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

[Jay 37,372]

14 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I saw this for the first time the other day as well. Ending definitely wasn’t happy. There’s actually very little joy in this film, but I thoroughly enjoyed the technical aspects. Cinematography, production design, art direction, and score were all fantastic. 

 

Totally agree with you, Koray!  It's one of my favorite films to watch in recent years.  I find Todd Haynes' directing style mesmerizing, as soon as the film starts I just want to soak it all in.  The story is nothing special, really, but the story almost doesn't matter in a film like this.

 

And yea, I don't think it has a truly happy ending either.  The film puts Carol in a spot where she has to choose between true love and being allowed to see her daughter , and she chooses her daughter.  When she admits to the people in the divorce proceedings she's gay and won't deny it and gives her ex husband full custody of the daughter, it isn't clear if she'll be allowed visitation or not; and while Therese does leave the party at the end of the film where she could potentially begin a relationship with Carrie from Portlandia to instead seek out Carol in the Oak Room, the film ends before we know if their relationship will actually work or if the daughter will be a part of their lives - or even what other problems they will face as lesbians in the 1950s.  It's more ambiguous then happy, but sure, its happier than if it ending with Therese at the party before making her decision.

 

10 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

Except for the ending. 

 

"It ends with possibility, which is all any love affair can begin with: possibility." - Cate Blanchett

 

Hope this helps

 

 

I see what you're saying, and I know what you mean, but I don't think the ending betrays the rest of the film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Jodorowsky's Dune

 

Interesting documentary about the attempt in the 1970's to made an adaptation of Dune by Chilean film maker Alejandro Jodorowsky.

The film actually never got beyond it's pre-production stage, but featured artists like Giger, Moebius, Dali, Dan O'Bannon (who later worked with Giger on Alien), Orson Welles, Pink Floyd etc.

 

Interesting as a "what if?" It's the kind of project that could not have worked today. All these very different artists put together on a single project by a director who's main concern seems to be to let them have as much creative freedom as possible while adapting Frank Herbert's Dune.

 

Of course this is the sort of project that wouldnt even have worked in the 70's, because it didnt. No actual footage was shot, no studio actually put money into this. 

 

The main value of the abandoned Dune project is how it influenced the style and careers of these artists. Though the film overreaches itself tremendously when it suggests that Hollywood may have been a different industry if it had been Dune rather than Lucas' Star Wars that would have been made. 

[A24 4,345]

8 minutes ago, Jay said:

the film ends before we know if their relationship will actually work

 

That is true for every romantic movie, Jay.

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

Carol ends on a decidedly uplifting and optimistic note, so I don't think it's unreasonable to call it a happy ending. That doesn't imply that they all live carefree lives happily ever after...

[Jay 37,372]

I just don't think the ending the film has in un-earned, or not in line with everything else before it.  I think the whole movie works.

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

Yeah. I didn't mean to agree with Alex that the ending was weak.

 

 

[Fancyarcher 350]

Swing Time - I gotta say, some of the dance numbers in this film are incredible, even by today's standards. Good film too. 7.5 / 10

[Simon McBride 113]

Rashomon

Awesome. I don't have anything to say about it that hasn't been said though. 

[A24 4,345]

13 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Jodorowsky's Dune

 

... but featured artists like Giger, Moebius, Dali, Dan O'Bannon (who later worked with Giger on Aliens), ...

 

 

H.R. Giger, Moebius and Dan O'Bannon worked on Alien.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Fixed, thanks.

 

Moebius didnt do a whole lot on Alien though, right?

[Holko 9,529]

He mostly designed the spacesuits and some alien/derelict ship designs that were overwritten by Giger's.

[Holko 9,529]

Alien: Resurrection (Special Edition)

 

Unnecessary, extremely dumb, ugly, and thoroughly unpleasant. The good things I can say about it is its insistence on physical Aliens in an era where doing everything with not yet fully matured and mostly buttugly CGI started to be the cool thing, and some neat ideas.

 

This is also the first movie where all the way through I was rooting for the aliens to kill all these idiots. Aliens had the two guys who left the damn landing craft open, those absolutely deserved to die, and Golic was crazy and actively looking for trouble, but that was about it so far.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

2 minutes ago, Holko said:

Alien: Resurrection (Special Edition)

 

Unnecessary, extremely dumb, ugly, and thoroughly unpleasant. The one good things I can say about it is its insistence on physical Aliens in an era where doing everything with not yet fully matured and mostly buttugly CGI started to be the cool thing, and some neat ideas.

 

I think I prefer it to the theatrical version. It feels a tad more like Whedon.

Not a great film by any means, but actually quite fun. Same for the first AvP.

[Holko 9,529]

Haven't seen the theatrical, and after this, I'm not really planning to. The extras will probably be more interesting than the movie, though.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

1 hour ago, Holko said:

Alien: Resurrection (Special Edition)

 

Unnecessary, extremely dumb, ugly, and thoroughly unpleasant. The good things I can say about it is its insistence on physical Aliens in an era where doing everything with not yet fully matured and mostly buttugly CGI started to be the cool thing, and some neat ideas.

 

This is also the first movie where all the way through I was rooting for the aliens to kill all these idiots. Aliens had the two guys who left the damn landing craft open, those absolutely deserved to die, and Golic was crazy and actively looking for trouble, but that was about it so far.

 

It looks nice, courtesy of Darius Khondji, and a lot of ENR.

That baseball shot was not altered, in any way.

[A24 4,345]

2 hours ago, Holko said:

Alien: Resurrection (Special Edition)

 

Unnecessary, extremely dumb, ugly, and thoroughly unpleasant.

 

That sounds like Alien 3!

 

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

 

Not a great film by any means, but actually quite fun. Same for the first AvP.

 

Agreed.

[Holko 9,529]

I thought the colours were repulsive and the camerawork was horribly obnoxious. It's just not my style - Fifth Element came to mind, I couldn't get past the 15 minute mark with that. What was it with 1997 and french directors?

[A24 4,345]

Trust me, I hated it too at the time. A 'caricature' style is not what you expect when watching an Alien movie but once you accept it (and look at it in that way) the movie becomes rather entertaining.

[filmmusic 1,838]

47 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

That sounds like Alien 3!

 

 

I love Alien 3!!

I don't understand why many people hate it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

12 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Trust me, I hated it too at the time. A 'caricature' style is not what you expect when watching an Alien movie but once you accept it (and look at it in that way) the movie becomes rather entertaining.

 

It's probably better than any "Alien" movie that has come after.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Lords of Dogtown

 

I like this one for some reason. I think it's Heath Ledger as an aging surf shop guy. It may be the best role I've ever seen him play. It's a tough thing to take that kind of surfer guy character and make him sympathetic because he's a fucking beach bum, man. But he steals every scene he's in and gives it heart. He even does The Joker in one scene. The skating scenes are well shot/directed and the rest of the cast are all good. A non-Ledger highlight is the Leo/River Phoenix-looking kid dancing to win a girl's affection.

[A24 4,345]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

 

It's probably better than any "Alien" movie that has come after.

 

Better than Prometheus!

[Holko 9,529]

Prometheus

 

Well that was fucking stupid.

 

Some heavily fanservice moments were kinda cool and the lights were nice and flashy but that's about it.

[Quintus 5,399]

It's a misunderstood masterpiece! 

[Fancyarcher 350]

A Place in The Sun - 8.5 / 10

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

17 hours ago, Holko said:

Prometheus

 

Well that was fucking stupid.

 

Some heavily fanservice moments were kinda cool and the lights were nice and flashy but that's about it.

 

Why did you skip two movies?

[Holko 9,529]

5 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

 

Why did you skip two movies?

 

Because I haven't seen Predator yet, probably coming up next week (I won't bother with the sequels of that one for now). From what I heard about the two AvPs, especially the second one, I haven't missed much.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Prometheus makes no sense unless you know about Peter Weyland's ancestor, Charles Bishop Weyland and his encounter with the Predators, and Yutani's procurement of Predator technology... technology that's not for our world.

[Holko 9,529]

What? I thought AvP was supposed to be non-canon... Why couldn't I just stop at the first 3? Please don't tell me Alien: Covenant is only watchable if I've read the 900 comics and 3 specific book series, I'll try to bear through that tonight.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Promotheus and Alien: Covenant don't really do anything to wipe out the AVP flicks from existence.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

As far as I know they are completely canon.

[Holko 9,529]

This is the closest to an official statement I could find about it in 2 minutes:

 

"[Ridley Scott] wanted to use Weyland as a conduit in the story, and was not interested at all when I said to him, “You know, Weyland was a character in one of the Alien Vs. Predator movies,” he just sort of looked at me like I had just slapped him in the face. That was the beginning, middle and end of all Alien Vs. Predator references in our story process." 

 

I know Scott has never been the center and creator of the universe, but according to this, when doing Prometheus, he didn't give a shit about Charles Bishop Weyland and the predators, much less base it on their encounter.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

It doesn't matter what Scott thinks, the movie still doesn't contradict the existence of CBW in the timeline. It's perfectly reasonable and valid to believe that Peter Weyland is a descendent of Charles.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

What the hell does Scott know about the Alien universe anyway!

[A24 4,345]

Bring back Dan O'Bannon from the dead!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Across the Pacific

 

Okay but not great Bogie flick. However I'm sure if a crazy millennial watched it, they'd go catatonic at its wartime anti-Japaneseness and Bogie romancing a woman, which these days is highly frowned upon. Seeing Bogie fire a mounted machine gun makes it all worth it.

[A24 4,345]

Does Bogey still throw his dames against the wall in true Deckard style?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Question Drax, why is it that every single thing you seem to post about here is about politics in some way?

 

Just tell us what YOU thought of a movie, not what YOU think someone else will think of it based on their politics.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

In this one, he just teases Mary Astor when she gets seasick after he kisses her. There's a bit of romantic comedy thrown in.

[A24 4,345]

Oh, well, maybe Bogey never got that rough with the damsels. Maybe Ridley got it wrong.

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Shit, I miss TCM. My cable provider took it away.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Bogey's characters could be heartless and cynical with women in those films. Drax would like The Maltese Falcon.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I've seen The Maltese Falcon. In fact, it had the same leads and director. That was a better movie than the one I just watched though.

[Quintus 5,399]

Have you seen Hell in the Pacific? 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I remember that being good. Must have been 25 years since I've seen it though.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,551]

1 hour ago, Quintus said:

Have you seen Hell in the Pacific? 

 

An early-ish entry from Ireland's finest. Mifune, and Marvin, are both top-notch.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Annie.

 

Oh, BOY! Oh, my GOODNESS! I have to REVIEW THIS MOVIE! I'm NEVER gonna be able to DO that! Oh wait, it'll be over more quickly if I start writing now.

I only really liked Mr Warbucks, but there was something rather unreal about it all and I still have a huge problem with people breaking into song without any reason. How does an alcoholic become the leader of an orphanage? Or which president just meets a 10-year-old girl like that? Oh look, now she's singing to the president, aww. (Can't help wondering what Trump would do now.) I also only started to like (for want of a better word) Annie after 40 minutes. What's so special about her anyway? The only special thing I've found about her was that she consistently changed 'you' into 'ya'. The pacing was rather off too. And if you really want to help someone find their parents, why do it with a reward? Anyone knows that will attract frauds, a businessman certainly would.

The songs weren't bad and I like the chord progressions in most musicals, but the singers weren't great (Ann Reinking). The underscore was too optimistic and dramatic. The overall package sounded way too shrill as well, as if they overdid the mastering.

And since when do we not translate lyrics in subtitles anymore?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Out of Africa

 

Long, and sometimes drawn out, but probably fitting for the desolation of the location. It's got that civilised-urban-girl-meets-man-of-the-wilderness vibe to it like 'Crocodile' Dundee or Medicine Man. Best bit is when Meryl Streep fights a lion. Feels like something David Lean might have made.

[publicist 4,643]

Did you take to the Barry?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Lovely score! I've had it on CD for nearly 30 years (It's one my parents bought and I just took it and added it to my own collection), but I hadn't seen the film until today.