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

[Disco Stu 15,495]

On 2/4/2017 at 7:32 AM, BloodBoal said:

 

Sounds like Prometheus.

 

And some people liked Prometheus. Explain that to me, and I'll explain to you why people sign up for scientology.

 

Because there are many different ways to enjoy a movie.  I love many movies whose plots are badly told or have middling performances or fall apart in the 3rd act.  For Prometheus, the visuals are gorgeous, many of the suspense scenes are gripping, Fassbender's performance was great.  Compare it to another Ridley Scott film I love, Legend. It's not a great movie by any stretch but it is, like Prometheus, visually astounding, and it has a great campy performance from Tim Curry, and of course probably the greatest film score Jerry Goldsmith ever wrote (obviously that's arguable, but it's definitely up there).

 

When I'm watching a film, or thinking about it afterward, I don't have this list of criteria that all have to be checked before I call a movie good.  I just go with my gut instinct or my emotional reaction.  Sometimes I can read a review that pans a movie I liked and completely agree with every negative point!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Thank you, Mr. Stu. We now have the answer to the question: "why do people sign up for scientology?"!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

6 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Thank you, Mr. Stu. We now have the answer to the question: "why do people sign up for scientology?"!

 

Now that's a fucking mystery for the ages.

[A24 4,346]

I found the way Prometheus was filmed professionally but quite unremarkable, just like Exodus: Gods And Kings or The Martian.  Scott's first movies had something artistic about them while now his movies look like ordinary blockbusters.

 

It's funny that Scott is using Dariusz Wolski, the cinematographer of Dark City because I alway felt that movie looked a bit like Blade Runner (but then without the neon) and I do love Sweeney Todd. 

[Bespin 8,484]

I'm currently watching the Clint Eastwood documentary about Johnny Mercer.

 

Wow, that's a revelation for me.  He got that swing!

 

If he where alive and on Facebook, I would ask him to be friend with me instantly!

 

Of course, I know all these songs... but didn't know he wrote them!

 

And that's very moving to see all those people who are gone, like Ray Charles.

 

That's a great DVD.

[Jay 37,374]

 

Ghost In The Shell (1995)

 

Figured I'd check this out with the new movie coming out.  I knew nothing about it or what to expect at all, and I liked it quite a bit!

 

Ostensibly, its a relatively straight forward sci-fi action movie about a cyborg and her team chasing down a bad guy in a futuristic city, with some pretty standard twists and turns about who the bad guy is and how they got to be.  But what sets it apart is not just its great visual style, the incredibly cool score, and (sometimes hilariously) over the top gore and violence, but the fact that the characters will often stop and have philosophical conversations with each other, and in fact throughout the movie is constantly giving you new things to think about

 

So despite the fact that the film is only 82 minutes and has a bunch of plot to get through, so many ideas are brought up this is a movie that I think will benefit greatly from additional viewings; I'm sure I only scratched the surface of everything it has to offer on one viewing.

 

I read up after watching and learned it was based on a manga, and in fact only tells one story of the many the manga told, and there have been other movies and animated tb shows that showed more of the stories (and I'm sure invented some of their own), etc.  But the reviews of them all seem pretty mixed, so I'm not sure I'll track any of them down and will just stick with the original movie here.

 

The new live action one does look cool, though.  Watching the trailers again, I realized they took several shots and scenarios from this film . It has a different plot though, its not about the Puppet Master.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

1984 (1984).

 

Doubleplusgood, verging brilliant.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

God I hated Ghost in the Shell.  Only saw it once 10 years ago when I was in college.  Had a friend who got me to watch that and Akira to show me that there was good non-Miyazaki anime.  I did not agree with him.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Watched both a year ago or so, and didn't really like them either. The stories were too convoluted and not really interesting, nor the characters really relatable (funnily enough, in both cases, the movies were based on a manga and only presented a small part of the original story). In terms of "classic animes", I largely preferred something like Perfect Blue.

 

Both had good visuals and music (Akira especially), though.

 

In any case, I wouldn't advise someone wanting to discover more anime after having watched some Miyazaki to watch those. Better for that person to watch other Ghibli movies, or Mamoru Hosoda's movies.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

4 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

In any case, I wouldn't advise someone wanting to discover more anime after having watched some Miyazaki to watch those. Better for that person to watch other Ghibli movies, or Mamoru Hosoda's movies.

 

Agreed.  Later I discovered Grave of the Fireflies and devoured every Takahata film I could find.  I would love a series of recommendations for "People who love Ghibli and hate wanky anime."

 

I've been meaning to see The Boy and the Beast.  I had never even heard of Hosoda before I saw the trailer for that one!

[Jay 37,374]

Hmmm, I think this was the first non-Miyazaki anime I've seen, come to think of it

[Disco Stu 15,495]

You should absolutely see Grave of the Fireflies.  It's just a straight-up classic film, animated or not.

[Jay 37,374]

Inglourious Basterds

 

My third time seeing this film - first was in the theater opening weekend, second was on blu not long afterwards.

 

This film holds up extremely well 8 years later!  I enjoyed it completely from start to finish.  The acting, the dialogue, the story, the set design, everything works.  If I had to pick at anything, it would be the music; I think Tarantino's predilection for needle-dropping in existing works wasn't exactly the most congruous fit for this particular story.  Many times it was fine, but sometimes it stood out as just being a bit weird.  I wouldn't have minded if a composer was brought it to write some original score to tame back some of the more Tarantino-ish music that didn't really need to be in this particular film.

 

Other than that, a very solid 5 star movie, perhaps the one of his films I enjoy the most.

[publicist 4,643]

TROY

 

Revisiting it after 12 years (Director's Cut, this time) makes it easier to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses: Petersen is a competent director and there is a certain craftman's flavour that makes it watchable, at some key points even rousing (the Hector fight, some bravoura spectacle sequences).

 

Sadly, he's let down by the screenplay and its not the chicken omission of the gods, a key part of Homer's Iliad but that screenwriter David Benioff entirely disposes of the character's real motivations: Homer wouldn't have dreamt of getting greeks and trojans into war for banal explanations like eternal fame and glory as in Achilles's case who is portrayed as a proud cypher, an arrogant, defiant mercenary which is somehow equated with greatness, for a man must live by his own, indecipherable rules (enough reason for a 2004 audience!) or, in Agamemnon's case, just shrewdly calculating how he can now enlarge his empire - when it was in fact a deeply felt allegiance that brought these men to Troja because Paris really had done an injustice by stealing Helena (a value system, btw, that would have been relatable for modern audiences).

 

The core point of Homer's telling of the story is, gods aside, what humans with all their their strengths and weaknesses tend to do under certain circumstances and how a little egotistical impulse can trigger a monumental misfortune. In Petersen's film, the Hector/Achilles fight is not the culmination of a greek tragedy but two alpha males fighting in Rambo fashion - top dog survives, of course.

 

This dumbing down is not uncharacteristic of current american mainstream cinema, think of 'Gladiator', still a more complex movie even with a simpler basic storyline, and it's a shame that we still have to look back to the 50's, 60's and early 70's for literate epics that had eye candy, too, but didn't necessarily saw that as excuse for cartoon cutouts.

 

As for James Horner's infamous score, it still limps along dutifully without having much to offer musically or thematically but a very prominent (and badly written) Britten steal which fucks around with the War Requiem for a triumphant entry into the city of Troy (really, James?) and danger motif galore - it's sometimes atrocious but for a 2-week replacement score there are still some impressively mighty brass fanfares ('The Trojans Attack' and the finale) but alas....one wishes neither Horner nor Yared would have been called to cover the warts of another brainless spectacle with expensive orchestral shenanigans. 

 

So...when do we get a good new tv series out of this?

[Romão 2,274]

A TV series based on the Iliad (and the Odissey, while you're at it) would be awesome indeed

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

Inglourious Basterds

 

My third time seeing this film - first was in the theater opening weekend, second was on blu not long afterwards.

 

My favourite Tarantino, I think. The music works spectacularly well most of the time. Standout moments are Shosanna's escape at the beginning and the Bowie song near the end, both combined with brilliant cinematography. Great performances, too - Waltz's Oscar is well earned, but Laurent would have deserved one at least as much.

[A24 4,346]

11 hours ago, Romão said:

A TV series based on the Iliad (and the Odissey, while you're at it) would be awesome indeed

 

 

[Jay 37,374]

12 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

My favourite Tarantino, I think. The music works spectacularly well most of the time. Standout moments are Shosanna's escape at the beginning and the Bowie song near the end, both combined with brilliant cinematography. Great performances, too - Waltz's Oscar is well earned, but Laurent would have deserved one at least as much.

 

Yes much of the music is great but some stood out to me as not fitting this time. Might be my favorite Tarantino too. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

3 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

 

 

 

Doesnt look like HBO, Alex!

[Jay 37,374]

 

 

 

The Good Dinosaur

 

Finally caught up and saw this!  It's not great, its not an instant classic like so many Pixar films, but its not bad either.  The story is predictable, but fine, I enjoyed the ride the characters go on, and the various voices that pop up (Sam Elliot is great as a grizzled T-Rex, and Steve Zahn shows up as a Pterodactyl).

 

I LOVED the visuals of the film.    The dinosaurs and humans are all cartoony, but the backgrounds are hyper realistic, and in fact are some of the best CGI I've seen!  They even got the water to look good.

 

Worth checking out, but probably not something I'll need to see again.

[KK 3,307]

Beautiful looking film. Boring and generic otherwise.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Jason, you need to start having children, or you will totally lose your intellectual credibility.

 

Do what Alex does. "I didn't wanna watch the new Pixar, but you know...the kid *eyeroll*"

[Not Mr. Big 4,642]

14 minutes ago, KK said:

Beautiful looking film. Boring and generic otherwise.

Including the score?  (if so, I agree)  

[KK 3,307]

Ah, then we must disagree then. I enjoyed the score quite a bit.

[Jay 37,374]

I remembering liking some of the score while watching the movie, but haven't checked it out outside the film since seeing it

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

Like a lot of Mychael Danna, it's an acquired taste. It serves the film well, even if it doesn't scale the heights of MONSOON WEDDING.

[KK 3,307]

Pretty much. It had beautiful moments though, and it was more colourful than many of its peers that year, from what I remember.

[Jay 37,374]

 

Insomnia

 

Hadn't seen this one since the theaters, which I saw on opening weekend because I had fallen madly in love with Memento. At the time, I was disappointed, but I eventually realized that was primarily because it wasn't as good as (or really similar at all to) Memento, more than it was based on anything to do with what the film actually IS.

 

So how would it hold up 15 years later?  Well, its OK.

 

The film doesn't really have a lot in common with a lot of Christopher Nolan's other work, either before or after this.  In fact, it feels like a quite a typical studio thriller film, for the most part.  I haven't researched it, but I wonder if he took the job to try to advance his career in the industry more than any passion for the particulars of the project.

 

Pacino is good as a weary copy on a murder case away from home, paired up with a partner who is helping to have him investigated by Internal Affairs in LA.  Robin Williams is a good bad guy, he always excelled in dramatic roles and certainly does here, even though he isn't given a WHOLE lot to do (and doesn't even show up until I think halfway through the picture).  Hilary Swank is decent as a cop who realizes more is going on than any of her coworkers, and Maura Tierney from Newsradio shows up as a hotel owner who has some nice scenes.  I even recognized Katharine Isabelle (Margot Verger from HANNIBAL) as a friend of the murder victim.

Overall, its a perfectly fine murder investigation movie, nothing more, nothing less.  I probably won't need to see it again for another 15 years, if even then.

 

Oh yea - Wally Pfister's cinematography was excellent!  There's a nice extended scene in the fog, lots of perma-daylight town footage, flyovers shots of Alaskan - great location scouting too with some cool remote cabins, etc.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's a remake of a foreign film, which is probably why it feels different 

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

I liked both, but I preferred the Nolan version. I saw it first though, and I only saw a dubbed version of the original, so that may have had an effect.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

May have had an effect?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Insomnia is an underrated thriller. Nolan advancing his career is Batman Begins. 

[A24 4,346]

9 hours ago, Jay said:

 

The film doesn't really have a lot in common with a lot of Christopher Nolan's other work, either before or after this.  In fact, it feels like a quite a typical studio thriller film, for the most part.  I haven't researched it, but I wonder if he took the job to try to advance his career in the industry more than any passion for the particulars of the project.

 

 

Indeed. It doesn't have that, "Hey, look at me, I'm Nolan" character yet. Is this why Sharky thinks it's Nolan's best film?

[Jay 37,374]

It's a fine thriller but I'll certainly watch Memento, Prestige, Batman 1 & 2, and Interstellar more often in the next 20 years than I will watch this again, if I even do at all

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And Inception right?

[Jay 37,374]

Eh, maybe

[Naïve Old Fart 9,554]

20 hours ago, Jay said:

 

Insomnia

 

Wally Pfister's cinematography was excellent!  There's a nice extended scene in the fog, lots of perma-daylight town footage, flyovers shots of Alaskan - great location scouting too with some cool remote cabins, etc.

 

I like the fact that the photography gets more "washed-out", as the film progresses, to mirror Pacino's mental, and emotional state.

Its a good remake, but the original is better.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

18 hours ago, Stefancos said:

May have had an effect?

 

May have had an effect in me finding the original not quite as good as the remake.

[Sweeping Strings 2,364]

Nightcrawler - terrific thriller with Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, a down-on-his-luck LA guy who hits on the idea of becoming a freelance news-gatherer, turning up at the scenes of accidents and violent crimes and shooting footage which he can sell to a local news station. Bloom ends up venturing down darker and darker paths in order to film his increasingly ghoulishly sensational footage, which of course the station pays him bigger and bigger amounts for. 

This is hard-hitting and blackly funny at times, with a superb performance by Gyllenhaal ... I don't recall seeing so much of the whites of an actor's eyes before, but there's absolutely no spark of humanity or compassion behind them. Bloom is a chillingly amoral character. 

Also starring Rene Russo, Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed.

[Simon McBride 113]

Grand Illusion

 

I watched this for my Intro to Film class. I'm sure it's a really great movie, but I was having a really hard time paying attention, so I didn't really get that much out of it. Probably something I'll rewatch in the future.

[Jay 37,374]

I liked Nightcrawler too, a pretty unique and interesting film.  Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo were excellent

[bollemanneke 3,352]

The fundamentals of caregiving. Mostly good, except for the feel-good part.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

3 hours ago, Hawmy said:

Grand Illusion

 

I watched this for my Intro to Film class. I'm sure it's a really great movie, but I was having a really hard time paying attention, so I didn't really get that much out of it. Probably something I'll rewatch in the future.

A classic!

[Trent B 337]

I watched The Dark Knight Rises last night.  It had been a while and I still really like the film to date.

[Jay 37,374]

I like the first two more

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The third is my favorite. It's simply more comic book like. Much more like pulp then any serious Nolan film.

[KK 3,307]

Meh. I've been meaning to rewatch it to see if my feelings toward it have changed, but can't find the motivation.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sigh.

[Quintus 5,399]

Still haven't watched it. It's another too long for a superhero movie type deal. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You might actually really like it. Its far more comic book like and pulpy than the uber serious and "profound" The Dark Knight. Batman finally has a hoverplane!