Last Movie You Watched? the 8th

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Tubes wrote:

I could certainly see why someone would strongly dislike LEGEND, as it goes in an entirely different direction from MASK. Save Banderas and Zeta-Jones, every actor is also a step back, sometimes mildly (Captain Love to MacGivens), sometimes dramatically (Rufus Sewell can't hold a candle to Stuart Wilson). It also reverses course on the sexuality that MASK had in favor of familial relationships and pushed Elana into an equal lead role instead of a romantic interest. On one hand, she is the daughter of Zorro and can clearly handle herself in a fight as presented in the first movie. On the other, seeing Zeta-Jones get such prominent billing and poster space over the title character is grating at times.

I still enjoyed LEGEND, but it doesn't come even close to MASK. To be fair, very few action films do.

To be honest one of my issues is that I didn't want a sequel to MASK. To me, Zorro is about de la Vega (like Batman is about Bruce Wayne) and I saw MASK as one last adventure with the added bonus of passing the torch in a classy way to a younger guy to say "the legend will live on". Same with DARK KNIGHT RISES -- I liked it, but I don't wanna see a "John Blake Batman" movie. In my head MASK is like the finale to the Guy Williams Zorro series or something like that.

That's also how I always thought of it. It also reminded me of BATMAN BEYOND, featuring the dynamic of a mentor and his student, though Banderas is not some teenager.

Saw the new STAR TREK movie and as a new incarnation for a new generation it works very well. Perhaps some of the classic ST is far better, but that does not take away that the new ST are excellent actioners in space with a great cast. I am just glad that the new movie does give us an excellent new jumpingboard for the future of the franchise.
While I am a great fan of the original ST and their movies and quite dissapointed with the Next Gen movies, I find that the new style works quite well and is most surely a different way from before.

Cumberbatch was great.

Looking forward to ST3 or STXIII.

Strippers -v- Werewolves

Pretty bloody good actually.

EXCALIBUR (1981, dir. by John Boorman)

Hilariously sh**e. MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL without any sense of irony. I haven't laughed so hard for so long in quite a while. Its saving graces are Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren hamming it up along with some gorgeous heavily diffused cinematography, but other than that, it's a turgid, overlong, incoherent, affectless mess. A huge waste of talent, and some of the worst classical temp-scoring I've ever seen (Wagner and Carl Orff).

God, I feel like I've aged a decade in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Give me THE SWORD AND THE STONE over this any day.

Couldnt disagree more, LS but you could probably predict that.

I was thinking of you while I typed that.

I honestly can't understand liking this film. Ironically sure, but straight-faced?

EXCALIBUR has its moments.

I have no interest in fantasy but I really liked EXCALIBUR. I found it to be campy fun. And I love this line reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DqWMqqJBig#t=10s

It's like Obi-Wan meets Shatner.

Harmsway wrote:

EXCALIBUR has its moments.

Oh it does, but they're like needles in a hay stack. They almost all feature Merlin.

Don't get me started on Trevor Jones's score.

FWIW, I prefer ZARDOZ and THE EXORCIST II.

I love Excalibur. I love the style and the grandeur and the scope and the sincerety of it. I agree Merlin steals the show though. Nicol is wonderfully weird.

EXORCIST II is trash. But it's typical of you to like it. I'd expect nothing less. If I ever get a chance to make the kind of films I want to make, I'll be disappointed if you ever stoop to buying a ticket.

If we still have theatres by then.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I love Excalibur. I love the style and the grandeur and the scope and the sincerety of it.

It's pronounced sincerity.

"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal." - Oscar Wilde.

There's something to be said for earnestness in a culture that is drowning in irony.

RED LIGHTS (2012, dir. Rodrigo Cortes)

Despite the high pedigree of the cast (Robert DeNiro, Sigourney Weaver, Cilian Murphy, Elizabeth Olsen, Toby Jones), this is a pretty painful watch. The average episode of the X-FILES is more intelligently written than this.

Harmsway wrote:

There's something to be said for earnestness in a culture that is drowning in irony.

With that I'd agree.

The Longest Day

epic when films were epic. A case of counting all the names involved. One of the favourite scenes remains the efforts of Captain Kieffer to link up with French tanks at Ouistreham. Involves this immense aerial shot illustrating the scale involved. Something to watch if anything.
No one actor is above the other though I suspect memory is dominated by Wayne/Mitchum. Kenny More in one of his coming wilderness roles.

Harmsway wrote:

There's something to be said for earnestness in a culture that is drowning in irony.

Thank you, Harms.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

There's something to be said for earnestness in a culture that is drowning in irony.

Thank you, Harms.

Thirded.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

I'm never sure if you're sincerely cynical or cynically sincere, LS.

Consistent, I'll give that.

JACK REACHER (2012, directed by Christopher McQuarrie). The very definition of watchable fluff (thanks largely to the Cruiser's star charisma, which - thinking about it - is true of a lot of his films). Ludicrous, strangely endearing fare.

FUNNY GIRL (1968, dir. William Wyler)

Boy, does Streisand know how to sell a musical number or what?

The Lavender Hill Mob

a delight throughout with a few familiar faces such as Robert Shaw in at the death but the likes of John Gregson and Sid James. My real source of joy comes from Stanley Holloway. Always, depending on the film of course, seems to fizz with this endless energy and happiness. Brief Encounter, Way Ahead, The Way to the Stars etc.
One good scene is the Vertigoesque descent of the Eifel Tower.

Good solid fun.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I'm never sure if you're sincerely cynical or cynically sincere, LS.

You know me better than I do.

THE SUM OF ALL FEARS

Sort of a mess. Interesting, over-the-top Goldsmith score, though.