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

[Matt C 455]

Abrams is hugely overrated as a director and I think the expectation surrounding him is overblown and unfair (on him). He should be making Final Destination movies or something, Jeepers Creepers 3, that sort of thing. Instead he's been given these massive budgets and the keys to the city to make these thunderous blockbusters off the back of a bloated but successful tv show. He's being asked to be the new Spielberg, when he's yet to make his Jaws.

He's done several successful TV shows... Felicity, Alias and Lost (as well as having a hand in Revolution and Fringe). I know you're talking about Lost, but Abrams has spent over a decade toiling in television before getting his big break with MI3 (which ended up being a big-budget episode of Alias).

I do think JJ is at his best when he's lower-budget flicks. There's more creativity and heart in Super 8 (even though it's a homage to 1980s Spielberg films), than his 2009 Star Trek reboot.

[KK 3,307]

And yet, I found Super 8 rather underwhelming and lacking in the heart I expected to find in it.

[crocodile 8,027]

For comparison's sake, remind me what you thought of the previous film, Karol.

Well, at the time I enjoyed it more. Now I think it doesn't have a lasting power.

The new film is more of the same. Not "more of what made Star Trek tick" but "more of J.J Abrams' Star Trek".

Karol

[Pieter Boelen 740]

Just watched the Kevin Costner film "The Postman".

By far not as horrible as its made out to be. Not by a long shot. I'm glad to have seen it.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Just watched the Kevin Costner film "The Postman".

By far not as horrible as its made out to be. Not by a long shot. I'm glad to have seen it.

loved the book, never saw the film.

hoping to see Aftershock tomorrow.

[A24 4,355]

I think 15 years ago people got tired of the Kevin Kostner movie and its often too strong moral messages. I saw it a long time ago. Not the worst movie but certainly not good either.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Alex, you and the kid not gonna bother with Jurassic Park 3D?

[A24 4,355]

Eh, no.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Pity.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I think 15 years ago people got tired of the Kevin Kostner movie and its often too strong moral messages. I saw it a long time ago. Not the worst movie but certainly not good either.

Oh well, at least they DO have a point to them. I also like Waterworld quite a bit. Wyatt Earp isn't too shabby either.

And on a related note, Cutthroat Island and King Solomon's Mines are brilliantly entertaining!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Those are not Alexcremers films.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

Last time I checked, I wasn't Alex Cremers, so that's OK.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I check every day just to be sure....

[Pieter Boelen 740]

Better safe than sorry, eh? I knew there was something I was forgetting to do upon waking up.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Alex and I never converge anywhere in the universe mostly,

mostly.

[Quintus 5,399]

Joey, go sit up front.

Go on.

[Quintus 5,399]

Watched Gattaca. Not bad, quite interesting. Michael Nyman wrote a quality score, Uma Thurman was beautiful and the plot held my attention, slight pacing issues aside (it dragged out a little toward the end). Initially I just kept wanting Ethan Hawke's character to hurry up and get to Titan, where it might have developed into something more (leaving the double-breasted pin-stripe suits and silly whirring Jetsons automobiles behind). 3/5

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Jude Law steals the show, in my opinion. I think that was the first film of his that I saw along with The Talented Mr. Ripley.

[Matt C 455]

The Great Gatsby

Uh, there are some instances where Baz Luhrmann nails the essence of the novel, but the vast majority of it is overblown, anachronistic, and I couldn't care about any of the characters. Some of Luhrmann's music choices are inspired (like in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette), but I still want to slap him for using fucking rap music for the party sequences. Pulls me right out of the movie.

And the acting is uneven. For all that star power... Maguire is terribly miscast (his closing monologue is horribly overwrought) and the talented Carey Mulligan is unremarkable as Daisy. DiCaprio is partly effective, but doesn't fully embody the character. Fans of the book will want to check it out for the novelty factor, but Baz's high-energy approach is a bust.

[A24 4,355]

Jude Law steals the show, in my opinion. I think that was the first film of his that I saw along with The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Jude Law was good, but when Hollywood discovered him, they suddenly tried to present him as the romantic leading man ... which never really took off. Gattaca and The Talented Mr. Ripley is my favorite Law period. In fact, I was a fan of the up-and-coming Law. He radiated 'promise' back then. Today I completely lost my interest.

Coco Avant Chanel: Not bad, not good. Perhaps the best thing about it is Alexandre Desplat's score. More Williams than Williams! 5/10

Alex

[crocodile 8,027]

Can't even remember this film. And I've seen it on big screen. All I can remember is that it wasn't what I wanted to watch.

Karol - who needs to watch Gattaca as well

[gkgyver 1,646]

Well, I just watched Star Trek Into Darkness.

I have to say, I was really fascinated by the whole film, and as a whole, most likely better than the first. I never found the humor out of place, or that the film was uneven, I thought it was very well placed.

However, some things I didn't find so nice. Even more so than in the first one, I think Abrams and his team are overcomplicating the design of this, so that I have a really hard time accepting this as iconic and making a proper connection to Star Trek. Even though this is a reboot, I need that familiar feeling. It often ventures too much into deep sci-fi, when the design should be easily approachable.

Then the story. I found it very well conceived, and well executed. I sucked in every minute ... until the ending. Seriously, I think

Kirk dying

was great, and the reversed roles brilliant. However, if you do that, have the balls and follow through with it. If you don't, you have no other choice but to destroy the whole movie.

And I found the following footchase pointless, absolutely anticlimactic, and boring.

I'd rather have

Abrams remaking Search For Spock too, this time Search For Kirk, than him destroying the carefully built climax that works exceedingly well if you consider the original is a classic.

Uhura's relationship with Spock is still really annoying, too.

The score was definitely not up to scratch, sorry. While watching, I couldn't pick out a definite music for Harrison, and also not for the Klingons, which is really dissapointing. And during

Kirk's death

, the underscore was horribly underwhelming, I'm allergic to this kind of piano tingling. Also because there is no main theme besides the Enterprise theme. Give us a Star Trek theme, man!

[Brónach 1,302]

It often ventures too much into deep sci-fi

?????

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Jude Law steals the show, in my opinion. I think that was the first film of his that I saw along with The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Jude Law was good, but when Hollywood discovered him, they suddenly tried to present him as the romantic leading man ... which never really took off. Gattaca and The Talented Mr. Ripley is my favorite Law period. In fact, I was a fan of the up-and-coming Law. He radiated 'promise' back then. Today I completely lost my interest.

Alex

I think he's an underrated actor overall, because in the right role he's really good. I also really enjoy Michael Caine and him in Branagh's Sleuth.

[mrbellamy 6,316]

Jude Law steals the show, in my opinion. I think that was the first film of his that I saw along with The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Jude Law was good, but when Hollywood discovered him, they suddenly tried to present him as the romantic leading man ... which never really took off. Gattaca and The Talented Mr. Ripley is my favorite Law period. In fact, I was a fan of the up-and-coming Law. He radiated 'promise' back then. Today I completely lost my interest.

I think Jude Law is a little like Brad Pitt in that they're both character actors at heart, trapped in the bodies of leading men. In general, whenever they're cast in a traditional leading role, I find they're stripped of everything that makes them interesting as actors.

[gkgyver 1,646]

It often ventures too much into deep sci-fi

?????

What I mean is, it was and is too over the top in the design. The original series, and more so TNG, was very clear in design, not overly fussy, and didn't distract. Abrams' Trek is over the top compared to the original series in the same way that the SW prequels look too silly compared to the original SW films.

[Brónach 1,302]

You mean, visually?

I can't get into TNG because I can't get over how it looks. I guess the ST world just doesn't appeal to me all that much.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

You mean, visually?

I can't get into TNG because I can't get over how it looks. I guess the ST world just doesn't appeal to me all that much.

you can't get over how clean and great it looks.

[crocodile 8,027]

I'm glad gkgyver enjoyed the film. I wonder what the rest of the gang is going to say - should be interesting to read. I can say that after some days I think it's a decent flick, decently made, acted, and all. But I'm not going to see it again. Nor am I really excited for the score album release anymore. Next!

In the meantime I've watched The Matrix. And I have to say the film holds up really well. Never been a fan of it, but as far as these type of things go, you can't really find a fault in it. I definitely look forward to the live to projection score performance this fall, under the direction of Don Davis. Should be interesting.

Speaking fo which, I want Don Davis to score Jupiter Ascending!

Karol

[Quintus 5,399]

The Matrix has aged beautifully, it really has. By comparison, I watched Gattaca the other night, a movie which came out two years earlier. Yet it looked ten years older, at least.

[crocodile 8,027]

To be quite honest, I thought it was going to be a "flavour of the year" type of film. The ones that come and go. Nothing like that. Even 14 years later it still encapsulates our present and the culture around us better than any other s-f flick. In the mainstream, that is.

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The only thing that dates the Matrix for me are those HUGE cellphones, and the fact that in the beginning of the film Neo gives someone a minidisc!

[crocodile 8,027]

Cellphones are getting huge again!

Karol

[Quintus 5,399]

It was ahead of its time

[Ollie 1,059]

They are the only two I think that were made with any sense of intelligence and wit for me.

I guess Americans and Europeans watch films very very differently.

Karol

No, the Avengers is a fun film. Fun is something that DC apparently forgets when they make their films.

Iron Man 2 was a disappointment.

[Brónach 1,302]

You mean, visually?

I can't get into TNG because I can't get over how it looks. I guess the ST world just doesn't appeal to me all that much.

you can't get over how clean and great it looks.

Nah I don't have a problem with cleanliness!

[Quintus 5,399]

Iron Man 2 was terrible!

While I was watching it I was thinking, WTF?!

[Ollie 1,059]

I've never watched it. And Lolita. And it so happens they're both on my shelf.

Karol

Lolita is an excellent film. James Mason and Peter Sellers are both fantastic in the film.

[Brónach 1,302]

Iron Man 2 was terrible!

While I was watching it I was thinking, WTF?!

I basically like the moment when he puts on the suitcase suit.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The third film lacked a scene like that!

[crocodile 8,027]

I liked the senate hearing scene and one or two moments, but otherwise I agree. What a pointless film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb2ousUkXqk

Karol

[Quintus 5,399]

@Steef

The one good scene in the movie.

[Ollie 1,059]

To me it was somewhat of a 2 hour filler just to stall for Thor and Captain America's film's to come out that year so audiences could get to The Avengers.

[crocodile 8,027]

And that is exactly the reason the third film is so good. It doesn't set up anything. Not even the post-credit scene. What a relief.

What makes so interesting is the fact they dialed out the theme almost completely in the scene.

Here at 5:24 you can hear it as it was meant to be heard by Debney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXBzl4q6f6Q

It's a horrible cue anyway. One of the most incoherent pieces of action music ever. There's everything in it and it has no direction.

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Iron Man isn't much better than the atrocity that is 2.

[Ollie 1,059]

With exception of the score, the first Iron Man is miles ahead of 2.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I enjoyed it in theaters but found it incredibly boring the second time I tried to watch it, turned it off after 20 minutes.

[Delorean90 42]

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Relative to Woody Allen's other '80s output that I've seen (I have yet to see Another Woman, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, or any of the shorts/segments), I found myself, oddly, respecting this film more than *liking* it. The film's tone/message has a good bit more bite than the fairly positive tone of much of his comedy -tinged output in the decade (see Zelig, Hannah and Her Sisters, Broadway Danny Rose), and that may be part of it, but I suspect it's more to do with the meatiness of it; it's got a lot to chew on in its parallel story threads. On the other hand, his balancing of the tones of these sides is done about as well as I'd say can be done. The humor is hilarious, the drama weighty, and neither seems to step over the other or sour the film. Perhaps I'm also feeling a bit of a greater focus on the ideas over the characters in a way, though even that doesn't quite seem to be right. I'm not sure what it is. I definitely regard it highly, but I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite Allen films I've seen (Love and Death, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Zelig, Hannah and Her Sisters)--yet. It may well be a grower.

[crocodile 8,027]

My detox continues with Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika. Very nice little film.

Karol

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed Aftershock

I was fearful that with Eli Roth's attachment to the film it would devolve into a Hostel type film.

It does not.

It does feature extreme human violence but nothing like Hostel or other torture horror crap.

The film is a foreign film, made in Chile. Much of it is in English, much in Spanish. Depending on the release location the film features subtitles in either English or Spanish.

The film does a nice job of giving these characters personalities. It spends the first third of the film introducing the charaters, establishing who and what they are. it doesn't necessarily make them likable or unlikable, that decision is up to the audience.

when the earthquake hits it hits with fury. This isn't some grandiose disaster spectacular. The underground (literally and figuratively) bar is pummeled. Things are smashed, walls and ceilings collapse, people are crushed to death and it's not pretty. One of the main character loses his hand and in a scene straight out of Temple of Doom has trouble getting the hand up off the floor.

The final third of the film is in survival mode. The local prison has collapsed. The prisoners are out of control. The survivors must survive not only more aftershocks, but the prisoners bent on no good, and a possible tsunami. I felt the film did a nice job and the director shows a lot of personal style.

it's easily the best horror film of the year next to the Evil Dead remake.