What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Romão 2,274]

Angels in American. Fantastic first part. It was all downhill from there. Amazing performance by Jeffrey Wright.

[Morlock 11]

I've been meaning to see it again.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Sweeney Todd (***1/2)

The story is so-so and isn't really the main attention of the movie, but the acting and performances were phenomenal. I never knew Helena Bonham-Carter had such a great voice. Also, the make-up and costumes were really great, expect to see a nomination come Oscar-time.

[Henry B 50]

I never knew Helena Bonham-Carter had such a great voice.

Eh? It was almost funny how bad she was in comparison to Ed Sanders (Toby) in "Not While I'm Around."

Saw Atonement. I must admit that I don't find the flirtations of mostly idle English nobles very interesting. James McAvoy and Keira Knightley had pretty good chemistry, I guess. Nice score by Dario Marianelli; "Elegy for Dunkirk" (the beach scene) was certainly a standout cue.

[nightscape94 965]

Atonement

Juno

It was a good couple of days

Tim, who is about to watch Eastern Promises

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

National Treasure 2.

A bit of fun, but not as good as the first. Also, the similarities in the score to the Luke and Leia theme from RotJ is jarring for me.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Also, the similarities in the score to the Luke and Leia theme from RotJ is jarring for me.

Yes, that kept coming up and totally catching my attention! The family theme or whatever it was supposed to be was identical to the opening phrase of "Luke and Leia."

[Romão 2,274]

Sweeney Todd (***1/2)

The story is so-so and isn't really the main attention of the movie, but the acting and performances were phenomenal. I never knew Helena Bonham-Carter had such a great voice. Also, the make-up and costumes were really great, expect to see a nomination come Oscar-time.

I haven't seen the film, but the Worse Pies in London sounds dreadful.

[Morlock 11]

I am Legend. I quite enjoyed it. Will Smith is terrific, excellent feel to it. Ending is not at all a cop-out. Not great, but nothing really wrong with it. ***/****.

The Sting. Fantastic as always. ****/****.

My American Friend. Bruno Gantz is terrific, but the film was too meaninglessly ironic for me. Ripley's game was far better. **/****.

[nightscape94 965]

Eastern Promises. Good film....but not a masterpiece in any sense. I'd say ***1/2 out of ****, but it loses out on that extra 1/2 a star because I wasn't blown away.

I'm gonna watch Away From Her tomorrow. I'm eager to see this based on what I've been hearing, which is nothing but good things.

Tim

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

Not a bad flick with Chevy Chase in the invisible role. It was a different take on the story and I liked this version a lot. Sam Neill plays the antagonist out to capture Chase with the right amount of bad guy-isms that you love to hate him. Shirley Walker's score was pretty neat too. Probably among my favourite John Carpenter films, but it seems to be ranked unfairly low by his fans.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Juno (***)

A great film with some solid acting and an amazing performance by Ellen Page. The problem with the movie was that the narration was completely random and hardly used. She makes a couple comments in the beginning, and you don't see that again until the near-end. Also, Jason Bateman's relationship with Ellen Page wasn't very clear or explained and that was a necessity for the film's success. Nonetheless, it was highly enjoyable and funny.

[A24 4,331]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Dated

Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom: Dated, lots of screaming and running around - Short Round is the film's biggest mistake.

Sin City: I like Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke but I can't stand Clive Owen. Jessica Alba can't act. And of course, I love the Blade Runner reference (the scene with Rutger Hauer).

[Johnnyecks 33]

Has anyone seen "Once"?

This was one of the years best films, IMO.

[Morlock 11]

I just rented it, gonna see it it soon.

The man with the Golden Arm. Frank Sinatra is excellent in this rather heavy handed look at drug-addiction. The movie itself is kind of so-so, with the part of his girlfriend quite annoying. But the reason I saw the movie was Elmer Bernstein's score. And boy, is it a great score. Absolutely fantatic. And one of the only bonuses on the DVD is a 42 minute interview with Bernstein! It talks obviously about this movie, but also talks about several others. Good interview, wonderful surprise.

**1/2/****, with one of the best scores ever. The album is fantastic, I wish there would be a good stero recording of it.

The Fugitive. I come back to this movie every six months or so, and it never fails to be brilliant. So much could have gone wrong with this movie, and virtually nothing did. The biggest flaws I found were two gratutious action-hero moments in the subway scene, and those are fogotten instantly. Harrison Ford gives one of his few excellent performances here. Tommy Lee Jones is my favorite foil in movie history. Every single scene he's in has something utterly fantastic in it. JNH's score is one of his most effective. I am always taken with how wonderfully he ends the movie, with his excellent somber theme. One of the greatest thrillers ever. ****/****.

[Romão 2,274]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Dated

IMHO, it is as timeless as movies get.

[A24 4,331]

I'm not talking about the look or production values but about Spielberg's tricks (or Lucas) to make it exciting. They are so old now that they no longer entertain me. And the film does not offer much else than that. It's not a kind of film that grows with you, if you know what I mean. It's still the classiest of the series though.

[Morlock 11]

What tricks do you mean exactly?

[A24 4,331]

How shall I describe it? Let's call it the closing/inclosing contraption trick. Something/someone is menacingly closing or inclosing at a certain rate/speed and yet, and this is annoying, the scene itself is progressing much slower. The Indy films go from one closing/inclosing contraption to another.

[Morlock 11]

Well, I don't see that, and I don't see how it would be Indy without it.

[A24 4,331]

You don't see it and yet you think Indy wouldn't be same without it?

I see.

[Morlock 11]

I don't see how the scenes feel slower, and I don't see how it would be Indy without closing/enclosing thing.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

Futurama: Bender's Big Score

Marvelous. They take full advantage of the movie format by telling a very complex, time paradox filled tale that all comes together perfectly at the end. Add in great charater moments, good laughs, and continuity porn virtually every mintue, and I say Futurama is back with a bang. Nice cliffhanger into the next movie, too.

yay! i loved it as well, especially when it turns out that all the paradox's come together. it was quite easy to understand.

The last movie I watched was Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

9.5/10

I loved the music plus the main theme was pretty good. I like Depp's singing and most of the plotline. The end seemed a bit weak, but everything else was great!

[Morlock 11]

Sweet Smell of Success. Fantastic noir. Both Curtis and Lancaster are supoib. Another terrific Bernstein jazzy score. ***1/2/****.

Everyone says I Love You. Charming Woody Allen musical. Songs are well-chosen and appropriately preformed. Goldie Hawn is impressive in this rare non-ditzy role, and has one hell of a voice. and i'm biased towards anything with Alan Alda. ***1/2/****.

[Red 75]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark: Dated

IMHO, it is as timeless as movies get.

Indeed.

[Trent B 337]

Okay instead of making a new thread for this I thought I'd just post it in here...

Anyways for you LOTR nuts, the Limited Edition sets that come with the extended edition and theatrical editions of the movies is the extended editions really fully on the disc or has some of the film been cut down to fit onto one DVD?

[nightscape94 965]

Away from Her. Absolutely devistating film, broke my heart to watch it. Very direct filmmaking by Sarah Polley, and just great story telling. One of the best of the year. **** out of ****

Tim

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Brazil (again!)

I own the Criterion edition of this, and it's excellent. It confirmed to me that Brazil is and will most likely always be in my top 5 movies of all time. This time I watched it with my wife and her friend for the first time. I fully expected her to want to turn it off after the first 10 minutes, but she was glued to the screen right to the end! I am thrilled she enjoyed it.

[indy4 155]

Ratatioulle: Some nice parts - Ego was brilliantly animated, there were some great parts. However, it is my least favorite Pixar film (that I've seen). Can't wait for Toy Story 3! I'll defenetly be listening to the score again, though. ***/*****

The Sound of Music: For the billionth time. It is a true classic, I'll never get tired of it as much as I'll never get tired of RAiders or SW or other classics. *****/*****

[SturgisPodmore 0]

I saw many a movie since I was here last . . . some that I had thoughts on (mostly holiday-season ones) are:

Stardust

Saw this in the theater in the summer and liked it pretty well, but I watched it last week on DVD and enjoyed it even more. It has great performances all around, especially the understated Michelle Pfiefer and the hilarious Robert De Niro. Although I can't remember the composer's name right now, I liked the score too; it's a standard yet enjoyable fantasy soundtrack. A-

Beowulf

It was alright, but I didn't find it very involving until the last half hour or so, and the drawn-out scenes with the Grendel family were simply agonizing. C

Enchanted

A good family film, it had some funny moments in its ironic pokes at traditional Disney films. Amy Adams was really good. Several nice songs, too. B

The Golden Compass

What looked like a good fantasy movie turned out to be, in my opinion, a pretty uninteresting and surface-level film. I haven't read the books, so I can't speak as to whether or not the story is good on paper, but I found the movie to be quite mediocre. Daniel Craig, billed as a leading character, was in the movie for about 10 minutes, and I thought the main girl wasn't a very convincing actor. The parallels between the "Magisterium" and the Catholic church were anything but subtle, and I thought what little theme the film had was pretty childish and one-dimensional. When the movie ended after the mess of a "final battle," I realized only then that I had just scene the climax. The lacking CGI didn't help things either; the polar bear fight was totally uninteresting to me, seeing as how it invlolved two computer-generated characters which I didn't feel like I had any reason to care about. A big disappointment for me. D+

I Am Legend

I thrilling, scary, sci-fi-ish adventure. I enjoyed Will Smith's performance very much, especially in the emotional scenes. I liked the way you found out about his past in flashbacks placed at intervals throughout the movie; it kept you wondering about what happened to his family, etc. In the scene where he was roaming around in the dark looking for his dog, and finally stumbled upon the infected folks, I was scared garbageless, (despite what turned out to be rather disappointed CGI on the infected folks). And when "Fred" was moved . . . how unnerving! JNH's score was understated in a good way, and I liked the piano theme that I heard a few times.

Does anyone know who played the scientist lady at the very beginning of the movie? I could have sworn it was the wonderful Emma Thompson, but I couldn't find a credit for that part on IMDB (albeit not the best sourse of information). Anyways, a good thriller. B+

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Though not presenting virtually anything new in terms of story or characters, it was an enjoyable, if predictable, adventure movie. Although I enjoyed Helen Mirren, she seemed to just walk around and exclaim things like "Oh my gosh, Benjamin!" and "Look at these ruins!" and very often "Oh no! Aaaahhhh!" towards the end of the movie. And what appeared to be the Gates family theme in the score was a carbon copy of the "Luke and Leia" theme from RotJ for the first several measures. B-

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I knew only one or two pieces from the soundtrack, and only a few vague details of the plot going into the movie, so I was thrilled continuously throughout the film as the action mounted. I found virtually all of the performances, several by very notable actors, to be great for their role. Depp was haunting and tortured as Sweeney, Helena Bonham Carter was subtle and sweetly devilish as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman was silkily smooth and evil as the wicked Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall was pompous as the Beedle, and Antony the lusty sailor (whose actor's name I don't know), Toby the young boy (ditto), and Pirelli the barber (played by the exquisite Sacha Baron Cohen) were all great as well. I was particularly suprised by Helena Bohnam Carter's performance, because I haven't liked her very much at all up until now. Her turn as Bellatrix Lestrange in HP:OotP was far too overdone for the evil and twisted character of the books, and she seems to land roles in every one of her boyfriend Burton's movies just because she's . . . well, his girlfriend. I found her to be brilliant as Mrs. Lovett, however, portraying her as a lovable woman who is at times caring and kind and at other times dastardly and wicked.

Sondheim's music was a real delight for me as well. While pretty much none of the actors were great singers, they still pulled it off with a lot of panache. The main recurring theme, which is actually not played as a song in the movie, is simultaneously subtly twisted and bombastically evil, and is arranged into a truly amazing main titles cue in the beginning of the film (it remeinded me here of Williams' "Dance of the Witches" from The Witches of Eastwick, thought it predated that wicked gem). The sweeping and stirring love theme "Johanna" and the clever and waltz-like "A Little Priest," where Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett realize their business potential, were other standout pieces among a slew of great songs. I really enjoyed Sondheims's style of writing, with dissonant brass swells even in the beautiful cues, which fit and add to the music nonetheless. In short, Sweeney Todd was a thrilling musical treat that really revived my love for Tim Burton. A

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

I just saw this today, and though it was a fairly standard family film in the tradition of (but in no way approaching the greatness of) E.T., it was enjoyable nonetheless. The main boy did very well as Angus, the child who discovers the water horse's egg in Loch Ness. All the other performances were fine, too (and all the Scottish accents were delightful), and I really liked Crusoe, who was actually a convincing CG character. The best thing about the movie, however, was without a doubt the score. James Newton Howard's brilliant work made the film a lot better than it would have been otherwise, and it was great to hear the beautiful orchestral outbursts and thrilling Celtic jigs that I know very well from the soundtrack at work in the movie. B

I also saw these movies on DVD:

Hot Fuzz

An enjoyable action comedy with a lot of great British humoUr. B

Superbad

An incredibly dirty, hilarious movie, and probably the most quotable film of the year. Side-splitting performances all around, and the only thing I missed was a proper send-off to the show-stealer McLovin. B+

Home Alone

Remains one of my all-time favorite movies, which it wouldn't be without Williams' phenominal score. A

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

A step in the right direction for the series, with several really brilliant moments and scenes, but missing some of the key elements that make these stories so great. B+

Well, it was nice to finally post all of my thoughts after a long time away from the board, and I hope to be around more often now.

~Surgis

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Anyways for you LOTR nuts, the Limited Edition sets that come with the extended edition and theatrical editions of the movies is the extended editions really fully on the disc or has some of the film been cut down to fit onto one DVD?

The full thing's on there. The disc is a flipper.

Only thing that's missing is the DTS track.

[Henry B 50]

Does anyone know who played the scientist lady at the very beginning of the movie? I could have sworn it was the wonderful Emma Thompson, but I couldn't find a credit for that part on IMDB (albeit not the best sourse of information).

Yes, it's Thompson. She did the part uncredited.

[indy4 155]

The Golden Compass

What looked like a good fantasy movie turned out to be, in my opinion, a pretty uninteresting and surface-level film. I haven't read the books, so I can't speak as to whether or not the story is good on paper, but I found the movie to be quite mediocre. Daniel Craig, billed as a leading character, was in the movie for about 10 minutes, and I thought the main girl wasn't a very convincing actor. The parallels between the "Magisterium" and the Catholic church were anything but subtle, and I thought what little theme the film had was pretty childish and one-dimensional. When the movie ended after the mess of a "final battle," I realized only then that I had just scene the climax. The lacking CGI didn't help things either; the polar bear fight was totally uninteresting to me, seeing as how it invlolved two computer-generated characters which I didn't feel like I had any reason to care about. A big disappointment for me. D+

I agree. I've read the book, it is MUCH better than the film.

and she seems to land roles in every one of her boyfriend Burton's movies just because she's . . . well, his girlfriend.

She's Burton's girlfriend?

[John Crichton 4]

I'm glad I didn't bother with The Golden Compass in the end, there's been very little positive said about it.

Nice to see you back Sturg. But when you say you'll be around more often try to, you know, mean it this time.

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

HBC is brilliant. Ever seen Fight Club?

[indy4 155]

Journey to the Center of the Earth: Brilliant, brilliant film. The worlds were so imaginary, so magical. It reminded me of masterpieces like "Alice In Wonderland," and even "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The theatrics were stunning, the sets amazing, it truly is an imaginative film. I want to read the book, too. ****1/2/*****

As for the score, it was fantastic. Parts of it sounded like classic Herrmann, but I thought that the highlight of the score was the beautiful harp solos which, much like the film, were incredibly imaginative and beautiful. I will defenetly pick up that soundtrack soon.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

She's Burton's girlfriend?

Of course, they have 2 kids together.

she seems to land roles in every one of her boyfriend Burton's movies just because she's . . . well, his girlfriend.

Actually, he makes her audition for every role that she plays.

[indy4 155]

She's Burton's girlfriend?

Of course, they have 2 kids together.

Are they married?

[Henry B 50]

She's Burton's girlfriend?

Of course, they have 2 kids together.

Are they married?

www.google.com

[indy4 155]

What is this strange website you speak of?

indy4 - who just found out that they're engaged

[Romão 2,274]

Journey to the Center of the Earth: Brilliant, brilliant film. The worlds were so imaginary, so magical. It reminded me of masterpieces like "Alice In Wonderland," and even "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The theatrics were stunning, the sets amazing, it truly is an imaginative film. I want to read the book, too. ****1/2/*****

As for the score, it was fantastic. Parts of it sounded like classic Herrmann, but I thought that the highlight of the score was the beautiful harp solos which, much like the film, were incredibly imaginative and beautiful. I will defenetly pick up that soundtrack soon.

It's my favorite Herrmann score, after Vertigo.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The Reaping.

Turd.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

The Patriot. This is part of a very select group of movies which, I think, could not possibly be worse. It even has John Williams at his most irritating, intrusive and bland. Acting, direction, script (my God, Imbd says Robert Rodat wrote 17 drafts... were the first 15 just drawings of Mel Gibson riding an olliphant covered in blood with potential taglines?), photography... there's no redeeming quality here.

We did sit and watch it until the end because we wanted to see if Mel Gibson really kills the baddie by stabbing him with an American flag. And he kinda does. Reminded me of his Simpsons cameo, but somehow this was supposed to be taken seriously.

[Morlock 11]

The movie is made bearable for me by Jason Isaacs and Caleb Deschanel.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Not particularly demanding, are you?

[Morlock 11]

I am able to find quality even in turds. No matter how bad a filmmaker Emmerich is, Isaacs and Deschanel did exemplary work. And if every scene with Isaacs is worth watching, and I like the way the film looks, well, that means i can probably bear to watch it.

Once. Charming little film. Reminded me of a Lelouch film in it's minimal story. Straight, spare, with good performances and soem nice songs. ***/****.

Road to Perdition. One of my favorites. I don't think there's a single thing about this film I don't like. This is one of those films that shames most of the others by being so good in every aspect. ****/****.

[A24 4,331]

I am able to find quality even in turds.

Me too, occasionally. Yesteday I watched Bobby all the way to the end.

[Morlock 11]

Quality in that movie evaded even myself.

[A24 4,331]

And, IMO, Road To Perdition is part of a very select group of movies which, I think, could not possibly be worse because it was so self-conscious. And this is not even mentioning the miscasting of Hanks (not that another actor would've solved anything).

[Morlock 11]

And, IMO, Road To Perdition is part of a very select group of movies which, I think, could not possibly be worse because it was so self-conscious.

That's an odd thing to say. I don't even know what that means in terms of this movie. And I obviously disagree about Hanks. He was rock-solid in the part, the most thankless major part in the movie. It's one of his most spare, and, IMO, most effective performances.