Last Movie You Watched? 7.0

DRESSED TO KILL (1980, dir. Brian De Palma)

Heretical movie opinion of the day: DRESSED TO KILL is better than Hitchcock's PSYCHO.

SHAME. The reteaming (after HUNGER) of Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen is as well-acted and visually sophisticated as expected, but after a strong beginning and middle becomes disappointingly predictable towards the end and also starts using sex scenes for shock value in a way that seems dated and tired. At the end of the day, it's basically an old-fashioned morality tale.

Harmsway wrote:

DRESSED TO KILL (1980, dir. Brian De Palma)

Heretical movie opinion of the day: DRESSED TO KILL is better than Hitchcock's PSYCHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vfSk-6tIvo#t=3s

War Horse (2011)

Spielberg can make a film that looks Fordian, but to me it feels counterfeit. And it gets too schmaltzy for me to bear after a while. But it looks terrific, and I admire how Spielberg directs the traffic. In an age where random, slapdash, sped-up, slow-mo, speed ramped, shaky cam, directionless, two-millisecond frame length filmmaking is the order of the day, it's nice to see someone who can shoot a movie in a manner that is planned out to effectively relay the story. Every note is hit deftly. Scenes come off, however schmaltzy, just about flawlessly.

But it just doesn't do it for me for some reason. I think Spielberg's style is worth studying among modern filmmakers, but his sensibilities to me can be like nails on a chalkboard. It's not out of cynicism, though.

2011 nominees

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

I had to give it to HUGO. WAR HORSE became unbearable to me near the end. I put it over MONEYBALL because of how effectively it was filmed. But this is just a ranking of how I liked them personally. I'm not Sight & Sound.

EDIT: Spielberg, the cinematic Thomas Kinkade? But with more talent.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

DRESSED TO KILL (1980, dir. Brian De Palma)

Heretical movie opinion of the day: DRESSED TO KILL is better than Hitchcock's PSYCHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vfSk-6tIvo#t=3s

You can bring out the straitjacket now.

I've been watching a lot of Hitchcock lately, and I've realized that PSYCHO doesn't really work for me. Yes, it has extraordinary elements. Who can deny the awesome technique on display in the shower sequence, or the brilliance of Herrmann's score? But despite these great bits and pieces, I find the whole of PSYCHO to be an empty experience.

DRESSED TO KILL wouldn't really exist if PSYCHO had not come first, and no one can claim it as a watershed moment for cinema the way that folks can claim that of PSYCHO. But I think there's more to get out of DRESSED TO KILL than PSYCHO.

I guess if you're going to say a film is better than Hitchcock's PSYCHO, then it might as well be one of De Palma's erotic thrillers.

I think that's an honorable opinion, Harms. I don't really agree with you, but can admit that DRESSED TO KILL comes pretty close to the quality of PSYCHO. I love them both.

I'm hoping PASSION is going to be similar.

Harmsway wrote:

DRESSED TO KILL (1980, dir. Brian De Palma)

Heretical movie opinion of the day: DRESSED TO KILL is better than Hitchcock's PSYCHO.

Seconded.

The Raven (2012)

The casting and period are pretty decent here (even if Evans seems to be doing his worse Clint Eastwood) offering some hope it can deliver something special. However it rapidly becomes apparent that the script is bereft of imagination, rather than be inspired by Poe the writer's influence is sadly just offered as superficial gloss to what is otherwise a doggedly hum drum murder mystery (the kind the TV is happy to troll out as a weekly episode).

5/10

Just stick with the Roger Corman film.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Just stick with the Roger Corman film.

Yeah been a while since I saw that one Karloff Vs Price was hilarious.... humour was another thing lacking in the 2012 film.

Il deserto rosso (1964, dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)

Stunning visuals, great use of colours (I'm beginning to think digital is dispensable). Hopefully a second view soon will make me more perceptive of the connection between the visuals and the characters. What I've gathered is quite striking.

lachesis wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Just stick with the Roger Corman film.

Yeah been a while since I saw that one Karloff Vs Price was hilarious.... humour was another thing lacking in the 2012 film.

Netlfix Instant has those Corman flicks (or at least they did). Wanna do a run of them.

I wanted to watch Welles' THE TRIAL. Have a real hankering for it, but it's too late tonight. Hate when that happens.

But here's a great pic:



Should read: AND THEN THEY CAST VINCE VAUGHN

Cabin In The Woods

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/

What a piece of crap!!

From all the reviews I've read about this film in the past few months on how good this movie is and how it is not the same recycled horror movie over and over, I was excited to see this film.

Now that I have seen it, I am extremely disappointed!!

I was expecting it to bring something new and fresh to the horror movie genre and instead it's a rehash of everything we've seen in the horror movies in the past so many years;

plus it's also a copycat of several Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse episodes plus the Cube Trilogy and the Matrix Trilogy and many other horror films rolled into one.

Sure, this movie is from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard of Buffy and Dollhouse fame but come on, they couldn't come up with something original instead of borrowing from their own material?

1/5 and that's being extremely generous!

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I wanted to watch Welles' THE TRIAL. Have a real hankering for it, but it's too late tonight. Hate when that happens.

But here's a great pic:



Should read: AND THEN THEY CAST VINCE VAUGHN

At which point you put up an image of Welles from THE STRANGER as he goes off the clocktower, followed by Quinlan in ToE floating in the canal.

either that or for fullblown irony, you go from "and then they cast vince vaughn" to Marlene Dietrich saying "he was some kind of man."

I wanna do a shot-for-shot remake of Welles' THE TRIAL starring Vince Vaughn. With Tim Allen as Welles and Lauren Conrad as Romy Schneider. The fat guy from LOST will be Tamiroff.

Seven Men from Now (1956)

Really love it. One of the best B-westerns I've seen.

If you used Peter Dinklage, you wouldn't have to build extra-tall doors with high knobs for him to reach up for.

La Petit Trial?

Petulant and dismissive Dinklage: ovular isn't even a word (the 'you moron!' is implied)

There's a twist on Kafka. A guy wakes up to find he's a midget.

You could probably get him to make that movie. I'll call Lynch, he's been wanting to do Metamorphosis.

Airport (1970)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065377/

I can't believe this movie grossed $100 Million!!

Jacqueline Bisset is the hottest flight attendant I'd ever seen in my entire life!!

She can join me on the Mile High Club anytime

4/5



Airport 1975 (1974)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071110/

I remember watching this in the movie theater when I was 9 and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Now, almost 40 years later, it's still an exciting movie.

4/5



Airport '77 (1977)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075648/

Not as good as Airport and Airport 1975 but it's still a good 70s disaster movie, a genre which they no longer make!

3/5



The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078740/

Oh! They should had stopped at '77!!

What were they thinking?

The only good thing about this movie is seeing Sylvia Kristel, whose Emmanuelle and Private Lesson movies were a big part of my puberty!

There was talk about an Airport '82 but after Airport '79 flopped, plans for it were scrapped.

Thank the maker!

1.5/5

j7wild wrote:

Airport '77 (1977)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075648/

Not as good as Airport and Airport 1975 but it's still a good 70s disaster movie, a genre which they no longer make!

3/5

Hmm. Wonder why.

I'd like to know why they don't make 70's pornos anymore.

THE HUNGER GAMES :5*:

Very tense, suspenseful, ...and looks like a pretty faithful adaption of the book. Excellent performances by everyone, though Lenny Kratvitz's character seemed thinly written or under-acted (not sure which). Jennifer was excellent and thoughtful as the lead. I was surprised at how strong the movie was. Not expecting that. It wasn't just a teen movie, but had some dramatic weight to it that adults will like as well.

How anyone takes any of those Airport movies even remotely seriously after Airplane!, I've no idea.

HJackson wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

DRESSED TO KILL (1980, dir. Brian De Palma)

Heretical movie opinion of the day: DRESSED TO KILL is better than Hitchcock's PSYCHO.

Seconded.

I'm glad I'm not alone in my madness.

Jack Wade wrote:

j7wild wrote:

Airport '77 (1977)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075648/

Not as good as Airport and Airport 1975 but it's still a good 70s disaster movie, a genre which they no longer make!

3/5

Hmm. Wonder why.

Actually one can say that recent movies like 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, The Road, Book of Eli, Armageddon, Dante's Peak, Volcano, Deep Impact, Independence Day, Cloverfield, Virus, Contagion, 28 Days Later, Skyline, The Darkest Hour, etc etc can also be considered Disaster genre films.