What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Trumpeteer 302]

"Hotel Rwanda" was good, but still lacked the subtle, unpreachy punch that "The Killing Fields" still packs.

Compare the scenes with Haing S. Ngor and Don Cheadle encountering hundreds of dead bodies in their respective movies.

[Morlock 11]

Saw Hotel Rwanda. A very good and important film. The film helped me grasp the extent of the genocide that went on there,

No film can really make you grasp that.

Schindlers Lists fails to make one grasp the full extent of the holocaust.

Apocalypse Now cannot truly portay the mess that was Vietman.

But it's important that people try to though.

Well, it is an eye opener, that's for sure.

[Morlock 11]

Friday Night Lights. A very good sports movie. I appreciated that the movie took a familiar setting, but managed to avoid a lot of the cliches of the genre. The game itself is more of way to show the characters, and it's got some interesting characters. Thornton is very good here, the movie coach I'd most like to coach my team.

[A24 4,338]

Saw Hotel Rwanda. A very good and important film. The film helped me grasp the extent of the genocide that went on there,

No film can really make you grasp that.

Schindlers Lists fails to make one grasp the full extent of the holocaust.

Apocalypse Now cannot truly portay the mess that was Vietman.

But it's important that people try to though.

Nothing or no one can.

[Morlock 11]

Saw Out of Africa for the first time. Not my cup of tea. I liked the vista, the animals, and the two times Barry's fantastic main theme was used well. Otherwise, I couldn't care less about anyone in the film or what happens to them, save for Michael Kitchen's character. I was dissapointed by the score, which, aside from the theme, held nothing interesting for me (I did not like Barry's Hornering his Last Valley score for the flying scene). I kept on thinking about Jerry's beautiful Medicine Man theme, and how well it would have worked here.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Yeah, Europeans who go to Africa to talk about Europe... Not a very good premise.

[A24 4,338]

Saw Out of Africa for the first time. Not my cup of tea. I liked the vista, the animals, and the two times Barry's fantastic main theme was used well. Otherwise, I couldn't care less about anyone in the film or what happens to them, save for Michael Kitchen's character. I was dissapointed by the score, which, aside from the theme, held nothing interesting for me (I did not like Barry's Hornering his Last Valley score for the flying scene). I kept on thinking about Jerry's beautiful Medicine Man theme, and how well it would have worked here.

I never could finish it. Streep is tedious in it.

[Orson 1]

How that movie beat out The Color Purple in '85 for Best Picture is beyond me.

Watched Kingdom of Heaven last night. Granted the film had a bit more depth than I had anticipated, but it still didn't work for me. It felt very flat at times. My main gripe is how it was edited. It was way too choppy and just seemed to hop around all over. For me, there was no epic feel at all and at times I thought that maybe Scott wasn't sure what kind of feel he did want. I also had a problem with the cinematography. Several of the opening shots during certain sequences really failed to take in the scenery and scope of the locations. Perhaps that was deliberate to give it a more straight ahead approach, but that still wouldn't have worked. The best shot I thought was at the last battle within the walls of Jerusalem when the camera pans up and morphs into it being over.

I did enjoy some of the action, but unfortunately I saw most of it in Gladiator and certainly the last 45 minutes in The Two Towers and Return of the King

[Morlock 11]

I liked the final battle more than the ones RoTK or Gladiator. But it comes nowhere near Helm's Deep. I liked the score in the film, and some of the supporting actors (Primarily Brendan Gleeson and the guy playing Saladin).

[Orson 1]

I liked Brendan Gleeson as well. Too bad like Liam, he wasn't in the film very much. Neeson is one of those actors I could watch all day long. He brings such an incredible presence to the screen that few others can.

[Lurker 5]

There wasn't a single redeeming feature to Kingdom of Heaven. It was a horrible movie from start to finish. It's one of the worst films I've seen this year.

Neil

[QMM 4]

Domino

Weird movie, it was basically a way for Tony Scott to use all his filters he's ever used but I still liked it, even with all those negative reviews out right now. Mickey Rourke was fantastic in every scene he was in as well as Walken. Didn't really notice Harry's score until the end.

[Hitch 57]

I'm off to watch CITY OF GOD. Shall report on it later.

[Trumpeteer 302]

I watched "High Noon." Dimitri Tiomkin deserved the Oscars he won for scoring that film. Great score that did everything that was expected and more. Using the clock's pendulum as part of a melody was just as effective as when John Williams did it in "Forward to Time Past."

However, I don't understand how Gary Cooper won an Oscar. Was it because of the role? The performance was more wooden than a forest full of redwoods. So was the Mexican lady. Ugh.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Cary Cooper had a bleeding ulcer at the time he shot this picture.

It shows.

[Morlock 11]

I'm off to watch CITY OF GOD.  Shall report on it later.

Great film, if memory serves.

I watched "High Noon." Dimitri Tiomkin deserved the Oscars he won for scoring that film. Great score that did everything that was expected and more. Using the clock's pendulum as part of a melody was just as effective as when John Williams did it in "Forward to Time Past."

I can't stand the song, though. I think it was a bad choice (Tiomkin didn't, though, having written a song for just about every subsequent film). I don't remember much of the score, save for the theme used on The Simpsons (the nervous waiting music). I'll have to see the film again. I was not impressed the first time around. Good, but not among the best westerns (as many claim).

IHowever, I don't understand how Gary Cooper won an Oscar. Was it because of the role? The performance was more wooden than a forest full of redwoods.

Yeah, he wasn't particulaly thrilling there. Though I do like Cooper. One of my earliest memories of a film is the image of him eating Babe Ruth's straw hat in Pride of the Yankees. And he is wonderful in The Hanging Tree, one of his last films, a strange little western.

[Morlock 11]

A History of Violence. I've gotta think about and discuss this one a bit efore coming to a conclusion. I know I loved just about every bit of the first two thirds, and some of the more obvious concepts the film is floating, but I've gotta think about it a bit more. But, aside from the actual point of the film, I can talk about everything.

I loved Vigo, I think he did an excellent job. I knew what was the truth was before seeing the film, but his performance made me doubt what I had heard.

Maria Bello was good. And she also happens to have one of the most stunningly beautiful faces any actress has ever had (I think as current actresses go, her and Diane Lane are the most beautiful).

The actor playing hte son was very good.

I absolutely loved Ed Harris here. For a while now, he's been worrying me- after several great, juicy performances in the 90's, he seemed to kinda lose the joy of it for a few years (starting with A Beautiful Mind), but he's back in full style over here. He is just a fantastic villain, I loved every second he was on screen. And kudos to whoever did his makeup- great work on his eye (and he used the made-up eye to full effect).

Even though a lot of people didn't like him at all, I was sure I was gonna love William Hurt here, doing something different. I like Hurt in general, and I loved the thought of him being a bad guy. But, alas, people were mostly right. The main portion of his sequence just doesn't work. He doesn't sound convincing. However, I LOVED the way he said "How do you fuck that up?", andI bought him in the rest of the sequence (not that there's a lot of it, but still).

The score- I liked it. Yeah, it sounds a bit too much like LoTR, but it's still good. Particular cues I took note of while watching the film- 'Run' is a great, exciting cue, I love the theme in 'The Staircase', and I also liked the scoring of Tom's trip near the end of the film.

[Lurker 5]

I just saw A Guide for the Married Man. Very cute and funny movie, and a great way for Williams to really show what he could do.

Neil

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

French Connection II.

Not a undeniable classic like the first one, but a strong follow up.

Gene Hackman returns to his Oscar-winning role and delivers another fine performance (especially the scenes were he goes cold turkey).

Well directed by old pro- John Frankenheimer the film is somewhat slow in it's mid-section, but keeps you interested.

Effective, very bleak score by Don Ellis.

[Justin 2]

The Ladykillers. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Hanks is the best part of the film I also like the music choices in several places. However, there are so many f bombs dropped in this film it's almost distracting from the story.

Night Of The Living Dead (Romero 1968). I figured this would be an old film. Still it surprised me how dated this film is. Sure the basic story is still applicable to today and the screenplay is fairly sturdy. However it's hard to get around some of the very cheesy moments in the film. Scary but not nearly as scary as I was expecting. I'm going to rent Romero's Dawn Of The Dead. Hopefully it'll provide a slightly less dated zombie picture.

Justin

[Morlock 11]

The Ladykillers. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Hanks is the best part of the film I also like the music choices in several places. However, there are so many f bombs dropped in this film it's almost distracting from the story.

I found this to be the worst Coen Bros. movie yet. I still liked it, it had some classic Coen touches, but it had too many distraction. Marlon Wayans character sucked in every way. He is not a Coen Bros. character, he had no business being in this movie. He is the major flaw in the movie. All the four letter words from him were so distracting, unnecassery, and not funny. Hanks was great, but I was expecting a bit more humor from the character. Simmons was kinda dissapointing, not a very interesting character. Tzi Ma was hillarious, I love the bit with the cigarette.

IMO, there are three great things about the movie:

1. The most important and obvious one- Irma P. Hall. She owned this picture every step of the way, no matter who was on screen with her. She was absolutelly fantastic.

2. The end, where they all die off one by one, is perfectly executed. It is well paced, and they no exactly where the jokes are and what the tone is.

3. Roger Deakins. This guy just can't help being absolutely brilliant. This is a dark comedy, no reason for anything special in the cinematography (save maybe a few nice camera moves), but he made this picture beautiful. His filtering and framing, and the fluidity of his camera made this film one of the best looking films in recent years. That is most notable in all the scenes in the river, which is stunningly beautiful, they look like a moving painting.

[Hitch 57]

French Connection II.

Not a undeniable classic like the first one, but a strong follow up.

Gene Hackman returns to his Oscar-winning role and delivers another fine performance (especially the scenes were he goes cold turkey).

Well directed by old pro- John Frankenheimer the film is somewhat slow in it's mid-section, but keeps you interested.

Effective, very bleak score by Don Ellis.

Watching late night movies on the Beeb again, Steef?

Hitch, eating his crunchy nut cornflakes for breakfast and watching Season 2 episodes of T.J. Hooker. The Shat rules!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Watching late night movies on the Beeb again, Steef?  

Are you watching me through that peephole again?

[Hitch 57]

I've got some of your best performances from that peephole

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I don't doubt it.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The Guru. I remember this being hailed as a fresh and funny film. I didn't get more than a few chuckles out of it.

Oh, and Heather Graham officially can't act her way out of a cardboard box.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

She can.

She's very hot too.

[Hitch 57]

She can.

Really? What movie? The Spy who shagged me???

She's very hot too.

Granted she's nice eye candy but her acting is as wooden as Long John Silver's leg.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

She was great in Lost In Space.

[Hitch 57]

Give me a break! No wonder she is being reduced to TV fodder like SCRUBS.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I said she can act.

I didn't say she can act all the time.

[Hitch 57]

We can all act. Life is one big stage and I'm the director. So I decide who stays on and who gets the stage trapdoor. Ms Graham, unfortunately, chose the latter.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

She was very good in Boogie Nights.

I totally bought her as an adult film star.

[Hitch 57]

She was Jon Favreau's girlfriend in SWINGERS (one of my fav comedies). I could just about tolerate her in those short scenes she made in that gem.

Hitch, who could watch Sigourney Weaver all day long till the cattle came home.

[Morlock 11]

Saw Oliver! for the first time. A really wonderful family film. I was not really familiar with the songs, and I was surprised how many fo them I liked. A couple of them didn't really work for me, but I loved 'Food, Glorious Food', 'Boy For Sale', 'Gotta Pick a Pocket or Two' and a couple of others. The choreography is the film is absolutely fantastic for most of the numbers. I normaly have a natural aversion to scenes where all of a sudden everyone in the middle of the street starts singing and dancing, but over here it is so well choreographed, that an extended number like 'Who Will buy my Sweet Red Roses' is really admirable how keeps it fun and interesting throughout the unusually long number.

The film is also a wonderful adaptation of Dickens' book, especialy in the charactarization of Fagin. Ron Moody does a fantastic job, and is very solidly backed up by the genuinely menacing Olvier Reed and the kid playing the Artful Dodger, who does a great job.

I do not think there are too many really good musicals out there, it's nice to find a new one I wasn't expecting to be good.

A very positive *** 1/2.

[HPFAN_2 0]

Stargate

A great premise that turned out a mediocre film. It has the same short comings as every other film like it. The cliche love story the 2 dimensional characters and the staring off screen resulting in a big reveal crap. Ra to me was the most interesting chracter. Why did he have to die, can we once have a blockbuster where the bad guy wins. Heaven forbid! Also i noticed something. The civilized people from the future who save the day are mostly fair skinned, the natives are dark skinned, the native that Daniel falls for is fair skinned, Ra a native that has supernatural powers, the oppressor of the natives is fair skinned. Maybe i'm reading too much into this but those racist aspects are pretty blatant.

[Morlock 11]

Saw Flightplan. A frustrating movie. It is waaaaaaaaaay too preposterous to be taken seriously, and (I feel) short changed me one ridicules twist that would've made it a solid, dumb thriller.

Still, I had a good time while in the theater.

I love the premise of the film. I wish there was someone alive who is able to take a good premise for a thriller and add a good movie on top of it (DePalma seems to have given up on the genre).

The film's plot holds rather well for most of the movie, until it's got all the characters cornered, and then just becomes one big joke.

I think the film could've been presentable if it tidied up a couple of major points- everything else could be forgiven, but these problems are just totaly crippling. SPOILERS BELOW (highlight to read):

First of all- having Skaarsgard and the flight attendant the bad guys. You never for an instant believe that these two people would really do what is attributed to them. What they did is unbelievable enough, but the details could've been tidied if you've got the actor doing it, and they had the wrong actors and the wrong characters doing it.

And then, there's the major flaw in the film. The biggest flaw in the entire film. The one that, to me, makes this a not good movie. One of the things that makes the first 2/3 of the movie good is that you really don't know what happened to the daughter, and no one in the crew has a clue either. We believe the crew when they say it. You've got all these characters hammering it in that no one saw her daughter. Here lies the problem- throughout the movie, you've got the crew asking Foster how does it make sense that no one saw her daughter. So you've got the movies biggest logical gap pointed out to you at every turn. I mean, you've got characters in the film asking a question that the audience should be asking after having seen the movie. So the characters know that this movie makes no sense even before the audience does.

Foster is good here, she helps us stick with the character even when we feel like agreeing with the crew and labeling her crazy. But I really loved Sean Bean here. I think he is a really fine actor, and I think he offers a rock solid base for this airplane, so that as opposed to most thrillers, where you know everything's going to be okay because they've got a star in the lead, I knew that everything was going to be okay because Sean Bean was in the cockpit.

I liked the movie's use of the ariplane, it felt authentic. I liked Jamie's score.

I think the movie should've taken it one step further and added another twist to the story. I mean, if you're already an inherentlay dumb thriller, why not try to thrill a bit more? it would be hard to get dumber. But no, they robbed me of the final joy, of the captain being the real bad guy. That would've made less sense than all the other intelligence gaps put together, but it would've put a big smile on my face as I was leaving the theater.

[Justin 2]

I really want to see Flightplan. The premise/trailer does indeed look great. Although I'm not willing to shed the 6.50 to go see it.

Justin

[Orson 1]

I posted my thoughts a few pages back about Flightplan. It set me up only to be majorly let down during the last act.

Watched Dr No last night... still a classic. Decided to start from the beginning and watch all the Bond films over again.

[Justin 2]

Lemony Snickett's A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I find this film to be delightfully charming. It has moments of whymsy, magic and myster which are worked together woderfully. I think giving the baby subtitles was a bit distracting and adds nothing to the film except (on a second viewing) a few pained expressions. Newman's score is wonderful in the film adding hope, darkness, and magic exactly when needed. Carrey is very entertaining in this somewhat comedically restrained performance it's great to see him as so many characters. The best one is Stefano the Italian Man. Laugh out loud funny there. LOL

Justin

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Saw Oliver! for the first time. A really wonderful family film. I was not really familiar with the songs, and I was surprised how many fo them I liked. A couple of them didn't really work for me, but I loved 'Food, Glorious Food', 'Boy For Sale', 'Gotta Pick a Pocket or Two' and a couple of others. The choreography is the film is absolutely fantastic for most of the numbers. I normaly have a natural aversion to scenes where all of a sudden everyone in the middle of the street starts singing and dancing, but over here it is so well choreographed, that an extended number like 'Who Will buy my Sweet Red Roses' is really admirable how keeps it fun and interesting throughout the unusually long number.

 The film is also a wonderful adaptation of Dickens' book, especialy in the charactarization of Fagin. Ron Moody does a fantastic job, and is very solidly backed up by the genuinely menacing Olvier Reed and the kid playing the Artful Dodger, who does a great job.

 I do not think there are too many really good musicals out there, it's nice to find a new one I wasn't expecting to be good.

 A very positive *** 1/2.

Ah, the sound of common sense. Oliver! is one of my top favorite movies. And "Who Will Buy?" is my favorite number in any musical, ever.

I watched Forever Young. What a terrible movie. I couldn't find anything I liked in it. Maybe the score, but I couldn't remove it from the wreck of the film. Kept me wishing my remote had batteries so I could change the channel.

[MrScratch 294]

giving the baby subtitles was a bit distracting and adds nothing to the film

Sunny is hilarious in the books, her subtitles are quite necessary.

Jeff

[Big_Cheese 0]

I had some free time this weekend so I watched Team America, Dodgeball, and part of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I'd already seen all of these atleast once, but I had forgotten how funny the first two were. Team America is the greatest thing with puppets since the Muppets. Puppet sex, wow, strange, and yet funny. The 'fight' scenes are classic. 3 stars definately, maybe even borderline 4, depending on your audience.

Dodgeball was my favorite comedy of last summer, despite what all you Anchorman fans say. Vince Vaughn plays the straight man, but he still gets some laughs. Rip Torn (if that name isn't fake, I don't know what is) plays a great Patches O'Hoolihan, a funny name for an Irishman that gets crushed by a beer sign. Isn't that ironic, don't you think? Another 3 maybe 4 star movie. People that don't like watching other people getting the crap knocked out of them by rubber balls, or that don't like William Shatner, probably won't enjoy it.

And The Two Towers, how can I forget thee? Well I can, because I fell asleep. I made it about 2 hours (about a quarter of the way) through the movie before realizing that sleep was just more important.

[SturgisPodmore 0]

giving the baby subtitles was a bit distracting and adds nothing to the film

Sunny is hilarious in the books, her subtitles are quite necessary.

I think the funniest part of the movie was her "Bite me."

~Sturgis, who hasn't watched that since it was in theaters and needs to again! . . . and who loves parts of the score

[Orson 1]

Rope.

Nice little play.... boy that Jimmy Stewart is one sharp cookie, isn't he?

[Hitch 57]

Where else could they hide the body?

[Orson 1]

Wherever you wanted them to.

[Trumpeteer 302]

I'm back to comment more on "High Noon." I read after seeing it that Cooper had an ulcer all the way through shooting it. Why didn't Fred Zinnemman replace him? Obviously, an ulcer is not going to allow an actor to be his best.

I'm thinking they gave him the Oscar just for making it through the movie. Oh well. Oscars have been given for stranger reasons.

[Morlock 11]

Watched Dr No last night... still a classic. Decided to start from the beginning and watch all the Bond films over again.

I was never that impressed with the film.

I watched Forever Young. What a terrible movie. I couldn't find anything I liked in it. Maybe the score, but I couldn't remove it from the wreck of the film. Kept me wishing my remote had batteries so I could change the channel.

A very forgettable film, if I recall correctly. Lovely love theme, though.

Valiant. A cute, very British, CGI film. Too cute to be really good, but fun while it lasts. I don't think Ewan McGregor was a great choice for the lead, but I loved Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry and Jim Broadbent. Fantastic animation on Gervais in particular, they really captured the nuance of his style that makes The Office so fantastic.

Proof. Dissapointing. I didn't go in with very high hopes, but the film drew me in, mainly due to the performances, just to let me down with where it took teh story. IMO this is Paltrow's best performance to date, she was really great here. And Gyllenhall is good, and Hopkins is Hopkins. I wished the film would have more math stuff. As I said, it drew me in, I got involved with the character, but I just feel that the ending just fizzled. The entire experience just fizzled, I left the theater feeling empty. I felt no resolution there.

The Player. One of my favorite films, among Robert Altman's best. I just love this movie. Fantastic script, great performances. I love Newman's score. The ending in particular I love (the film within a film and the ending), it's just a delicious way to end the film.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

Ben-Hur. The 1925 film, with live music by the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. Absolutely amazing! (Especially the "stereo" timpani... man, those guys get loud... I didn't know wether to watch the chariot race or the timpanists )!