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

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Good for those that think so, I think it's Kubrick's worst so far. Only other films of his I have yet to see are Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut.

Barry Lyndon is my favorite of his after 2001. It's really a masterpiece.

[crocodile 8,000]

Few films are as well shot as Barry Lyndon.

Karol

[Jay 37,346]

You've never seen Eyes Wide Shut, Koray? Wow!

[nightscape94 965]

I'm of the opinion that A Clockwork Orange is completely overrated and not very good.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

You've never seen Eyes Wide Shut, Koray? Wow!

I don't think I have. I believe I've seen a portion of it years ago but can only recall one scene.

I'm of the opinion that A Clockwork Orange is completely overrated and not very good.

It's one of my favorite films and my favorite Kubrick

[Romão 2,274]

Good for those that think so, I think it's Kubrick's worst so far. Only other films of his I have yet to see are Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut.

Barry Lyndon is my favorite of his after 2001. It's really a masterpiece.

My sentiments exactly

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Lolita

Never thought I wouldn't enjoy a Kubrick film, but this was a mess. A disturbingly comic telling of pedophilia and incest. The story and characters were pointless, not to mention it ran for an hour too long. 153 minutes of this, really? Peter Sellers was amusing as usual but in the context of this film it was just weird.

Watch the Adrian Lyne version-- practically ruined his career as a director.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Hey, at least Morricone's score is good

Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

Hilarious satire that really doesn't do much. Kubrick utilizes a handful of scenes/set-pieces to great effect. It's weird to think this started off as a serious drama, and that Sellers playing multiple characters was stipulated in his contract. Anyway, it's time for the classic Kubrick to take center stage. Exciting, as I haven't watched them in a long time. Looking back at the first half of his career, most of it was really different than the stuff that would follow. An odd dichotomy to his filmography in terms of storytelling techniques and editing.

[publicist 4,643]

Koray, just read the Nabokov novel. Kubrick couldn't add the flesh he wanted to show in 1962, apart from that it's all a big, gaudy tragi-comedy full of black humour. It's the tragedy of a ridiculous man and Mason wonderfully acts the world-weary intellectual lusting after a dumb teenage girl.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yeah I felt like it wasn't meant for the 60s, particularly when Lolita's mother asks him if her dress is too showy and she's completely covered.

I can't be the only one who thinks it was too long, though, am I? It was such a drag.

[publicist 4,643]

Well, most Kubrick films are...save for STRANGELOVE and FULL METAL JACKET (and PATHS OF GLORY).

[A24 4,331]

It only 'drags' if you don't like it.

[publicist 4,643]

No. It also drags if i feel rather neutral about it. I can appreciate the value of 2001, it's still not a movie i would recommend anyone looking for a breezy 3 hours.

[A24 4,331]

You don't like it.

[publicist 4,643]

No, you're being obnoxious again.

[A24 4,331]

You don't like me.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No one does!

[A24 4,331]

You are wrong! Drax likes me! He told me so!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He's taking the piss, and you never even noticed it!

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

[crocodile 8,000]

Shush child.

Karol

[Naïve Old Fart 9,514]

You are wrong! Drax likes me! He told me so!

No one does!

I like you, Alex. Have no fear, little one; I am here to protect thee!

[Matt C 452]

Drunken Angel

It's certainly an intriguing early entry in Kurosawa's filmography... even if it isn't as mesmerizing and thought-provoking like Rashomon, his fingerprints are all over it. The well-composed shots and well-spotted score by Fumo Hayasaka, as well as Kurosawa's favorite collaborator Toshio Mifune (almost unrecognizable clean-shaven).

It's certainly an eye-opener in terms of Japanese culture, the yakuza system, and the morale of Japanese people but in terms of introducing people to Kurosawa's work -- too rough and doesn't really show the director at his peak. But it's certainly worth a watch.

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

It's partly fascinating, part bewildering, and partly sleep-inducing. The semi-documentary approach is cute at first glance, but it gets annoying and repetitive. However, the second and third 'chapters' are rather well-done, with the surreal sequences of stuff like a woman given 'birth' to several demons, the interrogation of the old woman, or cavorting maidens literally kissing the devil's ass. The cinematic approach is quite accomplished for a 1920s silent film, especially in those chapters.

But the other half ... I could barely keep from dozing off. I mean, seriously, half of this movie is a good solution to insomnia.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

In The Loop

A biting political satire about the prelude of the US and UK's decision to go to war in Iraq, and how low level politicians and anonymous civil servants have monumental effects on the decision making in the upper end of the leadership spectrum.

Like The Tick Of It, by the same makers and the same cast (largely) it never actually mentions the political parties or mentions real politicians, but anyone with even a slight grasp of political realities can figure out what's going on.

With much of it taking place in the USA, the film feels like an anti-West Wing in that the glamour and nobility of that show is turned up side down and the mid-level echelon's of the US government is a vapid pit filled with people only there to serve their own careers and self-interest. Civil servants and political aids attaching themselves to whatever politician might be going up the ladder.

In the UK things arent much better then a cabinet minister accidentally lets slip on the radio that he thinks the war is "unforeseeable" when ordered to dumb that comment down prattles about "climbing the mountain of conflict" and gets sucked into a political arena where he seems out of his dept. But the thing is that nearly everyone in the film seems out of their depth, not in possession of the full facts, stressed, drunk, or simply incompetent.

The cast is excellent, with many of the English ones regulars from The Thick Of It playing different (but similar) roles, augmented with a fine American cast. Tom Holland is a lead of sorts as the utterly clueless minister, while Peter Capaldi is one of the few who plays the exact same character he is known for in The Thick Of It, the acid spewing viper Malcolm Tucker. Capaldi is brilliant in the manic energy he brings in a role that involves him suddenly appearing out of the blue and biting people's heads of for their mistake. Like many of the characters, he swears. But Malcolm Tucker makes foul language seem like a work of dark poetry.

He is also the only one who actually seems competent. and as the PM's enforcer pretty much arranges for the "war in the Middle East" to be assured. For reasons that are never really made clear in the film. Does war even need a reason to begin?

Political satire often loses effectiveness because it simplifies issues and takes too obvious a stance one way or another. In The Loop is a very labyrinthine commentary that shows how information is leaked, spun and manipulated on a "staff" level that the normal public is hardly ever aware of. It doesnt take any real stance in whether going to war is good or bad, only that the decisions are made purely because of political interests that have nothing to with why we think countries go to war.

Why did the second Gulf War start? It wasnt clear at the time, and many years alter it still isnt.

It would not surprise me if it happened in a way that was portrayed in In The Loop though....

[publicist 4,643]

And that the James Gandolfini and David Rasche characters are in fact thinly veiled facsimiles of living persons that once ruled US government.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I particularly liked James Gandolfini in this one. He's puzzled look after Malcolm tell him "Don't call me fucking English again!" is both subtle and priceless.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

bewitched by Rebecca Hall, nothing taken from Johansson or Cruz. Quite like the film, one of the better recent Allen efforts.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Watched "Leon" tonight. Never saw it. Very interesting to see the young Natalie Portman. Serra's score is very good.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

The Life of Pi for the first time(on Blu). Looked absolutely great and I loved the film.

Didn't like the music much, this must be somethink wan over Johnny.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I enjoyed that one. The score too.

[KK 3,307]

Good film. Good score!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

2001: A Space Odyssey

Probably one of the best edited films ever. The 2 and a half hours flew by. Not much else to say about this one that hasn't already been said. A landmark in cinema.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

The less said the better - Stanley would approve.

[A24 4,331]

Thor: The Dark World: Some of it works (Loki), some of it doesn't work (Thor/Jane Foster). In the end, the film is nothing more than a CGI-fest (and often reminiscent of the SW Prequels, albeit less wooden). As usual with Marvel, the film's climax worked on my nerves. 4/10

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yeah after Tony Stark, Loki is the biggest break out character of these Marvel films. Can't beat a sneering British villain of the Alan Rickman school!

[Hurmm 91]

Nebraska.

After being disappointed by The Descendants, this is a much, much stronger film from Alexander Payne, and could possible be as good as his best - Sideways. It's not as outright funny as that one, but the humour in this one is very, very well thought out and written. As with the best comedies, it stems from observations of the human behaviour, it's the kind of that doesn't make your mouth laugh our loud, but rather your mind. And that's one side of the coin. The other side is a tender and delicately put together road trip/father-son film with great performances from every single one of the cast (if anything, just watch the film for the character of the mom). It feels small, but leaves a big mark. 5/5

Anyone who found The Descendants to be pretentious melodrama with an annoyingly fake performance from Clooney, you needn't worry. There's none of that here.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Well said. As usual with Payne's films, there's a lot of great atmosphere and well-defined setting.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

Foreign Correspondent

Joel McCrea is particularly enjoyable as the correspondent in question, the mix of humour and drama reminiscent of Cary Grant's Hitchcock roles. After that was quite taken by Sanders who does his usual bit with style. The climax of the film is something else with the plane crash, first of all starting with that brilliant shot zooming in on the flying model which changes to show the interior of the plane. Looked hellish with the water and all, reminded of a story from Poseidon Adventure how Hackman and the boy was almost lost on set.

Trivially, I recall when studying "Cinema in History" or some such the propaganda radio speech at the end of the film. Classic example of propaganda in film and better handled than other films of the era.

"It's death coming to London...don't tune me out...it's a big story and you're part of it."

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Great cinematography on that one.

A Clockwork Orange

Kubrick's opus.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

The Cowboys

enjoyable movie. The more I see it, the more it grows on me. Initially it was Wayne/Andersen's interaction with the kids. The very first time one of the kids looks at him in the class he gives a hard look back. Then gradually as they learn the ropes, paternal but not heavily so because he once was a kid doing the same thing. Kids both keen to impress but also maybe to grow up. Yet a brutal film (maybe not greatly so), one of the boys is tramped to death, another is roughed up by Bruce Dern and on top of that you see Wayne knocked about which doesn't often happen. The real bite is in the final quarter as after Wayne's death the boys set about getting the herd back, and with the help of Roscoe Lee Browne, do so and with violence. The boys become cowboys.

Wayne himself is quite good, his scene with Bruce Dern a key example. Bruce Dern slimy, creepy and gets a deserved comeuppence and of course Roscoe Lee Browne who suggests a menace deep down whilst handling a 'mother hen' role with the kids.

And of course, the score. At once light and humourous (Learning the Ropes, School Boys of Cowboys) and then dark, dramatic and moving (A Sad Day, Stealing Back the Herd).

"I regret trifling with married women. I'm thoroughly ashamed at cheating at cards. I deplore my occasional departures from the truth. Forgive me for taking your name in vain, my Saturday drunkenness, my Sunday sloth. Above all, forgive me for the men I've killed in anger

[eyes shifting to Asa Watts]

and those I am about to."

[filmmusic 1,826]

Batman (1989) (from my newly purchased steelbook)

Well, we had said it again...

Burton's Batman is THE Batman for me.

And the music is the 50% of this film. It makes it so theatrical and operatic, that it gives you goosebumps to watch.

By the way, I just saw the original trailer.

Hmm... I felt embarassed watching it and it seemed pretty akward! Why no music for the most part?

I thought at first it was fan made!

A Clockwork Orange

Kubrick's opus.

Saw it recently.

I like other Kubrick films much better (The Shining, 2001, Full Metal Jacket, Barry Lyndon)

Well, I guess the theme wasn't something that affected me (and not the direction, or something else which were as always great).(also McDowell frightens me, but again I guess that was the purpose!)

Still want to see Dr. Strangelove after all that I have heard, but as I've said another time, it's in a genre that I don't like at all!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Genre/thematic preferences should have no bearing on one's enjoyment of Kubrick.

[A24 4,331]

Not according to Koray (fails to enjoy Lolita) and filmmusic (fails to enjoy A Clockwork Orange). However, I generally agree with your statement but I don't like 'm all equally. I do have my favorites. 2001, of course, is his Magnum Opus followed by Eyes Wide Shut these days.

[Brónach 1,302]

2001, Paths of Glory, Dr Strangelove and The Shining for me.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

King Kong '76

a strangely entertaining film, I say that as in some places it's quite naff. Man in a gorilla suit, back projection and so forth but this time round it has Charles Grodin going for it -pure corporate creep. Rene Auberjonois (any non-Odo apprearance is welcomed), Jessica Lange's legs, even Jeff Bridges who seems faintly uninterested at times (or maybe it's just me) -maybe this is how the Dude ended up as you see him in Big Lebrowski, he was on this King Kong caper.

Oh, and most importantly, John Barry. The measure of a man in doing sublime music no matter the film. At times the instrumental for "Are You In There?" is quite beautiful, haunting even -beauty and the beast.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's a bad, uneven film, but hugely entertaining.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

It's a bad, uneven film, but hugely entertaining.

Definitely uneven and maybe a tad longer than it should've been. Virtually an hour longer than the original. Still, I imagine this is still better than King Kong Lives!

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

It's my favourite of the three films.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

King Kong Lives is boring as shit. Utterly awful apart from a 1 second topless shot of Linda Hamilton

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

I was referring to the 76 film.

[Sir Hilary Bray 235]

I wondered for a minute.

Got to see about the soundtrack. Imagine it lurks somewhere if not on FSM.