What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Ollie 1,059]

[Red 75]

Those are the same people who made Buffy stay on the air for so long.

[Morlock 11]

Have you seen Firefly, Morlock?

No, I have not.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Have you seen Firefly, Morlock?

Would it matter if he did?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

People who've seen the show generally rate Serenity much higher than people who haven't, I've noticed.

It's practically been voted Greatest Thing Since Slice Bread a few times in the UK, but I think it's safe to assume some internet recruiting went on in those polls.

- Marc, who's had both Firefly and Serenity lying around on DVD for quite a while but still hasn't seen either.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

People who've seen the show generally rate Serenity much higher than people who haven't, I've noticed.

That's hardly unusual with these kinds of films.

Star Trek films are more appriciated by fans of the series. Same for X-Files The Movie.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I thought the X-Files movie was pretty good. And I haven't seen much of the show.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes it's surprisingly good, especially considering it has no real beginning or end.

good score too.

[Morlock 11]

I found it to be very forgettable.

[Morlock 11]

Three films for ya.

Rocky Balboa. I am not a big Rocky fan. In fact, I only saw the first film from begining to end a few months ago for the first time, and haven't seen any of the following 4. Yet, still, this film work surprisingly well. I do not think the fight or the build-up towards it is very convincing, and I could've have done without the girl and her son. But, that did not hamper the film for me too much (surprisingly). I loved the feel of the film, I could feel the 3 decades on the screen, even if I've only been privy to the original. Only other film I can recall that had a similar effect on me was The Godfather Pt. III- Not a particularly good movie on it's own, but has some striking images and some real resonance because of it's predecessors. The throw-back and flashbacks to the original film really affected me.

Aside from that, I thought I'd seen blue collar on screen before. But I don't recall ever feeling a true blue collar neighborhood and life before this. I find it very touching, the fact that Stallone still manages to stay close to his roots after all these years, and not romanticize the setting.

I was rather surprised, pleasantly so, by the visual shenanigans going on there- some particularly strikingly lit scenes (the one in front of the demolished ice rink hit me), and the cinematography, editing, and color in the dramatic scenes of the big fight. I do think that they made a mistake making a lot of the fight 'realistic' looking. It does not make for good cinema, IMO. The more showy and dramatic portions shows this. Since, frankly, I didn't honestly buy that Rocky can do this, and the ESPN look of it didn't help the believability. No, I think it should have been staged and scored. Still, the ending, with the final, triumphant fanfare kind of makes you forget all of that....a worthy send-off.

***/****.

Jurassic Park. Damn entertaining movie. Ending brings it down a bit, yes, but I think for most of it is damn fine entertainment. And even with the final part of the action climax- it's almost all worth it for that shot fo the T-Rex and the poster coming down. I like the dialogue in the film, I like the acting, I love the music. Great sound, the effects are still mighty impressive. This was the first time I paid attention to what an excelelnt job Rick Carter did with the sets.

The film does capture the wonder of the dinosaurs, and I don't think loses that sense of wonder. The humans are the intruders. I always liked that about the film. It's like Starship Troopers (with far better production values).

Not an important film, and you can feel that Spielberg has more brain than heart at work here......but it's a damn entertaining film. Love Goldblum and Attenborough.

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

Rob Roy. Not quite sure what drove me to put in this hissy VHS.....but I don't regret it (even though I had to put on headphones to be able to make out all the dialogue). Very good film, love the feel of it. Liam Neeson is solid. There is very little to the role, the charcter pales in comparison to his Michael Collins or Oscar Schindler, but, still, he looks, sounds, and feels the part. Jessica Lange is very good, a surprisngly big female part. The character is more interesting than the title character is, and she does it well. Then there are the British actors, who are all as great as the actors from the isles usually are. Especially John Hurt, who does a fine job of showing us his thinking without saying it outright. Then, of course, there is Tim Roth. Surely one of his more striking performances here. A marvelous villain, and I did like the implied Oedipus complex in there. Brian McCardie also deserves mention, he is very good as Roy's brother.

And then, there's the fight. One of the most impressive sword fights captured on film, and surely the most realistic. I realized with quite a start that this is the first time I could actually sense that the swords these people are fighting with weigh something. No showy slashing about for minutes to no end. It felt like real men using real swords, gettign out of breath, tired, and really feeling what was at stake. You can believe that the outcome of this fight will be according to the characters, not story's necessity.

Film looks lovely enough (reportedly, the DP left the project at some point, and Roger Deakins, greatest living DP, came in to replace him).

Score by Carter Burwell is excellent. It's backbone is the one theme he wrote, which initially sounded a bit strange to me...but it works every time.

A very good and satisfiyng yarn, who's greatest asset (IMO) is it's relative modesty. I think it's that modesty allows all the ideas about honor work, instead just sounding corny.

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

[Red 75]

I'm a fan of Jurassic Park, but I find it to be overrated in Spielberg's cannon.

[A24 4,333]

Some people consider Serenity to be one of (if not the best) sci-fi films ever made. Those people are called fanboys.

It's not even science fiction. It's major BS in an impure form but it's got more life in it than any of the Prequels. What a world, what a world!

Alex

I'm a fan of Jurassic Park, but I find it to be overrated in Spielberg's cannon.

Terrible movie! It's all no brain, no heart. Only one is worse and that's its sequel. You better see Jaws or Westworld instead.

[Morlock 11]

Ah....one day, you're child will be watching JP on TV. You will come in and say 'No, child, this is one of the worst movies ever made', to which your child will say 'But I like it....please watch it with me father, it will be ever so fun to watch the film together', and you will sit down and watch Jurassic Park. I'd like to prepar you for that day. Since on that fateful day, you will discover that Jurassic Park, a film that for years you found to be personally offensive in it's badness, is not a bad movie. Not even that, you'll even chuckle at the jokes, be engaged by the set-up, and be interested in the action scenes.

Alas, you currently suffer from Reverse-Jurassic-Park-itis. It is the symptom in which a person who is so heartbroken at seeing people exaggerate how good JP is, that you have developed a knee-jerk aversion to anything related to the film.

It will take time, and a lot of love. But one day....one day, you'll be able to move past all that, and enjoy Jurassic Park for what it is.

What a magical day that will be.

[Ollie 1,059]

Yes it was a fun film to sit down and watch it with my kids. My daughter spent the last hour sitting in my lap with her hands over her eyes, occasionally peeking at the screen.

[A24 4,333]

Wag The Dog. Actually, I can't really say that I've seen it because I just dumped it in the garbage (after only 30-40 minutes into the movie). I can't believe David Mamet worked on the screenplay. It's a political satire but there's simply nothing funny about it. Luckily I got mega cheap.

Alex-who doesn't want his DVD collection to be infested by bad movies.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

After seven excellent seasons of Deep Space Nine, 2 excellent and 1 dubious season of the original series, I've arrived at this film. Possibly the most important 2 and a bit hours in the history of this franchise.

Not only did it's success make the other 9 films and 4 series possible, it also, in many ways dictated the Star Trek look. (A Klingon vessel in DS9 has essentially the same interiour as the one shown here. Most Starfleet vessels and Stations get their look from what we see in this film.)

This film, as important as it is, has a fair number of faults.

Some of the action is pretty bad. Shatner is at his most unappealing here, Nimoy is only servicable and Persis Khambatta and Stephen Collins are really rather bad in their one-dimensional roles. (DeForest Kelley is the most successfull is recapturing the essence of his character, with Doohan following him)

The worst thing however is how little this is about our beloved Star Trek crew, one could change the names in the script and still end up with basically the same film. It's an Alien Of The Week episode, with an epic budget.

Having said that, this film is certainly not without it's joys. Yes, it's slow, even in the improved Director's Edition, but so what? It's also beautiful to look at and the sound effects and music is fantastic. Grab a large bag of crisps, crack open a Pineapple Breezer and let this audio/visuel feast wash all over you.

The special effects are still superb, with the exception of 2001, I have not seen anything that so effectively gives the illusion of the vastness of space, and the vastness of Vejur. Jerry Goldsmith's score is amongst the best scores ever composed and this DE supervised by Robert Wise and David C. Fein's mercifully and skillfully hide any edits that they might have had to do for this upgraded version.

The new special effects also blend in very well with the old footage, with the possible exception of one shot of the now cloudless Vejur aproaching Earth.

Lucas should watch this film, it might be a lesson for him.

Flawed but good, *** out of ****

[Morlock 11]

Wag The Dog. Actually, I can't really say that I've seen it because I just dumped it in the garbage (after only 30-40 minutes into the movie). I can't believe David Mamet worked on the screenplay. It's a political satire but there's simply nothing funny about it. Luckily I got mega cheap.

Alex-who doesn't want his DVD collection to be infested by bad movies.

You are hopeless.

[Red 75]

I thought you respected Alex's opinions, Morlock.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Alex & Morlock are like Spock and McCoy.

Though i've yet to figure out who is who....

[Morlock 11]

I thought you respected Alex's opinions, Morlock.

Oh, I do. Very much. I wouldn't bother posting if someone else posted such a questionable post. I respect Alex too much to not answer his post.

[Romão 2,274]

Wag The Dog. Actually, I can't really say that I've seen it because I just dumped it in the garbage (after only 30-40 minutes into the movie). I can't believe David Mamet worked on the screenplay. It's a political satire but there's simply nothing funny about it. Luckily I got mega cheap.

Alex-who doesn't want his DVD collection to be infested by bad movies.

Mark Knopfler's score is very enjoyable.

[Morlock 11]

It's a terrific movie, and, yes, Knopfler's low key is enjoyable.

[John Crichton 4]

(DeForest Kelley is the most successfull is recapturing the essence of his character, with Doohan following him)

Funny, I've always found McCoy to be off in this movie, either due to the writing or performance. And I always get a laugh during one part of the "voyage through the cloud" sequence, McCoy literally walks onto the bridge, looks around a bit, and walks back off.

And I know I missed the Serenity/Firefly discussion, but I've got to back my man Joss. Serenity the film is very good, but the Firefly series is really special, what they did in so few episodes is amazing. But as much as I love Joss I'll be the first to admit that his style isn't for everyone.

[Ollie 1,059]

(DeForest Kelley is the most successfull is recapturing the essence of his character, with Doohan following him)

Funny, I've always found McCoy to be off in this movie, either due to the writing or performance. And I always get a laugh during one part of the "voyage through the cloud" sequence, McCoy literally walks onto the bridge, looks around a bit, and walks back off.

For a awhile it seems that's all McCoy does. He walks on the bridge, argues with Kirk or shoots him a dirty look and then leaves.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

It's a terrific movie, and, yes, Knopfler's low key is enjoyable.

Terrific? I think Alex was his usual harsh self, but to call Wag the Dog a terrific movie? What's terrific about it? Actors, editing, directing, cinematography... all are quite uninteresting because it feels like everyone thought that the fact that they were in the movie was enough.

And the man only saw the best part of it. You should've seen the FINAL 40 minutes or so.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Week 16:

66. Hot Fuzz (2007)

I loved every second of this movie. It's both an homage and a sendup of the balls-to-the-walls action movie, and it never once breaks its style. Not a single time does it mug at the audience and go "oh, look, isn't this funny," which makes the climactic shootouts even more hilarious.

Seriously, this film is awesome. I haven't laughed this hard at over-the-top action scenes since Team America: World Police, and I haven't wanted there to be more when the credits started so badly since The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Excellent stuff.

[Morlock 11]

Terrific? I think Alex was his usual harsh self, but to call Wag the Dog a terrific movie? What's terrific about it? Actors, editing, directing, cinematography... all are quite uninteresting because it feels like everyone thought that the fact that they were in the movie was enough.

Sigh......we've had this one before, 2-3 years back. I love Wag The Dog, think it's a terrific film with an excellent screenplay, very good performances, and (generally) well-directed.

Dustin Hoffman is fun, the early scenes with him are great, the way he bounces off Dennis Leary and his team- I thought that was great chemistry. And it's also the last notable DeNiro performance in my book. He's never given any credit, but he really holds it together, in a far more subdued way than he usually does.

I love the film, and think it is a wonderfully witty and quotable satire.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Sigh......we've had this one before, 2-3 years back.

And you still haven't learned?

[Morlock 11]

As I recall, you were on my side, defending the film against Neil. You used to be cool, man.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Yeah, I also thought Friends was the funniest sitcom ever.

Age and reruns tend to prove you wrong.

[Morlock 11]

Well, age has not yet turned againt me, where Wag The Dog is concerned.

[Red 75]

Age has helped The Phantom Menace.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Attack of the Clones has helped The Phantom Menace.

It looks better by comparison.

[Ollie 1,059]

Nothing can help AOTC.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Except for the shots of Coruscant and Natalie Portman. Really pretty.

[Jacob 0]

Nothing can help AOTC.

The SW live action TV series might. But I'm hopeful.

[Red 75]

The Clone Wars animated series helped AOTC a little bit, but that was only due to the fact that it was better than it.

[QMM 4]

The difference between Grievous in Clone Wars and him in ROTS was astounding.

[Red 75]

Yeah, he was actually a frightening and powerful villian in the cartoon.

[Morlock 11]

Fargo. Love the look and feel of the film. Terrific writing and performances. ****/****.

Intolerable Cruelty. Very funny rom-com. Love Richard Jenkins. Terrific music, between the Elvis Main Titles and Carter Burwell's love theme and mambo. ***1/2/****.

To Be or not To Be (1983). Some hillarious scenes with Brooks, Charles Durning and christopher Lloyd , though there was an uneasy balance between the humor and the heavier subjects. I find it sad that Jose Ferrer was reduced in the 80's into small parts in lesser Mel Brooks and Woody Allen movies. In the 50's he was one of the most electric screen actors out there. **1/2/****.

Saw a local film, first time I've seen an Israeli film in the theater (tells you how much faith I have in them....). It's called Beaufort, and I thought it was terrific. It's about the final days of an IDF unit in the Crusador fort (well, the bunker adjacant to it) in Lebanon known as Beaufort. Based on real events, it takes place right before the Israeli retreat from Lebanon in 2000. Good, solid, some powerful moments. Looks good, is well acted, mostly well-written, and the reconstruction of the location on sets and other locations is uncanny. Music is mostly unimpressive electronics, but towards the end it gets more orchestral and gets very good towards the finale. Film is making the rounds world-wide, and recently won the Silver Bear award at The Berlin film festival (that's for best directing) ***1/2/****.

Saw the four Harry Potter movies a few weeks ago (also re-read the last couple of books). 1st is still pretty good, but not terribley imaginative (***). 2nd is still the first, with the less interesting story (**1/2). 3rd shames the other three, it's so much better (***1/2). 4th is still a terrible handling of the material. Inept filmmaking at work (Theoretically a **, maybe even a **1/2, but leaves such a terrible taste in one's mouth that I can't give it more than a *1/2).

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I agree with you on the Potter flicks. GOF is so bad, it made its mediocre source material look like a masterpiece by comparison; even the picture quality is terrible, I wish they'd get over this computerised muted washed-out desaturated look, it's painful to watch.

[nightscape94 965]

Hard Candy. This movie is pretty messed up. It initially seems to be a straight forward account about the systematic tourture of a child predator, by a 14 year old girl, but you're not really sure what the facts about the situation are, or what type of information the girl knows. It remains hidden until the very end, and only then do you realize that there is an actual story. Truthfully, I think it was a great flick, but perhaps a bit of an overachiever. The ending seemed a bit much, slighty tacked on as though they felt compelled to supply some type of valid excuse for what the girl did. I think there was almost too much story, which became completely unbelievable, but it still raised some interesting points and questions, and there are times of real terror here. (***1/2 out of 4).

Blood Diamond. Good movie, but it seemed like many movies going on at the same time. Like Hard Candy, I think it would have been better off centering on one or two things instead of several. Still, it's very powerful when it concentrates. (*** out of 4).

Tim

[A24 4,333]

Hard Candy. Truthfully, I think it was a great flick, but perhaps a bit of an overachiever. The ending seemed a bit much, slighty tacked on as though they felt compelled to supply some type of valid excuse for what the girl did. I think there was almost too much story, which became completely unbelievable, but it still raised some interesting points and questions, and there are times of real terror here. (***1/2 out of 4).

I agree. The film lost its impact due to the ending. The climax, as it is, is way too far-fetched and turns it into a more shallow experience. With a better ending this film could've amplified its own virtues, its"profoundness". It's because of this that I find your rating too high. 3 stars is more than sufficient.

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Star Trek II: The Chest Of Khan.

Well, that's more like it.

After the epic, but rather barren and distant first film, this one scales things down a notch to Star Trek's humble TV origins.

Acting of the familiar has has much improved, Shatner is outstanding as an aging, vulnerable Kirk. Nimoy finds that delicate balance of creating a character with no emotion, who you yet feel for nontheless, and DeForst Kelly get's a bit more to do then just walking on the bridge for no reason and looking angry at Kirk.

Ncholas Meyer, a very intelligent and underused director/screenwriter, manages to find the right tone even though the look of the film is radically different from that of the original series, and to some extent the first film (especially when they aren't re-using effects shots from TPM).

Even though this is sci-fi, Meyer keeps this film grounded in reality.

Ricardo Montalblan is still, 25 years later the definitive Star Trek villian to which all others are measured.

He recaptures the essence of his performance in TOS, and add's to that a deeply burning rage of a powerfull man who has been terribly wronged.

It's a larger then live performance, in which Khan's hate for Kirk becomes palatable, but Montablan never strays into overacting. To some extent it reminds me of Robert Shaw's Queni from Jaws. (though both characters are clearly modeled after Captain Ahab)

Magnificently done.

The special effects, through somewhat crude looking by today's standards hold up well. I especially love the whole design of the nebula.

The score is fantastic, this film MADE James Horner. It's in reality little more then a re-imagining of his score for Battle Beyond The Stars (which gleefully stole from Goldsmith's TMP score), and I suppose a few parts are....referenced from famous classical works. But there's such a huge energy and exuberance in it, that I really don't care.

Horner also seems to have watched TOS for this, because one of his motifs in the track Khan's Pet's is very close to a motif used time and again in the old series.

Faults? A few.

The most famous ones are the 2 plot oversights. Chekov was not part of the cast yet when Space Seed was made. (the fanboy Trekkie response now being that he was on the Enterprise, but not part of the bridgecrew, and so could have met Khan...yada...yada...)

The other being that this whole stuff about Ceti Alpha 6 having blown up and so the crew of the Reliant mistaking the 5th for the 6th planet really doesn't wash.

Why is Kirk so nervous when Saavik get's to take command of the ship and pilot it out of spacedock? Sulu is doing the actual flying here, it's not like he's gonne crash The Enterprise?

David seems to be in sickbay at one moment and 10 seconds later he's on the bridge....hmmm...

**** out of ****

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I didn't know Montalban's bare chest was one of the plot's key elements.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's impressive though, isn't it?

If he were a women, we might have had something here.....

[Ollie 1,059]

Star Trek II: The Chest Of Khan.

Why is Kirk so nervous when Saavik get's to take command of the ship and pilot it out of spacedock? Sulu is doing the actual flying here, it's not like he's gonne crash The Enterprise?

David seems to be in sickbay at one moment and 10 seconds later he's on the bridge....hmmm...

**** out of ****

Good review Steef, although I think part of Kirk's reaction was that he was hoping that Spock would let him take the Enterprise out of dock. And that's why McCoy shot Spock that angry look.

It's impressive though, isn't it?

If he were a women, we might have had something here.....

Then Kirk would have banged her and saved everyone alot sooner.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

Wasn't Khan's bang at the end big enough for you?

[John Crichton 4]

What's always been interesting to me (and something the "Picard has to have a fistfight with the villain at the end of the movie" Next Gen guys could've learned from) is that Kirk and Kahn never meet face to face in the movie. They communicate through the viewscreen and comms, but all the actual physical action is done through their ships, and is much more dramatic as a result.

[Ollie 1,059]

Khan would have intimidated Picard.