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

[A24 4,346]

I like Aliens, even though the last time I watched it, it didn't do much for me. I watched it right after I watched Alien which floored me. I like Terminator 2. I think it's his best movie. The direction is so stellar, it makes the first one kinda redundant. Don't like The Abyss, Pirahna 2, Avatar, Titanic, True Lies.

[Mr. Hooper 1,804]

5 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

For some reason it's also gotten the rep of being the not scary one.

Opinions that get picked up, repeated, and popularized on the internet until they become incontrovertible "fact".

 

An example that comes to mind is 'The Shining' being crowned as the "scariest movie ever"...

 

I was fascinated with The Shining since seeing (and being terrified by) the commercial at 5 years old, but I couldn't find anyone who shared my enthusiasm for it until the internet came along...

 

And as the years went by, its reputation grew until you had people who hadn't even seen the movie repeating that it was the "scariest of all time".

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

The Shining is not the scariest film of all time.

 

In my opinion at least

[Mr. Hooper 1,804]

3 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

In my opinion at least

And I guess that's my point. Watch it and make up your own mind.

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Exactly

[Tallguy 3,402]

I watched The Shining when I was 30. I tried a couple of times when I decided there were not enough lights to turn on in the house for this movie. I finally watched it during the day. I don't know why but it is just unsettling. Jack is almost reassuring when he goes crazy because that's a normal thing that you understand.

 

There was a short story by H.G. Wells (The Red Room) where nothing scary happens. You just keep WAITING for something scary to happen (as does the protagonist). And it's TERRIFYING. (I haven't read it in a long long time. I may be overselling it.)

 

I don't watch a lot of scary movies. So I don't know what might be scarier than The Shining.

 

I do know that Alien: Isolation is a video game so scary I can't finish it. :-0

[Mr. Hooper 1,804]

Everything creeped me out about The Shining—even the old Warner Bros. logo at the beginning of my first VHS copy...

 

 

While on the subject, this logo's also creepy...

 

But it's this 1970s United Artists logo that really scared me as a kid. I'd look away and block my ears until the fanfare began...

 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Robin And Marian - this Richard Lester movie is caught somewhere between a sombre meditation on ageing and long-lasting love and a slightly satirical adventure romp. Robin (Sean Connery) and Little John (Nicol Williamson) return to England from the Crusades after the death of Richard The Lionheart (Richard Harris). They reunite the Merry Men, and Robin is somewhat surprised to discover that Marian (Audrey Hepburn) has taken holy orders and is now an abbess. It isn't long before Robin has resumed hostilities with old enemy the Sheriff Of Nottingham (Robert Shaw).   

A curious beast, unlikely to replace the other Robin Hood flick in which Connery appears (Prince Of Thieves) in my affections any time soon. 

[Schilkeman 964]

I've never once been scared by a fictional movie. I don't say that to brag, it's just true. Now documentaries, on the other hand, are fully capable of wigging me out.

[GerateWohl 4,373]

I just think, for scary movies it makes a big difference if you see watch it at the evening in the cinema or if you stream it on your mobile while sitting on a train or even if you just watch it on your television at home. 

There are many factors, that influence if you can really dive into a the mood of movie or not.

[Tallguy 3,402]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Robin And Marian - this Richard Lester movie is caught somewhere between a sombre meditation on ageing and long-lasting love and a slightly satirical adventure romp.

 

Wait... WHO directed that?

[Jurassic Shark 12,091]

What about the score? Not Barry's shiniest hour, eh?

[GerateWohl 4,373]

He had just two weeks to write and record it.

 

Anybody knows the rejected Legrand score?

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

54 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

Wait... WHO directed that?

Erm - Richard Lester, like I said. 

@Jurassic Shark - agreed.  

[JTN 2,047]

This film gets better and better with age. It's 30 years old and is more relevant than ever.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Hell, yeah, @JTW!!!

I loved it in '93, and I love it now. It gets more prescient, with each passing year.

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

My Neighbor Totoro

 

I was planning to write a long review about this, but I changed my mind.

I actually only want to say that this film was beautiful from start to finish. Everything was gorgeous. Animation, music, voice actors, story.

It made me laugh, made me happy, a little teary eyed and made me feel warm inside. And sometimes that's all one needs.

[Mr. Hooper 1,804]

6 hours ago, JTW said:

This film gets better and better with age. It's 30 years old and is more relevant than ever.

If there are any fellow Canadians teetering on the brink of a nervous collapse, please be aware of the following McDonald's breakfast serving schedule in our country, which is strictly observed...

 

[Jay 37,374]

 

Jennifer's Body

 

I had been curious about this movie since it came out but never saw it until earlier this year.  Amanda Seyfriend and Megan Fox, in their mid-20s at the time of filming, play high school seniors who have been best friends their whole lives,  but are now growing apart just as kids in their school start getting brutally murdered... which we see the culprit is a supernaturally-powered-up Fox.  Featuring small roles for Chris Pratt, JK Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Lance Henriksen, and Bill Fagerbakke, and even the first solo song by Paramore's Hayley Williams.  This was the movie Diablo Cody wrote after Juno, but sadly it isn't sharp or funny enough, and the directing doesn't really make up for that.  A pretty forgettable affair despite the nice cast.

 

It's on Max

[A24 4,346]

Drive (2011)

 

 

Didn't even know Bryan Cranston is in it. Anyway, it's still entertaining, good pace, perfect length (so many movies are too long these days), and even Ryan Gosling kinda comes across as likeable, thanks to him not talking too much, I guess. Star of the show is Albert Brooks though. Mostly known as a comedian but here he's crazy intimidating. Cranston is good too, BTW. 7/10

[bruce marshall 1,315]

https://thesanfranciscanmagazine.com/the-greatest-escape/

 

 

[Schilkeman 964]

31 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

https://thesanfranciscanmagazine.com/the-greatest-escape/

 

 

Spared no expense on that jpeg, I see.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

The Omen (1976) - this is only 3 years 'younger' than The Exorcist, but whereas that still maintains a visceral punch The Omen just ... doesn't. Still, there's a couple of nicely inventive deaths (Patrick Troughton's man of the cloth speared by a church spire and David Warner's photographer relieved of his noggin via a flying sheet of glass) and Jerry Goldsmith supplies a suitably diabolic score.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

The impact of THE OMEN in '76 cannot be underestimated, even if it looks a little tame, by today's standards.

THE OMEN is the best of the original trilogy, and it's a very effective psychological thriller.

The fact that what you see on-screen is, in every way plausible (the "accidental" deaths; Lee Remick's depression leading to her delusional behaviour; the self-doubt that starts to creep in, to Gregory Peck), makes it all the more chilling.

Great performances from the leads (especially Peck, who grounds the film, and gives it both credibility and pathos), and fine support from Troughton, Warner, Whitelaw, MacKern, and Stephens, coupled with assured direction by Donner, great "English" cinematography, by Gil Taylor, and damn good editing, by Stuart Baird, makes this a superior horror film.

As a study of evil, it is not as good as THE EXORCIST, but, in many ways, it's the flip-side of that film. Where the former is full of sturm und drang (all Reagan throwing herself around the bed, and Campbell's split pea soup), THE OMEN chooses a kind of creeping air of unease that only unleashes the horror at certain moments.

I like and appreciate THE EXORCIST, but I like THE OMEN more.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

I did see it once years ago, and it undoubtedly had more impact back then. Also saw 2, but all I really remember from that is the eye-peckin' crows and the person bisected by a plummeting cable in a lift. Should maybe see The Final Conflict sometime, to complete the trilogy. Gotta love Sam Neill. 

For the Sat night closest to Hallowe'en, I'm going for a never-seen-them-before 70s 'Donald double' - Don't Look Now (which is on the iPlayer, which is also where I caught The Omen) and the remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (a secondhand copy of the BluRay is on its way to me via eBay ... £7.56 including postage, pretty good I thought).   

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

DON'T LOOK NOW, and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS are brilliant films, and well worth watching.

I won't spoil either of them, for you, but I'm pretty sure that you'll like both.

[Tallguy 3,402]

10 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

I won't spoil either of them, for you, but I'm pretty sure that you'll like both.

 

So... Don't post the gif?

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

The endings of both are known to me, alas (if I recall correctly, both featured in Channel 4's '100 Greatest Scary Moments'). But that shouldn't diminish the unsettling/paranoid atmosphere I'm assured they both have in spades.   

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

... that shouldn't diminish the unsettling/paranoid atmosphere I'm assured they both have in spades.   

 

Oh, that they do. That they do.

Muwhahahaha 

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Really wish the Beeb would pop Ghostwatch onto the iPlayer/stick it on BBC4 sometime (can't believe they've never repeated it).  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

That thing with Parky?

That was (unintentionally) hilarious.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

From what I've seen of the ending, it looks fairly OTT granted. But the bits where 'Pipes' gets going are meant to be creepy AF. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Maybe, but it was all a fake.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Oh, I know. Not everybody watching realised it was a drama though, and there were many complaints from terrified viewers. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

4 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

DON'T LOOK NOW, and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS are brilliant films, and well worth watching.

I won't spoil either of them, for you, but I'm pretty sure that you'll like both.

 

Body Snatchers remains one of the biggest scares I ever saw on a screen.

 

Don't Look Now also scared the shit out of me when I first saw it. It wasn't that bad in a later rewatch, but it certainly has a very persistent atmosphere of dread throughout. Here's a photo of my mother I took in Venice three years ago:

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Creepy.

[filmmusic 1,843]

5 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

DON'T LOOK NOW,

OMG, I hated this film.

I thought that I wasted 2 hours or so.

[JTN 2,047]

A heartbreaking and beautiful film. 

[Jay 37,374]

 

Burn After Reading

 

Oh wow!  I saw this in theaters when it came out, but hadn't ever revisited it and had forgotten a lot about it.  This rewatch was very enjoyable, this is a very funny film with a top notch cast!  Brad Pitt is hilarious throughout, Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins were terrific as the sort of emotional centers, George Clooney was perfectly smarmy, Tilda Swinton and Elizabeth Marvel were delightfully annoyed by their disappointing husbands, John Malkovich was also pretty damn funny, and even JK Simmons shows up in two hilarious scenes that tie things together.  This movie's a hoot!

 

It's on Max

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

It's one of the Coen' s better later films.

@Jay, try A SERIOUS MAN: it's even better.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, JTW said:

A heartbreaking and beautiful film. 

 

I saw this yonks ago, and although I appreciated it, in no way did I like it.

Now that I work with children, I'm not sure how it would affect me.

I'm actually scared to watch it, again. I don't think that I could.

[Jay 37,374]

Ooh, I've never seen A Serious Man before!

 

 

Coens I've seen:

1. The Hudsucker Proxy
2. Fargo
3. The Big Lebowski
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. Intolerable Cruelty
7. The Ladykillers
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Burn After Reading
10. Hail, Caesar!
11. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

 

 

Coens I've not seen:

1. Blood Simple
2. Raising Arizona
3. Miller's Crossing
4. Barton Fink
5. A Serious Man
6. True Grit
7. Inside Llewyn Davis

[JNHFan2000 2,969]

Stanley & Iris

 

I wanted something easy to watch on Sunday afternoon and this was exactly right.

It just a really charming and sweet film. Fonda & De Niro were both great. Not a lot happens but I liked that about it. It's a very human story in that way.

 

Williams' score is really beautiful, been listening to it for years. Really enjoy thode few smaller scores he did in the late 80's & beginning of the 90's. Very heartfelt.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

You should. It's among my favourite Coen films. It doesn't reach the dizzy heights of THE BIG LEBOWSKI, BARTON FINK, MILLER'S CROSSING, or even THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, but it's a decent film.

Be prepared for an ending that will seem either perfect, or infuriating 

9 minutes ago, Jay said:

Ooh, I've never seen A Serious Man before!

 

 

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Stanley & Iris

 

I wanted something easy to watch on Sunday afternoon and this was exactly right.

It just a really charming and sweet film. Fonda & De Niro were both great. Not a lot happens but I liked that about it. It's a very human story in that way.

 

Williams' score is really beautiful, been listening to it for years. Really enjoy thode few smaller scores he did in the late 80's & beginning of the 90's. Very heartfelt.

 

STANLEY AND IRIS is a good film, even if it does play fast and loose with the original novel ("Union Street", by Pat Barker).

The score is, as you say "... really beautiful...".

As his "small", almost chamber scores go, it's not THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, but then, not much is... 

[JTN 2,047]

26 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Williams' score is really beautiful, been listening to it for years. Really enjoy thode few smaller scores he did in the late 80's & beginning of the 90's. Very heartfelt.

A beautiful monothematic score. I once literally drove my parents crazy with it on a road trip. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

That explains a lot 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

1. The Hudsucker Proxy
2. Fargo
3. The Big Lebowski
4. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. Intolerable Cruelty
7. The Ladykillers
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Burn After Reading
10. Hail, Caesar!
11. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

 

1 - underrated

2 - good

3 - best Coen bros. ever!

4 - good

5 - good, up until the end

6 - lives up to its title. Awful

7 - redundant. Why anyone wanted to remake this, is beyond me

8 - overrated

9- good

10 - good

11 - good

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

1. Blood Simple
2. Raising Arizona
3. Miller's Crossing
4. Barton Fink
5. A Serious Man
6. True Grit
7. Inside Llewyn Davis

 

1 - chilling

2 - funny

3 - great 

4 - good 

5 - underrated 

6 - good

7 - good

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

Raising Arizona is hilarious, but I've never owned it and therefore have only seen it two times, long ago. I need to get Barton Fink on Blu or something and give it another try, I mainly remember being terrified by its metaphorical incomprehensiveness.

 

The Hudsucker Proxy is a masterpiece.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Hail, Ceasar! remains my favourite Coen closely followed by The Big Lebowsky and then No Country for Old Man.

• Blood Simple => Good
• Raising Arizona => Great
• Barton Fink => Good
• Fargo => Great but a bit overrated
• The Big Lebowski => perfect and underrated
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? => really fun
• Intolerable Cruelty => Okay
• The Ladykillers => really fun, but not one I would watch too often
• No Country for Old Men => Almost perfect
• Burn After Reading => Almost perfect
•  A Serious Man => Watched it once and it didn't do much for me. I should rewatch it now
• True Grit => Great
• Inside Llewyn Davis => Great
• Hail, Caesar! => My favourite and a trully underrated picture

I haven't seen those though but definitly gonna one day

• Miller's Crossing
• The Hudsucker Proxy
• The Man Who Wasn't There
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

[Tallguy 3,402]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The Hudsucker Proxy is a masterpiece.

 

There are some Coen Brothers movies I love. But none of them are in the same league as Hudsucker. It's a crying shame it was a flop.

[Jay 37,374]

 

Disobedience

 

Interesting drama where Rachel Weisz returns to her Orthodox Jewish community in North London after being in American for some time, upon learning that her father has passed away.  At the funeral, she reconnects with childhood friends Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola.  She is surprised to learn the two have married each other, and that her father has given away the house to the temple instead of to her.  As the movie unfolds, it slowly reveals why these things are the way they are, though sadly that's given away by the the poster and trailer.  I liked the slow burn nature of this film and the terrific acting by the three leads, as well as the insight into Orthodox Jewish culture, something I knew nothing about.  The only thing I was never clear about was how old the characters were supposed to be (is McAdams' characters supposed to be almost a decade younger than the other two like she is in real life, or are they all supposed to be the same age? How old was Weisz's character when she got kicked out, and how many years later is she returning now?), but that's a minor quibble.  The kind of movie that lingers with you longer afterward than many do.  It also reminded me of Shiva Baby a bit at times, though this isn't a comedy.

 

It's on Hoopla or Kanopy

[filmmusic 1,843]

47 minutes ago, Jay said:

as well as the insight into Orthodox Jewish culture

I don't understand how these two are combined. They are two completely different things.