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

[mrbellamy 6,288]

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Thunderball. I really liked Q in this one. Still laughable sound effects. Good story, extremely unoriginal ending.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Unoriginal?

 

Sound effects are great, nice and over the top.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Yes, unoriginal: Bond on a boat with a girl.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

LOTR1. Every time I watch these, Frodo gets more annoying. I wish this, I wish that... Well I wish the filmmakers had reqlinquished one or two of Tolkien's archaic phrases for they sound stilted and shall always make me cringe, whether the birds of yore return or not. Also, why is he the only person who can destroy this ring? I understand why men can't do it, but what's so incredibly unique about this whining Hobbit? Part of me also wishes that they had let Sean Bean play Aragorn, but then again, he's such a brilliant Boromir.

 

The score is of course top-notch, but the mixing of the choir is a big problem, especially in the first half of the film. The symphony's choir (and Belgium's very own Fine Fleur, for that matter) sounded so much closer, so much clearer and more vibrant. You barely hear them at times and at one point you clearly hear that they were recorded separately.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

12 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Yes, unoriginal: Bond on a boat with a girl.

If you're finding 'Bond and the girl in each other's arms' already an 'unoriginal' ending only 4 films into the series, you might wanna brace yourself ... they only stop ending like that with Craig. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

25 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

If you're finding 'Bond and the girl in each other's arms' already an 'unoriginal' ending only 4 films into the series, you might wanna brace yourself ... they only stop ending like that with Craig. 

 

Well, Skyfall sorta ends like that, just not with the girl you'd think of 

[Jay 37,372]

5 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

The score is of course top-notch, but the mixing of the choir is a big problem, especially in the first half of the film. The symphony's choir (and Belgium's very own Fine Fleur, for that matter) sounded so much closer, so much clearer and more vibrant. You barely hear them at times and at one point you clearly hear that they were recorded separately.

 

Peter Jackson chose to lower the volume of a lot of choir parts in the first half of the film.  The Complete Recordings set unfortunately carries over this mixing decision; Luckily the original OST CD has all the lowered choir back at full volume and sounds great

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Interesting. Did he ever explain why? According to the Filmtracks review, Shore hated the OST mixing of the choir. Also, it might just be me, but the first half of the film sounds like it's a totally different choir, they all sing using vibrato at the same time which creates an effect I really do not like... back to the symphony.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I would not take much in a Filmtracks review on faith. Clemmensen is known to mistake his own opinion for factual information.

[Quintus 5,399]

Normally during or after he's finished ranting on and on and on. 

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

11 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Well, Skyfall sorta ends like that, just not with the girl you'd think of 

Hehehe, true.

SPECTRE is far and away Craig's most traditionally-ending Bond flick yet. 
 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

James Bond, a hot girl and an Aston Martin!

[Jay 37,372]

3 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Interesting. Did he ever explain why?

 

Not that I know of.

 

3 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

According to the Filmtracks review, Shore hated the OST mixing of the choir. 

 

There's no freaking way that's true. Shore oversaw the OST and made it exactly how he wanted. The CR is essentially an isolated score with some bars trimmed and some unused music restored.

[A24 4,345]

6 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Hehehe, true.

SPECTRE is far and away Craig's most traditionally-ending Bond flick yet. 
 

 

It's the only so-called throwback, retro, nostalgia film (Stranger Things, Star Wars TFA, blah, blah...) that I liked. That means it probably did something more than just retro. What that is, we don't know yet.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Angels & Demons. Great film, great score. A way better adaptation than The Da Vinci Code.

[A24 4,345]

Should it be in AFI's 100 Greatest Movies? 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yes, it brought us possibly the best musical sequence that Zimmer has yet composed!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Only at JWFan!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Shh, let's get Alex confounded with our poor taste.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

We hardly need to try confounding Alex, it happens naturally.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - this is guilty of self-indulgent meandering at times, but overall it's chic, fun and sexy enough to remind one of Bond/the spy genre in its 60s pomp.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

What sequence are you referring to? Science and Religion, Water or 160 BMP? I love Water.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You would not be able to survive without water!

[Wojo 2,453]

We need water, or maybe somebody's daughter. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Manpig!

[Wojo 2,453]

Not at all. It's from a song by The Who. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Who?

[Wojo 2,453]

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

3 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

What sequence are you referring to? Science and Religion, Water or 160 BMP? I love Water.

 

First one. 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Children of Men - Alfonso Cuarón

 

I think this is a fairly mediocre film, or maybe it's a decent film that I'm continually let down by because of how much many people love it.  It's a fine experience that technically is solid.  But there's a lot of crummy writing and some wooden or even annoying performances.  And Cuarón does not have musical sensibilities that are nearly good enough to do what he tries to do here with the "unoriginal score" approach.  It's just all right.

[A24 4,345]

I agree with every word! We finally have found common ground, TGP!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

25 minutes ago, TheWhiteRider said:

Children of Men - Alfonso Cuarón

 

I think this is a fairly mediocre film, or maybe it's a decent film that I'm continually let down by because of how much many people love it.  It's a fine experience that technically is solid.  But there's a lot of crummy writing and some wooden or even annoying performances.  And Cuarón does not have musical sensibilities that are nearly good enough to do what he tries to do here with the "unoriginal score" approach.  It's just all right.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's such a "profound" film.

[A24 4,345]

It's about hope, man!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Tarkovsky will cleanse the palate!

[KK 3,307]

Siding with Koray on this one.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Of course you do!

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I love Children of Men! 

[publicist 4,643]

I saw that. In a real theatre. With other people. Horrifying.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The Lord of the Rings

Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels is... tedious. It runs for over two hours and breezes through most of the first two novels (it ends with the battle of Helm's Deep and Frodo and Sam having just met Gollum). Its tone is very serious. There's very little joy to be had in this film and some of the designs are... questionable. It's a bit of an oddity, but not one I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a Tolkien nut.

 

American Beauty

Great script, great cinematography and great performances. I still thoroughly enjoy this movie everytime I see it.

 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Edition

Well, it's better than the theatrical cut. It's a lot more coherent, with the opening Nairomi sequence having more fallout later in the film, Clark doing some actual reporting and forming an opinion on the Batman across a longer period of time (and also establishing that Gotham and Metropolis are only a ferry ride away much earlier in the film) and Lois getting some more time as well. But for all its ambition, BvS:DoJ is still a stupid movie. Its villain is superfluous and makes no sense. The action scenes are spectacular, yet unengaging. And the franchise-building is still shoehorned in. Although the first half of the film actually feels better paced, the movie is still too long and some of the added scenes make the whole thing even more unintelligible to people who are not steeped in comic book lore.

Don't be fooled by the movie's production value. It's still a bad, bad movie. Just a very expensive one.

[A24 4,345]

1 hour ago, KK said:

Siding with Koray on this one.

 

Though I'm sure TGP liked the 'Pull my finger' scene because unconsciously it reminded him of a typical Nolan scene with Michael Caine. However, to me the scene was the archetypal example of the movie's bad writing.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

6 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Though I'm sure TGP liked the 'Pull my finger' scene because unconsciously it reminded him of a typical Nolan scene with Michael Caine. However, to me the scene was the archetypal example of the movie's bad writing.

 

Not at all that funny to me.  That character is only saved by Caine.  More than can be said for the faith healer dreadlock woman.  

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

Great film, and absolutely outstanding score!

 

 

[Barnald 365]

Hardcore

 

I loved this film anyway but had cause for a rewatch due to Twilight Time's new Blu-ray, which looks absolutely stunning. Watching it again only increased my appreciation of one of the best films of the 70s, blessed with a powerhouse performance from George C. Scott. What a run Schrader was on at this point (Taxi Driver, Blue Collar, Rolling Thunder and this in quick succession).

 

A special mention for Jack Nitzsche's score, which contains some of the greatest sleazy guitar work in cinema. I don't believe it's ever had an official soundtrack release, which is scandalous, but I guess people could do something with the isolated score feature if they felt so inclined.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

On 13.8.2016 at 0:30 AM, bollemanneke said:

LOTR1. Every time I watch these, Frodo gets more annoying. I wish this, I wish that... Well I wish the filmmakers had reqlinquished one or two of Tolkien's archaic phrases for they sound stilted and shall always make me cringe, whether the birds of yore return or not. Also, why is he the only person who can destroy this ring? I understand why men can't do it, but what's so incredibly unique about this whining Hobbit?

 

Because he's just whining when he has to bear the Ring. As opposed to becoming an evil tyrant and enslaving the whole world.

On 15.8.2016 at 0:44 PM, Mr. Breathmask said:

The Lord of the Rings

Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels is... tedious. It runs for over two hours and breezes through most of the first two novels (it ends with the battle of Helm's Deep and Frodo and Sam having just met Gollum). Its tone is very serious. There's very little joy to be had in this film and some of the designs are... questionable. It's a bit of an oddity, but not one I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a Tolkien nut.

 

It was my introduction to Tolkien when I was in my early teens, and I still like it, though it took me a long time to figure out the ending, or rather that it didn't have one. It wasn't until I was several chapters into reading The Two Towers that it dawned on me that the film obviously stopped before reaching the end of the book (but I think it wasn't until I got access to the internet years later that I figured out why).

 

The designs are quite 70s stylised at times (the Ringworld scenes above all), but combined with the score (which as everyone here knows I hold in very high regard) they always had a strong impression on me. Jackson must have some affection for it, because he all but lifted the first Nazgul encounter from Bakshi. It's flawed, but in a different way than the Jackson version. Very little joy also means that it never starts making fun of itself, which accounts for most of my cringe moments in the Jackson trilogy. It's also more literal to the Tolkien text, partly due to not being as skilled in adapting it, but it also means that it takes less liberties (which in Jackson's version occasionally go very much against the spirit of Tolkien's world) stays truer to the text in some places, e.g. by including Saruman of Many Colours, and better conveying the passage of time. It doesn't nail (or even show) as many facets of Middle-earth as Jackson does, and it never manages to go beyond the text like Jackson often does, but it's pretty strong in making you feel the scope of the story.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Proudfeet!