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

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I'll wait for the video.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

As it's Sony, it'll be Betamax.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

"Her" (that's the name of the movie) starring Joaquin Phoenix

Remember when this guy tried to convince us he wasn't one of the Hollyweird people and made a failed mockumentary or whatever that was supposed to be? He didn't have me convinced. This is pretentious Hollywood drivel. It's set in the disgustingly hot overpopulated Los Angeles rather than New York City, as nowhere else in the world exists. It's like they called up Phoenix and asked him to come down the street to film a movie where he talks into an ear piece. Any attempt at a thought-provoking anti-technology message fails. It's entirely predictable. The Phoenix character's obvious emotional problems just make it a slog to get through. I have enough problems of my own, I don't need fictional moustache man who lives in a high-rise in Los Angeles trying to make me feel bad for him. This is how I know I'm out of touch, though. A quick Google search reveals overwhelming praise for this movie.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Good film.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Even RLM loved it. It needed the AI girl to become a maniac or something.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I didn't see it because Spike Jonze made it.  Where the Wild Things Are is down there with the most miserably terrible movies I've ever had the misfortune of seeing in a theater.  I washed my hands of him after that.  I only like his movies when they're Charlie Kaufman scripts.  If he ever directs another one of those I'll see it.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

13 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

Even RLM loved it. It needed the AI girl to become a maniac or something.

Either plot twist would have been realistic, but I feel like it just needed anything. It's a bunch of boring scenes connected by montages of Phoenix walking around and staring at things set to piano music. I feel like I've seen that lazy technique used about a million times by now. Again, I don't need Joaquin reenacting my life as a snobbish wealthy man who blew his clearly still-salvageable relationship with a woman who had legitimate reasons of her own to be dissatisfied.

[Quintus 5,399]

3 hours ago, Richard said:

Is that why you always act like such a dick?

 

I think that the family scenes are the best part of the movie. 

Really? I think David Koepp's humdinger of a prose is all over the dialogue, non moreso than during the cringeworthy exchanges between Cruise and his children. It's the apocalypse of the disfunctuonal working class as envisioned by rich conservative rich filmmakers, and all the bashing on the head subtlety and "gritty realism" that brings. 

The opening of the movie, ending after the virtuoso highway sequence, is all incredibly promising and quite Spielbergian, but it soon goes very wrong after that. Even John Williams couldn't save it, and that's a superb score he provided, too. I could be disappointed you think it's wonderful, but I'm not arsed enough.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The opening scenes of the movie would have worked best as a short film. Like a 3D Universal Studios attraction with in-theater effects? After they go to the abandoned house, which is an obvious set that no one lives in, nothing happens anymore and it becomes perhaps as pedestrian as a Spielberg film has even been.

[Quintus 5,399]

The opener makes all the right moves as the bombastic setup to a great alien invasion action movie, but all that second half stuff... it's as if Spielberg was saying "9/11 really really hurt, man." The narrative was too heavy-handed in its delivery.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

But everyone says that's why it's so brilliant, though. The focus is on the family's survival and bonding, with the actual war seen only in brief glimpses. Too bad the family scenes are terrible.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

1 hour ago, Quintus said:

Really? I think David Koepp's humdinger of a prose is all over the dialogue, non moreso than during the cringeworthy exchanges between Cruise and his children. It's the apocalypse of the disfunctuonal working class as envisioned by rich conservative rich filmmakers, and all the bashing on the head subtlety and "gritty realism" that brings. 

The opening of the movie, ending after the virtuoso highway sequence, is all incredibly promising and quite Spielbergian, but it soon goes very wrong after that. Even John Williams couldn't save it, and that's a superb score he provided, too. I could be disappointed you think it's wonderful, but I'm not arsed enough.

 

I agree with everything you posted, Lee, but I guess we watch the film, and see different things. I never thought about the white collar/blue collar aspect until you mentioned it. I still think its a good film, more so because I didn't like it one bit, in 2005.

I do agree about the score. ESCAPE FROM THE CITY is fantastic.

Now, what they really need to do is to take the characters of the grandparents, and imagine how they would have dealt with a Martian invasion, when they were younger. That would make a great film! 

 

As for 9/11, well, the last shot in MUNICH might as well have had a sign saying "sad/poignant message coming up, now, folks". It was so obvious, that people in the cinema that I saw it in  groaned.

[Quintus 5,399]

Well no, I don't see it that way. That shot of the World Trade Centre I interpret as meaning 9/11 essentially happened because of the Israel and Palestine conflict. Which is the truth.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

So...you don't think that certain governments had a..."helping hand"?

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

6 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I didn't see it because Spike Jonze made it.  Where the Wild Things Are is down there with the most miserably terrible movies I've ever had the misfortune of seeing in a theater.  I washed my hands of him after that.  I only like his movies when they're Charlie Kaufman scripts.  If he ever directs another one of those I'll see it.

I've only seen the Kaufmans and Her. Loved all three.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Maybe I'd like it... I dunno.  There's so many things to watch.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

6 hours ago, Quintus said:

Really? I think David Koepp's humdinger of a prose is all over the dialogue, non moreso than during the cringeworthy exchanges between Cruise and his children. It's the apocalypse of the disfunctuonal working class as envisioned by rich conservative rich filmmakers, and all the bashing on the head subtlety and "gritty realism" that brings. 

 

I thought Spielberg and Koepp are liberal Hollyweird Democrats.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Unlucky Bastard? He should have retired after The Lost World. Maybe Spielberg should have as well?

Byzantium

Wow! How did this one elude me for like 4 years? We found each other in the end.

I like Neil Jordan. Interview with the Vampire was one of the early R rated flicks I saw as a kid (along with the Terminator and Alien series) and I loved it. Let's face it, though. I won't go as far as to call it "gay", but between the beautiful male companions with luscious feminine hair, a near-kiss between Brad and Antonio for no apparent reason except to be sexy and provocative and the only major female character being a little girl...let's just say it was a bit overly masculine in what might then be considered unconventional ways?

Byzantium is sort of like a feminine version of Interview. It stars the same woman who was easily seduced in a hotel room by James Bond in Quantum of Solace, another one of my favorites. It was sad when she died in that one, but she lives on here in ultra-sexy vampire form, deceiving and murdering her way through the film. Along for the ride is her cute girl next door daughter, also a vampire. She just sort of stares for a lot of the movie, but when she actually needs to do other things, she delivers. Meanwhile, Jordan delivers the sort of bleak vaguely unsettling yet attractive atmosphere he seems to have perfected. You can be sure that these tormented murderous demons will have you feeling for them.

I was very surprised by this one. It's rare that I even watch anything recent (AKA 2005-present), let alone actually enjoy it. Byzantium comes highly recommended.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

11 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I didn't see it because Spike Jonze made it.  Where the Wild Things Are is down there with the most miserably terrible movies I've ever had the misfortune of seeing in a theater.  I washed my hands of him after that.  I only like his movies when they're Charlie Kaufman scripts.  If he ever directs another one of those I'll see it.

Often times I agree with everything you say, but then there are dark times like these where I don't even know who you are anymore! 

9 hours ago, Richard said:

So...you don't think that certain governments had a..."helping hand"?

Ah, 9/11 conspiracy theories. I suppose the attack on Pearl Harbor was an inside job, too?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Governments have never lied to their own people! Steel structured buildings also crumble into dust at freefall speed with no resistance from the lower storeys!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

You too? Why am I surprised?

[Fancyarcher 350]

Dune - Well it's definitely not a "good film", easily Lynch's worse, it was too long & thudded along, it looked ugly & the blue-screen was poor, but there was some nice visuals, and it had a good cast at least. Um I guess I'm saying I didn't hate it. Great Toto score too. - 6 / 10

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

It's one of those films where the score is always close to convincing me that the film is better than I remember it.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

One of the better DC animated films I've seen. And certainly the longest! I know this is about old Bruce returning to work, but I still don't quite know what it's trying to do. First he's fighting this mutant gang, then this chick with Nazi tits, then the Joker, and then Superman! Something about it felt more episodic than a single focused story. Peter Weller makes a good Batman voice.

 

Melinda and Melinda

What was going on here? It might have to do with the fever I've been having this week, but this is the first Allen film I couldn't wait to end. I think by this time, the neurotic character studies were wearing thin, so he had to reinvent himself with Match Point, one of the most awesome films I've seen from him so far. M&M has a similar framing device to Broadway Danny Rose too.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

2 minutes ago, Sally Spectra said:

Melinda and Melinda

What was going on here? It might have to do with the fever I've been having this week, but this is the first Allen film I couldn't wait to end. I think by this time, the neurotic character studies were wearing thin, so he had to reinvent himself with Match Point, one of the most awesome films I've seen from him so far. M&M has a similar framing device to Broadway Danny Rose too.

The first Woody film I saw in a movie theater!  And even still I have no sentimental attachment to it whatsoever.  Pretty bad.

[Romão 2,274]

19 hours ago, Fancyarcher said:

Dune - Well it's definitely not a "good film", easily Lynch's worse, it was too long & thudded along, it looked ugly & the blue-screen was poor, but there was some nice visuals, and it had a good cast at least. Um I guess I'm saying I didn't hate it. Great Toto score too. - 6 / 10

 

Well, it's a deeply flawed film, but you never mistake a single frame from this movie with any other movie. It is as idiossyncratic as they come, from the look, the tone, the acting style, the score. I'm really, really fond it.

4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

It's one of those films where the score is always close to convincing me that the film is better than I remember it.

Some moments in the score just soar. Like the introduction of Caladan, the trip to Arrakis or when Paul sees the Fremen's huge water reservoir. There's an operatic quality to those cues that really gives gravitas to the whole thing.

But I agree, the movie never quite lives up to those highs that the music suggests

[Fancyarcher 350]

On 9/5/2017 at 8:42 PM, Romão said:

 

Well, it's a deeply flawed film, but you never mistake a single frame from this movie with any other movie. It is as idiossyncratic as they come, from the look, the tone, the acting style, the score. I'm really, really fond it.

 

Yes it's definitely not as bad as its reputation suggests, and it is a "unique" film. The last act is very entertaining too, it's just that some of the stuff before relies way too much on "dump talk". The Toto score along with some of the designs are the best thing about it.

 

People on another forum I post on were randomly suggesting Lynch (maybe jokingly, though some of them seemed earnest), as the director of Star Wars episode IX, and I always point to Dune as an example of what a Lynch directed Return of The Jedi could be like, if he had some control, and then I acknowledge how Lynch basically hated post-production & swore off (at the time), big budgeted films after the movie came out, so the idea of him directing a new Star Wars film sound ludicrous and highly unlikely anyway.

[Romão 2,274]

Actually, watching the latest season of Twin Peaks, it's quite obvious that the same director that directed the Navigator scenes in Dune, directed the scenes with Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks

[Fancyarcher 350]

4 minutes ago, Romão said:

Actually, watching the latest season of Twin Peaks, it's quite obvious that the same director that directed the Navigator scenes in Dune, directed the scenes with Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks

It definitely feels like a Lynch film, I'm not doubting that. Some of the shots on the desert planet are basically pitch perfect. 

[Romão 2,274]

But some of the special effects work really looks ridiculous, even for 1984

[Fancyarcher 350]

On 9/5/2017 at 8:52 PM, Romão said:

But some of the special effects work really looks ridiculous, even for 1984

 

Those blue screen shots are really poor even for the time. There's an old form of big budget special effects that hasn't aged too well. 

[Romão 2,274]

And the design of the Ornithopters was ridiculous. But others were terrific, like the harvester. And specially the Guild Heighliner. The detail of it having Baroque golden carvings on the entrance suggests so much about the Guild's mindset and general phylosophy with simple visual communication

[Fancyarcher 350]

On 9/5/2017 at 9:01 PM, Romão said:

And the design of the Ornithopters was ridiculous. But others were terrific, like the harvester. And specially the Guild Heighliner. The detail of it having Baroque golden carvings on the entrance suggests so much about the Guild's mindset and general phylosophy with simple visual communication

 

I did love Baron's fake fat floating body too. I know it's supposed to be from the books, but that was so ridiculous it actually kinda worked. 

[Romão 2,274]

This sequence is terrific and so is the music.

 

[Fancyarcher 350]

"The dream unfolds" - Very effective sequence, I like how much in wonder / shock they are at their discovery. It makes sense given the context.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

The first Woody film I saw in a movie theater!  And even still I have no sentimental attachment to it whatsoever.  Pretty bad.

One of my favorites!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Of course it is!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Sixteen Candles

While this movie has some very attractive women in it and is fairly iconic as far as 80s movies go for whatever reason, it's very offensive. It's like the Donald Trump of teen comedies. It's shocking and uncomfortable to see date rape being glorified (a drunk chick plops her head in the lap of the news reporter from The Dark Knight and he literally breaks the fourth wall to tell us it's getting good), a poor girl in a brace trying to drink out of a fountain, guys being called 'faggots', an incredibly racist Asian character named Long Dong (it was 1984...) and certainly not a single other non-white person to be found in this John Hughes movie about wealthy white people.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I adore the shittiest of the shit. Uwe Bol is my favorite director!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

I adore the shittiest of the shit. Uwe Bol is my favorite director!

 

Alex! He admitted it!

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

1 hour ago, Fancyarcher said:

"The dream unfolds" - Very effective sequence, I like how much in wonder / shock they are at their discovery. It makes sense given the context.

 

Long live the fighters, baby.

[Fancyarcher 350]

1 hour ago, Muad'Dib said:

 

Long live the fighters, baby.

Their time has come. 

[A24 4,345]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

 

Alex! He admitted it!

From Bay to Boll is only a small step, Steef.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

13 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

The first Woody film I saw in a movie theater!  And even still I have no sentimental attachment to it whatsoever.  Pretty bad.

There was one moment I loved though, when Will Ferrell walks in on his wife with rooting with that financier bloke and he's like "that's great!"

[BloodBoal 7,538]

11 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I adore the shittiest of the shit. Uwe Bol is my favorite director!

Publicist, surely you're joking!

[A24 4,345]

15 hours ago, Sally Spectra said:

... so he had to reinvent himself with Match Point, one of the most awesome films I've seen from him so far.

I watched it again and it really isn't that good the second time around.

 

On the other hand, Manhattan only gets better. That is a movie that changes with you.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Has Drax seen Celebrity with post-Titanic Leo, Winona Ryder and Donald Trump?

[A24 4,345]

Is that a Woody Allen film?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I haven't seen it yet. I just wait for these movies to air on Foxtel when they're on.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Celebrity was pretty bad.  What a weird choice to cast Kenneth Branagh as the Woody stand-in.