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

[AC1 3,565]

It's an answer from the director, but not from the actor. (and probably the screenwriter)

The whole thing hinges on who one considers the true auteur of a character. The director or the actor playing him.

The director is the storyteller. It's his film. The actors are merely pawns. They are not making the film. In the end the director decides how he tells it and what he will use. In no way the actor's personal thoughts overrule the auteurship of the director. Did Ford play him as human? Great! That's the point, Deckard thinks he's human.

About the screenwriter, they too work for the director. Eventually, Scott had to let go of Fancher (that's when David People came in) because he couldn't give him what he wanted. This is what Hampton Fancher, the original writer, had to say:

Is Deckard a replicant?

Hampton Fancher: "No. It wasn't like I had a tricky idea about Deckard that way. Until the last draft. It kept ending in different ways. We were already in pre-production when I wrote the last draft. In the last draft, which wasn't in the movie, I finally came to the last and best conclusion about the ending of the movie which was that Rachel is going to die. And they're in love, and he's become kind of human through this. He was less human than the people he was after, because they were machines. He was more of a machine. And he becomes less of a machine through the ordeal of falling in love with her. She's smarter than he is and she's better than he is, and at the end, he kills her. And it's not an outright execution. It's elliptical. But you hear the shot, and you see where it took place, and you saw her face, and she wanted it, and it was an act of love. And it was really moving in an old 40's doomful way. It was hot and deep romance. And BOOM he's in that car, and you hear him say in something voiceover... he's sitting at the piano again, like she sat at the piano, surrounded by his photographs, his memories. And he starts to say something about 'she understood', or something, that he didn't get. And he starts to play. I thought of "Shoot the Piano Player" (1960), at the end, where the voiceover says, 'music is all there is.' And he starts to come down on the keys, and it freeze-frames on his hand. And his hand doesn't quite hit the keys, but the music does begin, and we see his hand over the end credits, and it looks like Batty's (Rutger Hauer) hand because it froze in that clawlike thing. So you say, 'Wait a minute, is he a Nexus Six?' And Ridley doesn't take credit for it because he thinks it's bad, but they did some things, some opticals, with the eyes on Deckard at one point. And I thought it was hokey. Hokey looks good to me now. Even the old voiceover, that first version, I sort of like better than all the rest of them. By the way, those voiceovers that exist in the film weren't mine, nor were they David Peoples'."

Mind you, this was before the film's biggest clue (Deckard's reverie) was back inserted, making a link with the final scene. But even then it is clear that he has no problem accepting Scott's will. In fact, he even sorta suggests it was his idea in the first place since it's how he ended one of the scripts.

Apparently, Scott is in talks with Hampton Fancher about Blade Runner 2. Nothing definite yet, but still, this is good news.

But the point is that you have a personal choice, the film does not force-feed it to you.

That was never the point. The point was to say "get it?" It's a twist ending. Persoanlly, I think the film plays better and more subtle without Deckard's reverie.

Apart from the scene in the Tyrell building were Deckard interrogates Rachel, is there any natural light (daylight) in the film?

Technically, the whole film is completely artificially lit, just like Alien. I love sci-fi that has no daylight. The TC contained two moments with daylight. The 'Roy's dove transcending to the blue skies' shot and the 'ride into the sunset' ending.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

I tuned into Black Sunday for the finale. I hadn't seen most of the preceding movie, but I was immediately on the edge of my seat as I witnessed a supreme badass Robert Shaw (was he the single coolest actor in the 70s?) hauling ass down the stadium grandstands and darting around the field in a collosally awesome exteme long shot. The ending where he's hanging from a helicopter Steve McQueen-style is also phenomenal scoring by Williams. Obviously, I completely spoiled everything, but I'd watch the rest of the movie if it was as entertaining as the conclusion.

[Wojo 2,442]

Robert Shaw is up there. So is Richard Roundtree.

You haven't spoiled the movie, but I don't see it available on Netflix for streaming.

[publicist 4,484]

but I'd watch the rest of the movie if it was as entertaining as the conclusion.

It isn't. Not Frankenheimer's finest hour.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES. They got the early Bond look down pat, and it's occasionally funny, but it was already done in the 60s with the FLINT movies. That and it gets tiresome pretty quickly. Music is good though, courtesy of sworn JWFan enemy Ludovic Bource.

[indy4 152]

Phantom Menace

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

It is any good?

[Koray Savas 2,095]

Jurassic Park III

It's even worse than I remembered. Only watched it because I had watched the first two and wanted to finish the trilogy. When Davis isn't butchering John's themes, his action music is just generic tension writing.

[Quintus 5,391]

JP III is one of those movies which I can conveniently pretend doesn't exist. In another dimension it completes a trilogy, but in the realm I live in it never happened. Like Alien 3 and 4.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

I also completely disagree with the postulation that III is better than Lost World, which is actually my favorite JP flick.

III is mediocre and certainly a prime sequel to forget exists.

[Quintus 5,391]

JP2 is very agreeable, yes. I prefer the original, though.

[AC1 3,565]

Testing 1, 2, 3

Okay, I'm back alive. This post can be deleted.

[Quintus 5,391]

Bloody weakling with your 12hr ban! You wanna try a fortnight, that's a man's ban that is!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Spare the rod, spoil the child.

You were lucky as always. A pity that the damage has already been done.

Anyway, welcome back.

[AC1 3,565]

Thanks. There's no damage. Everything is restored to the way it was. Do you feel damaged, Steef? Is there a piece of you that is lost?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

I miss my cauliflower!

[AC1 3,565]

It was a good thread though. Should we make a new one?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Go ahead.

[Ricard 1,821]

As long as you don't mention Logan's Run

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Can I mention that I dont like the score very much?

[Ricard 1,821]

I can't believe you don't like the score.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

I only like it after drinking heavily or using some type of narcotic.

[Quintus 5,391]

It sounds like a C64 game.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

It's the only instance so far that I can't go along with the crazy synths Jerry used.

I love his fart synths for Rambo.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

It sounds like a C64 game.

There are great sounding C64 games.

[Quintus 5,391]

There are fantastic sounding C64 games.

The Last Ninja series...

[Sandor 459]

There are fantastic sounding C64 games.

The Last Ninja series...

The theme is probably the best original theme I've ever heard for a video game. Ever hear the orchestral arrangment of it? It's great.

[Quintus 5,391]

I've heard 'em all. Absolute classic video game music from a forgotten series.

[Taikomochi 783]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Not as bad as the reviews let on. I try not to judge child actors, but I do think their choice for the lead was terrible. He sucked. However, everyone else was fairly strong, with special points to Sydow and Bullock. I found parts of the film to be fairly effective, and, on the whole, it seemed way more sincere than Daldry's last effort, The Reader. Desplat's work also fairly strong. Not that I necessarily think it deserved an oscar nomination(although, certainly more than TTSS), but I think Desplat is popular to nominate, and I think this is his most awards compatible score of the year.

[mrbellamy 5,231]

Anna Karenina (1948), with Vivien Leigh.

I only mention it because I absolutely loved the Constant Lambert score. Gorgeous main theme:

[AC1 3,565]

Thank You For Smoking: Not much to say about this satire. Watchable and with a good performance from that TDK guy.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

Hook

It's been a long time since I've seen it from beginning to end, but I thought the film did a good job of developing Pan before getting to Neverland. Hoffman is great as Hook, and I like Roberts as Tink. Williams' score is simply a masterpiece, but the set design and cinematography is rather meh. From watching all of Spielberg's films in a row, these aspects of his filmmaking continually end up being the worst. In my opinion, of course. Perhaps they're just products of the their time, but they all look so fake.

(500) Days Of Summer

One of my favorites from 2009 and a film I'll revisit often in the future. Its splash of abstract realism gives it the spice to separate it from other relationship-centered films. Not to mention the superb chemistry between Levitt and Deschanel; and the wonderful costume design and score. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, a very well made film.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Strange film. For me, it's tone really swings around and doesn't stay consistent, but it has some very interesting designs and visuals. I'm not sure how I really feel about the plot, but Osment and Law deliver great performances. Williams' score makes the film a lot better than what it probably is.

Back To The Future

A classic. 'Nuff said. Watching the new "Tales From The Future" documentary, however, really showed how problematic the production was. It's really amazing that such a great film came out of it, sure seems like it should have been a disaster. Between this blu-ray set and Jurassic Park's, Universal really knows how to deliver quality archival releases. I found it strange though that they didn't get Silvestri for the new documentary, they used old footage for him. The editor was the one that mostly talked about the music, moreso than Zemeckis.

[AC1 3,565]

I like Roberts as Tink.

Some of the film's most embarrassing and mawkish moments are with her. I agree that the film doesn't look good. In fact, with its overly lit look, Hook feels like a Peter Pan Holiday Special TV movie. Fortunately, the film is saved because of Dustin's amusing larger than life portrayal of Captain Hook.

Alex

[publicist 4,484]

Some of the film's most embarrassing and mawkish moments are with her. I agree that the film doesn't look good. In fact, with its overly lit look, Hook feels like a Peter Pan Holiday Special TV movie. Fortunately, the film is saved because of Dustin's amusing larger than life portrayal of Captain Hook.

Alex

Hoffman (and Hoskins) are great, but their antics contribute to the uneven tone of the movie. The awful kitsch notwithstanding, no character seems to be grounded in this ACME Neverland, it's as if they do daily set walk-by's throwing occassional lines to a live audience. To this day i'm amazed how Spielberg could so completely wreck this, since it's a good story (the James Hart-script).

[AC1 3,565]

Those who love Dustin Hoffman's performance in Hook must love Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs Of New York as well. There are no two ways about it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

It's the same performance?

[Quintus 5,391]

Yeah, but the latter is a terrible performance. Day Lewis forgot that Gangs wasn't a children's fantasy with pantomime stylings.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

You must be joking?

[Quintus 5,391]

Absolutely not. Alex knows what I think off Day Lewis and his ACTING.

[publicist 4,484]

Absolutely not. Alex knows what I think off Day Lewis and his ACTING.

Ham!

[AC1 3,565]

It's the same performance?

Bill The Butcher could be seen as a Captain Hook. Both have one eye missing, I think. Daniel Day-Lewis saved the movie as well.

So you're the Pan!

[Brónach 490]

[Quintus 5,391]

It's certainly a very entertaining performance; which highlights its awfulness.

I kept expecting him to break into song, Zero Mostel style. Dancing about curling the ends of his moustache whilst telling the audience of his sinister deeds, with a hint of tragedy, obviously.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

I also think it's weird that Rufio is the only person that actually dies in the movie. All the pirates just get food thrown at them, and Hook somehow gets swallowed by a dead alligator.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

That is the films main weakness. No scares, no real death.

[Wojo 2,442]

No scares??? What do you call The Boo Box?

In all seriousness, I don't recall ever seeing that clip except on YouTube. After all, it is a fantasy island where no child ages, and we never see any adult die. (Whether to streamline the story or to avoid political issues, Spielberg conveniently left Tiger Lilly and her tribe of Indians out of the movie.)

On one hand, Hook tells Smee that he is tired of killing Lost Boys, since he's been killing them all his life. Implying something like that without showing it makes for weak storytelling, and doesn't necessarily make the movie any safer for children. Especially not once the embarrassing language at the banquet starts rolling.

On the other hand, you might think that the movie could use the implied threat of death as the end result of growing up, but instead, the children in the opening song aren't thinking that far ahead. No, it's supposed to be enough to not want to go to work each day in a shirt and tie. And that's exactly what Peter Pan did. Except for him, growing up made him a father, the suppressed source of all his happiness that his job kept him from remembering.

Captain Hook could've shot a few pirates or Lost Boys in the chest to show Peter, Jack, Maggie, and us that he meant business from day one, or he could have stayed as loony and deceptively tame as he ended up being. Either way, that wasn't one of the film's flaws.

[Jeff 0]

While I agree that Hook's set design and cinematography is a bit campy (almost like it was intended to look like video of a Broadway play), I don't think it distracts from the film. After all, some of the greatest movies were shot that way (Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain to name a few).

That's not to say it isn't a flaw in Hook's case - if they were going for realistic, they failed. But it's still a choice whether we as viewers will choose to let that diminish our enjoyment of the film for what it is. Despite the melodrama, the obvious sound stage sets, or whatever else you might find wrong with it, Hook is still one of my favorite movies. It's a classic fairy tale - it appears on the surface to be for children but there is a something for adults to learn from it. That's very similar to the way J.M Barrie's book reads.

[crocodile 6,294]

War Horse. Can't say I was with the movie for the most part, but It is strangely inoffensive in its simplicity. So direct and old-fashioned that you have to admire Spielberg's audacity to release something like this in these cynical times. Stylistically going back in time, even past his 70's and 80's naivette and settling somewhere in the 40's era. Handsomely looking, well-crafted and solidly acted. The spotting is really weird. The first act is scored wall to wall and after that the film becomes quite sparse, music-wise. It wasn't really as "pushy" as many reviews stated.

Karol

[indy4 152]

The spotting is really weird. The first act is scored wall to wall and after that the film becomes quite sparse, music-wise. It wasn't really as "pushy" as many reviews stated.

I think the spotting was really well done. It is definitely partial to the mundane day-to-day action over the supposed glory of war. It's eery how little music there is during the war scenes relative to the rest of the film.

[Taikomochi 783]

The spotting is really weird. The first act is scored wall to wall and after that the film becomes quite sparse, music-wise. It wasn't really as "pushy" as many reviews stated.

I think the spotting was really well done. It is definitely partial to the mundane day-to-day action over the supposed glory of war. It's eery how little music there is during the war scenes relative to the rest of the film.

I agree. The spotting is certainly unusual, but I think that is what makes it the more effective.