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What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II


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Are you trying to block that out?

By the way, I've enjoyed a few episodes of Smallville, but really, it isn't that good of a show.

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Also very good. Complementary but not obtrusive. I didn't know who it was by but when I saw that it was Powell, that totally made sense.

~Sturgis

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The Luthors, Morlock. The Luthors make the show!

The rest is teenage, pop filler.

Yeah, the young Luthor is pretty much the best thing about the show.

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Well, the "Lois-there's-something-I-need-to-tell-you" bit isn't a particular achievement in subtlety.

its not subtle, it shows just how different each character is with just a few nuances. Its a marvelous moment.

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Nuances? What's nuaced about it? It's almost parody - it's going from one extreme tothe other for a comical effect. It isn't precisely remarkable from an acting point of view.

Now, Clark's theme playing through that moment is something to behold.

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The Luthors, Morlock. The Luthors make the show!

The rest is teenage, pop filler.

Yeah, the young Luthor is pretty much the best thing about the show.

well, Kristin Kreuk is hot...

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The Adventures of Robin Hood, again. Great fun in the old Hollywood style. Cheesy as hell. Errol Flynn can't be beaten as The Hooded One, even in that Tinkerbell outfit. I love the dialogue:

"You speak treason."

"Fluently."

"He's one of us."

"One of us? He looks like three of us."

And of course the score is a great classic.

I'm tempted by the thought of an updated telling of this legend, with Lord of the Rings type production values - I'm thinking specifically set and costume design, and 2.35:1 wide screen. But chances are they'd gum up everything else.

Speaking of which, has anyone heard of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood project? Can't say I'm very enthused about the premise.

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The Flynn version is great, fun, adventure with great color and a great score. The Costner version is bad in every way, save, of course for Rickman.

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I always felt that Rickman was in a different film than all the other actors. His character, either as written or performed, just doesn't seem to fit everything else around him.

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Save for Rickman, Freeman, Kamen, Connery, Blessed and some of the action scenes are well done.

Freeman has a couple of cute moments, nothing more. Connery feels totally out place. Blessed makes almost no impact. And Kamen's score didn't save the film from it's almost entirely forgettable existance. The only action scene that I remember liking is Robin and Little John's duel.

Just saw Hairspray. I haven't had this much fun watching a musical since Chicago. The songs aren't memorable, but I coudn't help but get swept up by the energy and goodwill of the performers in this film. Niki Blonsky is terrific in the lead. So are her best friend and love interest. I never thought I'd like James Marsden in a film....but I did like him here. I've never been a michelle Pfeifer fan, but between this and Stardust, I have a feeling that's gonna change...I loved her here, and I'm sure I'm gonna love everything about Stardust. Christopher Walken is wonderful in this gentle, loving turn. And John travolta works in the role. He did a good job of actually creating a character, while still reminding us that this is a guy in a fat suit every once in a while. And while the song isn't memorable, Walken and Travolta's dance is quite charming.

Not a great musical, but a great time at the movies. ***/****. It's the kind of fun everyone said there would be in Dreamgirls (which I am not a big fan of).

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Pacific Heights: There is something about this movie. Every time I start watching it, I have to watch it all the way to the end. I love the premise, even though I have some serious doubts about the likelihood of it all. It's fairly original for a thriller. Michael Keaton plays his role to perfection. It's made by John Schlesinger, who was once a very promising director (Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man) but somehow he sunk into mediocrity.

Alex

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It's... not very good.

So I've heard.

Just saw Return of the King extended edition for the first time. I know. Shoot me.

It was great seeing things more fleshed out and given greater context. Although I'm probably going to have nightmares about the Mouth of Sauron for weeks. ROTFLMAO

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On the DVD: Mission: Impossible, M: I 2, GoodFellas and Hannibal. In cinema: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (both thumbs up) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (both thumbs down).

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The Simpsons Movie - Pretty hilarious. Jokes hit more often than they miss, and I love the bit where Homer was whipping his snow dogs. Sadistic. ;)

The Shining - Creepy indeed. But whats with the ending? :)

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I'm probably going to have nightmares about the Mouth of Sauron for weeks. ;)

That was alright, though he was not as frightening as he was in the book.

Yeah, there was a lot more Peter Jackson comic creepy there than Tolkien.

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I'm sorry I'm not here talking about such masterpieces as the Star Trek movies, but there must be room for junk like the following films somewhere in there.

Kundun. Much like Gandhi, the movie suffers from a far too reverential view of the man in question. The movie looks marvelous (thanks to Roger Deakins's cinematography and Dante Ferreti's costume and production design), is well acted, and features a generally excellent score by Philip Glass....but none of those can overcome the pretty shallow and not terribly interesting script. Certainly of the least engaging of Scorsese's films.

But further mention must be made of the score. This is certainly the most score Scorsese has had in a film, and the score is very prominant in the mix. It does suffer, like all Glass music, from generally sounding like all other Glass music. Still, that works in context. And he's got a couple of terrific ideas in there, a thoroughly un-minimalistic woodwind theme that is quite good in the film, as well as the magnificent extended finale.

**1/2/****, with a mention that I cannot imagine wanting to see this film ever again. Perhaps for the score, I will someday.

The Duellists. Sumptuous movie. I think the film's main story could have used either a bit more fleshing out, or a clearer begining. It took about 20 minutes for me to get into the film, but eventually it clicked. The performances are fine, surprisingly. I thought that Keith Carradine (Whom I'd never seen act before) would be blown out of the water by all the Brits and Keitel, but he was a very good, sunny presence in the film. He fit in the pastoral stuff very well. Keitel does not have very much to do, but he does sell the man's zeal abley enough.

The film basically comes down to two things- the duels, which are generally very good, and far more believable than your average duel, and the visuals. The visuals of this film are quite extraordinary, especially when concidering that this is the first film by a team that had only made commericals until than. Several images that stand out, beautiful, epic scale stuff- but none moreso than the final image, of Keitel standing on the edge of that cliff, overlooking the coulds, the valley, and the mountains across the way, with the sun peeking through the clouds perfectly. I was not surprised to learn that this image was one Scott had scene of Napolian in a painting (the hat certainly enforces the Napolian connection, which is quite fitting).

Score, by Howard Blake (who has an isolated score and commentary track), is quite good. His "motif" for the duels themselves (aggitated strings) is a bit hackneyed, but his main theme is good, and he's got that beautifuly simple woodwind idea going on, with the oboes and the bassoons (playing at the top of their register).

Certainly an auspicious debut, and one can see that this is the director of Alien, with the delibarate pace and the knack for lighting. Now that I've become such a huge fan of Scott's post-2000 work, I think this is a good time to view and review his earlier work. Yes, another viewing of Alien should fit nicely (And, while I'm at it, I suppose it's about time I continued onto at least Cameron's film, and possibly Fincher's).

***1/2/****.

;) 'Man versus man' from The Bourne Ultimatum by John Powell

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The Duellists.

***1/2/****

That must be the highest score anyone has ever given it. I think it's more like a **1/2 movie because, like with most Scott films, it lacks substantial depth (For that I way much prefer Barry Lyndon - which Scorsese names Kubrick's most daring project, BTW). Of course, the images and the style make up for it. After all, at that time, Scott was a visual artist with already thousands of commercials on his resume. If there's anyone who knows how to capture something on film and make it look good, it's him!

Alex

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The visuals and style gave the story an importance and epic quality that made up for a lot, in my eyes. And I'm a big Barry Lyndon fan.

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Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom

A sadistic, bloodsoaked tale involving child slavery, whippings, people scolded by fire, shot, stabbed, poisened, hung, hearts ripped out, sacrificed into a pit of molten lava and spat upon.

It's bloody fantastic.

After Raiders, which worked like a swiss watch, it's plot, directing, acting, sound and music all perfectly in sync, this second film goes completely banana's on all these fronts and more. They must have though bigger, darker and louder is better.

While Raiders will always be the Indiana Jones film that will feature in the top 25 list of the serious movie critic, this one is just so incredibly exciting, like Santa Claus and Ronald McDonald having a pie fight in a circus big top.....with jungle animals on the loose.

Ford is in tip top form in his second outing as Indiana (he looks great) and he's well supported.

Kate Capshaw is very good as the feisty, but very annoying Willy Scott, and Ke Huy Quan completely holds his own next to Harrison Ford in his prime. He's actually a force to be reckoned with in this film, not the usual cutesy kid.

Amrish Puri as Mola Ram is excellent in portraying pure, insane evil.

Stunts, sopecial effects and set design all look larger then life, and that's a good thing. Some of the stuntwork in Raiders looked like they were actually plausible. Here is a film that asks you to check your sense of reality at the door, and gets away with it.

What can I say about the music, it's almost all over this film, it's bloody loud most of the time too.

While the CD focuses mostly on the big, fanfaric action stuff, there bis a whole lot of the atmospheric, darker writing that is still missing and needs...NEEDS to be released!

The complete Temple Of Doom is the last missing Holy Grail of John Williams' film music!

This is one of the few films that still makes me feel as young as the day I first sat in front of the TV openeyed when someone's heart was being ripped out.

***1/2 out of ****

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I heartily agree. It's a mess, but a totally captivating and endearing one, with humor ranging from perfectly executed parody (the camping scene) to the most juvenile sight gags ("Water! Water!"). And it's one of those cases where anything less than balls-out overscoring wouldn't be acceptible.

Saw The Asphault Jungle. This is the second classic heist film with Sterling Hayden I've seen in the past couple of weeks, and it frankly is the far weaker of the two. The heist itself is terrific, I love how perfectly come and concidered everyone is, taking Sam Jaffe's lead...but most of what comes before and after is so melodramatic and not very interesting. To be fair, after The Killing, I'm sure most heist films would pale in comparison, and Sam Jaffe and Louis Calhern are interesting characters...but the story just doesn't crack it for me. James Whitmore's character is never developed. Marc Lawrence is the only other cast member of interest.

The camera is generally rather boring (even though the opening shjots promise something else). I believe Miklos Rozsa supplied only two cues in the whole film, the opening, melodramatic noir music, and the music for the last 3-4 minutes.

**1/2/****.

P.S. Ross- I still don't see you're major gripe againt John Huston. This is the first film of his that I wasn't in any way impressed with his direction. Except for one, all the others I've seen by him have been good, and even Annie has it's pluses.

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I heartily agree. It's a mess, but a totally captivating and endearing one, with humor ranging from perfectly executed parody (the camping scene) to the most juvenile sight gags ("Water! Water!"). And it's one of those cases where anything less than balls-out overscoring wouldn't be acceptible.

And despite the darkness the score also features some of Williams' best comic moments ever ("No one's flying the plane!", Nocturnal Activities, Willie getting on the elephant, the big chord when Indy's hand comes through the wall...)

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It's the weakest of the trilogy for me, but it's still a great film. I'd probably give it an 8 out of 10.

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I liked the way it showed Blue collar life. That totally unglamerous life we rarely see.

And despite the darkness the score also features some of Williams' best comic moments ever ("No one's flying the plane!", Nocturnal Activities, Willie getting on the elephant, the big chord when Indy's hand comes through the wall...)

I think Bug Tunnel is one of JW's most amusing works in a film.

Wonder Boys. God, I love this imperfect film. And it gave Dylan an Oscar - what more can you ask?

Michael Douglas' pink bathrobe as a merchandise item.

I don't remember much of the film....but I do remember that. Best bathrobe this side of The Dude's (which is kinda untouchable).

The local Cinemateque had a showing of Ken Branagh's The Magic Flute. The film really took me by surprise, it wasn't at all what I expected. Big scale, TONS of CGI. And it felt very light and fluffy throughout-I was expecting something far more heavyhanded. Overall, I think there's a reason opera rarely has success in film....it is just too much. Too much music. Especially with Mozart. And all of it is loud.

That being said....the film drew me in at the get go, with it's wonderful comic sense of the overture, and the opening song. I think that, generally speaking, the translation was quite successful (still, thank god they had subtitles). THe bubbly, humerous tone was in there for most of the piece.

The plot is, of course, quite operatic, and not terribly ripe for screenplay form......but that's not why we're here. What the hell does Stephen Fry have to do with Branagh and Mozart, BTW?

The performances, I thought, were quite good. Very operatic. A very inane thing to say, but they don't really classify as anything else.

Overall- it didn't really feel like a film. It felt like a large scale BBC production. I can't review it as a film. And I can't review it as opera, seeing as I know less than nothing about opera (the only reason I know this opera at all is because of the parts they featured in Amadeus).

Well...those are my thoughts. I apologize. BRING ON SLUETH!

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I think my dad has Silverado... I downloaded Broughton's score for it to sample it before buying it on CD eventually...but I'm curious how the movie is, is it one you people would recommend?

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Saw Stardust yesterday and really enjoyed it. It was fun being drawn into a world I hadn't read before in a book, or even knew anything about beforehand. The plot was interesting with all the various storylines coming together, and it had a good mix of adventure, fantasy, and humor. The two romantic leads (Claire Danes and that guy) were great together, playing very relatable characters with engaging chemistry. DeNiro was a riot, and Michelle Pfeiffer was just delicious, as I knew she would be. Mark Williams (Mr. Weasley) makes a hilarious appearance as well. Oh, and the narrator was terrific; I was sure I recognized the voice from the start, and turned out to be right.

The score was quite good also, though it made liberal use of that ubiquitous and seemiingly MV-inspired minor chord progression, and had another main theme pretty similar to Shore's hobbit theme. Still, it was enjoyable and fully orchestral, and featured some nice swashbuckling music throughout. Looks like it won't be released for another month or so, though.

Anyway, I recommend this film for a good time at the movies. A- or ***1/2

Ray Barnsbury

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Stardust was great. Anyone who likes fantasy should see it. The music was especially good considering that the composer is relatively unknown to most of us. I will definitely go get this soundtrack the day it is released.

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What can I say about the music, it's almost all over this film, it's bloody loud most of the time too.

While the CD focuses mostly on the big, fanfaric action stuff, there bis a whole lot of the atmospheric, darker writing that is still missing and needs...NEEDS to be released!

The whole tense and mysterious Deal for the Diamond segment

Flight over the Himalayas

All the Village cues

Trek to Pancock Palace

Getting the Stones

Underground Heroics

Running from the Water

Most of the Bridge action music and the amazing Finale

I say the unreleased lot is better than the released c.d.

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I'm wondering if I saw the same Stardust. The film I saw was bleh on almost every level. The score was laughably MV-ish. And as opposed to, say, the Joss Whedon style of mixing humor with drama, this film has the opposite effect. The humor, while perhaps good at times, undermined any sense of drama and kept me from taking it at all seriously (I'm thinking of the end of the film, particularly). About the only good thing I saw were some of the performances. 5/10 stars for me.

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