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

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I liked MIIB but I haven't seen the third one.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I flicked it off.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

After five minutes.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

On 9/15/2019 at 2:19 AM, Dixon Hill said:

Great score too. 

 

One of the best to ever come out of Disney.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Back to out of five stars, to stay consistent with my Letterboxd ratings. 

 

Arctic (2018)

Probably one of the better survival stories I've seen. A gritty Mads Mikklesen is up to the physically demanding role, but there's nothing in his performance that really screams above the rest. Dazzling shots of icy landscapes allow for breathing room, making the tenacity of things like an encounter with a polar bear all the more exciting in contrast. Practically a silent movie save for the wind, Joseph Trapanese's simplistic and quiet score, and the occasional grunt or curse. 

 

*** out of *****

 

Hell or High Water (2016)

Enticing crime thriller puts forth a really neat script and a great story. Jeff Bridges can pretty much play any aging person with a gruff personality at this point, and he really makes it look all to easy here. Well written and generally shot well too. Much enjoyed.

 

**** and a half * out of *****

 

The Man from UNCLE (2015)

Say what you will about Guy Ritchie (or Henry Cavill for that matter) but this quirky spy flick was surpsingly fun. Really neat score by Daniel Pemberton (worth a separate listen) and a few needle drop songs that find their place amongst the semi-restrained eccentricity that Ritchie tends to give off. I don't think Cavill is all that good of an actor, and while this role isn't anything completely contrary to that I was on board with it. Plenty of flair and frolicking. Good fun.

 

**** out of *****

 

Mississipi Grind (2015)

Ben Mendelssohn is probably one of my favourite actors, and he's pretty good alongside Ryan Reynolds (who I'm non-partial to) in this poker-centered road trip buddy romp. The problem is that there's nothing much more to it than money, gambling, and the crazy life of an American drifter. A few moderate laughs, but all in all there seems to be something missing, some sort of beat that drives the purpose home. 

 

*** out of *****

 

North by Northwest

Perhaps my favourite Hitchcock film I've seen thus far. Incredibly well shot, a great gripping plot, memorable characters and so many unforgettable scenes. Absolute cinema gold, from the always creative main titles (kudos to the Herrmann score!) to the happy go lucky ending (not before that whizzbang of a climax though!). 

 

***** out of *****

[Jay 37,352]

37 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Hell or High Water (2016)

Enticing crime thriller puts forth a really neat script and a great story. Jeff Bridges can pretty much play any aging person with a gruff personality at this point, and he really makes it look all to easy here. Well written and generally shot well too. Much enjoyed.

 

Good man

 

 

37 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Mississipi Grind (2015)

Ben Mendelssohn is probably one of my favourite actors, and he's pretty good alongside Ryan Reynolds (who I'm non-partial to) in this poker-centered road trip buddy romp. The problem is that there's nothing much more to it than money, gambling, and the crazy life of an American drifter. A few moderate laughs, but all in all there seems to be something messing, some sort of beat that drives the purpose home. 

 

The ending is subtle, but it's implied he ain't keeping his winnings

[Fabulin 3,511]

The Swan (1956) - a romantic comedy set in the 1900s starring Alec Guiness & Grace Kelly in the main roles. Golden age score by Bronisław Kaper with a great main theme, a powerful adaptation of Liszt's Rakoczy March, and wonderful orchestration. The sound quality is mindblowing for music recorded in the 1950s. The film is characterized by a smart plot, brilliant dialogues, lots of good humour, and great acting. Recommended to everyone. 10/10 and a No. 14 on my top film list.

 

BlackKklansman (2018) - Likeable characters, well done villains, satisfying ending, and apparently Kung Fu Panda on a temp track. 8/10

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Good man

Oh yeah!

 

2 hours ago, Jay said:

The ending is subtle, but it's implied he ain't keeping his winnings

Yeah, I don't know. I feel like there may be some increased novelty for those familiar with the subject matter, and I'm not and never will be a gambling fellow. I did like the movie for what it was, it just doesn't say much to me. I laughed at the part after he was stabbed, how he picks up the switchblade and throws it- "Hey asshole, you forgot your knife!" as he groans and holds the wound.

 

1 hour ago, Modest Expectations said:

BlackKklansman (2018) - Likeable characters, well done villains, satisfying ending, and apparently Kung Fu Panda on a temp track. 8/10

I heard it was pretty funny, and I'm definetly intrigued as to how that was balanced with the serious topic of the KKK and racism and what not. Any further thoughts?

[Brundlefly 2,385]

On 9/15/2019 at 7:28 AM, publicist said:

Tried 'It' on Netflix again. 'It''s not for me. I love the production values and scenery, but whenever there's a scare or a monster moment - for the lack of a better word - the movie turns loud and gaudy, as if the filmmakers don't trust their (mostly) great actors and the fabled King story. I'm not going to lecture seasoned filmmakers about the use of silence but it works great in other genre classics. Too bad, because once you turn the volume down, the whole thing plays much better.

I'm just happy that there are popular horror movies again that know how to use silence. Some call it the "New Wave of Horror":

Hereditary

The VVitch

It Follows

The Babadook

Don't Breathe

and above all: mother!

While the content of some of these examples might be debatable, their craftmanship is not.

[Fabulin 3,511]

17 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I heard it was pretty funny, and I'm definetly intrigued as to how that was balanced with the serious topic of the KKK and racism and what not? Any further thoughts?

I would compare it to American History X in terms of social commentary drama & exposition. Maybe even a bit heavier than that, but at least it's more tastefully than films like Get Out. Likeable, morally upright main character helps a lot. There are also some documentary footages in the film, but I suppose they serve to defend the movie against some viewers' scepticism.

 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

7 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I heard it was pretty funny, and I'm definetly intrigued as to how that was balanced with the serious topic of the KKK and racism and what not? Any further thoughts?

To combine the serious topic with delightful entertainment - classic detective film meets crime thriller meets comedy meets drama meets blaxploitation - was a great idea and the result is a funny film that is also surprisingly unprejudiced and contains a high discursive potential. I am saying "surprisingly", because the director is Spike Lee who is known for his one-sided depiction of the racial conflicts.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

4 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

I'm just happy that there are popular horror movies again that know how to use silence. Some call it the "New Wave of Horror":

Hereditary

The VVitch

It Follows

The Babadook

Don't Breathe

and above all: mother!

While the content of some of these examples might be debatable, their craftmanship is not.

 

I can't believe I've seen all of these. The only decent ones are It Follows, Don't Breathe and Hereditary. I'm still not sure about mother! but it was interesting.

[Edmilson 7,436]

I loved Babadook and It Follows was pretty good, but I wasn't a fan of Hereditary or The Witch, and Don't Breath were very forgettable. Mother was good though, but... is it a horror movie? I dunno.

 

You forgot to mention this year's Midsommar, which I've been eagerly antecipating. Even though I didn't like Hereditary, I'm very interested on Midsommar.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Is Get Out part of the posh snob horror craze?

[A24 4,331]

Loved Hereditary an It Follows (such a simple idea one wonders why nobody else came up with it before). But I never saw The VVitch and they say it's by the same director of The Lighthouse, a movie that I'm eagerly anticipating. Did you know the latter is all filmed with vintage camera stuff?

[Quintus 5,399]

7 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

 

Hereditary

The VVitch

It Follows

The Babadook

Don't Breathe

and above all: mother!

 

 

I've seen all these bar Mother! 

 

Hmm, modern horror ain't all that bad really is it. I'd been thinking it wasn't up to scratch, but seeing a few compiled in a little list, it makes me realise it is a better situation than I thought. I bet I could probably add a couple of others to it. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Horror peaked with Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: Dream Child, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Hellraiser: Bloodline and Maniac Cop 2.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The workprint of Halloween VI is the best one!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, Thekthithm said:

I can't believe I've seen all of these. The only decent ones are It Follows, Don't Breathe and Hereditary. I'm still not sure about mother! but it was interesting.

It's is especially The VVitch, The Babadook and mother! which stand out thematically. Hereditary is intense as fuck, but it doesn't add up to anything.

52 minutes ago, Quintus said:

I've seen all these bar Mother!

mother! is in line with such beautiful films as The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Cosmopolis and Tideland - people have a hard and unpleasant time understanding it and therefore it's massively unpopular.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

2 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

The workprint of Halloween VI is the best one!

 

It's got an eerie atmosphere that one.

[A24 4,331]

I

4 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

 but it doesn't add up to anything.

 

Focus on the journey, not the destination.

 

56 minutes ago, Thekthithm said:

Horror peaked with Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: Dream Child, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Hellraiser: Bloodline and Maniac Cop 2.

 

Aren't these all turkeys?

[Brundlefly 2,385]

4 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Focus on the journey, not the destination.

That is what I do, but Rosemary's Baby it ain't.

[publicist 4,643]

9 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

I'm just happy that there are popular horror movies again that know how to use silence. Some call it the "New Wave of Horror":

Hereditary

The VVitch

It Follows

The Babadook

Don't Breathe

and above all: mother!

While the content of some of these examples might be debatable, their craftmanship is not.

 

I saw some of these and at least can confirm for The Vvitch, It Follows and The Babadook that they didn't freak me out with gross noises whenever a shadow crossed the camera.

[A24 4,331]

5 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

That is what I do, but Rosemary's Baby it ain't.

 

Don't find it very horrific, that one.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

1 minute ago, publicist said:

I saw some of these and at least can confirm for The Vvitch, It Follows and The Babadook that they didn't freak me out with gross noises whenever a shadow crossed the camera.

The Babadook had great suggestive sound design!

Don't Breathe uses music far more intelligently than any other recent horror film I've seen: Sometimes it's just a few hardly noticeable strings that crescendo slightly and fade away again - sounds like a classic build-up to nothing, but the timing is what makes it so interesting.

[publicist 4,643]

Don't Breathe...was that the thing where they couldn't speak?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

3 minutes ago, publicist said:

Don't Breathe...was that the thing where they couldn't speak?

 

It's the one where they don't breathe.

[publicist 4,643]

A shortie?

[Arpy 4,145]

It's the one where the blind guy gets a syringe of semen shoved down his throat.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Ewww I remember that bit when it drips a goop of goo!

[Quintus 5,399]

Don't Breathe was the most, what I used to call "MTVish" scare flick out of the ones listed (it's really a slasher), but it was definitely an enjoyable thrill and I think it's supposed to be getting a sequel at some point. 

 

Babadook was probably my favourite out of all of them though. I only watched it on a whim one bored night and by that time I'd exhausted the Netflix carousel looking for something, anything. So once again, the fleeting law of pleasant surprises applied. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

All I got from The Baddabook was some woman and her son in a dark house just shouting at each other.

[Quintus 5,399]

Midnight in Paris. Didn't make it quite to the thirty minutes mark before switching it off.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,516]

I tried to watch TLTW+TW. I'd seen it before, and found it all resolutely average. This time I turned it off after...ooh...twenty (?) minutes.

Badly written, badly shot, badly acted, badly edited, and badly scored. Not even James McAvoy could save it.

[Edmilson 7,436]

I like HGW's Narnia scores (the second one more than the first). But yeah, the movie is terrible. Even why I was a kid I thought they were bad.

[crocodile 8,006]

Apocalypse Now: Final Cut. Better...but still has that French plantation sequence.

 

Karol

[Sweeping Strings 2,357]

The Last Stand - a 2013 flick with Arnie's first lead role in ten years, here he plays the sheriff of a small US/Mexico border town through which a murderous fugitive is going to attempt to flee. Naturally, Ahnult is having none of it. 
 

A pretty fun 105 minutes, with decent action and some nice gags. Also stars Forest Whittaker and Johnny Knoxville.     

[Koray Savas 2,251]

On 9/17/2019 at 3:12 AM, Brundlefly said:

mother! is in line with such beautiful films as The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Cosmopolis and Tideland - people have a hard and unpleasant time understanding it and therefore it's massively unpopular.

While I liked mother!, it is by no means difficult to understand. It’s actually quite shallow and blatantly straightforward in its message. I, for one, really liked the production design and how well Aronofsky paced everything to its rising climax. 

 

Also... everyone stop typing VVitch! It’s The Witch!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Mary Queen of Scots

 

What a disappointment this was. Margot Robbie needs a better vehicle to show off her chops as Liz 1, because she's the only good thing about it. She might get another chance, since everyone gets to play her twice.

 

 

Borg vs McEnroe

 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Aquaman

 

I should've flicked it off after five minutes. What a bloated mess of pixels! All that kept me going was flicking off to Amber Heard.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The Straight Story

 

"Walt Disney Pictures Presents A David Lynch Film" – there's some words that haven't been seen before or since this quietly meditative and gentle film was released. Lynch takes a stack of his signature idiosyncrasies and applies them very differently in a story about atonement, dealing with bad memories, taking the hard way, and the kindness of strangers. The premise sounds like something The Simpsons would take the piss out of with Homer getting frustrated at having to watch a boring artsy yarn about some old coot riding a tractor cross country, but it's really a sweet movie.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Silence (2016)

A masterpiece. Simply brilliant in every which way. 

 

***** out of *****

 

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

I found this to be particularly striking, capturing a raw and deeply moving essence of human struggle by dealing with the everyday troubles of life, death and everything in between. Few movies have been graced with the byproduct of my own sniffles and small tears, but I certainly tried to contain myself during the apt use of Albinoni's Adagio and the scene which it underscores. Personally resounding and provocative; a touching portrait of life.

 

**** and a half * out of *****

 

W. (2008)

As in George W. Bush, as portrayed by Josh Brolin, in an Oliver Stone film. Once again there were so many great performances, yet none that push this one across the finish line exactly. Brolin's aided by the presence of Richard Dreyfuss, Toby Jones, Thandie Newton, and many more. Whereas Vice, which follows the same presidential term, was brash and hamfisted, someone seems to have their hands on the reigns here. It essentially looks at how Bush Sr's disapproval of his son lead him to climb higher and higher through the political ranks and influenced his decision to run for president. Well shot- always like those nose hair takes.

 

**** out of *****

[Romão 2,274]

1 hour ago, Thekthithm said:

The Straight Story

 

"Walt Disney Pictures Presents A David Lynch Film" – there's some words that haven't been seen before or since this quietly meditative and gentle film was released. Lynch takes a stack of his signature idiosyncrasies and applies them very differently in a story about atonement, dealing with bad memories, taking the hard way, and the kindness of strangers. The premise sounds like something The Simpsons would take the piss out of with Homer getting frustrated at having to watch a boring artsy yarn about some old coot riding a tractor cross country, but it's really a sweet movie.

 

And a really lovely score. Like most stuff Lynch and Badalamenti do, it feels so honest. I really don't know how to put in any other way.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

1 hour ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

W. (2008)

As in George W. Bush, as portrayed by Josh Brolin, in an Oliver Stone film. Once again there were so many great performances, yet none that push this one across the finish line exactly. Brolin's aided by the presence of Richard Dreyfuss, Toby Jones, Thandie Newton, and many more. Whereas Vice, which follows the same presidential term, was brash and hamfisted, someone seems to have their hands on the reigns here. It essentially looks at how Bush Sr's disapproval of his son lead him to climb higher and higher through the political ranks and influenced his decision to run for president. Well shot- always like those nose hair takes.

 

**** out of *****

I walked out of the theater on this one!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Bumblebee

 

Cute movie that models itself a bit on Short Circuit. Probably the best of the Transformers flicks.

 

 

Deliverance

 

Wow what a crappy holiday. Very 70s dark and disturbing.

[Chen G. 3,949]

12 minutes ago, Thekthithm said:

Bumblebee

 

Cute movie that models itself a bit on Short Circuit. Probably the best of the Transformers flicks.

 

I was thinking more of a metal E.T. A friend aptly called it Spielberg-lite.

 

Not outstanding by any means, but charming in a way that a Michael Bay Transformers film could never hope to be.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Just now, Chen G. said:

 

I was thinking more of a metal E.T. A friend aptly called it Spielberg-lite.

 

Not outstanding by any means, but charming in a way that a Michael Bay Transformers film could never hope to be.

 

Funny I didn't think of Spielberg once while watching this until his name popped up as executive producer. Instead I kept thinking of Hailee Steinfeld's character as a stand-in for Ally Sheedy in Short Circuit, minus the weird robot/lady-love subtext!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's nearly impossible to detect influence from Steven Spielberg in most of the stuff he's produced.

 

There are exceptions such as Young Sherlock Holmes and Poltergeist, which he clearly also directed. Classic 80s films he produced have been described as Spielbergian or associated with him because of his prominent credit, such as Gremlins, The Goonies and Back to the Future, but if you were to remove those AMBLIN-colored glasses, they feel completely different from a real Spielberg movie.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I like John Williams' Back to the Future theme.

[Quintus 5,399]

I think the original BTTF could easily have been a Spielberg film, and it feels very 'Spielbergian' to me. Not that it matters.