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

[Quintus 5,399]

Spielberg betrayed you because he didn't make Always and ET movies exclusively for the rest of his career.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I'm sure you're right.

[publicist 4,643]

What are ET and Always movies?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I know they have a similar font in the end credits.

[publicist 4,643]

I'm sure you withold a boatload of other interesting similarities from us.

[Quintus 5,399]

4 minutes ago, publicist said:

What are ET and Always movies?

 

Sequels to ET and Always is one possibility.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The E.T. ride is better than the movie.

 

[publicist 4,643]

Switching the puppet with the Holly Hunter role would get me in a seat, even for a remake.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

 

Anyone else think she looked a bit Sigourney Weaver in the last scene?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The ET/Always Cinematic Universe.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Fascinating!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Or a Schindler's List sequel, what the Schindlerjuden were up to 25 years later.

[Jurassic Shark 12,073]

50 minutes ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

The E.T. ride is better than the movie.

 

 

Nice, but who's that other figure? Botanicus?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Someone To Watch Over Me

 

Not great, but watchable. Reminds me of when Jay told Quint off for repeatedly using it in the "Describe Your Last Toilet Visit With a Movie Title" thread, and lo and behind, there's a suspenseful bathroom scene in the movie!

[A24 4,331]

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

Someone To Watch Over Me ... Not great, but watchable. 

 

 

For those who were big fans of Alien and Blade Runner, and who when to see Someone To Watch Over Me in theatres, it was the biggest downer of the century.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Ridley needed a sure thing! Hollywood wasn't interested in artistic anymore!

[SteveMc 2,674]

Batman (1989)

This one works much better than it should.  How 80s hair tech, 30s noir, comic camp, and idiosyncratic camerawork can exist in harmony is beyond me.  Burton was under pressure, and that was a good thing. Many scenes have a certain flow to them that I find irresistible.  Keaton does very well in my book.  Gotta love how dark the thing is, without being too dark.

Not without weakness, though.  Story is a tad simple, not very uplifting.  Vale is a bit one-dimensional. 

And why does the movie get interrupted with Prince music videos?  That Joker one in the museum....     

[Nick Parker 3,040]

14 minutes ago, Steve McQueen said:

That Joker one in the museum....

 

...is a mind-broadening experience that is one of the best obligatory soundtrack tie-in scenes ever in film.

 

I loved the film as a teenager, but it hasn't held up very well for me. Batman Returns on the other hand...I only love it more and more as I grow older.

[SteveMc 2,674]

I'll have to take another look at Batman Returns.  Didn't get that one at all.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its better than everything!

[A24 4,331]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Ridley needed a sure thing! Hollywood wasn't interested in artistic anymore!

 

 

I could've done more. I could've have made one more artistic sci-fi movie.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

8 hours ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

I know they have a similar font in the end credits.

 

That's what I call the Spielberg font. Interesting that it was used for the SACD logo.

 

John Landis uses his own favourite font in almost every movie. It think it was even in the Thriller video!

[publicist 4,643]

 

Billy Wilder's 'Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' came at least 10 years too late, when the kind of stately, elegant epic Wilder regretted never having done before (it's incredibly well shot and designed) were hopelessly out of fashion. As result, United Artists got cold feet at the 3,5-hour running time and cut the thing down to under two hours, resulting in one of the more flagrant cases of cinematic castration. The roadshow version was to have four episodes, interrupted by flashbacks to Holmes' youth and was thrown off-balance by cutting out two and a half of them - what remains is a bumpy ride that offers some wonderful reflections on the Holmes myth and beyond. First, Homes is getting a bit long in the teeth here, the whole film deals entirely with his (and Watson's) human weaknesses, of course with gentle ribbing, but in the end, Holmes not really solves one case - the biggest one, the final episode, clearly shows him as a man out of time, not being able to puzzle together a mystery that is out of the 20th century (it concerns warfare) because he is stuck in the 19th - all his successful exploits are long past him. In Wilder's film, Mycroft, Holmes' brother (played by a Christopher Lee sans toupet) has solved the whole case long before Sherlock, and is the only one who foresees the future, enraging even a cocooned Queen Victoria with his astute deductions, and it's leading into two horrible wars, something which the movie is subtly hinting at.

 

Wilder playfully injects ironic nudges at the source material - is Holmes gay or merely considers both sexes beneath him? - and fittingly offers no villain, not on the Moriarty scale, anyway. The more bitter than sweet ending is incredibly downbeat taken at face value, but i won't spoiler it here, and it seems Wilder argues that time running out is the real adversary for the great detective. There is a boatload of sparkling banter covering this, of course, but the undercurrent is incredibly elegiac, helped by Miklos Rózsa's score which is as commanding as it is wistful (the 'love' theme and other thematic material was adapted from his violin concerto). 

 

What makes this Holmes one of the most fun to watch - Steven Moffat clearly had more than one attentive look at it - is the interplay of Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely in the main roles, and they serve the story better than the initial star turn when the movie was promised to Peter O'Toole and Peter Sellers in the early 60's. There is basically unimportant incidental dialogue like the one below (just one example i took off IMDB) that is delivered with such suave perfection you can rewatch the whole thing and just marvel at the precision.

 

Holmes: Look at this: an urgent appeal to find some missing midgets.

Watson: Did you say "midgets"?

Holmes: Six of them, the Tumbling Piccolos, an acrobatic act of some circus.

Watson: [Reading the letter] Disappeared between London and Bristol. Well don't you find that intriguing?

Holmes: Extremely so. You see, they're not only midgets, but also anarchists.

Watson: Anarchists?

Holmes: By now, they have been smuggled to Vienna, dressed as little girls in organdy pinafores. They are to greet the czar of all the Russias when he arrives at the railway station. They will be carrying bouquets of flowers, and concealed in each bouquet will be a bomb with a lit fuse.

Watson: [Breathlessly] You really think so?

Holmes: Not at all. The circus owner offers me five pounds for my services. That's not even a pound a midget. So obviously, he's a stingy blighter and the little chaps simply ran off to join another circus.

Watson: [Crestfallen] It sounded so promising.

 

Hope springs eternal, so i hold out for the day when the missing 80 minutes finally turn up...

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

2 hours ago, publicist said:

Hope springs eternal, so i hold out for the day when the missing 80 minutes finally turn up...

 

I didn't know about its production problems. I remember always finding the film charming and promising, but ultimately less than the sum of its parts.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

Wonder Woman

 

Both pretty bad. What the hell did everyone see in the latter? Movie was awful. 

[John 2,032]

Jurassic Park III (2001)

 

First time I've seen this. Bad and cheap-looking, though the sheer amount of dumb fun edges it past the unaccountably dull Lost World in my book.

 

** out of *****

[A24 4,331]

3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

Wonder Woman

 

Both pretty bad. What the hell did everyone see in the latter? Movie was awful. 

 

Thank you! I thought I was the only one.

[Holko 9,526]

Nope, I couldn't get through Wonder Woman.

[publicist 4,643]

8 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I didn't know about its production problems. I remember always finding the film charming and promising, but ultimately less than the sum of its parts.

 

I got the Kino blu-ray as a gift and what remains of the missing footage - scenes without sound, sound without footage, screenplay - they assembled as extras. It's a totally different movie, you can tell even from this fragmented hull.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Wonder Woman was boring. I kinda can't stand when that broad speaks with her weird accent. Boy do we need Lynda Carter now more than ever.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I like that sexy, breathy voice of hers. I have a thing for Jewish babes.

[Quintus 5,399]

Linda Carter as Woman Women now would be like Jane Seymour cast the latest Bond Girl.

[Chen G. 3,949]

26 minutes ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

I kinda can't stand when that broad speaks with her weird accent

 

That's one of the funniest things about contemporary Hollywood: when they need someone who sounds and/or looks even remotely Middle Eastern, they cast an Israeli actor or actress. In the case of an actor, he's requested to not shave for a few weeks, and in the case of both they're asked: "Do the thickest Morrocan Jewish accent you can manage, okay?"

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I kill't things from othah worlds befaw...

[A24 4,331]

1 hour ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

I kinda can't stand when that broad speaks with her weird accent. 

 

Or all the other Amazonians trying to copy that weird accent.

 

I had no problem with her accent in BvS but it was a bit too much in Wonder Woman.

[Sweeping Strings 2,358]

A Horror Channel double-bill last night (ahh, the joys of being into a second vacation week) -   

The People Under The Stairs - hadn't seen this Wes Craven-directed slice of horror/social commentary/offbeat comedy for years. Great fun. 

Grabbers - sci-fi comedy horror about a small Irish island being invaded by bloodsucking aliens, to whom alcohol is fatal ... so all the island's inhabitants have to do is stay drunk. A hoot.

[Quintus 5,399]

People Under the Stairs is such a watchable late night movie, especially for older kids.

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

3 hours ago, Quintus said:

Linda Carter as Woman Women now would be like Jane Seymour cast the latest Bond Girl.

 

I bet Seymour still looks fit though.

[Quintus 5,399]

She looks great for her age. But sadly no longer what is considered Bond Girl material.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,525]

Has there been an reoccurring girl, in the Bond books? The films had Sylvia Trench (and Moneypenny, of course) but what about the books?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Moneypenny is in most of the Fleming books I think. 

[JoeinAR 1,949]

12 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

Wonder Woman

 

Both pretty bad. What the hell did everyone see in the latter? Movie was awful. 

Sorry but your opinion is weak and irrelevant hell even irresponsible. And the fact thd Alex agrees with you only weakens your opinion.

[John 2,032]

Orient Express is... fine. It's got pacing issues and occasional poor CGI, but it's saved by a fine cast.

 

Anything enjoyable about Wonder Woman is ruined in its third act. Such an interesting idea to give the message that a war can't be ended by killing one man just to end with an overwrought, hideous CGI battle against generic supervillian #8436 spouting generic villain dialogue and Wonder Woman touting that love will defeat him. Just terrible. I honestly don't see how it is better than any comic book movie that came out that year.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Why the hell would a period piece like Murder on the Orient Express need any CGI while the one made in the 70s needed no special effects at all?

[A24 4,331]

So people can talk about "the visuals".

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

What happens in the new one, Poirot fights an apocalyptic laser sky battle for geeks?

[SteveMc 2,674]

8 minutes ago, John said:

Anything enjoyable about Wonder Woman is ruined in its third act. Such an interesting idea to give the message that a war can't be ended by killing one man just to end with an overwrought, hideous CGI battle against generic supervillian #8436 spouting generic villain dialogue and Wonder Woman touting that love will defeat him. Just terrible. I honestly don't see how it is better than any comic book movie that came out that year.

Wonder Woman was a big missed opportunity.  I found Gal Gadot to be quite fine, accent and all.  But the movie looked rather poor, costumes being an exception.  The acting was subpar, campy all around, and not in a good way.  The story both simple and confusing.  The direction seemed muddled.  A strong score, or even a unique score would have done a lot, but the movie doesn't have that.  

And, as John said, the third act has problems, and the villain is by the numbers.

A hollow piece, not deserving the fanfare it generated.  A pity, really.

[A24 4,331]

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

What happens in the new one, Poirot fights an apocalyptic laser sky battle for geeks?

 

Yes, every movie needs to end with a massive air battle.

 

1 minute ago, Steve McQueen said:

Wonder Woman was a big missed opportunity.  I found Gal Gadot to be quite fine, accent and all.  But the movie looked rather poor, costumes being an exception.  The acting was subpar, campy all around, and not in a good way.  The story both simple and confusing.  The direction seemed muddled.  A strong score, or even a unique score would have done a lot, but the movie doesn't have that.  

And, as John said, the third act has problems, and the villain is by the numbers.

A hollow piece, not deserving the fanfare it generated.  A pity, really.

 

It did prove that the critics were bought ...

[Chen G. 3,949]

46 minutes ago, John said:

Anything enjoyable about Wonder Woman is ruined in its third act. Such an interesting idea to give the message that a war can't be ended by killing one man just to end with an overwrought, hideous CGI battle against generic supervillian #8436 spouting generic villain dialogue and Wonder Woman touting that love will defeat him. Just terrible. I honestly don't see how it is better than any comic book movie that came out that year.

 

I really need to rewatch that film to pass judgment but I recall liking it. a lot.