Last Movie You Watched? 7.0

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I still mean to see LISBON.

I'm eager for another B&Ber to see it. If you can, see it on Blu-Ray. It's astonishingly beautiful.

Harmsway wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I still mean to see LISBON.

I'm eager for another B&Ber to see it. If you can, see it on Blu-Ray. It's astonishingly beautiful.

Just looked it up. Saw the runtime. HOLY &*^%!

At least I get to hear Portuguese. I think it sounds better than any other language, even if I can't make heads or tails of it.

I still want to learn French and Spanish. Maybe even Italian, since it's probably similar. Would make watching European films a lot easier and more enjoyable. And the possibility of working there appeals to me.

Anywho.

Romancing The Stone

I haven't revisited this movie in about 20 years.

It's still a good movie and one of only 3 Kathleen Turner (live action) films I like:

the others being Body Heat and Prizzi's Honor.

4.5/5

Moneyball (2011)

Not too bad. The cast made it watchable for me. Not a Jonah Hill fan, but I thought he did fine.

1. THE DESCENDANTS
2. THE ARTIST
3. HUGO
4. MONEYBALL
5. THE HELP
6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
7. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Watched Shutter Island last night. Scorsese is a genius. Gripped right until the end. Some great shots and probably DiCaprio's best performance (aside from What's Eating Gilbert Grape). A classic thriller. Oh and if Blofeld was to return to the Bond series, I think Ben Kingsley should be up for consideration.
Scorsese Ranking:

1. Goodfellas
2. Taxi Driver
3. Casino
4. Gangs Of New York
5. The Departed
6. Cape Fear
7. Aviator
8. Shutter Island
9. Hugo

Aching to give Raging Bull, Mean Streets and The King of Comedy a watch and waiting for The Irishman - one of Scorsese's new projects reuniting with De Niro and Joe Pesci, and with Al Pacino.

When I watched SHUTTER ISLAND, I thought to myself: Oh, this is great. Scorsese's leading the audience on and is going to give us a complete twist at the end. There's no way in hell that he's going to stick with the stereotypical, cliche, boring ending.

I was wrong. Walked out of the theater and had a cigarette, I think.

See, I was sort of thinking the same thing, but afterwards, I kept thinking about it and wondered

Spoiler:

Or maybe I'm reading into too much

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I still mean to see LISBON.

I'm eager for another B&Ber to see it. If you can, see it on Blu-Ray. It's astonishingly beautiful.

Just looked it up. Saw the runtime. HOLY &*^%!

The full version is actually six hours long, but I haven't been able to get hold of it yet (it's only available as a Region 2 set). The four-and-a-half hour version is the director's preferred version (and the one preferred by the critics who have seen both edits). There is an intermission in the four-and-half-hour version, so if you wanted to break up watching it over two nights, you can do so.

Manhunter wrote:

The Letter

My second Wyler, I believe, and my first Davis.

Realized that she was in DEATH on the Nile, too, so my second Davis, I guess.


Brighton Rock (1947; dir. John Boulting)

Another Greene-based film - a coincidence. Since my time is running out, I'll just say that story and main character are well developed and interesting. A tense and well shot film. If I'm not fooling myself, I believe I've seen it many years ago. The grammophone record Pinkie speaks on made me think I had seen it earlier. Very weak memories only, though. I was glad to see that this film was now released for the first time here, so I didn't have to order the English only DVD (which would not have been a problem, and cheap they are, too. I just prefer to see the films dubbed for the first time). Perhaps more comments after further viewings.



Midnight Lace (1960; dir. David Miller)

Another film with Hermione Baddeley - a coincidence. The scene with the voice in the fog in the beginning of the film is unintentionally funny, but the film gets better as it goes on. Some of the phone calls aren't scary at all, but there are incidents that are portrayed rather well, such as the elevator incident and the finale. Anthony Dawson surprisingly has a role that one doesn't expect from him, or at least, we are mislead to think he plays a different part, and all the things of the mystery are tied up neatly in the end. Still, it is not the strongest psychological thriller one can imagine. But a decent film nonetheless.

Written on the Wind (1956)

I was gonna upload this same part, but someone already has!



I laughed my ass off when he fell down the stairs.

Hilarious, hysterical entertainment. The first act or so actually plays pretty straight and really feels like something out of MAD MEN, but it just gets more and more bizarre. Who knew you could give a woman a miscarriage by slapping her?

Dorothy Malone was a real dish. I actually thought she was the weak link in the principal cast for overplaying her part. I was surprised to learn that she won an Oscar for it, but then I thought, "I really shouldn't be surprised."

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Moneyball (2011)

Not too bad. The cast made it watchable for me. Not a Jonah Hill fan, but I thought he did fine.

1. THE DESCENDANTS
2. THE ARTIST
3. HUGO
4. MONEYBALL
5. THE HELP
6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
7. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Interesting list. I'm a bit surprised you liked "The Help" more than "Midnight in Paris."

BLADE RUNNER (1982 International version)

With that, I think I've seen all the versions out there, although a couple of versions have changes so minor that I have to wonder if it was worth it to put out a 25th anniversary collection with so many versions.

Having said all that....there's a lot to get past in order to like this movie. The narration is deadly-dull....there's almost no plot going on whatsoever.....the characters aren't particularly like-able...the future is bleak, rainy, downbeat, and depressing....and yet there's something almost dreamlike or hypnotic about the movie. Vangelis' score is beautiful, the cinematography is great, the performances are riveting.

Jack Wade wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Moneyball (2011)

Not too bad. The cast made it watchable for me. Not a Jonah Hill fan, but I thought he did fine.

1. THE DESCENDANTS
2. THE ARTIST
3. HUGO
4. MONEYBALL
5. THE HELP
6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
7. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Interesting list. I'm a bit surprised you liked "The Help" more than "Midnight in Paris."

It was more that MIDNIGHT IN PARIS bored the pants off me. And it generally rubbed me the wrong way. The whole thing seemed very yuppie and snobbish to me. Feels like a movie that would be shown in Starbucks or a trendy indie coffee shop. But that's just my POV on it. PARIS is the better movie probably, but at least THE HELP had the saving grace of Viola Davis. That's just a list of how I liked them.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Jack Wade wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Moneyball (2011)

Not too bad. The cast made it watchable for me. Not a Jonah Hill fan, but I thought he did fine.

1. THE DESCENDANTS
2. THE ARTIST
3. HUGO
4. MONEYBALL
5. THE HELP
6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
7. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Interesting list. I'm a bit surprised you liked "The Help" more than "Midnight in Paris."

It was more that MIDNIGHT IN PARIS bored the pants off me. And it generally rubbed me the wrong way. The whole thing seemed very yuppie and snobbish to me. Feels like a movie that would be shown in Starbucks or a trendy indie coffee shop. But that's just my POV on it. PARIS is the better movie probably, but at least THE HELP had the saving grace of Viola Davis. That's just a list of how I liked them.

Fair. I thought "Midnight in Paris" had a nice charm to it, whereas "The Help" was Oscar bait.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS was another kind of bait, though I refuse to use the "h" word.

THREE CROWNS OF A SAILOR (1983, dir. Raul Ruiz)

A friend described it as a late-period Welles film in the guise of THE IMMORTAL STORY. And he's right, since Welles' fingerprints are all over this film. THREE CROWNS is as consistently beautiful (Sacha Vierny of LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD is the cinematographer) as it is consistently perplexing.

Jack Wade wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Jack Wade wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Moneyball (2011)

Not too bad. The cast made it watchable for me. Not a Jonah Hill fan, but I thought he did fine.

1. THE DESCENDANTS
2. THE ARTIST
3. HUGO
4. MONEYBALL
5. THE HELP
6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
7. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Interesting list. I'm a bit surprised you liked "The Help" more than "Midnight in Paris."

It was more that MIDNIGHT IN PARIS bored the pants off me. And it generally rubbed me the wrong way. The whole thing seemed very yuppie and snobbish to me. Feels like a movie that would be shown in Starbucks or a trendy indie coffee shop. But that's just my POV on it. PARIS is the better movie probably, but at least THE HELP had the saving grace of Viola Davis. That's just a list of how I liked them.

Fair. I thought "Midnight in Paris" had a nice charm to it, whereas "The Help" was Oscar bait.

I totally agree on THE HELP.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and HUGO are two films I intend to revisit. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for MIDNIGHT. But it bored me to tears.

The Tree of Life (2011)

Philosophy aside, I found the film very impressive. And certainly a better religious (or in this case I'd say spiritual) movie than this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6tzSxpBYt8

I award it the Raptor Jesus Award for Ambition.

1. THE TREE OF LIFE
2. THE DESCENDANTS
3. THE ARTIST
4. HUGO
5. MONEYBALL
6. THE HELP
7. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
8. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

THE TREE OF LIFE strikes me as the only film on that list that anyone will give a crap about in 10 years.

I'll honestly say I'd prefer to see a movie more existential than spiritual, but it's Mallick's movie to make and I was very impressed by it. There are people who say that atheists can't feel wonder or awe, which is total BS. This movie without the God business would actually speak strongly to me. Loved the creation stuff.

Personally I thought it was a ponderous mess, but your ranking is sound.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Personally I thought it was a ponderous mess, but your ranking is sound.

Yeah, I could totally get that. In the second half it was wearing thin. It felt like it could have been a lot shorter, though maybe I'm missing some of the intent. This movie would merit a second view for me.

The real success to me was it's emotional impact, which reminded me a LOT of Kubrick. This movie is the polar opposite of that awful EXTREMELY LONG AND INCREDIBLY CRASS. And I'm not surprised that people walked out. This is not a movie for most people by any stretch, but I enjoyed a lot of it.

Yeah, I found the film affecting in a lot of places. I'm probably in a minority on that one. But I find 2001 to be one of the most emotional films I've ever seen, so maybe I'm just a lunatic.

I absolutely agree with you. And I do think The Tree of Life was the best film of 2011.

FieldsMan wrote:

I absolutely agree with you. And I do think The Tree of Life was the best film of 2011.

Well, I ranked it #1 in Best Picture nominees. Were would DRIVE fit in? Up near the top with that list, for me. But THE TREE OF LIFE does seem like a film that will have staying power, ponderous mess or not. I wish there were more films of that heft out there. I suppose they will emerge in time, after the likes of THE ARTIST go the way of GIGI.

Vera Cruz (1954)

First-rate, unusual western courtesy of the criminally forgotten Robert Aldrich. Story by Bordon Chase who wrote some of the Mann/Stewart westerns of this time, and I'd almost say that Cooper and Lancaster come close to representing Stewart's character split in two.

It's a fun, funny, 90-minute pissing contest.

And this is great:



Aldrich-wise, I have a hankering to fire up my KISS ME DEADLY Blu-ray. I wanna see BABY JANE again, and HUSH... HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE. Never seen all of that one, but I recall loving the title sequence.

My ranking of 2011 films (that I've seen) would go something like this:

The Tree of Life
Melancholia
Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher)
Hugo
Carnage
The Descendants
Jane Eyre
Midnight In Paris
Hanna
Crazy, Stupid, Love
My Week With Marilyn
Rio
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Still need to watch A Dangerous Method!

I'll see CARNAGE pretty soon.

Dunno about MELANCHOLIA. I didn't make it far into ANTICHRIST. Not sure if I even want to try this other one.

FieldsMan wrote:

My ranking of 2011 films (that I've seen) would go something like this:

The Tree of Life
Melancholia
Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher)
Hugo
Carnage
The Descendants
Jane Eyre
Midnight In Paris
Hanna
Crazy, Stupid, Love
My Week With Marilyn
Rio
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Still need to watch A Dangerous Method!

Watch TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY.