Last Movie You Watched? Mark 9

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)

I liked it. Good fun. Nothing unexpected. Could've done without the whole "even the Avengers are human, too!!!" bits but whatever. Hulk and Iron Man fought each other.

Inherent Vice

A bittersweet experience to be honest. Sweet in that this is probably going to remain on my list of favorite films for a long while and it was everything I hoped it would be. But bitter knowing that unless another auteur direction takes the helm there probably won't be anymore really good private eye or crime dramas like this with a thick, Chandler-esque plot and heavy on atmosphere again this decade given the audience reaction. It all comes together well in the end and I do love the conspiracy angle to the whole thing. Everyone did a great job especially Josh Brolin and Martin Short who might not have been in the film the whole much but left a lasting impression and had brought some laughs to the film. I can't think of anything to say other than praises as there just wasn't anything I didn't like about the film. While outside of genre and location it's not much of a comparison but this film is kind of like L.A. Confidential in that by the time the credits rolled I was totally sucked into it and didn't want to leave.

I saw it too. Your reading on it is kinder than mine, Strangways.

Josh Brolin was rather brilliant in his role. I saw the entire movie as Paul Thomas Anderson's attempt at making his own "Chinatown" (only without betraying his personal narrative and stylistic traits). There are quite a few parallels to be drawn between the two features. In the end though, I thought the plot itself was a bit of a letdown and merely an excuse to allow for a parade of colorful characters.

I didn't think of the Chinatown parallels but did think of The Long Goodbye in one particular scene. The scene where Doc is at the asylum sneaking around definitely reminded me of when Marlowe was sneaking around the rehab clinic looking for Sterling Hayden's character in The Long Goodbye especially because they are both doing it under similar circumstances (both contracted to locate an older rich guy by their younger spouse/girlfriend). Given Altman's influence on Anderson and the wikipedia page for the book doesn't appear to mention an asylum that was probably a nod towards the film.

Strangways&Quarrel wrote:

I didn't think of the Chinatown parallels but did think of The Long Goodbye in one particular scene. The scene where Doc is at the asylum sneaking around definitely reminded me of when Marlowe was sneaking around the rehab clinic looking for Sterling Hayden's character in The Long Goodbye especially because they are both doing it under similar circumstances (both contracted to locate an older rich guy by their younger spouse/girlfriend). Given Altman's influence on Anderson and the wikipedia page for the book doesn't appear to mention an asylum that was probably a nod towards the film.

Nice catch, Strangways. :)

I loved Inherent Vice. Back home visiting family right now. Taking my little brother to see Avengers tonight. Will post thoughts.

I was torn this afternoon between seeing EX MACHINA and Ultron. Settled on EX MACHINA, and I'm glad I did.

Excellent film. Alex Garland's direction was particularly strong, even for a first-time director. And after seeing Oscar Isaac in INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, plus A MOST VIOLENT YEAR and now this one, he's quickly becoming one of my favorite current actors.

It's going to be interesting seeing both Isaac and Gleeson in Star Wars this December, especially since their roles will the reverse of this picture, with Gleeson playing a villain and Isaac a hero.

Unfriended - horror which (as you'd expect with that title) unfolds entirely across online social media. Not bad, quite tense in places with some good 'jumps'.

Carry On Screaming

as entertaining as I can get in the midweek. Almost a shame that Harry H didn't do more but like Leslie Phillips likely didn't want to do too many and end up pigeonholed (Steptoe I know, etc) in Carry On world. Anyway, Williams aside from Harry H steals the show and Fenella Fielding in that scarlet dress, ra ra.

Frying tonight...!

Picked up a Mad Max trilogy boxset in Sainsbury's for £10 (the only one I'd previously seen in its entirety was the third, and that was almost 30 years ago); plan is to watch all 3 ahead of Fury Road's release next weekend. So ...

Mad Max - well ... interesting. Quite a bit of the acting makes it apparent that most of the $400,000 budget went on making sure the vehicular mayhem was up to scratch, which (fortunately) it very much is.

Spooks : The Greater Good - recommended to anyone who enjoyed the television series. More outlandish spy fare (M:I Rogue Nation, Man From UNCLE and of course SPECTRE) will be along later in the year, but there's nothing wrong with the lower-key thrills on offer here.

The original is the one that has aged the worst.

The Road Warrior is by far the best of the three, imho.

I disagree. I actually think the original is the one that holds up best, and by quite a bit. It has an emotional resonance - and a character arc, if you will - that I think the other films lack, as it's the only one that allows us to get to know Max before he became, well, mad.

Words cannot express how much I'm looking forward to FURY ROAD.

I thought the second act was really stretched out to an extent that I didn't really find Max and his family to be all that endearing, and there were too many false jeopardy moments that it sucked out what should have been an emotional punch in the gut when his wife and child are finally harmed. The score didn't help either.

THE ROAD WARRIOR lacks the character arc, but I think it ends up being a much more effective film because it is taking more pages from the western genre. I think it was for the better to turn Max into the silent drifter than give him some kind of emotional character arc. The film is all about thrills and it delivers like the best of them.

Haven't seen BEYOND THUNDERDOME yet, but I'll catch that before FURY ROAD. I hear it's quite a doozy.

Makeshift Python wrote:

THE ROAD WARRIOR lacks the character arc, but I think it ends up being a much more effective film because it is taking more pages from the western genre. I think it was for the better to turn Max into the silent drifter than give him some kind of emotional character arc. The film is all about thrills and it delivers like the best of them.

I do like MAD MAX 2 but I find it overrated. Your point about the western genre is perhaps a reason why I don't find that MAD MAX 2 has the freshness of MAD MAX. I also find the universe of the first film more compelling than the wasteland of MAD MAX 2 and BEYOND THUNDERDOME - a society on the verge of destruction strikes me as more frightening than a society that has already been destroyed. In MAD MAX, there appear to be things like functioning railways and restaurants, and everything still seems to work - up to a point. The viewer is left to imagine any wider or impending chaos, which is quite effective and chilling. And I think Hugh Keays-Byrne's villain in MAD MAX is the most frightening and best-acted baddie of the series (does he also play the main adversary in FURY ROAD?).

Ah ... now, for me the 'wasteland' of the second (which I have seen SOME of ... plan to rectify that tomorrow night, though) third (and by the looks of it, Fury Road too) makes for a more convincing 'futuristic' dystopia.

I believe his character only speaks 17 times in all of Road Warrior.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Ah ... now, for me the 'wasteland' of the second (which I have seen SOME of ... plan to rectify that tomorrow night, though) third (and by the looks of it, Fury Road too) makes for a more convincing 'futuristic' dystopia.

But not more interesting to look at - it's just, well, a wasteland.

The crazy-ass vehicle design more than compensates in terms of visuals, though :) .

The Lady from Shanghai - believe it or not, yesterday was really the first time I saw this jewel. What a rich atmosphere of foreboding, malaise and menace. Great use of symbolism, too. Particularly impressive is the use of unconventional angles and shadows, it's a real feast for the noir genre. I prefer the Steinhart Aquarium scene to the mirror cabinet though, it has an even greater impact on me with the various creatures magnified in rear projection.

The story isn't such a big surprise in film noir, femme fatale involves down-on-his-luck hero in a tale of intrigue and murder. But the film itself has a dreamlike quality.

Mad Max 2 - ahhh ... from the days when action movies weren't afraid to be for adults, weren't marketed to death, had good old gratuitous nudity, and didn't have CGI available to them or Health And Safety breathing down their necks so all the stuntwork had to be performed for real and at genuine risk to the participants.

Mad Max: Fury Road

I'm astonished this film exists. It's a breathless fever-dream of some of the most astonishing action ever committed to celluloid.

Yeah, FURY ROAD is probably the best action picture I've seen since THE RAID. I really hope it does well at the box office. Seeing an action flick that's so completely absurd, relentless and unapologetic is very, very refreshing. And, the fact that most of it appeared to be real stunts and cars makes it even more amazing.

This is my favorite review I've read for it so far. Had me in stitches, honestly.

http://www.sbnation.com/2015/5/15/8611525/MAD-MAX-FURY-ROAD-REVIEW-CANT-STOP-SCREAMING-AHHHHHHH

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - the first 2 MM movies 'ploughed their own furrow', but the influence of the likes of Star Wars (as Max stumbles through a desert landscape with the sun setting picturesquely, I half-expected to hear a plaintive John Williams piece backdropping it) and especially Indiana Jones is pretty evident in this. Doesn't stop it being an enjoyable adventure flick, though.

STOKED for Fury Road (98% on Rotten Tomatoes? FUCKING HELL!) ... am going tomorrow.

The Queen (dir. Stephen Frears).

Disappointing… Had high expectations for this one, but found it to be very two-dimensional and air-headed. The TV-like production values around the cheesy dialogue didn't help, either. Mirren had her moments, but was poorly directed I think.

Still, the actual story teased me enough to keep me watching.