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

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

On 5/2/2024 at 4:02 PM, filmmusic said:

I love courtroom dramas

 

What are some of your favourites?

[filmmusic 1,843]

17 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

What are some of your favourites?

Oh, there are plenty:

Philadelphia, 12 Angry Men, A Few Good Men, Judgment at Nuremberg, Witness for the Prosecution, Inherit the Wind, A Man for all seasons etc.

 

* * *

 

 

Most enjoyable, and I love the Kamen score, which I think is his best! (among the ones I have heard anyway)

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

41 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Oh, there are plenty:

Philadelphia, 12 Angry Men, A Few Good Men, Judgment at Nuremberg, Witness for the Prosecution, Inherit the Wind, A Man for all seasons etc.

 

All of those are excellent. A Few Good Men is my personal favourite. Great movie, largely because of a phenomenal script by Aaron Sorkin. If you haven't seen it, check out My Cousin Vinny...speaking as a lawyer, it has the most realistic courtroom scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

[Tallguy 3,402]

5 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

...speaking as a lawyer, it has the most realistic courtroom scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

 

You're not the first I've heard say that.

[filmmusic 1,843]

19 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

If you haven't seen it (though I'm sure you have), check out My Cousin Vinny...speaking as a lawyer, it has the most realistic courtroom scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

I watch a lot of movies, but it's true I haven't seen this. So, I will put it on schedule! 

[JTN 2,047]

 

 

Also, this is one of the all-time greatest. RIP Norman Jewison.

[filmmusic 1,843]

Just now, JTW said:

Also, this is one of the all-time greatest. RIP Norman Jewison.

I have seen this too, but funny thing, I don't remember anything at all...

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

 

4 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I watch a lot of movies, but it's true I haven't seen this. So, I will put it on schedule! 

 

Bonus that in addition to being a great courtroom flick and incredibly funny, it stars Marisa Tomei. 🔥Who won an Oscar for the role if I'm not mistaken.

[JTN 2,047]

Too bad, because it has amazing performances, and an awesome jazzy Dave Grusin score.

1 minute ago, filmmusic said:

I have seen this too, but funny thing, I don't remember anything at all...

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Death To Smoochy - black comedy directed by and starring Danny DeVito. When a kid's TV presenter (Robin Williams) is fired due to a bribery scandal, he vows revenge on his replacement (Edward Norton). Uneven, but still quite amusing.

[filmmusic 1,843]

 

Very similar to Williams scored The River about a farmer family who are in danger of losing their land, although in a more serious tone (funny thing is both films were released in 1984 and both were nominated for their lead actress).

The score is by an unknown composer, and at times I was waiting for John Williams to take over! 

[JTN 2,047]

Wonderful film.

[JTN 2,047]

The only film Harrison Ford was nominated for an Academy Award for.

It has a great synth score by Maurice Jarre.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Striking that Ford's is the only cast member's name on the poster. Proof of how much of a box-office draw he was regarded as back then, I guess. 

[filmmusic 1,843]

I love some James Ivory films (Maurice, Room with a view, Howards End, The Remains of the day) but I didn't care for this at all.

And I have purchased it as a part of a box, that now I'm thinking of selling. Decisions...

 

 

[A24 4,346]

10 hours ago, JTW said:

The only film Harrison Ford was nominated for an Academy Award for.

It has a great synth score by Maurice Jarre.

 

About Peter Weir's retirement:

 

"I think Peter Weir lost interest in movies. He really enjoyed that work when he didn't have actors giving him a hard time. Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke him." - Ethan Hawke.

 

 

7 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I love some James Ivory films (Maurice, Room with a view, Howards End, The Remains of the day) but I didn't care for this at all.

And I have purchased it as a part of a box, that now I'm thinking of selling. Decisions...

 

 

 

Yeah, not everything they touched turned into gold.

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

Weir said that Hawke's comments really don't reflect how he feels, but in any event, pity that he's retired. He's a seriously underrated director and has made some of my personal favourites.  Sadly, it also means we'll likely never get that Master & Commander sequel Crowe keeps talking about.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Something of a themed double-bill last night (especially considering the first was an influence on the writer of the second).

Runaway Train - had never seen this before. Convicts Jon Voight and Eric Roberts break out of a maximum security prison in Alaska and 'hitch a ride' on a train, only for its engineer to jam the throttle open whilst in the throes of a fatal heart attack. Some of the dialogue clunks more loudly than the train and having a caption quoting Shakespeare's Richard III at the end is pretentious as hell in my book, but the well-staged stuntwork/destruction more or less see it to its destination. Also starring Rebecca DeMornay.

Speed - poor old Jan De Bont ... peaked with his directorial debut, then pretty much downhill ever since. Thrilling entertainment that cemented Keanu Reeves' action chops with Jeff Daniels as his LAPD colleague/buddy, Sandra Bullock as the member of the public who ends up having to keep a bus over 50 mph to stop the bomb on it detonating and Dennis Hopper as the embittered ex-cop 'mad bomber'.

[JTN 2,047]

A charming and sometimes moving film, with a great fat Travolta, a lovely Andie MacDowell, a perfect soundtrack and a nice Randy Newman score.

[Badzeee 110]

I love this film. 

[filmmusic 1,843]

 

On Valentine's Day, I found it fitting to watch again this film. 

One of my favorite movies that holds a sentimental value, as it was the first soundtrack album I ever listened to.

If it wasn't for Keanu Reeve's performance, I would consider it a masterpiece.

I adore the production (music, costumes, make-up, photography, sets etc.) and I think Gary Oldman is great in his role, albeit a bit theatrical more than needed.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

The Mothman Prophecies - early Noughties supernatural thriller in which Richard Gere's Washington Post journo unexplainedly ends up in the town of Point Pleasant (after setting out to drive to somewhere completely different) in West Virginia, the townsfolk of which having been experiencing weird phenomena (the strangest of which is the titular being, an eight-foot-tall humanoid that seems to predict upcoming disasters and which Gere's character's wife seemingly saw and made sketches of before she died). 

Chilly and unsettling, which is what you want from this sort of thing. Also starring Debra Messing, Laura Linney, Will Patton and Alan Bates.   

[JTN 2,047]

I actually liked DiCaprio in this. A very effectively made political thriller. Kudos to Scott, these types of films are some of the hardest to make (well). 

[Tallguy 3,402]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

If it wasn't for Keanu Reeve's performance,

 

He's really so terrible, isn't he? I don't recall Ryder being all that terrific either.

[JTN 2,047]

At least she’s pretty.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

He's really so terrible, isn't he? I don't recall Ryder being all that terrific either.

 

Maybe she's not particularly good, but her performance first her role just fine. Reeves is just painful to watch (and listen to) in every scene he's in. But that's not enough to make the film any less amazing than it is.

[Holko 9,532]

6 hours ago, filmmusic said:

and I think Gary Oldman is great in his role, albeit a bit theatrical more than needed.

The movie's very deliberately over the top grand theatrical, what Oldman did fits perfectly IMO.

[karelm 2,915]

I watched 1979's The China Syndrome staring Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, and a very good Jack Lemmon.  The film is neurotic, anxious, and cynical.  But an interesting glimpse of 1970's anti-establishment, conspiracy, and paranoia of all thing's authority.  It should be remade and more updated to modern concerns.  At the time of the film, the concern was nuclear power.

[A24 4,346]

4 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

I don't recall Ryder being all that terrific either.

 

I don't recall her to be great in anything.

 

1 hour ago, karelm said:

... and a very good Jack Lemmon. 

 

When is he not very good?

[filmmusic 1,843]

I don't understand the hate for this film.

It's marvelous! Great production values and a great Dustin Hoffman (I don't know who was nominated for an Oscar that year, but I would nominate him).

Ok, Julia Roberts is indeed miscasted I think, but I got used to her..

One of my favorite movies, and the score... second favorite Williams score ever (after E.T.). (it was sacrilege that it wasn't nominated for an Oscar)

 

[GerateWohl 4,373]

21 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I don't understand the hate for this film.

It's marvelous! Great production values and a great Dustin Hoffman (I don't know who was nominated for an Oscar that year, but I would nominate him).

Ok, Julia Roberts is indeed miscasted I think, but I got used to her..

One of my favorite movies, and the score... second favorite Williams score ever (after E.T.). (it was sacrilege that it wasn't nominated for an Oscar)

 

I don't hate the movie. I just think it's bad.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I don't understand the hate for this film.

It's marvelous! Great production values and a great Dustin Hoffman (I don't know who was nominated for an Oscar that year, but I would nominate him).

Ok, Julia Roberts is indeed miscasted I think, but I got used to her..

One of my favorite movies, and the score... second favorite Williams score ever (after E.T.). (it was sacrilege that it wasn't nominated for an Oscar)

 

I think one reason is the fact that this movie does not really know what it is, a muscial, a light phantasy movie for children, a grim adventure - to me it always felt very inconsistent. The other thing might be the very stripped down and naive message about family - a major and sometimes eye-rolling shortcoming in (not only) my opinion. Spielberg has done that much more profound and subtle in E.T.

[filmmusic 1,843]

 

Mediocre 80s sci-fi family film, but it was somehow fun to watch.

One thing I don't understand is what The Jetsons are doing in this poster...

Another thing: the score was a bit distracting in a couple of places, and it wasn't there when I needed it in another couple of places.

[Bespin 8,484]

5 hours ago, filmmusic said:

 

A great production? On the contrary, I think this film should be cited as having benefited from anything but a great production!

 

I think what you meant to say is that, considering the genesis of this film, it could have been much worse. Indeed.

[A24 4,346]

2 hours ago, Bespin said:

 

A great production? On the contrary, I think this film should be cited as having benefited from anything but a great production!

 

 

 

The sets look like ... sets.

[Tallguy 3,402]

13 minutes ago, A24 said:

 

The sets look like ... sets.

 

I've been told this is an intentional aesthetic. I'm not buying it.

[Holko 9,532]

Hook looks great and fun ya sourpusses!

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

1 hour ago, A24 said:

 

The sets look like ... sets.

 

Like all movies set in London during winter, the fakest thing about Hook is the snow at Christmastime.

[filmmusic 1,843]

3 hours ago, Bespin said:

A great production?

It was nominated for Oscars for best art direction/sets and costumes, not to mention make-up and visual effects. If that's not great production, what is? 

The today's films CGI fest?

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

Goonies is the film that I'm always aware I'm looking at a set.

[Tallguy 3,402]

25 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

It was nominated for Oscars for best art direction/sets and costumes, not to mention make-up and visual effects. If that's not great production, what is? 

The today's films CGI fest?

 

In some cases, yes.

 

I don't think there is a film in the world that can go up against most of Spielberg's films from the 70's and 80's. (Temple of Doom falls into some of the same issues as Hook.)

 

But again "Hey, that was done with CG! It's NO GOOD." is just not accurate. Crappy CG is just as bad as crappy sets. Great CG (especially when you can't notice it) is just as good as masterful sets. (See also "Real models will always beat CG." That's nonsense on stilts.)

 

I don't care how expensive or huge the sets were. I'm sure the sets in Hook were works of art. But they don't sell the film for me.

[Mr. Hooper 1,804]

35 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

Great CG (especially when you can't notice it) is just as good as masterful sets. (See also "Real models will always beat CG." That's nonsense on stilts.)

Speaking of which, check out this VFX breakdown for 'Godzilla Minus One'.

 

What I was surprised to find out was that a lot of the sets were green-screened in, like the scenes on the dock with the ships. While I was watching the movie, I never questioned it for a second.

 

When done right, CGI can be magic.

 

 

[Faleel 5,360]

1 minute ago, Mr. Hooper said:

 

What I was surprised to find out was that a lot of the sets were green-screened in, like the scenes on the dock with the ships.

 

Isn't that just compositing?

[Tallguy 3,402]

7 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

Speaking of which, check out this VFX breakdown for 'Godzilla Minus One".

 

What I was surprised to find out was that a lot of the sets were green-screened in, like the scenes on the dock with the ships. While I was watching the movie, I never questioned it for a second.

 

When done right, CGI can be magic.

 

 

 

WOW. And I adore the talking Godzilla figure.

 

This is a good series in general, but this one in particular makes some fantastic points.

 

 

[Mr. Hooper 1,804]

8 minutes ago, Faleel said:

Isn't that just compositing?

 

Yeah, it's combining live-action with CGI. I'm saying it looks convincing and pretty seamless, unless you eyeball it closely—and looking at the movie under a magnifying glass shouldn't be the point of watching. At its best, VFX should allow you to suspend disbelief, and not be a distraction to the viewing experience.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

18 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Goonies is the film that I'm always aware I'm looking at a set.

And then there are the times when it's so astonishingly well done you forget you're looking at a studio set. Rear Window, for example. 

[Tallguy 3,402]

Rear Window is freaky. What must it have been like to be on those sets?

 

Goonies is a great example of where I have a hard time not seeing the difference between the film and the behind the scenes shorts on HBO (or whatever). But I don't feel that way about the HUGE sets in You Only Live Twice or The Spy Who Loved Me. Or Pirates of the Caribbean for that matter.

[filmmusic 1,843]

 

I avoided this all these years, due to a review from a Greek film critic here that I trust, and OMG, it was indeed a chore to sit through, although I love some Malick films, with favorite of mine the masterful The Thin Red Line.

Of course, this was too very beautiful to look and listen (a great theme by James Newton Howard), but it was way too boring and long and abstract. I slept twice and rewinded back to watch again the part I missed.

Despite this, I am still looking forward to his Christ film which is my most anticipated upcoming film..

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

19 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Rear Window is freaky. What must it have been like to be on those sets?

 

Goonies is a great example of where I have a hard time not seeing the difference between the film and the behind the scenes shorts on HBO (or whatever). But I don't feel that way about the HUGE sets in You Only Live Twice or The Spy Who Loved Me. Or Pirates of the Caribbean for that matter.

Gotta love Cubby Broccoli saying 'OK, we'll build it then' when it turned out that there wasn't a soundstage big enough to house the TSWLM tanker interior.  

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Twins Of Evil - these 70s Hammer vampire flicks become difficult to tell apart after a while. With Peter Cushing (not as Van Helsing, but it might as well be) and some pretty ladies, some of whom sportingly disrobe.