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What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II


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Se7en. Tied with The Silence of The Lambs as the most disturbing film I've ever seen. However, this film seems to be reaching for higher and more intelectual goals. The film seems like it's really trying to send a message. However, I'm not certain what that message was. Did John Doe win in the end? IMO, there was no question that he deserved death. There's simply no other way to look at it. Morgan Freeman's character says that "If you shoot him, he wins." Bullcrap. That's playing by Doe's rules. However, Doe should have died through justice not vengence. So in the end I suppose he did win. But then again what does it matter how he dies as long as he's dead.

A well made and thought provoking film.

Justin - Who loved Shore's cue at the end.

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The end of Se7en made me feel physically ill. I guess I was just so involved with the characters, that the contents of the box were almost too much to bear. I though Pitt did a great job in that scene particularly.

Ray Barnsbury

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Alas that the ending of Se7en was spoiled for me. I've often heard such great praise about that final scene, but it never had that impact on me, because I knew how it was going to end. ROTFLMAO

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I don't remember how I felt the first time I watched Se7en. But even though I've seen it many times by now, the ending never leaves me cold. Yes, Pitt is great, and Shore's score is as well, it really adds a lot to the finale.

Marian - who thinks it's brilliant, whether you already know it or not.

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The end of Se7en made me feel physically ill.  I guess I was just so involved with the characters, that the contents of the box were almost too much to bear.  I though Pitt did a great job in that scene particularly.

This is amazingly true. I was rather sleepy the night I watched it, yet I was completly sucked into the film. Wonderfully made. I must watch it again.

Justin

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Many people claim to have seen what's in the box, even claiming that the scene must have been deleted after the first release. The truth is that no such scene was ever shot.

Marian - :|

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Soldier of Orange Soldaat van Oranje ...a surprisingly good Dutch movie and one of Verhoeven's finest movies. Snazzy score too from Rogier van Otterloo.

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Episode III. The culmination of everything I've found wrong with the prequel trilogy. Honestly I can't blame this film simply because it's exactly like the others. I'm not even going to bother pointing out it's weak points as they are clearly evident. It angers me to see such an adequate to poor film/trilogy created from something that could have been the film going experience of a lifetime. There are several good scenes in the film however all the scenes could have been better and it angers me to no end that they are nothing more than servicable.

The film is better on it's own than either TPM or AOTC and yet it angers me more because while Lucas got several scenes right so much of it is just like the others. The prequels basic basic basic story needs to be told better by someone capable of creating quality film. The film goes from horrific drama to toilet humor it has no clue where it wants to go.

Yet, once Anakin's Betrayal begins I find the film to be genuinly entertaining. It's still horribly flawed but even through the dense mesh of flaws shines the light of this epic story. For a few scenes I am genuinly struck by the emotion of the story such as in The Imolation Scene.

The films ending it very abrupt and focus on no message or thought just the fact that "it's finally over". Instead of creating individual and stand alone works of film Lucas chains himself to the aesthetic rules established in the orginal trilogy and it simply doesn't work. The Prequels should have been much darker, more realistic, and far less space opera esc. But you say "Oh but Justin that's completly unlike the other movies!" Well guess what, THESE ARE VERY DIFFRENT STORIES! The OT was about an exciting war to stop and evil empire. It had an obvious bad guy and an obvious good guy. The PT is completly diffrent, or at least it should have been. Stop worrying about if it fits with the OT and start worying about getting a good movie.

Justin

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The film's (Episode III) ending it very abrupt

Indeed, now here's a mighty example of an abrupt ending. And it's because we all have been waiting to see a spectacular birth of Darth Vader. We didn't get one. The "holler" spoiled it.

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The film's (Episode III) ending it very abrupt

Indeed, now here's a mighty example of an abrupt ending. And it's because we all have been waiting to see a spectacular birth of Darth Vader. We didn't get one. The "holler" spoiled it.

:P

War of the Worlds

How did you see it?

~Sturgis

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The Prequels should have been much darker, more realistic, and far less space opera esc.

But that's the film Lucas wanted to make.

Anyways i thought the film was very good and proves that Lucas can do a good movie. It's a big rebound from Attack of the Crap. One of the things i had problem with were Anakin. I thought his evil should have been punished more severely than just having his legs being cut off. For god sake the guy killed younglings and for what, for Padme! He placed the hands of the galaxy into an evil parasite. He is not to be pittied, him killing the emperor later is not redemption for what he has done. He is selfish and evil, point blank end of conversation. As usual with ALL light saber fights i wasn't impressed by any in Sith. They were just swinging their swords at each other's. I actualy fast forward all of them said "blah-blah blah". The pseical effects were amazing and Yoda was better animated and better portrayed. The pace was great, not alot slowed it down, it just kept going. 8.5/10

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I'm going to see Jarhead in an hour, so I'll let everyone know how it was.

Tim

Supposedly a Munich trailer is attached to this. Let us know if that is indeed true.

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I'm going to see Jarhead in an hour, so I'll let everyone know how it was.

Tim

Supposedly a Munich trailer is attached to this. Let us know if that is indeed true.

It was enclosed in the can. King Kong is the attached trailer on Jarhead.

Neil

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Hmm...

Is the title of this thread still valid?

I saw Angelas Ashes today for the first time. I own 50+ JW soundtracks, but am well behind that count on my DVD ownership count... Besides I'm actually still trying to find the AA sountrack that doesn't contain the narration (U.S. release??) and the film didn't change this desire. I still like the theme, even though seeing the film strangely changed my feelingd to a more Schindlerian approach of this score...

-Snowster

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Just saw Jarhead. No Munich trailer with it, just the new King Kong one.

I really liked it, Gyllenhall, Saarsgard and Foxx were all perfect in their roles. Barely any action moments in the movie but everything else was so good that I didn't mind. ILM also did a fantastic job with the VFX, especially in the oil field scenes and Newman put out another score sounding completely different from his past ones, I'll definately be picking it up.

Max

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I saw Jarhead at a Regal Cinema, and saw the trailer for Munich and King Kong, but I couldn't tell you the music that was used. The Munich one was pretty engrossing.

Jarhead is a great film. It is not a war movie, so don't go in thinking there is a lot of action going on. There are some early comedic moments, but the main bulk of the movie is drama, and a lot of time is devoted to setting up tension with Gyllenhall's mental state. These soldiers trained for a couple years and waited in the desert for almost 6 months before the war was officially declared, and it only lasted 4 days. It tells the story of a marine sniper named "Swoff" and the company he was in, and their building desperation to kill something or see some action in the field so they can put their training and skills to the test. Great acting, and great cinematography by Roger Deakins (Coen Bros. films, Shawshank, etc).

Tim

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I saw Jarhead at a Regal Cinema, and saw the trailer for Munich and King Kong, but I couldn't tell you the music that was used.  The Munich one was pretty ungrossing.

Tim

Engrossing.... could you expound on that? And is it even a word? :P

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Seriously, no one else saw the trailer?

Well it starts out with real footage describing the events in Munich, mentioning "Black September" and so on. Then it goes into scenes building the idea of Eric Bana's character going after the "11 Palestiniens" that had a hand in the events in Munich, and having to part with his family to carry out the task. The trailer is comprised of quick cuts or disolves (most are).

The music is divided up into three parts. The beginning has a wailing female voice as he leaves his family, the middle has thumping percussion while Geoffrey Rush narrates the "preparation" scenes, and the dramic third act is surrounded by strings as the main characters question their actions. What I mean by that is, after the team of four gets their assignment it seems the movie takes a very dramatic turn about "what is right and what is wrong" in what they're doing (which is, essentially, assassinations). There are a few scenes of bombs going off in hotel rooms.

It looks good.

Tim

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Well based on my weak knowledge of the plot I was totally surprised by the trailer. Looks something that could actually be worth seeing.

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 The beginning has a wailing female voice as he leaves his family ...

Noooooooooooooooo! (Crane shot of Alexcremers falling on his knees as he's yelling to the skies)

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 The beginning has a wailing female voice as he leaves his family ...

Noooooooooooooooo! (Crane shot of Alexcremers falling on his knees as he's yelling to the skies)

LOL I do not think and hope that Williams is going to use solo female vocalist wailing in the movie (or perhaps Spielberg makes him to use one). I have had enough with that particular cliché.

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Thanks for the info on the trailer... sounds interesting. Think I'll wait to see it in the theater as I plan on seeing Jarhead real soon.

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Well, I think Se7en is a great film, and that RoTS is a badly executed not bad film with good parts. I saw Spike Lee's 25th Hour again and liked it a lot, and it's score. I saw the first half of Dick Donner's Assassins and had a reasonably good time. Not with the score, though. I saw a lot of Michael Mann's The Insider, and was again impressed with the excellent performances.

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Eyes Wide Shut.

Despite having a rather odd and intense sexual plot, the film is a great psychological study on jealousy and certain dynamics within a marriage. I love the bedroom scene where Kidman smokes a little too much, which leads to a rather intense discussion and admission. The ending was a little tamer than I thought it would be as I was hoping for a bit more when we see the mask lying on the pillow. Still a good film overall to me and another fine example of Kubrick's tecnique in following the actors with the camera. Maybe it's just me, but I saw a lot of similarity to The Shining in this. I thought Cruise and Nicholson were directed in very much the same manner and seem to have a lot of the same expressions at times.

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This weekend, I have been mostly seeing:

The Two Towers (Theatrical Cut): it was on tv - I hadn't seen it for a while (the theatrical cut, that is), and the jarring edits struck me again. This is, for me, the best film of the trilogy though.

Legend of Zorro: highly entertaining, a film with no pretence. More typical Hollywood films you won't find I guess - but in the positive sense.

Johnny English: lousy film, but Atkinson saves the day and makes it worth your while.

The Pianist: very impressive film, must-see of course. What I was thinking while watching this, was that the character is not your usual John Doe, he's a piano talent (and survived because of that): I have not yet seen a film about the holocaust from the point of view of the real man in the street...

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The Secret Garden (1993). A wonderful family film. Kate Maberly, the lead, gives one of the best child performances I've seen. Maggie Smith is great, she keeps her character from becoming just the evil housekeeper. Zbiegniew Preisner provides a wonderful score, and Roger Deakins does what he does best- deliver an astoundingly beautiful-looking film. The finale is genuinely touching.

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The Secret Garden (1993). A wonderful family film. Kate Maberly, the lead, gives one of the best child performances I've seen. Maggie Smith is great, she keeps her character from becoming just the evil housekeeper. Zbiegniew Preisner provides a wonderful score, and Roger Deakins does what he does best- deliver an astoundingly beautiful-looking film. The finale is genuinely touching.

I found the original of 1949 to be more enchanting.

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I'll be brief.

"Nine Lives." A bunch of related short films about nine women who deal with pressure and life-altering decisions in their lives. Each scene is filmed in one take and is never showy. All the actresses and actors are exceptional. Throughout the film I had a feeling that a Mexican director was guiding this. Don't ask why, but that's what I felt. And I was right. Even the director of "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams" had a hand in this. Recommended.

"Chicken Little." Bad casting. If Chicken Little is about 10 years old, why give him Zach Braff's voice? And Joan Cusack, while funny, didn't work either as the Ugly Duckling. But the film is funny and inventive, and I doubt anyone else thinks Chicken Little should have been voiced by a kid (Haley Joel Osment?).

"Jarhead." I loved the humor. The scenes in the oil fields were unnecessary. But Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic, and Peter Sarsgaard is always interesting to watch.

"Good Night, and Good Luck." Hmm. As a journalist, I got no insight from this. As someone who was not alive in this time period, I got no kind of feeling on the repercussions of Edward Murrow's on-air attacks. I don't mind "talky" movies, but this one talked too much and said very little.

"Capote." Now, here's a good film about how history affected one man. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was great to watch. I didn't know anything about Truman Capote, and this offered a great window into how a man can be affected by writing such a difficult novel. Plus, Capote was so magnetic, you can't help but believe his lies.

"Chicago." I watched it in DTS for the first time and was blown away. I think this is the best way to show off your sound system. Every musical should sound like this. And after the 50th time, this film still makes me laugh.

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Der Untergang- The Downfall. A good and thought provoking film about Hitler's last days in that bunker. The film made me think about a lot of aspects of the war, of Hitler, and of Nazi Germany, so it's hard to single out specific points from the movie. For me, the most important thing the movie did was to examine the Nazi system. How Hitler would probably be little but a racist, psychotic painter with homicidal tendancies without this massive system that fed him and in turn ate up what he fed them. The scene where Mrs. Geobbles coldly drugs than kills her children is a frightning and chilling scene, and she does it because, as she says, "I do not want to live in a world without National Socialism".

Bruno Ganz gives one of the most striking performances I've ever seen. He is so pitiful as he continually issues orders to dead generals to move their non-existant armies to pointless fronts, and as he promotes men to command totaly incapacitated branches of the army. Yet, at the same time, you can see how someone like the secretaries would admire him as they did, and you can believe the impact that seeing his lifeless body must have caused those poeple in the bunker.

The film looks and feels totaly authentic, from the big shots of bombed-out Berlin to the details of the costumes to the claustrephobia of the bunker.

A must see film. *** 1/2 out of ****.

On a side note, and I know this may seem a bit strange, but, as I was watching the film, I couldn't help but imagine a Monty Python skit on the film. It would be John Clease with a Hitler mustache spouting a tirade of German sounding material a la Chaplin's speech in The Great Dictator ("The Phooey has just referred to the Jewish people"), followed by about 5 minutes of people killing themselves, in increasingly ridicules ways.

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Der Untergang- The Downfall. A good and thought provoking film about Hitler's last days in that bunker.

I just got this in the mail from netflix, can't wait to watch it!

Saw MirrorMask the other night, mediocre fantasy film all too reminiscent of Labyrinth. The CGI effects pale in comparison to the puppets of Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. I was really disappointed with this. I was really hoping for a magical blend of puppets and digital effects, it turned to be all CGI, and really really awful CGI at that.

Just like Disney, the Jim Henson company is devoid of the imagination and innovation of it's namesake.

Jeff

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Saw Man of Fire. Liked it. It is very well directed, and shockingly well paced for an Tony Scott action movie. Very strong acting from everybody- Washington, Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Rachel Ticotin, a rare unextravegant performance from Walken and a wonderful little turn by Giancarlo Giannini, in a lighter mood than I'm used to seeing him. While I'm not advocating as a way to make movies- Scott's hyper-kintic/epileptic shooting and editing works here. Except for a couple of moments that I felt the camera should be still, without any colors changing (and a few moments where I needed to pause it to prevent my head from exploding), it was effective in the movie, and actually made the mearly 2 1/2 hour running time go by pretty quickly. The first half really does a great job in building the relationship (big kudos to Brian 'Mystic River' Helgeland), so you really feel it when Dakota is gone. ***/****

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I still have the extended edition of Der Untergang lying around (which is about 30 minutes longer than the theatrical cut). I have yet to watch it, but I need to really sit down for it. Not just because of the three-hour running time, but also because I taped it off German television, and my German's a little rusty.

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Saw the new Assault on Precinct 13. Had a great time. A very, very, good action film. The actors are all solid, I particularly liked Fishburne, and liked seeing Dennehy and Byrne doing something different.

Looked great, the set was very well done and convincing, loved how they clearly set up the geography. The tension between the characters inside the precinct was very well done.

The movie was well paced, interesting, entertaining, and satisfying until the very end, which is a kinda lame way to end it (though the interesting final shot makes up for it a bit). Graeme Revell is a composer I have yet to acquire a taste for, to date I haven't liked a single piece of music he's written (though I've never heard Dead Calm). His score didn't have a strong effect on the film.

I'd be glad to see more Hollywood action films directed by these French directors. It's kind of a breath of fresh air, seeing action scenes staged differantly than you're used to. ***/****

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