What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[SturgisPodmore 0]

D'OH!!!

What does this mean?

I saw Serenity yesterday. A little hard to follow at parts, and it went suddenly silent too often, but looking back I liked it a lot. A good space adventure.

The score was okay, very enjoyable in some parts, but overall kind of bland. The cello got old.

~Sturgis

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

D'OH!!!

What does this mean?

Are you really drunk then?

[SturgisPodmore 0]

I can't see that picture.

~WErdFigs POdmoasre

[QMM 4]

Shanghai Knights

Clearly made to just be fun to watch, and it is, although by the end the many references are a little dried up. I should watch some more Jackie Chan flicks.

Some of the score was pretty good

Speaking of which, anybody know what that string quartet is playing when Jackie Chan is introduced as the Maharaja of Nevada?

[Hitch 57]

She did????

D'OH!!!

See what I have to put up with?

[Hitch 57]

MEAN CREEK. According to my databanks, this DVD is a cross between DELIVERANCE and STAND BY ME. The young cast are impressive but not as impressive as the superb cast of SBM. I wouldn't say it's exactly edge-of-seat stuff but to pass away 86 mins it's fine. The boat scene down the river had me humming Jerry's River Wild theme and Kirk & co. singing Row, Row, Row your Boat. I wonder.

Hitch

[Trumpeteer 302]

Oh my God, Hitch. I loved Mean Creek. I didn't expect it to take the turn that it did, and the consequences afterward were pretty much well-handled. I was never thinking of another composer's music at the time.

If this were a movie featuring adults, it might have been boring (been there, done that). With kids, it made it more tense and emotional.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Shanghai Knights

Clearly made to just be fun to watch, and it is, although by the end the many references are a little dried up. I should watch some more Jackie Chan flicks.

Some of the score was pretty good

Speaking of which, anybody know what that string quartet is playing when Jackie Chan is introduced as the Maharaja of Nevada?

A Baroque version of the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black apparently.

[Jedi Master Chris 0]

New York, New York with Robert Deniro and Liza Minelli.

I have also seen Mean Creek and was almost bored with it until the certain plot point (don't want to give anything away) and the film did get real interesting.

[QMM 4]

Shanghai Knights

Clearly made to just be fun to watch, and it is, although by the end the many references are a little dried up. I should watch some more Jackie Chan flicks.

Some of the score was pretty good

Speaking of which, anybody know what that string quartet is playing when Jackie Chan is introduced as the Maharaja of Nevada?

A Baroque version of the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black apparently.

What?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

When Chon Wang and Roy are entering the Jubilee party, the string quartet plays a uncredited baroque version of the Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black" (just before the piece by Boccherini).

Not the most reliable source, I know. Can't check it either, since I watched on TV, and it's uncredited. Hence the "apparently."

[Hitch 57]

With kids, it made it more tense and emotional.

Did you ever see BATTLEFIELD EARTH? Now THAT'S tense. Emotional? Maybe just seeing John Revolting is enough to produce a tear or two at times!

[Morlock 11]

One of the best villains in recent memory

Spoiler: Some the lines he had were truly great: "Amsterdam? I'm New York... don't you never come in here empty handed again, you gotta pay for the pleasure of my company."

Daniel Day Lewis made Gangs of New York for me. That rabbit scene where he cried was absolutely hilarious.  A very memorable villian for years to come. And I too believe he was robbed at the Oscars. Brody was excellent in The Pianist, but no way was it a better performance than Lewis's.

One of my favorite all time performances. It is such a juicy, wonderful villain to play. It's one of those performances that makes every single line uttered an absolute delight, and unlike a lot of those kinds of performacnes, the lines really are great. I remember when seeing the film for the first time, and seeing the wood cutting of 'Priest' Vallon in Bill's HQ, thinking this is a whole different ball game. This guy's going to be a real character, not just a caricature. He's got so many fantastic lines and expressions. The scene in the rocking chair with him covered in the flag is IMO particulaly note-worthy.

DiCaprio and Diaz don't hold a candle to him, with rather uninteresting characters, but Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly and Brendan Gleeson, who is probably the most watchable actor currently working, do a fantastic job of offering some sort of counter point to Bill. The film is flawed as a whole, has got one badly thought out major character (Henry Thomas), but it's got it's fair share of great dialogue, and it looks, both set wise and cinematography wise, absoultely fantastic. As a whole it may not come together in the best way, but it's got so many fantastic scenes and vignettes as to make it coumpolsivley watchable (to me at least).

One of the best villains in recent memory

Jason Issacs as Lord Malfoy in Chamber of Secrets was deliciously villainy.

And as Hook in Peter Pan. He was made to play the bad guy!

Isaacs was great in both roles, but I still think he was best in his breakout role, in The Patriot.

The Sound of Music. After many years of putting this one off, I finally got to see that the hills truly are alive.

It's a good movie, and has some wonderful sections, but IMO is overrated. In my eyes, it isn't at the same level as West Side Story, My Fair Lady, or Singin' in The Rain.

Troy. I really wasn't sure what to expect when I watched this film. Acctually, it's not a bad film. A lot of the emotion seemed misguided on the writers part. Pitt was something of a curiosity. He works well as Achilies but not fantastic. I found Eric Bana as Hector to be a much more suitable although half of me wishes that Sean Bean had ended up as Hector. Brian Cox was great in this movie I thought. Very well cast. Orlando Bloom is annoying as Paris partly because he plays the most interesting character in the movie and partly because he's exactly like he is in everything else. ZZZZZzzzzzz......

I think Pitt was servicable, Bana was good. Bloom was an inspired choice for Paris, IMO- who better a nebishy little whelp?

I loved Cox in it, he's just so dependable. O'Toole is very good is it.What is surprising is that Brendan Gleeson wasn't his usual scene-stealing self. None of the joy that's in most of his characters. Ah well. He had a great deal of fun in his delicious little part in Kingdom of Heaven, so he hasn't lost it yet.

[Hitch 57]

Saw SERENITY last night. What a bore! Couldn't they just show it on the Sci-Fi Channel?

REMO WILLIAMS: The Adventure Begins (or REMO: Unarmed and Dangerous for European audiences). Apart from Craig Safan's annoying fanfare, I can sum up this movie in two words: Kate Mulgrew.

[Hitch 57]

What is surprising is that Brendan Gleeson wasn't his usual scene-stealing self. None of the joy that's in most of his characters. Ah well. He had a great deal of fun in his delicious little part in Kingdom of Heaven, so he hasn't lost it yet.

Wait and see Gleeson in GOF and see if he steals this movie from those young brats.

[Morlock 11]

G.I. Jane. I wonder what this movie would've been like if it abandonded all pretense of seriousness and was just a good old girl power flick. It's seems to want us to belive it's really about something, when it's just a run of the mill against all odds films. Still, it's not too bad. Demi Moore is hot at times, and Vigo does a fine job. The MTV like camera work in the climax of the film is just plain distracting, and makes the film look positively amateurish.

Also saw one of my favorite movies, L.A. Confidential. Still as great as always. Superb acting, great sets, great cinemtography, great music, one of the finest scripts of the 90's.

Dazed and Confused. Meh. It's kind of fun, and achingly nostalgic. Not much of a film.

Wicker Park. I saw this having no idea what it is. I was not impressed. It's an annoying picture, has no point, has thin, uninteresting characters.

[A24 4,323]

The MTV like camera work in the climax of the film is just plain distracting, and makes the film look positively amateurish.

That scene (where he's running down the hill) is the worst piece of crap ever!

[A24 4,323]

 Also saw one of my favorite movies, L.A. Confidential. Still as great as always. Superb acting, great sets, great cinemtography, great music, one of the finest scripts of the 90's.

And made with complete artistic freedom.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's very rare to find a film that is pretty much free of any faults, wrong notes, scenes or moments that didn't work out.

L.A. Confidential is like a shiny Swiss watch, beautifu to look at and with a solid running interiour.

[Orson 1]

That's quite an anology Steef. I feel the same way about L.A. Confidential. Very good film from top to bottom.

Watched Psycho III tonight... why I'm not sure. Mother stole the show, although there really wasn't much to steal. It was worth watching just to hear her call Norman a "dirty dirty boy".

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

I keep thinking. That's not... a blue screen, is it?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Image is not working, Marc.

[Lurker 5]

No problems here.

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Not showing up in Forefox or IE.

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

"Sorry but you are not authorized to view or download this Attachment."

Marian - using Konqueror.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I see. Probably a board thing then, since it's uploaded to JWFan.net itself.

...how about now?

[Orson 1]

I'm using Firefox and it's working for me.

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

Works now.

Marian - who sees it.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

So... that's not a bluescreen... is it?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Doesn't look like it

[Lurker 5]

I saw it before the post was edited using Firefox on a Mac.

Neil

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

You're moderator, Neil. It may have something to do with that.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Moderator has X-Ray vision?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The image was hosted on JWFan.net. I could see it, Neil could see it, but Marian got an unauthorized message. Hence my previous deductions.

- Marc, who still watched TLW last...

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

You're moderator, Neil. It may have something to do with that.

Very likely. It's not a browser problem in any case.

[Morlock 11]

The Anchorman. Funny movie. They could've done more with the characers, as they are really great characters, but it was still very funny. In particular, Steve Carrell was postively hillarious, the best of the bunch. And, of course, I loved the battle of the anchors, though I was curious why Tim Robbins was there and why Owen Wilson wasn't.

Sin City. A very good movie. Great looking, great sounding, got the tone perfectly. Mickey Rourke does a great job, but IMO Nick Stahl is the real standout. I realized wit ha start in the middle that he was the kid in In The Bedroom, and was really struck by how sinsiter he is here. I think the end is postively inpired.

Good Morning, Vietnam. I haven't seen this in a while. The comedy bits are still as hillarious as ever, and the dramatic parts surrounding them are good as well. But the way the movie wraps up the serious part of the story is quite unsatisfying. The actor playing Tuan does a great job. The guys playing the officers are great- Noble Willingham as the good general, J.T. Walsh as the dead serious Major, and Bruno Kirby as the pathetic Lieutenant who deep down knows he's funny. North's sparse score is very nice.

[A24 4,323]

Sin City. A very good movie. Great looking, great sounding, got the tone perfectly.

But in the end the movie was monotonous and carried out nothing importantly.

[Justin 2]

The Village. Frightening and original but some of the dialogue is a bit...dull. Such a great score though. Probably the best "score in film" of 2004.

Justin

[Morlock 11]

The Village. Frightening and original but some of the dialogue is a bit...dull. Such a great score though. Probably the best "score in film" of 2004.

I hated the film the first time around. I liked it the second time, though. I think it has serious problems in the presentation of it's ideas. I think the main character is not nearly as interesting as the filmmakers would like us to believe. The score is stunning, as is Roger Deakins' work.

Just came back from The 40 Year Old Vergin. I laughed a lot. Carell was fantastic. I love it how the 'frat pack' keeps on getting bigger and bigger. And unlike other packs, they're all funny! (Well, except for Luke Wilson)

A few more movies I caught last week:

Conspiracy Theory. I enjoyed it. I liked Gibson, liked Patrick Stewart. I loved the conspiracies presented in the film (nothing beats the Oliver Stone one). But without a doubt, Carter Burwell's score was the best thing about the film.

Insomnia. I really liked it this second time around. Pacino delivers a great performance, as does Williams, and the whole dynamic of the situation and the Pacino character really drew me in. Even the shootout at the end is made alright by Pacino's touching final moments.

The Hebrew Hammer. The first Jewxploitation film ever, I had a great time watching it. And as taglines go, it doesn't get much better than 'Shabbat Shalom, Motherf%&$ers!'.

I also caught Unbreakable on tv. I'd seen it before, but didn't remember the movie too much. I really, really liked the film. I love how relatively understated the film is, and I find the twist at the end terrificaly satisfying. JNH's score is one of his finest, the main hero theme is really a wonderful theme for the common man, the everyday hero.

[Orson 1]

The Village. Frightening and original but some of the dialogue is a bit...dull. Such a great score though. Probably the best "score in film" of 2004.

I hated the film the first time around. I liked it the second time, though. I think it has serious problems in the presentation of it's ideas. I think the main character is not nearly as interesting as the filmmakers would like us to believe. The score is stunning, as is Roger Deakins' work.

I also caught Unbreakable on tv. I'd seen it before, but didn't remember the movie too much. I really, really liked the film. I love how relatively understated the film is, and I find the twist at the end terrificaly satisfying. JNH's score is one of his finest, the main hero theme is really a wonderful theme for the common man, the everyday hero.

That's interesting you liked The Village the second time around more than the first. That's a good sign. I saw it in the theater and enjoyed it very much.I think people were way too hard on it. A better film than Signs in my opinion. Unbreakable is very clever and works well. An underappreciated movie in general.

Watched The Haunting tonight. My old friend Bob Wise did some excellent camera work on this film. It took some creative shots to make one believe the house was alive in 1963. I liked the remake as well, but the original is better. Especially considering that lesbian subplot between Elanor and Theo seemed slightly more obvious.

[Hitch 57]

8:00pm SAHARA. Crap, crap, crap. Why couldn't they use more of Steve Zahn?

11:00pm SABOTEUR. Now, why can't they make more movies like this?

8:15am THUNDERBIRDS[/] No wonder I nearly choked on my cornflakes. What was Captain Riker thinking of? Oh the shame. No wonder I directed those Australian ads for Fosters Beer for $10 million.

[A24 4,323]

The score is stunning, as is Roger Deakins' work.

Long-winded and utterly unconvincing premise. Not counting the score, Roger Deakins is the only good thing about it.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

It's very rare to find a film that is pretty much free of any faults, wrong notes, scenes or moments that didn't work out.

That I'll give to The Incredibles. Watched it again today, it's extremely polished. Great stuff.

[MrScratch 294]

History of Violence, one-word review: Gratuitous

Corpse Bride, great-looking but the plot and ending were unsatisfying.

Jeff

[HPFAN_2 0]

Batteries Not Included

Just a very cute movie.

[Orson 1]

8:00pm SAHARA.  Crap, crap, crap.  Why couldn't they use more of Steve Zahn?

That is one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time. I agree, it's a crap fest.

Watched Das Experiment last night. That is one intense film. And those German subtitles didn't bother me one bit.

[Morlock 11]

The score is stunning, as is Roger Deakins' work.

Long-winded and utterly unconvincing premise. Not counting the score, Roger Deakins is the only good thing about it.

Very long winded, but second time around I saw a couple of ideas, that despite the poor execution, were intriguing to think about after the film was done. But any way you look at it, Howard and Deakins come out smelling like roses.

Mindhunters. The age-old premise sounded fun to me. I hadn't seen any trailers, and Renny Harlin did make the second Die Hard, which was good. Alas, no such luck here. A dumb, dumb, dumb movie. The person who ultimately turns out to have done it is such a dull character to make a serial-killer. LL Cool J and Val Kilmer do give the movie something of a pulse when they're on screen. It's frustrating, because this movie could have been entertaining. They just took every necassery ridicules development and exaggerated it to the inth degree.

[SturgisPodmore 0]

But any way you look at it, Howard and Deakins come out smelling like roses.

James and Bryce.

~Sturgis

[Lurker 5]

I watched Beverly Hills Cop last night. Still a funny movie.

Neil

[Morlock 11]

But any way you look at it, Howard and Deakins come out smelling like roses.

James and Bryce.

~Sturgis

No, I think James and Roger. Bryce comes out smelling fine. But I think the movie's reliance on her character was one of it's flaws.

Just saw one of my favorite action movies, Die Hard With a Vengeance. I think it's a solid action movie with excellent production values, starting from the script and going all the way through to the score.

The plot developments, i.e. the villain's scheme, are much more interesting, fun, and, to a certain extent, ingenius, than your typical action movies. The way Simon's plan is revealed little by little, step by step, is extremely satisfying, and the fact that the majority of the action scenes are supported by solid and interesting plot developments makes a large percentige of them really great to watch, some of the best mounted action scenes of the 90's.

IMO, a lot of this is thanks to Jeremy Irons. He may be slumming, but he provides such a fantastic villain, who may be a bit less showy than Alan Rickman's turn in the series, but for my money, he is a much more convincing villain, who seems to be a real person, and not a person who is just a full time villain. He lends such tremendous weight to the character, and makes what otherwise may seem like ridicules plot developments, believable, to a certain extent. I love his one liners in the movie- just the way he says, upon his first (excellent) appearance on screen, 'They Bought it', or 'Holy Toledo! Somebody had fun'. Even a one liner like 'I think we go straight to the withdrawal', said the the guy from the Federal reserve, sounds right, coming from Irons.

Willis is also great here. He is not the most interesting person to watch, his characters are generaly not too detailed, but his John McClane is really a great creation, and I think he gets better with each entry in the series. Jackson is, of course, also wonderful here. The supporting cast of cops is great, with the guy playing the chief, the guy playing Ricky and Graham Greene having a great rapport between themselves and with McClane.

I love McTiernan's direction of this movie. I think it's his tightest movie to date (though Hunt for Red October is still his best). The cinematography supports the film wonderfully, I love the wide scope the film has. And it's used to fantastic dramatic effect- the high angles when Irons and co. in a very dramatic and well choreographed fashion enter the Federal Reserve building is just something you don't see in your typical action film.

The music in the film is very good as well. I think the use of 'When Jonny Comes Marching Home Again' is inspired, fits the films like a glove. And Kamen's score really supports the film well. I hope there'll be someday a really good presentation of his score. I love how he throws around his main motif and the secondary one, and his evil victory motif later on in the film.

I hadn't seen the film in a while, and had a blast watching it. I can predict Alex's response, but I must say, this is one of the best action films ever. ***1/2 out of ****.

8O 'The Wedding Song' from Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride by Danny Elfman