horror, in which the UK's vampires gather for their every-50-years meeting only to find themselves under attack from the military.

Conan The Barbarian (1982) - a slackly-paced fantasy adventure that also takes itself far too seriously, sporadically enlivened by tits (not Arnie's) and giant snakes (one for the Freudians there, maybe).

[Edmilson 7,436]

Die Hard

 

 

I had only seen it once a decade ago and I had slept through most of it because I was too tired. So I decided to give it another chance yesterday. And yeah, it's great!

 

Bruce Willis is perfectly cast as a fallible hero who gets injured and tired but never stops to fight (the best kind of hero), but I also loved Alan Rickman's villain - he's just so entertaining, I almost root for the bandits!

 

 And this is a rare kind of action movie: one with a great script. I like how it introduces characters and elements that will later play a huge part on the plot (like the other passenger at the first scene telling McClane to take off his shoes, a decision that may had seen useful before but he quickly regrets it). Directing is also great.

 

The only part that was a little underwhelming was Michael Kamen's score, which is mostly anonymous and unmemorable, except for the Beethoven references.

[Tallguy 3,385]

54 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Die Hard

 

 

I had only seen it once a decade ago and I had slept through most of it because I was too tired. So I decided to give it another chance yesterday. And yeah, it's great!

 

Bruce Willis is perfectly cast as a fallible hero who gets injured and tired but never stops to fight (the best kind of hero), but I also loved Alan Rickman's villain - he's just so entertaining, I almost root for the bandits!

 

 And this is a rare kind of action movie: one with a great script. I like how it introduces characters and elements that will later play a huge part on the plot (like the other passenger at the first scene telling McClane to take off his shoes, a decision that may had seen useful before but he quickly regrets it). Directing is also great.

 

The only part that was a little underwhelming was Michael Kamen's score, which is mostly anonymous and unmemorable, except for the Beethoven references.

 

I would argue that it is the smartest action movie ever made.

 

The scene where Willis meets Rickman? I spend my entire movie going life waiting for a scene like that again. Willis is smart! No! Rickman is smarter! NO! WILLIS IS EVEN SMARTER!!!

 

It shouldn't be that difficult, people!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

It's one of two films that are textbook examples of how to create a Summer blockbuster.

 

 

 

"Schieß dem fenster"

(puzzled expression)

(rolls eyes) "Shoot the glass!"

 

Makes me chuckle, every time.

 

 

[Tallguy 3,385]

10 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

It's one of two films that are textbook examples of how to create a Summer blockbuster.

 

 

 

"Schieß dem fenster"

(puzzled expression)

(rolls eyes) "Shoot the glass!"

 

Makes me chuckle, every time.

 

 

 

And... The other?

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

14 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Tbh, I kinda prefer The Exorcist as a drama of a mother unable to protect her child against unspeakable evil than a straight horror movie. But mostly because I don't think the exorcism subgenre is that scary.

 

I never found The Exorcist scary in the slightest, and as a result it never really worked for me an drags quite a bit. I remember liking some of the secondary character/investigative stuff, but as a whole, I always fail to see why the film has become such a classic.

[A24 4,331]

I thought it was very scary every time the mother went up the stairs to Linda Blair's room. Each time I braced myself for what might happen.