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

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

@bollemanneke,

For the Special Editions, and subsequent DVD and Blu releases, the music was dialed down. That was a conscious decision on the part of Lucas and Burtt (extra "t" ).

[bollemanneke 3,334]

The umpteenth bad choice, in other words.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

There are some good choices, in the S.Es.

 

 

Why the , @Tallguy?

Bringing in MacDairmid for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK added continuity to the saga.

[Chen G. 3,940]

57 minutes ago, AC1 said:

True, films back then didn't feel like they all came from the same assembly line.

 

Now, if a series tells one continuous narrative, you'd expect the handling of the story to also be the same throughout.

 

The change of style between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back was utterly shocking to me at the time: it felt like a movie from a completely different series, only with a few actors from the previous film, playing parts that go by the same names, a few returning props/sets and that's it.

 

It felt completely different, in a way that was alien to the previous film.

 

[bollemanneke 3,334]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

There are some good choices, in the S.Es.

 

 

Why the , @Tallguy?

Bringing in MacDairmid for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK added continuity to the saga.

But why not remove the scene with Leia talking about her mother? If you're creating continuity, at least do it properly.

[Tallguy 3,359]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Why the , @Tallguy?

Bringing in MacDairmid for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK added continuity to the saga.

 

Taken on it's own it might be all right. As an idea. But 1) It erases the original version because of how George has handled this. 2) It is not well done. Mcdiarmid looks terrible. He doesn't match the Emperor in Jedi very much better than the original version did. The dialog is clumsily rewritten to somehow make it fit with the prequels. And it still doesn't make sense. 3) It's just added to the pile of "this was not only unnecessary but probably worse." It's not as bad as "Bring me to my Star Destroyer". 

2 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

But why not remove the scene with Leia talking about her mother? If you're creating continuity, at least do it properly.

Because the only problem with that scene is the acting. (And writing /directing - Seriously, George Lucas got believable performances out of this pair. What was wrong with Marquand?)

 

Why the Expanded U crowd never wrote about the woman Leia mistakenly thought of as her "real mother" is beyond me. 

[bollemanneke 3,334]

I'm giving you an opportunity to do it yourself.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

17 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

"It's not as bad as "Bring me to my Star Destroyer".

Agreed.

"Alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival", is - pardon my French - utter fucking bollocks!!!  The outtakes from ROTJ don't help, either.

The terse "Bring my shuttle", shows a Vader who is barely holding in his anger. It's a fantastic line.

 

 

17 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 What was wrong with Marquand?

By his own admission, Richard Marquand was out of his depth, on ROTJ.

The real issue was the absence of Gary Kurtz, and his replacement.

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

1 minute ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Agreed.

"Alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival", is - pardon my French - utter fucking bollocks!!!

The terse "Bring my shuttle", shows a Vader who is barely holding in his anger. It's a fantastic line.

 

Never mind the line itself. The change completely destroys Williams' music, which is what holds the entire finale together - or used to.

[Chen G. 3,940]

23 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The real issue was the absence of Gary Kurtz, and his replacement.

 

I think we read way too much into Kurtz' role here.

 

He was ultimately not calling any of the shots creativelly. He was there to oversee issues of budget and schedule.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

Perhaps, but both STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK are revered classics, and RETURN OF THE JEDI, produced by Kazanjian, is...the third one.

[Tallguy 3,359]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The terse "Bring my shuttle", shows a Vader who is barely holding in his anger. It's a fantastic line.

 

 

Absolutely! He's SO pissed off! 

 

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Never mind the line itself. The change completely destroys Williams' music, which is what holds the entire finale together - or used to.

 

Empire is the only "live to picture" concert I've seen. And hearing the orchestra having to butcher that part live was terrible. 

 

I think Kurtz had a big role. But Lucas just wasn't on his game. Going by the Rinzler books every instinct he had in Empire was great and every one he had on Jedi was terrible. 

[Edmilson 7,367]

Am I the only one here who actually likes Return of the Jedi? I think both this and Temple of Doom are the two most underrated and wrongly maligned blockbusters from the 80s.

[Jurassic Shark 12,008]

6 hours ago, Chen G. said:

the entries change completely in tone and style

 

LotR says hi.

 

6 hours ago, Chen G. said:

the trajectory of the plot completely  changes a few times, etc…

 

They subverted expectations way before Nolan did.

[Tallguy 3,359]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Am I the only one here who actually likes Return of the Jedi? I think both this and Temple of Doom are the two most underrated and wrongly maligned blockbusters from the 80s.

 

I like it. Arguably I like it a lot. It just isn't in the same league as Star Wars and Empire.

 

I think it's pretty clear that Lucas had lost interest, he had started to believe his own legend, a lot of the happy accidents that made the pervious two brilliant didn't happen, AND his marriage fell apart. (Even Williams kind of takes a step down. You know, for him.) 

 

In 1980 Lucas was promising multiple more films and it felt like really the beginning of a whole world. Then Jedi comes along with a far more limited scope and says "Eh. That's enough, we're done." 

 

 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Irreversible (2002)

 

 

It is a wonderful film, really, an immersive experience. Unlike Memento, it not only flips the plot/chronology, but the cinematic suspense too, which is very irritating. The camera work starts just being as messed up as the protagonist's world and then it gets smoother and smoother until the end of the film. Just like Tenet, this film seems to feature time itself as the true protagonist.

 

The infamous rape scene sadly draws all the public attention from the rest of the ingenious film. But I will say that: it was really an awesome scene, because it very clearly comprehended sexual abuse as an act of violence and a demonstration of (physical) power, not a sexual act. The fact that the rapist in this film is in fact a gay man, helps you realize that it cannot be the latter. The director was confronted with reproaches of homophobia, however... no, they're really not justified.

 

Recommended (with warning).

[Holko 9,491]

6 hours ago, Tallguy said:

(Even Williams kind of takes a step down. You know, for him.) 

Lol no

[A24 4,323]

9 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Am I the only one here who actually likes Return of the Jedi? I think both this and Temple of Doom are the two most underrated and wrongly maligned blockbusters from the 80s.

 

How old were you when you first saw ROTJ? That usually makes a difference. 

 

 

14 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

The change of style between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back was utterly shocking to me at the time:

 

 

 

Strange, because that's not how I experienced it at all. Yes, the lighting is different (better) but not the tone of the movie. I saw Star Wars in 1977, immediately became a huge fan, and when TESB finally came out in 1980, I never noticed much difference between the two. In fact, I feared that I wouldn't like the sequel (yes, even then sequels had a bad reputation) but I remember that I left the theater thinking that it's just as good as the first movie. I was so relieved. It was still the Star Wars I loved. They were still the characters that I was fond of from the first movie. The tone of the Star Wars universe didn't change. I was still my Star Wars. Of course, waiting 3 years for a movie is not the same as binge-watching all the movies for the first time in one go. No, the huge shock that you talk about actually came in 1983 with ROTJ. Now there the tone and style were so different, the characters so unrecognizable (in a bad way) that my days of a Star Wars fan were over. And it wasn't just me, my friends hated it too. We felt betrayed. Lucas was not a god. And yes, we wanted to hang Richard Marquand. (joke)

[Sweeping Strings 2,342]

Borley Rectory - docudrama using a blend of live action and animation to tell the tale of the titular abode, once called 'the most haunted house in England'. A fun watch, with a chill or two to be had.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

10 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Am I the only one here who actually likes Return of the Jedi?

No, you're not. ROTJ has, over time, become my favourite SW film, and my favourite SW score.

[A24 4,323]

16 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

No, you're not. ROTJ has, over time, become my favourite SW film,

 

And it's only a matter of time before you will favour Prometheus over Alien, Richard. It's in your nature. 

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

14 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Am I the only one here who actually likes Return of the Jedi?

 

I still like it. It has some of the best moments of the OT, and some of the worst. It's easily the most flawed, but I still love all the Emperor stuff.

[A24 4,323]

The worst being... everything else that is not the emperor stuff. ROTJ seems to want to go in two different directions. On the one hand, most of the movie is almost embarrassingly childish, like a long commercial for Star Wars toys or like 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' with a bigger budget. But then the emperor stuff is darker and gloomier than ever before. 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I just re-watched A Sense of History for maybe the 3rd time in 10 years. It's a Mike Leigh short film of a Jim Broadbent monologue.  Honestly, I think it might be one of my favorite movies ever made?

 

 

[Edmilson 7,367]

8 hours ago, AC1 said:

How old were you when you first saw ROTJ? That usually makes a difference. 

 

IIRC I watched all of the Original Trilogy plus Episodes I and II when I was 11/12, in preparation for the release of Revenge of the Sith in 2005.

 

But even as a kid I wasn't crazy about any of the movies, I just thought they were okay-ish. Back then I used to prefer LotR and Harry Potter. I just learned to really appreciate Star Wars about 7, 8 years later when I rewatched the classic trilogy.

[A24 4,323]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

IIRC I watched all of the Original Trilogy plus Episodes I and II when I was 11/12, in preparation for the release of Revenge of the Sith in 2005.

 

But even as a kid I wasn't crazy about any of the movies, I just thought they were okay-ish. Back then I used to prefer LotR and Harry Potter. I just learned to really appreciate Star Wars about 7, 8 years later when I rewatched the classic trilogy.

 

You didn't like Star Wars until you were an adult? 

[Edmilson 7,367]

5 minutes ago, AC1 said:

You didn't like Star Wars until you were an adult? 

It's not that I actually disliked the SW movies, it's more of a "it's okay but I prefer these other franchises". 

 

I think each generation will respond differently to these movies. I wonder how a child raised on MCU flicks would react to them.

[A24 4,323]

1 minute ago, Edmilson said:

It's not that I actually disliked the SW movies, it's more of a "it's okay but I prefer these other franchises". 

 

I think each generation will respond differently to these movies. I wonder how a child raised on MCU flicks would react to them.

 

True, my son prefers The Prequels, because that was his introduction to the SW universe when he was little. 

[Chen G. 3,940]

I didn't see a frame of any Star Wars film (and don't recall Star Wars being talked about or referenced much) until my late 20s, out of curiosity around the time of The Force Awakens' release.

 

Actually, that's not entirely true. I did see The Phantom Menace around the time of its release, but I remembered very little of it: a handfull of shots, names and moments, most of them conflated with moments from The Fifth Element which I also saw around that time.

 

What I'm getting at is, I saw them without any sense of nostaglia, and its always weird as an adult to watch kids films that you didn't see in your childhood.

[Bespin 8,472]

Skyfall.

 

One, the music is awesome, two that's a very good movie, and I forgot how it turns so "old fashioned" in the second half... even as a kind of hommage to Sean Connery.

 

I love that movie.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

9 hours ago, Bespin said:

Skyfall.

 

One, the music is awesome, two that's a very good movie, and I forgot how it turns so "old fashioned" in the second half... even as a kind of hommage to Sean Connery.

 

I love that movie.

A little three for Deakins photography perhaps. Always loved his work with Mendès

[A24 4,323]

10 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I didn't see a frame of any Star Wars film (and don't recall Star Wars being talked about or referenced much) until my late 20s ...

 

That sounds so weird to me. Have you been living amongst Amazon tribes? 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

Amazon tribes are, probably, better off for not seeing any Star Wars films.

What you don't know can't hurt you.

[Chen G. 3,940]

54 minutes ago, AC1 said:

That sounds so weird to me. Have you been living amongst Amazon tribes?

 

No, I live near Tel Aviv...

 

Star Wars just isn't a very big deal here. Never has been.

[A24 4,323]

16 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

No, I live near Tel Aviv...

 

Star Wars just isn't a very big deal here. Never has been.

 

Are you sure?

 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/the-force-is-with-star-wars-geeks-at-israeli-film-611351

 

Quote

Asked whether his students were excited to see the film, Yitzchak said, “Not much, it’s no big deal,” adding that he was joking and that they were extremely eager to see the film. 

 

[Chen G. 3,940]

I remember that time when all three major franchises - Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars - all had entries coming out. Of the three, Star Wars was by far the least talked-about.

 

I don't remember growing up with a lot of Star Wars references around: I knew the "I am your father!" bit and some of Williams' tunes, but that was literally it. To this day, none of my friends had ever seen a single Star Wars film of any kind.

[A24 4,323]

Maybe it's because you and your friends all live in the same LOTR bubble? 

 

I mean, where are the newspaper articles of 1977 saying "Star Wars, despite worldwide success, is a no big deal in Israel"? 

[Chen G. 3,940]

18 minutes ago, AC1 said:

Maybe it's because you and your friends all live in the same LOTR bubble? 

 

Most of my friends are not huge Lord of the Rings fans: I think my best friend didn't even see The Return of the King. I do know quite a few Harry Potter afficianados, though. But no big Star Wars fans.

 

As far as I know, after the original film, Star Wars had never been a huge success outside of the Anglophonic world.

[Bespin 8,472]

I don't know the people who lives in an Amazon tribe, but I know some who are in the Amazon Prime.

[Edmilson 7,367]

Star Wars ain't a big deal in Brazil either. Their box office here is decent, but below other super-hero movies, which are truly beloved here. The biggest SW still took less people to the theaters than Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad (2016), Iron Man 3, Aquaman...

 

But it's better than Star Trek though, which really has a minuscule fanbase here.

 

I think it's interesting how some kind of blockbusters (like Marvel/DC super-heroes and those live action remakes of Disney animated movies) perform really well in some countries while others (like SW and ST) are stronger in North America and Europe.

[publicist 4,643]

12 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I think it's interesting how some kind of blockbusters (like Marvel/DC super-heroes and those live action remakes of Disney animated movies) perform really well in some countries

 

Regrettably they perform well in every country.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

Murder at 1600. 

 

That was pretty good and way better than the critics claimed it was. God, those people really have no taste. I do want to re-watch it once I’ve found a copy that doesn’t cut off right after the very last line of dialogue. Alan Alda and Ronny Cox were great and Spikings might be a bit of an unoriginal name, but all the unpredictable twists and turns in the story made up for that. Diane Lane sounds like Nicole Kidman when she whispers.

 

Christopher Young’s score started out in D minor, but was surprisingly clever and actually quite brilliant. Some cues gave me Horner vibes (also because of one single contribution of the shakuhacchi) and there’s some amazing string writing going on too, especially in the double basses.

[A24 4,323]

14 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Star Wars ain't a big deal in Brazil either.

 

No wonder! Look at the Premiere in 1978 of Star Wars in Brazil:

 

 

 

 

A stormtrooper is overlooking the Dome Of The Rock in Jerusalem (Israel), but other than that, it's not a big deal.

[filmmusic 1,822]

Saturday Night Fever

Classic!

I'd like to watch the sequel too, but I see it gets poor ratings..

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is, Indeed, and epoch-defining film. Don't watch the sequel.

[Bespin 8,472]

James Bond marathon... 9 movies.. in the book's order, except the two last, of course.

 

• Casino Royale (2006)
• Live and Let Die (1973)
• From Russia With Love (1963)
• Goldfinger (1964)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
• The Living Daylights (1987)
• Goldeneye (1995)
• Skyfall (2012)

[Edmilson 7,367]

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

 

Of all the countless Halloween movies, this Michael Myers-free film is the one I was looking forward to watch. After all, I tend to prefer psychological conspiratorial thrillers than slashers (although the first Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street are quite good).

 

Anyway, HIII is not a perfect movie and could've been better, but it's a decent thriller with a nice atmosphere and a great synth score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth (Carpenter not only was a superb director but also a pretty good composer on his own).

 

Now, someone please take that jingle off my head!

 

Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

Happy, happy Halloween

Silver Shamrock!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

Don't be so , @filmmusic.

Some films lend themselves to sequels, and some should be seen as standalone stories. SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is, definitely, the latter.

STAYING ALIVE is not worth watching.

[bruce marshall 1,314]

Been catching up on early films scored by John Barry.

These films are only accessible on You Tube in the US

 

 

BEAT GIRL - trashy but kinda fun.

FOUR IN THE MORNING- dreadful attempt at an Antonioni film.

L-SHAPED ROOM - Overlong, melodramatic and boring with some.good performances.

 

I still need to see THE PARTY' S OVER to complete my JB filmography.

 

Only FOUR featured a Barry underscore which consists of a solitary, haunting theme.

The other two featured jazzy source music.

 

 

 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,342]

On 15/11/2021 at 2:55 PM, Edmilson said:

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

 

Of all the countless Halloween movies, this Michael Myers-free film is the one I was looking forward to watch. After all, I tend to prefer psychological conspiratorial thrillers than slashers (although the first Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street are quite good).

 

Anyway, HIII is not a perfect movie and could've been better, but it's a decent thriller with a nice atmosphere and a great synth score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth (Carpenter not only was a superb director but also a pretty good composer on his own).

 

Now, someone please take that jingle off my head!

 

Happy, happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

Happy, happy Halloween

Silver Shamrock!

Apparently Carpenter thought that the films had potential to be an anthology series with each having its own characters, story etc while remaining under the Hallowe'en 'banner'. Then III made less money than the first 2, and hence Michael was back in the fourth film (and ever since).