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

[Quintus 5,399]

Whilst I cringe through Hook, I can still enjoy it on a nostalgic level. TLW was always a solid adventure movie and a worthwhile sequel to JP. The third one lost me, though.

[Jeff 10]

I've officially decided that I prefer Lost World to Jurassic Park.

Blasphemy!

I like TLW, too, but there's just something about Jurassic Park that makes it so much more brilliant in my mind. One manifestation of that is in the deaths in each movie. The suspense leading up to each death in JP is tangible. Also, other than Gennaro being plucked from the John and Nedry being frisked in the Jeep, we have an emotional attachment to the characters who die and feel a desire to see them preserved - that even goes for the poor guy in the raptor handling team in the "Shoot her!" sequence.

TLW, on the other hand, is more Godzilla-esque in that we are almost rooting for the dinosaurs. The only death that has any emotional impact is perhaps Eddie Carr's confrontation with a pair of T-Rexes.

Another telling difference can be seen in the two Hammond reflection scenes. In JP, Hammond's reminiscence of Petticoat Lane has great emotional impact. I'd even go so far as to say that without that scene, the film would have no heart. Contrast that with Hammond's lecture on environmentalism in TLW - there's no heart there whatsoever, IMO. And there's no comparable scene to replace it.

One thing I'll give you - the long grass scene in TLW is marginally superior in tension to the brilliant kitchen scene in JP. Dinosaur action in general is stepped up a notch, but not necessarily better. Compare the T-Rex chasing the Jeep with the T-Rex chasing the campers into a waterfall. Compare the gallimimus stampede with the herbivore stampede. Less is more, IMO.

I agree with you about Hook, though.

[mrbellamy 6,281]

I watched Hook again recently, and I have to admit it kind of lost me once Peter arrived in Neverland, more specifically when the Lost Boys came into it. Some great moments now and then, but like Quint, I cringed quite a bit. Everything before that is pretty perfect, though, specifically at the Darling house. Toodles and Liza's individual reactions when the Bannings arrive crack me up every time, and that shot of Peter on the phone as Jack makes his shadow get bigger and larger overhead by backing away is actually one of my favorite moments in any Spielberg movie. It's not only a cool shot, but it's also just the kind of thing a little kid would do to annoy his sister, and so obnoxious in context that it provides the perfect justification for Peter to finally snap, plus it's also in keeping with the recurring motif of shadows in the Peter Pan story. It's such a strange-looking image, and yet extremely simple. What other director would've thought of doing that?

I do really like The Lost World, though. Better than I expected to, after all the unfavorable comparisons that have been made to JP.

[Jay 37,352]

What other director would've thought of doing that?

You don't think it was in the script?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I don't think so. Spielberg is good at coming up with those kind of things. like the vibrating windows/water in Jurassic park.

[Jay 37,352]

You don't think those were in the script either?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

What?

You never saw the interview were Spielberg was in his card listening to very loud music (I think earth Wind and Fire) and noticed his window vibrate because of the volume?

That's how he came up with that effect.

[Jay 37,352]

Cool

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Spielbergs loves visual touches like that, they are all over his films. Did you see Tintin yet Jason, it's full of them.

[Quintus 5,399]

It's bursting at the seams with them and that is why I love it!

[Jay 37,352]

Spielbergs loves visual touches like that, they are all over his films. Did you see Tintin yet Jason, it's full of them.

I won't be seeing Tintin until it opens in my country, which isn't for another 44 days

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Oh right, I forgot about that.....

[Quintus 5,399]

I reckon I'll have seen it another couple of times by then. Going this weekend I think.

[mrbellamy 6,281]

What other director would've thought of doing that?

You don't think it was in the script?

Basically what Stefan said. I don't know for sure, obviously, but it fits pretty neatly with all the little visual tricks that are so common in his films. Screenplays are typically pretty sparse on specific visual direction, for various reasons, and Spielberg is famous for constantly adding new things, even while shooting. The shadow thing just seems to me like something he and/or the actors would've come up with almost by accident, rather than something that had been planned from the beginning by a writer.

[Quintus 5,399]

Also, Spielberg has been known to completely disregard the script and storyboards anyway, if on the day he has a flash of inspiration. He did it during the reveal of the Brachiosaurs in Jurassic Park - he effectively structured and shot the scene on the fly, as his imagination went into overdrive. It's a magical moment, we all agree.

[Romão 2,274]

Super 8

Up until the train crashed, I was enjoying it quite a bit. From that point on, the film became an horrible mess.

By comparision, the zombie movie the kids made is closer to a real zombie movie than this thing is to a Spielberg movie

[Quintus 5,399]

I'm inclined to agree.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

E.T., well, the last fifteen minutes or so. I saw everyone on Twitter was talking about it, so I threw it on and it wrecked me in seconds as it always does. But the best thing was having my son on my lap waving and saying "Bye!!!!" at the spaceship as it took off.

/emotionalparentmoment

[crocodile 8,006]

Alien with a fever. Works better than IMAX.

Karol

[Brónach 1,302]

Super 8

Up until the train crashed, I was enjoying it quite a bit. From that point on, the film became an horrible mess.

By comparision, the zombie movie the kids made is closer to a real zombie movie than this thing is to a Spielberg movie

I find this film to be brilliant.

It's also much more Abrams than I expected, which I'm glad for, I didn't expect this guy to be able to write and direct like that. Then again, in this film he's talking about the stuff he does with some authobiographical touches, so that might be the reason the film feels so honest and strong. Or maybe he's just good with his stuff, like the start of Lost (pretty much one of my favourite begginings for anything, ever).

One of my favourite moments it's when the little cube goes through the space shuttle poster. Things like that make me like this thing. It doesn't go overboard with many of its fantasies, most of the stuff is hinted at so you can play around with it with your imagination.

Out of all the films I've seen this year I think it's my second favourite after The Secret of the Unicorn.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

might be the reason the film feels so honest and strong. Or maybe he's just good with his stuff, like the start of Lost (pretty much one of my favourite begginings for anything, ever).

Honest and strong? Make no mistake, JJ Abrams' genius lies first and foremost in marketing, in pitching concepts to an audience and letting other people deal with them. He's a very clever seller.

On television, those very strong pitches that hook the audience then get delivered to the show's producers. On film, he seems to rely on products and trends from the past to let nostalgia fill the gaps. Post-modernism can let you get away with that.

He's very good at stirring the nostalgia on your brain. Not so good at creating memorable products (how fast have Lost, Alias and Super 8 disappeared from collective memory and pop culture?)

[Brónach 1,302]

I'm a fan of what he did on Lost, I'm not a Lost fan or a fan of what others that didn't know what they were doing did on Lost.

I had that opinion of yours about Abrams until I saw Super 8. And I realized the guy knows more about how to do this stuff than many had imagined. The writing's solid, going from serious and sober views on stuff to just being plain funny. The direction is focused and effective

The film's nostalgic? So what? The film plays with that and it's fine. Next thing I'm going to hear is that some good horror film is not good because it relies on scaring the audience. Wtf.

[crocodile 8,006]

J.J. Abrams did very little on Lost. Apart from directing the pilot and coming up with the idea that the "island should be mysterious and that there should be a hatch". I think the very ending is also his idea (the scene with Jack). But most of what he did is using his name to get the thing off the ground.

Karol

[Brónach 1,302]

I meant directing the pilot which I think he also cowrote and cast. And it was a brilliant pilot. When I saw Super 8 and was surprised by it I remembered that pilot.

And I thought "just let this guy write and direct more stuff he actually cares about"

The other thing I've seen with some Abrams was Star Trek. Abrams tried too hard and the script wasn't on his side. I think maybe Abrams directed the film like that because of the script. The end result was an overload that didn't make sense.

[A24 4,331]

Alien with a fever. Works better than IMAX.

Karol

You should've waited for when you had the chance to see it on Blu-ray, which can be bought seperately these days. I'm telling ya, it's a whole different experience.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

The film's nostalgic? So what? The film plays with that and it's fine. Next thing I'm going to hear is that some good horror film is not good because it relies on scaring the audience. Wtf.

The film, like bad horror films are with scares, is nothing but nostalgic. It's one of those high-concept pitches Hollywood producers like.

Had it been made before E.T., Young Sherlock Holmes and The Goonies, we might be talking about a man with a vision. As it is, he's just a very clever marketer.

[Brónach 1,302]

So the film isn't nolstagic.

Yeah, sure.

That's why it doesn't remind me of when I used to try to make something creative when I was a kid, or when I liked a girl at the time.

I think you're not understanding here the focus of the nostalgia. The 70's/80's thing is superficial. This film isn't about being an hommage to E.T., and it feels nothing to me like that one or the films you mention.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

You need to run my post through Google Translate.

And I think that if there was anything superficial about the movie, it was all the things that didn't have to do with nostalgia. Then again, you say the film doesn't feel like The Goonies, so you must be watching with kinder eyes than me.

[Brónach 1,302]

Well it might just be that.

You need to run my post through Google Translate.

[Quintus 5,399]

The film's nostalgic? So what? The film plays with that and it's fine. Next thing I'm going to hear is that some good horror film is not good because it relies on scaring the audience. Wtf.

The film, like bad horror films are with scares, is nothing but nostalgic. It's one of those high-concept pitches Hollywood producers like.

Had it been made before E.T., Young Sherlock Holmes and The Goonies, we might be talking about a man with a vision. As it is, he's just a very clever marketer.

Yes, the design of the thing is so cynically contrived it borders on the embarrassing.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its an appeal to our sentiments, like a Tarentino film, without the delirious style and geekiness...

[Quintus 5,399]

It's a phony, albeit a harmless one. At the end of the day it's a good movie.

[Brónach 1,302]

Was the design of Moon also "cynically contrived" or is that okay?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

In a way yes. These films do nothing to advance the art of filmmaking.

[Quintus 5,399]

Yeah, Moon was another trier. An okay movie which lacked the conviction of it's ambition. That's the best way I can describe it (and quickest).

[Brónach 1,302]

I don't understand why I'm the one here that really got into these two films.

I think they're two films made with the intention of making a good film. And they succeeded.

[Jay 37,352]

Which two films are you referring to? Moon and Super 8? Cause both of those received lots of praise on this board

[Brónach 1,302]

Didn't know that. Missed most of the Super 8 discussion and I wasn't here when Moon came out.

[Quintus 5,399]

They're both decent movies, but ultimately disposable. That's all I'm trying to say on my part.

[Brónach 1,302]

Ah, this is not the only place where I've read they were disposable because they were disposable.

Meh, I'm tired of such nonsense! I'm going to bed to read something. Good night.

[Jay 37,352]

Didn't know that. Missed most of the Super 8 discussion and I wasn't here when Moon came out.

Koray heaped tons of praise on Moon and other people liked it too.

We have a 12 page thread on Super 8 filled with positive reviews

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18799

[Quintus 5,399]

Forgettable is another way of putting it. I don't think that's staunch criticism or anything like that.

[Jeff 10]

I loved Super 8. I liked Star Trek a lot, which is saying something coming from someone like me who avoids anything with the word "Trek" in it.

Super 8 is one of the few movies that came out this year that made me feel something on an emotional level while entertaining me at the same time. Captain America, X-Men, Thor, etc. were entertaining but hollow. The only movie that came out this year that I rank higher than Super 8 is Deathly Hallows Part 2.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Koray heaped tons of praise on Moon and other people liked it too.

Koray heaps praise on every score Zimmer farts out....

[Charlie Brigden 7]

MOON has had a ton of praise, a lot of it because of its roots/influences - I'd be vaguely interested to know what AC thought of it.

Haven't seen SUPER 8, but people I trust tell me it's an embarassing attempt to ape Steve, which wouldn't surprise me with JJ. I'll make my mind up when it hits disc.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

MOON has had a ton of praise, a lot of it because of its roots/influences -

But a movie cannot be great just because it has been influenced by an earlier film or style of film. it has to contain more then that.

[crocodile 8,006]

It almost works. Super 8, that is. Which is the kindest thing you can say about it. But I already forgot about the movie. The music is the best thing about the film and the very reason why it "almost" works.

Karol

[Charlie Brigden 7]

MOON has had a ton of praise, a lot of it because of its roots/influences -

But a movie cannot be great just because it has been influenced by an earlier film or style of film. it has to contain more then that.

Absolutely, I agree with you, just stating what people thought.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

In a way yes. These films do nothing to advance the art of filmmaking.

Do they not? Beware of post-modernism.

Didn't know that. Missed most of the Super 8 discussion and I wasn't here when Moon came out.

Koray heaped tons of praise on Moon and other people liked it too.

We have a 12 page thread on Super 8 filled with positive reviews

http://www.jwfan.com...showtopic=18799

Bear in mind that most of those reviews were written immediately after people saw the movie. People tend to be hyperbolic with the aftertaste of the movie still in their mouth.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Koray heaped tons of praise on Moon and other people liked it too.

Koray heaps praise on every score Zimmer farts out....

On Stranger Tides sucked.

I really loved Moon in theaters but didn't like it as much when it first hit Blu. I've been meaning to watch it again recently, but I thought Sam Rockwell gave a fantastic performance and that Duncan Jones nailed the atmosphere and cinematography. Mansell's score is awesome, and so are the effects.