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

[A24 4,333]

7 hours ago, Jay said:

Well, you're certainly the first JWFanner to like Enemy

 

7 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

Surely KK likes it too! 

 

And Thor, I believe.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[A24 4,333]

Maybe it's time to give Prometheus a chance again?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

5 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Dit it make you angry? The only time I saw Prometheus I had a really bad mood at the end of it. And for the whole day after.

 

It started off really well. There's great production design, it's gorgeously shot and Scott manages to quickly and efficiently establish the characters and the world. Then halfway through, the film completely derails when a bunch of action scenes are clearly trimmed down and/or moved around from where they were supposed to go. These scenes, while shocking, seem to have no impact on the plot or the characters involved. There's about a dozen little mysteries set up throughout the film that are never resolved and the whole thing abruptly ends with the main character leaving to continue her adventure elsewhere with no resolution given. Then the final scene is the birth of an alien that sort of looks like the alien from Alien, but clearly isn't the alien from Alien (also, the Engineers' ship isn't the ship from Alien either - in fact, Prometheus isn't even set on the same planet as Alien), so what's the fucking point of including that?

 

I was all for a cool science-fiction film directed by Ridley Scott that delves into the questions of mortality, man's relationship with gods and man's own creations, the origin of life etc. etc., but what's with the schlocky ending? Don't tell me this is supposed to be a stand-alone film set in the same universe if you're going to pull that and plant a dozen fucking sequel bait questions. It just left such a bad taste. When the credits rolled, I literally threw my hands up and went "wait, that's it?"

 

Not looking forward to Alien: Covenant now (which has shit trailers, btw).

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Head in a duffelbag, dude!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

They did that on 24 ten years earlier!

[A24 4,333]

2 hours ago, Mr. Breathmask said:

 

It started off really well. There's great production design, it's gorgeously shot and Scott manages to quickly and efficiently establish the characters and the world. 

 

 

You're going down a path I cannot follow, Mr. Breathmask.

 

Even the very short teaser for Blade Runner 2049 features more beautiful shots than the whole of Prometheus.

 

 

Alex

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Deakins' work on the new Blade Runner looks to be in a league of its own. But that doesn't mean the lighting in Prometheus isn't excellent.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The camerawork, set design, lighting in Prometheus is extremely competent. But it doesnt do anything for me.

[Jay 37,363]

5 hours ago, Mr. Breathmask said:

It started off really well. There's great production design, it's gorgeously shot and Scott manages to quickly and efficiently establish the characters and the world. Then halfway through, the film completely derails when a bunch of action scenes are clearly trimmed down and/or moved around from where they were supposed to go. These scenes, while shocking, seem to have no impact on the plot or the characters involved. There's about a dozen little mysteries set up throughout the film that are never resolved and the whole thing abruptly ends with the main character leaving to continue her adventure elsewhere with no resolution given. Then the final scene is the birth of an alien that sort of looks like the alien from Alien, but clearly isn't the alien from Alien (also, the Engineers' ship isn't the ship from Alien either - in fact, Prometheus isn't even set on the same planet as Alien), so what's the fucking point of including that?

 

I was all for a cool science-fiction film directed by Ridley Scott that delves into the questions of mortality, man's relationship with gods and man's own creations, the origin of life etc. etc., but what's with the schlocky ending? Don't tell me this is supposed to be a stand-alone film set in the same universe if you're going to pull that and plant a dozen fucking sequel bait questions. It just left such a bad taste. When the credits rolled, I literally threw my hands up and went "wait, that's it?"

 

Not looking forward to Alien: Covenant now (which has shit trailers, btw).

 

I agree with all this

[A24 4,333]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

The camerawork, set design, lighting in Prometheus is extremely competent. But it doesnt do anything for me.

 

Professional (as it should be) but rather conventional. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes, technically flawless, but just a little too sterile.

[KK 3,307]

On 3/5/2017 at 5:28 PM, BloodBoal said:

Surely KK likes it too! @KK? O brother, where at thou?

 

I liked parts of it, but in the end, it didn't sit very well with me. I think it's a film worth revisiting though. The kind where the layers reveal itself with multiple viewings. Plus it was cool to see Toronto (my home-city) featured so integrally to the atmosphere under Villeneuve's lens.

[nightscape94 965]

Never even heard of the movie Enemy, but now I kinda want to see it.

[Bespin 8,481]

I started Tron yesterday.... in order to watch the sequel after...

 

I know the movie, but I think I never watch it entirely!

 

I guess I was just too young when it was released. But I remember the video game... on Atari! :-)

 

It's maybe 1982... but the race scenes are still pretty good! And all those "line" graphics... the Quarter arcades, the videogames... well... that's a great part of my childhood!

 

[Simon McBride 113]

Moana

 

It wasn't super great, but it wasn't bad. The score was alright. It should have beaten Zootopia in the Oscars, but I haven't seen Kubo, so I don't know if it should have beaten that.

 

The Night Hunter

 

Super good, except for that part where Pearl started singing in the boat, which was just weird.

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Revolutionary road. Oky, that was just weird. I certainly liked the premise, but then it started going downhill. It'd have been so much better if the'd actually GONE to Paris. This was the first DiCaprio movie I watched that I really didn't like that much. I found seeing him reunited with Kate Winslet rather amusing because of Titanic, though. Kathy Bates was terrible and Michael Shannon was good. But the marital troubles and strife bored me so much after a while. Yes, the ending is tragic, but by that time I was so disinterested that I could only listen with mild interest. The score is simplistic, but perfectly appropriate. The source music is stupid.
 

[A24 4,333]

16 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

 This was the first DiCaprio movie I watched that I really didn't like that much. 

 

It's one of my favorites with him. I admit, I'm a bit of a Sam Mendes fan and not so much a Leo fan.

[nightscape94 965]

Good movie, and very hard to watch.

[Jay 37,363]

I always get that one mixed up with Reservation Road, since I haven't seen either

[BloodBoal 7,538]

 

Prisoners - Denis Villeneuve (2013)

 

Competently made, with a solid first half and some interesting ideas, but ultimately, it didn't win me over. A problem is that I figured out how it could all fit together pretty early on, so the story ended up not being particularly engaging to me and in the second half I was just waiting for Gyllenhaal's character to put the pieces together. There was stuff to enjoy for sure, such as good visuals, good performances, and a few memorable moments (notably a short scene with a character driving in the rain towards the end of the film) but it didn't make for a really entrancing experience. By the time the film was over, I was left thinking: "That was it?". For something people consider Villeneuve's best film, and a great film in general, it felt a bit underwhelming. Expected a more gripping story with a bit more twists and turns: what I got was something fairly straightforward without any major "wow" moments. Shame. Maybe Denis isn't the right guy for Blade Runner 2 after all? Is it too late to change?

 

6/10

 

 

Ranking of Villeneuve movies so far:

 

01. Enemy

02. Prisoners

03. Sicario

04. Arrival

[Jay 37,363]

*shakes head*

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Hurmm 91]

The shot of the alien near her bed (I think) in Amy Adam's dream. Visually looks simar to a shot of the huge spider in the room in Enemy. At least that's what I assume Jay meant.

 

I think my ranking would be:

1. Prisoners

2. Sicario

3. Incendies 

4. Enemy

.

.

.

.

5. Arrival (really bad)

 

I dunno, maybe Sicario and Incendies could switch places. Would need to rewatch the latter. As I recalled it was a good film that relied heavily on the gut punch ending which I guessed much earlier in the film. 

 

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

9 hours ago, Hurmm said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The shot of the alien near her bed (I think) in Amy Adam's dream. Visually looks simar to a shot of the huge spider in the room in Enemy. At least that's what I assume Jay meant.

 

 

Oh, right, could be it.

 

You might want to add a spoiler tag on your post, though.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

4 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Revolutionary road. Oky, that was just weird. I certainly liked the premise, but then it started going downhill. It'd have been so much better if the'd actually GONE to Paris. This was the first DiCaprio movie I watched that I really didn't like that much. I found seeing him reunited with Kate Winslet rather amusing because of Titanic, though. Kathy Bates was terrible and Michael Shannon was good. But the marital troubles and strife bored me so much after a while. Yes, the ending is tragic, but by that time I was so disinterested that I could only listen with mild interest. The score is simplistic, but perfectly appropriate. The source music is stupid.
 

Idiot!

[KK 3,307]

Indeed. Revolutionary Road is great.

 

3 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Prisoners - Denis Villeneuve (2013)

 

Competently made, with a solid first half and some interesting ideas, but ultimately, it didn't win me over. A problem is that I figured out how it could all fit together pretty early on, so the story ended up not being particularly engaging to me and in the second half I was just waiting for Gyllenhaal's character to put the pieces together. There was stuff to enjoy for sure, such as good visuals, good performances, and a few memorable moments (notably a short scene with a character driving in the rain towards the end of the film) but it didn't make for a really entrancing experience. By the time the film was over, I was left thinking: "That was it?". For something people consider Villeneuve's best film, and a great film in general, it felt a bit underwhelming. Expected a more gripping story with a bit more twists and turns: what I got was something fairly straightforward without any major "wow" moments. Shame. Maybe Denis isn't the right guy for Blade Runner 2 after all? Is it too late to change?

 

6/10

 

Idiot!

 

Did you like the score, by any chance?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

KK, I've noticed you doing this before with people. For Sicario for example. Calling someone an idiot rather than entering into a potentially interesting discussion as to why you feel differently.

 

Now Alvar made quite clear why he was ultimately a bit let down by the film. How do you disagree? Is there anything you think he might have missed? 

 

Or when he says he didnt notice the score much are you just gonna call him an idiot again?

[KK 3,307]

It was just a joke Steef, and in this instance, simply echoing Koray's similar post above. I thought that was clear, especially considering I've hardly been the only one here to make the occasional tongue-in-cheek one-off remarks of that nature. 

 

BloodBoal and I have already had elaborate discussions in the past, on how we agree or disagree on matters regarding Villeneuve or Johannsson. And we've also thrown facetious remarks at each other, just as you have with several members here.

 

In case it wasn't obvious, I don't have any real issue with the fact that BloodBoal may not have enjoyed Prisoners as much as I did. I've always respected and admired our difference of opinion in anything, just as I do with most members here. And you'll notice, I was genuinely curious about his opinion regarding the score as he mentioned one the film (and score)'s best moments in his review. And if he was offended, then I do apologize. But I didn't think I was particularly guilty of this, any more than the average JWFan.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

1 hour ago, KK said:

It was just a joke Steef, and in this instance, simply echoing Koray's similar post above. I thought that was clear, especially considering I've hardly been the only one here to make the occasional tongue-in-cheek one-off remarks of that nature. 

 

Only certain posters are allowed to joke, kid around or be flippant. Others who break that sacred social code will be severely punished.

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

Well @BloodBoal, you'll be happy to know I've finally watched Cagliastro. 

 

And... I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's no masterpiece by any means but I really dug it. I really like the style/aesthetic the film had, that 60's-70's spy adventure type of thing and it's very true that, apart from obviously taken direct influence from James Bond, it seems to have influenced Indy Jones afterwards. I enjoy the early Bond pictures, but they can be cringy as fuck, especially watching them from today's perspective. But there was something about Lupin that avoided the bad Bond tropes. For starters, Lupin himself has a great personality. He's the thief with the heart of gold, and the film never took itself or him too seriously. I enjoyed that. It's a fun escapist/adventure movie with a lot of style and character. I would love to watch it again on the big screen.

 

And speaking of influences, it seems to have been a gigantic influence on Disney as well. Particularly the late 80's-early 90's climax the films had, starting with the Great Mouse Detective, which seems to almost directly lift the climax from Cagliastro! Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback... Even the gruesome villain death! Quite similar to 1999's Tarzan.

 

The rest of the cast is enjoyable as hell too: Lupin's friend, who for some reason (maybe the cigarrette) reminded me a great deal of Lucky Luke, which I haven't read in ages. And I adored Lupin's lady rival, Fuijko I believe it's her name? Movies today seem to bask in saying "look, strong female protagonist!" but they keep overlooking characters like this like those type of characters didn't exist until now; and there are plenty of people who seem to believe so... 

 

Anyways, what do you think Blood? Are the other films in the series worth watching?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Koray Savas 2,251]

A Most Violent Year

 

Fairly standard crime thriller, if it could even be called that. It seemed to have all the right ingredients to make a gripping film, but it fell flat. With the title and Chastain's character constantly threatening to involve her mob family into the story, I expected the film to gradually build into an eventful climax. But it doesn't. Acting is fine, cinematography and production/costume design are great, but there's no impact. It all feels pointless in the end, particularly because the mystery that the characters spend the entire film trying to solve doesn't get solved. 

[Jay 37,363]

@BloodBoal, @Hurmm was right about the scene I meant

[nightscape94 965]

Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale

 

 

Not that this would interest 99.9% of JWFan, but caught this last night.  Limited engagement US release.  Really fun theater experience.  If you love/like the show, then you would probably love/like this movie.  Perfect representation of the material in movie format and a good summation of the show.

[Bespin 8,481]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

@BloodBoal, @Hurmm was right about the scene I meant

 

When I saw this scene in The Arrival I let out a big: "Tabarnak....".

 

I even didn't saw the movie till the end... After this scene my interrest was already at his lowest. This was the cherry on top of the sundae like we say here.

 

I wish you luck with your Blade Runner Sequel !

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

7 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Ah! So it wasn't all in vain! Glad you liked it. And yeah, it seems it had a huge influence on many animated movies (most Miyazaki movies made a big impact on Disney and Pixar artists, apparently. I know John Lasseter admitted being a huge fan of the guy). As far as Japanese animation goes, it is considered by many a classic, and for good reasons. It really is a fun movie (that car chase is hilarious).

 

I see you mentioned the Bond influence on the Lupin character, but did you also feel there was a Tintin vibe to this film? I find it to be quite reminiscent of some adventures of the Belgian reporter (though Lupin as a character is a bit wackier). Maybe it has to do with the European setting...

 

Oh yeah, absolutely on the Tintin vibe. Some of designs are quite in that style but Lupin seems to have a much more interesting personality. You commented also on how they changed his personality from the manga, but I don't know, I felt he had a refreshing personality. He was a playboy, but by the end he couldn't kiss the Princess. I don't know how old she was supposed to be, but I thought it was a nice touch (and a bit funny as well). Particularly thinking on how these type of movies seem to have bad rep when dealing with an age-gap romance...

 

Quote

I also see no mention of Zenigata (the inspector who tries to catch Lupin). Any thoughts on him?

 

He was quite refreshing as well, considering how easily it could have fallen deep into cliche territory. I always like in movies when two opposing bands have to join forces for a common goal, it was quite fun seeing him and Lupin put their differences aside for a while -and the scenes where they did were really enjoyable as well! 

 

Oh, and what about the samurai guy? Quite cool character too! The man with no name with a katana

 

Quote

Oh, and another question: did you watch the movie in Spanish, in English or in Japanese? Think carefully about your answer...

 

I saw it in Japanese with English subs. I intended to watch it in an English dub because in these type of films there's so much going on visually that I don't want to miss a thing, but at the last minute I went "screw it" and watched in the original version. Lupin had a midly annoying voice when excited or when they were trying too hard to be funny, but overall the cast had great voices all around.

 

Quote

As for your question... The other films (and TV specials, which are about 1h30 long each) are very different in style (both storywise and visually) and tone since each time, there was a different director at the helm, so they may not be as much to your liking as The Castle Of Cagliostro (which remains the most accessible (and famous) of them all). I'd say you should give The Secret Of Mamo (also known as The Mystery Of Mamo) a try. It's darker than Cagliostro, with a very different visual style ("rougher", I'd say) and the character of Lupin is a bit different (truer to the original one. Miyazaki made him more likeable/gentleman-like in Cagliostro, which apparently made some Lupin fans a bit mad), but I think you could enjoy it too (and who knows? Maybe you'll like it more!). Oh, and a small warning: the beginning of the film may make you think you missed part of the story, but you didn't. All you need to know is that before the film starts, Lupin has been reported dead and Zenigata, who doesn't believe that report, goes to investigate... That info is not given in the film (I had to read a synopsis online to get that), so the opening sequence may leave you a bit befuddled...

 

After that... You may like the TV show A Woman Called Fujiko Mine (quite short, 13 episodes long), which is a prequel to everything (the other Lupin TV shows, movies, etc.) and telling the story of how Lupin met Fujiko (again, it's very different from the rest, darker still). And then there's also the movie Jigen Daisuke's Gravestone which is rather good. And finally the fourth Lupin series (which I have not yet seen) looks pretty fun too (the only problem you might encounter is that if you intend to watch all this in Japanese (most of this hasn't been dubbed anyway), proper subtitles in Spanish may be hard to come by. Though you generally can find English subtitles, at least for the movies and TV specials).

 

And don't worry: each of the Lupin incarnations are pretty self-contained. You can watch any of the films or TV shows in whichever order you prefer. Once you're familiar with the characters (and The Castle Of Cagliostro makes a pretty good job at making you familiar with them and their particular traits, even if, as mentioned above, Lupin's personality is a bit different in this one), you're good to go. And fear not: now that you've seen The Castle Of Cagliostro, I'll stop harassing you with Lupin The Third. You're free to stop watching anything from that series! I release you from your oath...

 

 

The Secret Of Mamo:

 

 

Cool, looks lovely. Particularly that first photo. I figured like with Bond or Indy you can jump into any film without context and enjoy it nevertheless, after all they're kinda made like that. I'll have to check something out, thanks! 

 

Now I got a recommendation for you! You can choose if you have seen either of them (hope you haven't seen both). The Spirit of the Beehive is one and the other is Cría Cuervos (I think it's called Raise Ravens in English but I'm not sure...) which are two of my favorite Spanish (from Spain) films.

[Faleel 5,348]

The Wind and the Lion

The Sand Pebbles

The Ghost and the Darkness

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

 

Once again, I disagree with Rotten Tomatoes. It wasn't bad at all. Not great, but certainly good. Except for the fact that all Russians love women and vodka. Kevin Costner was good, but I'm not really sure if Keira Knightley with an American accent is a good thing or not. Oh well, she's an excellent actress anyway. And the ending is really, REALLY rushed and handled EXTREMELY badly.

 

As for Patrick Doyle's score, this project was a waste of his time. The two great pieces he wrote for this film were cut short to such an extent that it's laughable. Scratch that, it's tragic. At times you still hear Doyle's mannerisms during emotional moments, but... it's just not him at all most of the time. Very unfortunate.

[KK 3,307]

10 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

There was a score? I noticed a rather nice (though unmemorable) cue for a scene with all the families in the neighbourhood gathered in the street (with all the candlelights), and another one that made a more lasting impression for the scene I mentioned with the character driving in the rain, but apart from that... Interesting sound design, I guess.

 

It is very subtle, which was appropriate given the film I think. The whole score has deliberately Pärt-esque writing all over it. Like quiet church hymns, with strings and organ. Less "sound-design-ey" than, let's say, Arrival. But yea, might not be everyone's cup of tea.

 

The two cues you mentioned:

 

 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

 

Once again, I disagree with Rotten Tomatoes. It wasn't bad at all. Not great, but certainly good. Except for the fact that all Russians love women and vodka. Kevin Costner was good, but I'm not really sure if Keira Knightley with an American accent is a good thing or not. Oh well, she's an excellent actress anyway. And the ending is really, REALLY rushed and handled EXTREMELY badly.

 

As for Patrick Doyle's score, this project was a waste of his time. The two great pieces he wrote for this film were cut short to such an extent that it's laughable. Scratch that, it's tragic. At times you still hear Doyle's mannerisms during emotional moments, but... it's just not him at all most of the time. Very unfortunate.

 

How does one "disagree" with Rotten Tomatoes? It's just an aggregator.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's like disageeing with a calculator!

[Wojo 2,453]

57 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

It's like disageeing with a calculator!

 

What's that word mean? 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You know what it means!

[Quintus 5,399]

8 hours ago, Daniel Clamp said:

 

How does one "disagree" with Rotten Tomatoes? It's just an aggregator.

 

It's possible to disagree with a consensus. 

[A24 4,333]

Only Wojo would pat himself on the back for being a spelling Nazi.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And Jason

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Aren't we past calling people spelling Nazis?  After you berated KK!  Moron!

[Quintus 5,399]

I can't even see Wojo on this page or the previous one. Am I blind, or was Alex's remark another one of those comebacks that came a few days too late? 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I Need About Three Fitty is Wojo