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

[publicist 4,643]

 

To quote Roger Ebert, '"Doubt" has exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot, and we never stop. Think how rare that is in a film', and though Streep's grand performance overpowers the film - all the others act more natural - it's great to watch. 

[crocodile 8,017]

Watched the original Ghostbusters for the first time last night. It was quite good but not great. Something about the pacing and flow of the narrative didn't feel right.

 

Also watched the original Spider-Man by Sam Raimi yesterday (in 4K). While the film has a lot of charm and most actors do a good job, it is a very dumb script. One moment aunt is being attacked by the Green Goblin but it won't matter several minutes later. The film gets the "feel" of the older Spider-Man comics right though and this is what makes it enjoyable.

 

Karol

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

25 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Something about the pacing and flow of the narrative didn't feel right.

 

Could you elaborate on that? I've never heard anyone make this complaint about Ghostbusters before.

[crocodile 8,017]

55 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

 

Could you elaborate on that? I've never heard anyone make this complaint about Ghostbusters before.

Oh it's not any great gripe. It might just that we live in modern age obsessed with superhero origin stories. I just find it strange their business doesn't require any effort to set up and their tech already sort of exists. So you never get a real sense they're underdogs. Plus I feel it takes ages for it to come together at the end. But it's a comedy so maybe I'm expecting too much weight.

 

Karol

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

3 minutes ago, crocodile said:

But it's a comedy so maybe I'm expecting too much weight.

 

Precisely!

[Chen G. 3,949]

2 hours ago, crocodile said:

Watched the original Ghostbusters for the first time last night. It was quite good but not great. Something about the pacing and flow of the narrative didn't feel right.

 

I also watched it for the first time that I remember not too long ago. I don't have issues with pacing or flow: I think its very well structued. But I just didn't find myself laughing all that hard.

 

But than that's such a subjective criteria.

[crocodile 8,017]

1 hour ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

 

Precisely!

Still it would have been nice for it to be more tidy. Another thing I find interesting that this film doesn't really even bother developing protagonists. They are exactly at the end as they were at the beginning. Is it good? Is it bad?

 

3 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

I also watched it for the first time that I remember not too long ago. I don't have issues with pacing or flow: I think its very well structued. But I just didn't find myself laughing all that hard.

 

But than that's such a subjective criteria.

I was entertained but wasn't laughing.

 

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

On 7/26/2018 at 5:45 PM, Koray Savas said:

Mission: Impossible

 

It has been many years since I’ve seen this one, and it holds up surprisingly well in its action and suspense considering most of everything else is quite dated. The classic black vault scene is still fantastic, though De Palma’s camerawork leaves much to be desired overall. The 4K upgrade looks great. 

 

Could you elaborate on the shortcomings, like "everything else is quite dated" and "De Palma’s camerawork leaves much to be desired overall". For the record, I'm not a great fan of how the story is told in this film. It's a mess!

[crocodile 8,017]

1 minute ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Could you elaborate on the shortcomings, like "everything else is quite dated" and "De Palma’s camerawork leaves much to be desired overall". For the record, I'm not a great fan of how the story is told in this film. It's a mess!

The technology looks very dated. It doesn't really matter but for a high-tech series like this it is more noticeable.

 

As for camerawork, I have no idea... De Palma and bad camerawork doesn't seem to compute.

 

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Indeed!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

M:I is still my favourite of the M:I films, but...it does not take fifteen minutes (or whatever) to get from Tower Bridge to Waterloo, by f***ing helicopter!

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

That depends. Were they flying in circles? 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

No, they were flying in a helicopter.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

How long does it take?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

Look at the distance from Tower Bridge, to Waterloo Station. Less than five minutes, would be my estimate.

On the other hand, the room above Liverpool St. Underground Station does exist.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

3 minutes ago, Richard said:

Look at the distance from Tower Bridge, to Waterloo Station. Less than five minutes, would be my estimate.

On the other hand, the room above Liverpool St. Underground Station does exist.

 

Well, in Rogue Nation, Simon Pegg exits the subway that would take him directly to Karlsplatz station (where the State Opera is) several stations early, apparently to change to a different line (that would in fact also take him to Karlsplatz station, only that the switch would be totally unnecessary), but then he apparently jumps straight to Karlsplatz anyway without boarding another train. Not to mention that Americans seem to have really wild fantasies of police and security theatre in Austria. There's one or perhaps two policemen present at each opera night, there are no guards or scanners at the entrances, and if the chancellor wants to go the opera, he simply goes to the opera without anyone spending thousands of euros to call in half the city's police force.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

 

First of all, the new 4K transfer is...beautiful! This has been my favorite of the two Jurassics since opening day. For being one of the supposedly "bad" Spielberg movies, this one delivers everything you'd want for a popcorn dinosaur movie. The difference between something like Jurassic Whatever and a JP movie directed by Spielberg in the 90s is immediately apparent.

 

The action sequences, visual effects and robots, the sensational cast with badass characters like Ian and Roland, the uncharacteristically sharp script by Koepp, the humor, atmosphere and the ever-dependable contributions of that Williams guy. I miss this Spielberg.

 

I remember the flicks that help me. There's a job for you in my video library of you want it. I believe I've spent enough time in the company of modern blockbusters.

[Chen G. 3,949]

12 minutes ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

This has been my favorite of the two Jurassics since opening day. For being one of the supposedly "bad" Spielberg movies, this one delivers everything you'd want for a popcorn dinosaur movie. The difference between something like Jurassic Whatever and a JP movie directed by Spielberg in the 90s is immediately apparent.

 

I wouldn't put it anywhere near the original Jurassic Park, but I like The Lost World fairly well. As you put it, as a "popcorn dinosaur movie" it does its job well enough.

[Quintus 5,399]

Decent little sequel, oddly maligned for some pointless reason.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

Because Spielberg was bored and it shows. Not to mention how it butchers its score. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

No one said it was a masterwork for the ages.

 

Its FINE.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

It's ai'ight. Very much worth it for the trailer over the cliff scene, the T-rex rampaging the city and Pete Postlethwaite.

[John 2,032]

It’s bland, boring, and predictable. 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

I certainly couldn't predict a raptor being defeated by gymnastics! 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I always wondered if those roof tiles would slide off if you gave them a tug.

[Chen G. 3,949]

1 hour ago, John said:

It’s bland, boring, and predictable. 

 

I wouldn't say bland but it certainly is nowhere near as well-directed as the original. Its still fairly entertaining.

 

As for predictable, I don't see what it is about the original Jurassic Park that was so mind blowingly surprising. If anything, Jurassic Park may be THE example of a movie that gets a ton of milleage out building up towards something that you KNOW is coming (i.e. Dinosaurs getting loose).

 

 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

I was surprised that Dr Hammond was sexist in survival situations!

[John 2,032]

2 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I wouldn't say bland but it certainly is nowhere near as well-directed as the original. Its still fairly entertaining.

 

I disagree. 

 

On 7/15/2018 at 9:29 PM, John said:

The first two acts are an absolute slug, and the movie never really finds its footing. [...] overall, it feels very cold and cynical, and sorely lacks the warmth and sense of wonder that made the original Jurassic Park such a classic.

 

2 hours ago, Chen G. said:

As for predictable, I don't see what it is about the original Jurassic Park that was so mind blowingly surprising.

 

No one said it was. On paper, it’s a fairly average story with pedestrian characters, but Spielberg’s direction and the cast’s performances elevate it to something much more. With The Lost World, everything aspect of the filmmaking save the score, visual effects, and cinematography is pretty much subpar. It’s the definition of an autopilot sequel. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

2 hours ago, kaseykockroach said:

I was surprised that Dr Hammond was sexist in survival situations!

 

He's an old fashioned kinda guy. Plus it didn't hit me until I was older that when he says to Ellie "it really ought to be me going" that he was being "sexist" because I thought he meant he was an old man and she was a young woman with her life ahead of her and it made less sense to put herself at risk.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

We'll have a coupon day...or something!

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Donald was classist!

[Quintus 5,399]

2 hours ago, kaseykockroach said:

I was surprised that Dr Hammond was sexist in survival situations!

 

That exchange always felt jarringly out of place to me, it was unnecessary and I think it breaks an otherwise seamless run of perfectly pitched dialogue. But it is just a blip.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Or maybe it's just something an old fart like him would say. It's realistic.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Something I suspect Willie Scott asked Spielberg to slap in there.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

3 hours ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

I always wondered if those roof tiles would slide off if you gave them a tug.

I hear that Ingen fired that contractor.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

That's a great example of the Spielberg I miss. It didn't matter if it made sense. It was irreverent in an Indiana Jones sort of way.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

It's like the glass pane in the trailer scene from TLW. It's nuts, and it's Spielberg. You never second guess because he presents such a danger to the character-it's all that matters at a glance.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Maybe it didn't cross that macho mind of hers, but Sarah should have been killed when she fell on that window. And fallen splat hundreds of feet below.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

God damn irresponsible! Playin' games with life! She can't not touch! Once she sees something, she's gotta! She's gotta!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

2 hours ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

 

He's an old fashioned kinda guy. Plus it didn't hit me until I was older that when he says to Ellie "it really ought to be me going" that he was being "sexist" because I thought he meant he was an old man and she was a young woman with her life ahead of her and it made less sense to put herself at risk.

 

If JP was made today, and if Hammond had said that to Satler, she would have handed a machine gun to one of John Sayle's raptors, and said: "He's all yours, boys".

[Koray Savas 2,251]

11 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Could you elaborate on the shortcomings, like "everything else is quite dated" and "De Palma’s camerawork leaves much to be desired overall". For the record, I'm not a great fan of how the story is told in this film. It's a mess!

The tech is severely dated for a spy film. James Bond still holds its charm, but here it feels antiquated. But the suspense from the scenes themselves still holds up really well. As for De Palma, I always found him very overrated and to just be a competent filmmaker. The POV shots feel out of place and unnecessary. The scenes feel claustrophobic, with not much established setting. There’s a classic shot of the rat creeping up on Jean Reno in the air vents that’s straight out of Blow Out. It’s fine in a visceral sense, but it rubs me the wrong way in this context for some reason. I just find De Palma pedestrian. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

But John Woo is a master, right?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Tom Cruise's hair in the second one looked kinda fake.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

The whole thing was fake. Solid character actors such as Richard Roxborough, Dougray Scott, Brendan Gleason, and Rade Shebedgia were wasted. Goodness knows how much Tony Hopkins was paid to be, in this crud?

A truly insulting piece of junk, a turd, and the worst M:I film by a country mile.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Indeed!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

47 minutes ago, Richard said:

The whole thing was fake. Solid character actors such as Richard Roxborough, Dougray Scott, Brendan Gleason, and Rade Shebedgia were wasted. Goodness knows how much Tony Hopkins was paid to be, in this crud?

A truly insulting piece of junk, a turd, and the worst M:I film by a country mile.

 

Why was it so huge when it was released?

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

4 hours ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

 

He's an old fashioned kinda guy. Plus it didn't hit me until I was older that when he says to Ellie "it really ought to be me going" that he was being "sexist" because I thought he meant he was an old man and she was a young woman with her life ahead of her and it made less sense to put herself at risk.

That...makes a disturbing amount of sense.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

24 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

 

Why was it so huge when it was released?

 

How do I know? May I suggest that you interview the people who saw it, and make a judgement, afterwards.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Freeway scene is the highlight of Wes' filmography. And of course, the score kicks butt.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

39 minutes ago, kaseykockroach said:

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Freeway scene is the highlight of Wes' filmography. And of course, the score kicks butt.

 

I didn't see this untio about maybe 2001 I think. Loved it though.