What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Pitt is always good(if the movie works).He suffers that he he looks f****** awesome.

"a guy looking like that cannot be talented"

[Romão 2,274]

Well, tell that to Paul Newman.

[Morlock 11]

Saw the movie Tunes of Glory (1960). Directed by Ronald Neame (one time writer for David Lean, who later became attached to Irwin Allen, directing The Poseidon Adventure and Meteor), it stars Alec Guiness as a Scottish Colonel who, due to his loose and drunken attitude, is replcaed as head of his Battalion by John Mills. It's basically the struggle between Guiness and Mills, and not much more. It's worth it for their performances. Guiness is fantastic in one of his loudest and most showy roles, and Mills is certainly his match as the reserved Colonel vying to remove Guiness's influence from the Battalion. Susannah York plays Guiness's daughter, and, unfortunately, she's not particularly good in her small part.

Lots of great bagpipe music, arranged and written by Malcom Arnold.

Not a great movie, but a wonderful showcase for Guiness and Mills. ***/****.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I can understand why you are a big fan, Elmo. It's got this whole Philip K. Dick thing going on.

You know, you are right. There's the study of moral implications of "humanity going too far", substance abuse and a very troubled anti-hero.

[Morlock 11]

Well, I'll agree on the latter two topics. The first one, I don't recall it handeling in any particularly interesting way.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

What, how existing in two different realities ends up messing up your head? The time travel thingy was an interesting metaphor for a person's inner world - which is socially considered "madness" when it reaches certain proportions.

Still surprised you didn't like the film?

[Morlock 11]

Not in the slightest. I think your prose does more credit to the concept than Gilliam's filmmaking.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

There are two entire scenes devoted to debate about the consequences of existing in two different realities. And the "you're crazy" / "I'm not, this is real" rhetoric is a constantly recurring theme in the script.

I'm pretty sure it's not just a thriller.

[Morlock 11]

I never said it was just a thriller. Just that it wasn't a particularly memorable.

[Red 75]

It's one of the best presentations of time travel ever, if that counts for anything.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A Gilliam film is never unmemorable, Jonathan!

[Morlock 11]

I couldn't recall anything but the Lion in New York. I can remember the feeling of Fear and Loathing, but very few details. Same with Baron Munchausen, which is a film I recall liking when I saw it. The only things I really remember are Uma Thurman, Jonathan Pryce, and John Hurt in the lead (I have to remind myself that it was John Neville, in fact). Very little of Time Bandits....Ralph Richardson, maybe. Even David Warner is a bit fuzzy in my mind....

What can I say. I try to like his films. I'd like to like his films. But I don't particularly like his films.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Do drugs.

[Morlock 11]

If that isn't a signature, I don't know what is. And it even works well as a post script to my current sig!

[Romão 2,274]

Brothers Grimm had some good things, but the whole thing felt so flat.

[Red 75]

Do drugs.

I disagree.

[A24 4,359]

Brazil (which is in fact Gilliams reaction on Blade Runner) is massively loved but I didn't like it either. I just don't appreciate his "zany" style. I don't like him as a person either (not that I ever met him, or something). He's too flamboyant and over-the-top (like his films).

Alex

[fommes 154]

Isn't Twelve Monkeys like the watered down version of La jetée?

[Morlock 11]

What is La jetée?

The Machines are winning:

I just saw Fail-Safe for the first time. I've rarely been drawn in by suspense as much as I was in this one. I thought it was one heck of an effective film. It's amazing how similar it is in story to Dr. Strangelove, yet how totally different in tone it is. And, man, that Henry Fonda...no actor I've ever seen affects so much instant likabilty and sympathy. He just comes off as the most nice, moral man one's ever seen, and it never seems cloying.

Scary film. Another winner from Lumet. Gotta see Daniel, Prince of the City, and Long Day's Journey into night.

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

1941. Yup. Still a mess. I occaisionaly enjoy watching it...not this time, though. The only time I came close to smiling was John Belushi's entrance, and some of Tim Matheson's scenes. I'm skimming the 'making of'...Bob Gale is one of the most boring intervews I've ever seen.

[A24 4,359]

What is La jetée?

La Jetée is a short French film. It's supposed to be very good. The script of Brazil is inspired by it.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Is it really? Imdb claims Gilliam had not seen the short when he made Twelve Monkeys (although the credits acknowledge the script is based on it, even though it apparently doesn't have much to do with the result).

[A24 4,359]

Yes, Elmo, it is. David and Janet Peoples credit this in their script.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Whoa.

[Morlock 11]

Anyone hear know any of any good filmed operas/films of operas, or any particularly good musical movies (not musicals, movies with a musical subject)? I'm looking for some good music-related movies for a musician friend.

[QMM 4]

Anyone hear know any of any good filmed operas/films of operas, or any particularly good musical movies (not musicals, movies with a musical subject)? I'm looking for some good music-related movies for a musician friend.

Copying Beethoven wasn't bad (Ed Harris plays Beethoven). It goes from him composing the 9th Symphony to his death.

[Morlock 11]

I saw it. I didn't like it at all. Really disliked Ed Harris. It was worthwhile just for the performance of the 9th.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Kolja

Dancer in the Dark(ok , it's kind of musical but awesome)

[A24 4,359]

The Red Violin is supposed to be very good.

[Red 75]

It is. The score is amazing, too.

[Marian Schedenig 8,238]

Aye. Also don't forget Amadeus and West Side Story.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

United 93, considering the date.

Brilliantly executed docu-drama. It never loses its focus, which isn't to be found in the human beings (as turning them into fully-developed characters would be disrespectful and in bad taste), but on the overall mood instead. Chaos, incommunication, fear... those themes are the real characters in this film, and they get a deluxe treatment.

The score was bad and intrusive, but mixed low enough for me to not care. Greengrass, however, made up for that with a sober yet gripping script which denied almost all self-satisfying artistic approaches. His direction was also outstanding, especially considering it isn't easy to shoot inside a plane, let alone in a plane with a real-time pace involved, let alone in a plane which required attention to all details for historical accuracy's sake (this is the film's obsession, which sometimes plays against it).

I particularly liked the fact that for the first 50 minutes, the movie doesn't deal with the United 93 flight almost at all. The confusion and chaos surrounding the crashes aganst the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is very wisely employed to build up the tension and killer suspense regarding what's going to inevitably happen aboard the title flight -- which, for the best of an hour is coldly seen going about its mundane everyday events: newspaper talk, breakfast, and stewardesses.

If I have to underline a flaw in this movie, which is a difficult task, it would be the finale, for which Greengrass seemed to have less records. The change from realistic reconstructed document to action thriller isn't as smooth as it should be. But the final minute (especially that brilliant last shot) more than makes up for that.

Lastly, I am of the opinion that the less the image of the smoking towers is made public, the better. I fear I'll grow accustomed to that visually impressive yet hard-to-swallow sight. But every shot in this movie regarding the Twin Towers was masterful, especially when they are casually seen from inside the plane. The two crashes hit you like a punch in your stomach halfway through the movie.

Oh, and kudos to most of the actors. The ones that were actors, I mean.

[Morlock 11]

I agree with the great majority of that. I didn't really notice the score, aside from at the very, very end. Don't know why, I loved that final note.

[fommes 154]

Yeah The Red Violin is pretty good. Recommended viewing that one.

Canadian in its non-Canadien-ness as well. This aside though.

I can't believe you people haven't seen La jetée. How is a Last Film You Watched thread II 176 pages long without La jetée? There's also a literary photonovelisation of it.

Twelve Monkeys is a remake of that film. I have to admit it's been ages that I saw Gilliam's film, but as far as I can remember it's some kind of Hollywood narrativization of the original; perhaps Gilliam added some minor interesting touches of his own don't remember that. Don't think there's a Brazil connection there though, wrong Gilliam film. Brazil is great though, granted I'm not too fond of some aspects of his style (the same reason why some of the Python animated sequences are too... absurd in an American (?) way rather than British - others are brilliant though ). I'm especially fond of the ending sequence and Palin's disturbing acting performance and role.

[AI 0]

Good films with a music theme:

The Doors

Bright Lights, Big City

Rock Star

24 hour party people

[Red 75]

How can you name Rock Star and not The Blues Brothers? Bad form!

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Rock Star sucks. A lot. And then more.

[A24 4,359]

This week I've tried to watch Wilder's The Lost Weekend and The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes but I just couldn't sit through them. The first one is not a good drama and the latter is not a good comedy.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Anyone hear know any of any good filmed operas/films of operas, or any particularly good musical movies (not musicals, movies with a musical subject)? I'm looking for some good music-related movies for a musician friend.

This Is Spinal Tap?

[Morlock 11]

Thanks guys. In the end, I went for the first mildly intersting thing I found in the store: Zeffirili's staging of La Traviata. And, to have an even more cultural weekend, I also got Shakespeare, Eisenstein/Prokofiev, and Miyazaki. Unfortunately, cultural as it was, all four films I got were lacking to varying degrees.

First up, La Traviata. To say I am not the biggest opera fan would be an understatement. I know virtually nothing about opera, nor have I ever heard/seen an opera from begining to end in one sitting, save for Kenneth Branagh's film version of The Magic Flute. But I would like to like some opera, so I thought that picking one of the most famous and most popular ones would be the right way to go. I was wrong. I was rather bored throughout the piece, only perking up when the character of the father showed up.

Next up, Shakespeare. Or, rather, As You Like It by Kenneth Branagh. I enjoyed this one far more. I didn't get immersed with it, as I did with Much Ado About Nothing (which I love), but it was a fun couple of hours spent. The cast was terrific. Bryce Dallas Howard is vivacious and lively, totally believable in the setting and the accent. Kevin Kline is fun. David Oyelowo was very, very impressive as Orlando. Brian Blessed was Brian Blessed, and his presence is as blessed as it always is. I was rather dissapointed that there was so little of Alfred Molina in the film. The film looked beautiful, although the setting was confusing. Why on earth was this set in Japan? I was not wowed by Doyle's score, but it did the job. Although the final song was quite bad, and totally wrong. I mean, in Much Ado About Nothing, when everyone burst nito song in the end, it was ridicules, but at least it was a good and fitting song. This time, it sounded like a bad Christmas tune. A fun, fluffy film, but one I will not hurry to revisit. Branagh's head seemed elswhere (I hope to god it was on Sleuth, since his last film also suffered a similar shortcoming). **1/2/****.

Than came my first taste of Eisentein. Saw Alexander Nevsky. Didn't like the film at all. But, I wasn't really expecting to. I had rented it for the legendary score. But while the score was excellent....the recording is so terrible, that it often became more destracting than it was helpful. Such magnificent music, in such a terrible recording. As Andre Previn commented- "The greatest film score ever written, trapped in the worst soundtrack ever recorded".

Last, but not least, came Princess Mononoke. I loved Spirited Away, found Kiki's Delivary Service utterly charming, and while not terribly memorable story-wise, Howl's Movie Casting was a delight for the eyes. I approached this film with great anticipation. And, sure enough, the first half of it I loved. I was amazed by how ambitious it was in it's themes. That it is stunning was a forgone conclusion, but the seriousness of it's themes, and the way it chose to explore them.....I couldn't believe that it was so serious-minded, after the raltively innocuous Miyazaki films I've seen.

Unfortunately, I think that it's took on more than it could handle. I did not think it developed it's concepts and it's story very well. A lot of it did not fit when I tried to put it together. It's messages of humans and nature harmoniously co-existing, and the destructive effects of hate- I didn't feel it did a sufficiantly clear job of it. And, I'm sorry to say, I did not love the main characters nearly as much as I did in his other films. The main character struck me as boring and very one dimensional, his speechifying on 'Can't we all just get along?' got very tiresome. San, as well. I did not like her at all. I do not understand her importance in the story, and I am totally befuddled as to why the film is named after her.

The only character I was really interested in was Eboshi. I loved how this character was developed. But even her, I felt her character was totally short-changed at the end. I'm sure the score was terrific, but, I must admit, I was too wrapped up in the visuals and trying to make sense of the ideas of the film to take particular nore of it.

Overall, it gets high marks for ambition and for visuals. I felt it was lacking in story-telling. Spirited Away remains my favorite Miyazaki film. ***/****.

This week I've tried to watch Wilder's The Lost Weekend and The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes but I just couldn't sit through them. The first one is not a good drama and the latter is not a good comedy.

Those were the next two on my Wilder list......ah well. Even if everything else he made is garbage, six great films and three more very good ones is still an impressive track record in my book.

[Marian Schedenig 8,238]

Than came my first taste of Eisentein. Saw Alexander Nevsky. Didn't like the film at all. But, I wasn't really expecting to. I had rented it for the legendary score. But while the score was excellent....the recording is so terrible, that it often became more destracting than it was helpful.

I don't remember the recording, but I remember thinking that it was great music which supported the film only mildly well. I don't think it's a great film score.

[Morlock 11]

I think it would have, if the recording were a halfway decent one, and the performance were actually the one intended for the film (supposedly, the recording heard in the film was a mock-up, just a guide, not the intended version. Stalin liked the film so much as it was that no one dared to change anything in the film, including actually recording the score for real).

[Red 75]

Spirited Away is basically Alice in Wonderland on acid.

Or just a Japanese Alice, I can never tell.

[Morlock 11]

Alice in Wonderland is by definition on acid. If anything, Spirited Away is a normal, unfreaky Alice in Wonderland.

[Red 75]

I suppose, but I never caught on to that until recently. You just don't pick up on those things as a kid.

[Morlock 11]

The Bad and the Beautiful. Terrific Hollywood film about Hollywood. Well written (aside from a basic contrivance of the story-telling), well acted, well scored (by David Raksin), good looking, and rings true about how Hollywood really works. ***1/2/****.

The Crying Game. It's a tough film to deal with. I know I loved the first portion, with Stephen Rea and Forrest Whitacker. I know I was always very involved in the film. But, I'm sorry to say, the famous twist did leave me uncomfortable for the majority of the movie. Upon thinking about it, I like the idea of the relationship presented in the film, but was very much conflicted by seeing play out on screen. And the last scene left the tone of this heavy film on a note that was IMO much too light.

Certainly well acted by Stephen Rea (Who I've never disliked in a movie), and Jaye Davidson, who is extremely good in a very challenging role. Forrest Whitacker is also excellent in an odd role for him.

[A24 4,359]

The Third Man. Not one of my favorite films but the famous Ferris wheel scene with Welles and Cotton is an absolute standout. It's like all agonist/antagonist confrontations are based on this scene. The cuckoo clock speech is fantastic.

[Morlock 11]

I love every bit of the film, from the wonderful opening narrating by Reed, through the many terrific scenes (The Ferris Wheel being a standout) until the last shot, one of the best ever. It is one of my favorite movies. Top-10, probably, if I ever were to compile such a list.

[A24 4,359]

Yes, the ending is quite good. However, another real standout is the expression on Welles face when he steps out of the shadow.

[Morlock 11]

Certainly, one of the best character intros ever. He's talked about for the entire film, than you finally see him, with the grin of a kid who got caught playing a prank.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Third Man: Great film!!! Fantastic soundtrack. Dum de dum de dummm, de dum de dummm.

Just got back from seeing Mr Bean's Holiday. It was terrific! The film-makers went back to the more silent-comedy of the original TV series, less Hollywood preachy than Bean 1. This film had me and my friend laughing out loud throughout. It more than makes up for the slushy, embarassing Bean: The Ultimate Distaster Movie (1997).

Anyone who loved Mr Bean the TV series, but hated the first movie will get a kick out of this film.