What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Morlock 11]

The Caine Mutiny. One of my favorite movies. Uneven, a dumb love story stuck in there.....but the film contains Humphrey Bogart's best performance I've seen. His Captain Queeg is so pitiable, so weak, the opposite of the typical Bogey role. His breaking-down on the stand is just heart-breaking. Jose Ferrer is fantastic. Max Steiner's (in)famous score is good, even though it's basically just the main theme and the love theme, but both are good.

A rare Hollywood Golden Age film where it's not at all clear who's good and who's bad.

[robthehand 3]

What's (in)famous about Max Steiner's score?

[Morlock 11]

Well, not so much the score, as the album. There have been a few articles written explaining the whole thing, but basically- the original LP of the soundtrack is the rarest LP in existance, there being only 12 known copies.

[robthehand 3]

Oh, I heard about that. And it even has dialogue and sound effects, literally the sound track of the film, yet people still pay $5000 for it...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Aren't we glad that didn't catch on.

[Romão 2,274]

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-CAINE-MUTINY-SOUND...1QQcmdZViewItem

Is this the one?

[robthehand 3]

That's a bootleg version.

The original LP was not meant to be a limited pressing (so it wouldn't say "limited to 1,000" on the cover), it was just cancelled before it was released and most copies destroyed.

[Morlock 11]

And this is the guy who asked me about the score...

[Romão 2,274]

I didn´t even know there were LP bootlegs.

[robthehand 3]

And this is the guy who asked me about the score...

I thought you meant there was something "infamous" about the score as it is in the film. I've never seen the film or heard the score, so the music could be awful for all know, I didn't know if you meant it like that.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's Steiner, so it probably isn't very good.

[robthehand 3]

It's Steiner, so it probably isn't very good.

The only score of his I really like is King Kong. Even Casablanca's score is a bit too melodramatic for the film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's Golden age, so they didn't know any better.

Thank God they had Herrmann too in those days to do it right.

[Morlock 11]

It's Steiner, so it probably isn't very good.

The only score of his I really like is King Kong. Even Casablanca's score is a bit too melodramatic for the film.

Melodrama is the name of the game in Golden Age film music. So, concidering that it is a vintage Golden Age score, it's pretty good.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Melodrama is not something I am too fond of.

[robthehand 3]

Melodrama is the name of the game in Golden Age film music. So, concidering that it is a vintage Golden Age score, it's pretty good.

Yes, but quite a few of the films were melodramatic too, so such music often worked. However, I don't think Casablanca (the film) is particularly melodramatic, and the very obvious score undermines the film, IMHO.

The film's still great though.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes, this was actually a rather gritty film (not a 70's scorsese film, but still).

The score works against that a bit.

I have the CD but i CANNOT listen to it.

Still a fine film though

[ST-321 4]

Last night I watched Star Trek Generations for the first time in years. I got the 2 DVD set for Christmas. Now that I've seen the deleted scenes I must say that the producers were most wise in not going with their first ending. It really sucked. Of course what the ending really needed was for Piccard deck Riker for wrecking his ship! By the way after everyone was evacuated to the saucer section they still couldn't find someone better than Troi to sit at the helm?! No wonder they crashed.

[QMM 4]

Happy Feet

I'll go ahead and say it was one of the best CG movies I've seen in a while, beating out the Shrek series for me even (although I never liked them that much to begin with). Music was excellent and Powell really outdid himself with both the score and orchestrating the other songs (freaking great choir use).

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I love melodrama, we need more good melodrama.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

30's and 40's melodrama makes me sick to my stomach.

Gone With The Wind is an abomination as far as I'm concerned.

Something more modern, like Terms of Endearment is actually rather good.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

then you should not watch Dark Victory with Bette Davis.

Joe, who fears Stefan's heart is as cold and as dead as Chandler Bing's.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Well you are genetically programmed to like honey coated melodrama like that.

Not that there's anything wrong with it....

I prefer thrillers, crime drama's and action films, movies for real men. Like Rambo: First Blood part 2.

Forget Bette Davis or Joan Crawgord, gimme Sly Stallone with long hair, a jog strap and his chiseled chest glistening after being vigorously rubbed in coconut oil.....

[JoeinAR 1,949]

ah my dear international friend, you know Chandler

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I just edited my post after realising who he was. The guy from Friends who got really fat in the last few seasons.

Isn't he a drug addict now?

A the joys of fame.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

no, he fattened up because he quit doing the drugs, you got the order reversed.

[Morlock 11]

Happy Feet

I'll go ahead and say it was one of the best CG movies I've seen in a while, beating out the Shrek series for me even (although I never liked them that much to begin with). Music was excellent and Powell really outdid himself with both the score and orchestrating the other songs (freaking great choir use).

I took my 90 year old grandfather to see it yesterday. Second time around, as usual, crystalised my feeling about the film. It was an excellent movie, thrilling visually, until the last few minutes. Those were just terrible, horrible, go a great length to nearly sinking the film. I think it's rather sad that a great movie, obviously a project a great many people really cared about, is given such a bad ending. Real shame.

I don't think all the songs worked, nor all the voice acting....I couldn't stand Nicole Kidman, and didn't like Jackman either. The rest were good, though. Robin Williams and his four freinds were great (Although I just love penguins.....best thing about Madagascar). This time around, I really heard a lot more of the tremendous work Powell put into the film. I think that because of all the work he did on the songs, the score sounds less impressive, but, still, a good score.

I still liked the movie a great deal, but I think the ending is quite terrible, for more reasons than one. ***/****.

Probably still the best CG film of the year....although Monster House was far more solid.

[QMM 4]

I can sort of agree with the ending, but the voices didn't really bother me at all. Your post made me remember all of the really amazing shots they pulled off in the film, not amazing meaning "Only possible with CG" but amazing in terms of pulling off real emotion or awe in CG.

[Morlock 11]

Indeed, without a doubt the best looking CG film out there.

[HPFAN_2 0]

Inside Man

I enjoyed this film a great deal. I was particularly interested in Spike Lee's use of long shots. I think the longest was over 45 seconds. Denzel of course was great.

Lady In The Water

A fabulous fairy tale. I rank this film up there with M Night.'s best works. The end sequence was well paced. The length of shots were perfect. And it still told a story as it wrapped the film up. Without sacrificing pacing for imagery Shyamalan blended beautiful shots together with story telling. Which in effect didn't leave the audience squirming for an end, that seemed inevitable given the slow pace of the rest of the movie. As with all his films the last half hour is where it picks up and takes off and where he really shines.

M:I:3

I enjoyed this movie too. However I was a bit disappointed by the scale. I expected a bigger plot with bigger, twist and turns. It was somewhat simple. Maybe that was for the best.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Lady In The Water

A fabulous fairy tale. I rank this film up there with M Night.'s best works. The end sequence was well paced. The length of shots were perfect. And it still told a story as it wrapped the film up. Without sacrificing pacing for imagery Shyamalan blended beautiful shots together with story telling. Which in effect didn't leave the audience squirming for an end, that seemed inevitable given the slow pace of the rest of the movie. As with all his films the last half hour is where it picks up and takes off and where he really shines.

There's always one.....

[nightscape94 965]

I'll get around to watching sooner or later, but probably more later than sooner.

I caught Land of the Dead, which I thought was pretty cool, but not quite up their with Romero's first two "Dead" classics, Night of the Living Dead, and especially Dawn of the Dead. It was certianly a lot of fun, and effective, but there was something lacking I can't quite put my finger on.

Silverado. Always good to pop this one in every now and then. A good western by Kasdan.

An Inconvenient Truth. Utterly fantastic.

A Scanner Darkly. Great flick. I wanted to see this one in theaters, but didn't get the chance. I was afraid that it wasn't going to live up to my own personal expectations of it, because of Linklater's general quality of films and because of the interesting Philip K. Dick story. It did not disappoint.

Down in the Valley. This has Ed Norton in it, playing a character who may or may not be all together what he presents himself to be. The movie worked to a point, but by the last 30 minutes or so, it just fall on its face. The ending is so completely out of place it's almost laughable. I hate to sound really down in it, because I really enjoyed the first half, but the last part was just silly, it was hard to believe it was all written by the same guy.

Art School Confidential. Written by the same guy who did Ghost World, and directed by the same director as well. I was pretty good overall. Many things in this movie felt unique or interesting, but it's diluted when seen on the whole, because the entire flick doesn't possess a consistent quality.

Tim, who will not be bidding on Steef's Minidisc Walkman Recorder.

[Morlock 11]

Lady In The Water

A fabulous fairy tale. I rank this film up there with M Night.'s best works. The end sequence was well paced. The length of shots were perfect. And it still told a story as it wrapped the film up. Without sacrificing pacing for imagery Shyamalan blended beautiful shots together with story telling. Which in effect didn't leave the audience squirming for an end, that seemed inevitable given the slow pace of the rest of the movie. As with all his films the last half hour is where it picks up and takes off and where he really shines.

There's always one.....

While I'm sure Steef hasn't seen the flick, I agree with his sentiment. Shyamalan is quite admirable, really is an uber-directer. He went from fooling audiences to fooling a studio, into thinking that this film would not be total rubbish. He must have had a grudge against WB for not picking up the Sixth Sense, or something like that, moving to them for this one travesty of a film.

Art School Confidential.  Written by the same guy who did Ghost World, and directed by the same director as well.  I was pretty good overall.  Many things in this movie felt unique or interesting, but it's diluted when seen on the whole, because the entire flick doesn't possess a consistent quality.

I didn't dislike the film, but I forgot about it the instant it was over.

I saw The Sugarland Express. It looks beautiful on DVD. Good film. Uneven, but sporting great performances by Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, and especially William Atherton, also known as (well, probably only known as) the reporter from Die Hard. Great looking film, Spielberg shows an expert technical hand at his handeling of all the cars. A fine JW score, overlooked because it has no CD release, and because the only music JW rerecorded from it is not indicative at all of the score. It's a fun, sincere piece of Americana. I'd love a CD release. ***1/2 out of ****.

Also saw Babel. Excellent film. Really tremendous writing and editing, the film feels very tight, I thought it was the perfect length, the cross cutting is handled very well. All four stories are affecting, though the Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett one is easily the least interesting. Acting is excellent all around, though, again, Pitt and Blanchett are least impressive, both not given much to do, although Pitt does show a side I haven't really seen before. Film looks good. Music is iffy....Santoallala's work is predictable and unmemorable, but not ineffective. The use of some older music is great, though, particularly Santoallala's 'Iguazo', also used in The Insider, and Ryuchi Sakamoto's 'Bibo no Aozoro'.

A very powerful, affecting, and devastating film. ***1/2 out of ****.

[QMM 4]

particularly Santoallala's 'Iguazo', also used in The Insider,

Used in Deadwood too

[HPFAN_2 0]

Lady In The Water

A fabulous fairy tale. I rank this film up there with M Night.'s best works. The end sequence was well paced. The length of shots were perfect. And it still told a story as it wrapped the film up. Without sacrificing pacing for imagery Shyamalan blended beautiful shots together with story telling. Which in effect didn't leave the audience squirming for an end, that seemed inevitable given the slow pace of the rest of the movie. As with all his films the last half hour is where it picks up and takes off and where he really shines.

There's always one.....

While I'm sure Steef hasn't seen the flick, I agree with his sentiment. Shyamalan is quite admirable, really is an uber-directer. He went from fooling audiences to fooling a studio, into thinking that this film would not be total rubbish. He must have had a grudge against WB for not picking up the Sixth Sense, or something like that, moving to them for this one travesty of a film. .

Travesty? Why?

[Panthera 0]

Eragon, and I actually really liked this film. Patrick Doyle's music worked really well in it.

[Morlock 11]

Travesty? Why?

A terrible story for a film, with some elements so laughable that I felt like throwing something at the screen.

[HPFAN_2 0]

Travesty? Why?

A terrible story for a film, with some elements so laughable that I felt like throwing something at the screen.

I disagree. As usual.

[tpigeon 3]

There is no such thing as a terrible story for a film. It's about how a story is executed, not whether a certain story or plot is worthy of film.

Ted

[Jeshopk 8]

Saw Rocky Balboa. I, like most people was disappointed by Rocky V. This new one gave the character a great send off. If you like any of the other Rocky films, this makes a great sequel. And, I hate to admit it, but this one actually drew some tears.

Just a small question: how come the pre cogs considered Leo Crow´s murder premeditated if Anderton didn´t even know the guy? Or is it like Anderton had premedited that he would kill his son´s abductor?

The pre-cogs don't just predict murders that have been premeditated. They sense murders from the time that it becomes 99% inevitable. The guy at the beginning who had the scissors and almost stabbed his wife had no idea she was cheating when they predicted it.

[tpigeon 3]

It was a brown ball because, well, it was a brown ball. Anderton was lead to the situation of killing Crow precisely because he was tagged with the crime. It was pre-meditated in the sense that he acknowledged this prediction. He didn't agree with it; he thought they were wrong. But the idea was put into hid mind when he saw that he was tagged and went on the run. So, like I said, it was pre-meditated only because he was told that it was. It's kind of a vicious circle if you think about it. Nevertheless, it is not a plot hole.

Ted

[Morlock 11]

There is no such thing as a terrible story for a film. It's about how a story is executed, not whether a certain story or plot is worthy of film.

Of course there is! Sure, a movie can still be good despite that, but that was a terrible story for a film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That's like saying thare can never be terrible lyrics in a song.

[Romão 2,274]

"If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed."

Stanley Kubrick

[tpigeon 3]

I never said that films haven't had terrible stories. But if you noticed how carefully phrased that statement was. I don't believe there are any "stories" unworthy of film, which is what Morlock essentially said, or at least that's how I interpretted it. I disagree in that I feel that anything can be a good story on film - it just depends on how it is constructed, executed, and presented.

Ted

[Morlock 11]

I inherently disagree. That a good movie can be made from a bad story does not mean that the story is not bad. It means that the director was good enough to make the fact that the content was bad not matter to the success of the film. Many great films are like that "style over content", and successful. This one had terrible content for a film, and the style did not make up for that. Perhaps a less story-oriented director might have been able to a pull a good movie out of this....but perhaps this is a story that should never have been filmed, one that should have been left as a bed-time story.

[tpigeon 3]

There is no content without form. The content of a story is only relevant in relation to its form. It is the form that creates the content. We are all brought up on the notion that it is the other way around, but that is simply not the case.

I am curious, Morlock: you talk about good stories and bad stories. I would like to know how you come to the conclusion that a given story is good or bad, especially for film. What informs these decisions?

Ted

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

That's like saying thare can never be terrible lyrics in a song.

Actually it's more like saying the subject of those lyrics is terrible, or the ideas the songwriter explores. Sure, the lyrics might be poorly written, but you can't say the emotion behind it is.

[Morlock 11]

There is no content without form. The content of a story is only relevant in relation to its form. It is the form that creates the content. We are all brought up on the notion that it is the other way around, but that is simply not the case.

I am curious, Morlock: you talk about good stories and bad stories. I would like to know how you come to the conclusion that a given story is good or bad, especially for film. What informs these decisions?

Ted

The film in question. This was a story that when I heard of it sounded like a terrible story for a film. And the film did nothing to disprove that notion. I'll be convinced that this story was fitting for a film when I see a good film made of it.

Whenever I hear or read a story, I wonder if it would make a good film or not. It's generally nothing specific, just a sense I get. I was reading a good Harry Turtledove book the other day, thought it would make a brilliant film. Before that, I read another good Harry Turtledove book, and thought it would make a terrible film. The Lady in Water sounds like a fine bedtime story for Mr. Shyamalan's kids. I don't think it should have been filmed.

[Red 75]

But Lady in the Water could have been a good film.