Posts : 3675 Member Since : 2011-03-16 Location : making mudpies
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:03 am
The Thing: 2011 Enjoyable creature-feature. Prequel to Carpenter's 1982 film. Nicely shot. The arcticscapes are quite breathtaking, especially the aerial shots. Very X-Files-ish too. The creature has a massive spaceship buried under the ice. You watch enough of these films, you would swear the arctic regions are littered with buried alien craft.
At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead doing her best Signoury Weaver/Ripley impression, (but minus the bra-and-panties show.Too cold) as Kate. She fights the Thing-alien good though. Ulrich Thomsen of TWINE fame, plays bad scientist Halvorsen.
Moral of this story is that if you find a big scary-looking obvious alien life-form frozen in the ice, just leave it be, grab your sat-phone and call in the military - any military with heavy artillery but especially equipped with heavy duty flame throwers.Do not break it free so as to claim the scientific-discovery glory. Your not-to-be gruesomely-slaughtered expedition-mates will thank you, not to mention the entire human race.
Good idea to maybe nuke the spaceship as well, while its stricken. Not worth exploring and waking it up. Just blow the crap out of it while you've got the chance.
Hope there is a sequel. Would be fun though to watch this film, followed by the Carpenter film.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:25 am
Blow Out (1981)
Been holding onto a DVDShrink copy without seeing it for too long. Now I just wanna get the Criterion. Really dug it. I always bring this up with De Palma's flicks, guy knows how to frame 2:35 ratio, always sticks out for me given how modern films since then don't seem to utilize it to the fullest, as if it's merely chosen now by filmmakers cause "itz epic d00d". Not as effective as the camera work in OBSESSION I think, but it works great here. I like Travolta and it seems pretty sad that this was his last flick before wasting more than a decade on awful films like PERFECT and the one with the talking dogs. And Lithgow. Well, what else can you say of him?
Manhunter 'R'
Posts : 359 Member Since : 2011-04-12
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:11 am
Carlos
Pretty good film about terrorist scum.
Throne of Blood
Not bad, but did it remind me of Macbeth? :x Good title.
The White Tuxedo 00 Agent
Posts : 6062 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : ELdorado 5-9970
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:05 pm
Makeshift Python wrote:
Blow Out (1981)
Been holding onto a DVDShrink copy without seeing it for too long. Now I just wanna get the Criterion. Really dug it. I always bring this up with De Palma's flicks, guy knows how to frame 2:35 ratio, always sticks out for me given how modern films since then don't seem to utilize it to the fullest, as if it's merely chosen now by filmmakers cause "itz epic d00d". Not as effective as the camera work in OBSESSION I think, but it works great here. I like Travolta and it seems pretty sad that this was his last flick before wasting more than a decade on awful films like PERFECT and the one with the talking dogs. And Lithgow. Well, what else can you say of him?
I believe American directors were fined in the 80's if they made a film without Lithgow.
Hilly Administrator
Posts : 8059 Member Since : 2010-05-13
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:09 pm
Die Hard.
sort of Towering Inferno but with some balls.
Forgive me it's been an experience.
Makeshift Python 00 Agent
Posts : 7656 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : You're the man now, dog!
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:37 pm
The White Tuxedo wrote:
Makeshift Python wrote:
Blow Out (1981)
And Lithgow. Well, what else can you say of him?
I believe American directors were fined in the 80's if they made a film without Lithgow.
They were required to blow him too.
Gravity's Silhouette Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3994 Member Since : 2011-04-15 Location : Inside my safe space
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:15 pm
OPERATION CONDOR 2: THE ARMOUR OF THE GODS
The plot was absolutely senseless....the acting was shitastic....balls-to-the-wall action....mindless writing and directing....a horrific theme song (sung by Jackie Chan himself no less)......yep, it reminded me of Quantum of Solace alright.
Strangely enough, this was the first Operation Condor film, but in the U.S. they referred to it as #2 (no pun intended), even though it came out in 1987 and was followed by its sequel, Operation Condor, in 1991.
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 00 Agent
Posts : 8477 Member Since : 2010-05-12 Location : Strawberry Fields
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:04 am
Hilly wrote:
The two Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movies
I was just catching up on some reading and noticed this... What did you think of the second one?
FourDot 'R'
Posts : 484 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : There, not there.
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:19 am
FieldsMan wrote:
What did you think of the second one?
It stinks!
Hilly Administrator
Posts : 8059 Member Since : 2010-05-13
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:45 am
FieldsMan wrote:
Hilly wrote:
The two Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movies
I was just catching up on some reading and noticed this... What did you think of the second one?
When I first saw it I was swept in some patriotic stupour (the pub had something to do with it). Now it's fine enough but Clive Owen is dull, some of the script's iffy, looks sumptous in places but it's a bit of a mess. Like the first movie it seems too hung up on Elizabeth being hung up on someone (first film, Lord Robert, this: Raleigh). Geoffrey Rush is the best thing in this (and indeed the first film). Armstrong's score does the job, but if they ever do a third film (tie it off as it were) than I can but hope they get out and about, both films seem claustrophobic -stuck in the palaces bar the odd glimpse of her on a boat in Golden Age.
No Arterton though Fields, sorry old chap. :)
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:55 am
I liked David Hirschfelder's score for the first film. Don't remember the music for THE GOLDEN AGE.
FourDot 'R'
Posts : 484 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : There, not there.
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:05 am
The world needs more Hirschfelder. I'm still holding out some hope that Snyder will see sense and use him for Man of Steel.
The Golden Age is a classic example of a filmmaker not understanding in the slightest why people liked the film that put his name on the map. Shit, it's even telegraphed from the opening titles - Elizabeth opens in a way that hadn't been seen in that kind of costume drama/Oscar baity thingamagig at that time. The Golden Age opens the same way as any bog-standard costume drama opens.
Adding insult to injury is that Korda and Warner hokum like Fire Over England and The Sea Hawk probably provide more insight into Elizabeth's character in that time frame... and they're not even trying. The Golden Age is more like The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, except somehow even more boring.
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:20 am
FourDot wrote:
The world needs more Hirschfelder. I'm still holding out some hope that Snyder will see sense and use him for Man of Steel.
It's not going to happen, sadly. My bet's between Tyler Bates, Michael Giacchino, Alan Silvestri or James Newton Howard. Ya know, the boring gang.
On the subject of overlooked still working composers, Terence Blanchard's another. He's done some great work for Spike Lee, culminating in his masterpiece MALCOLM X, yet no one's picked up on him. Madness? THIS IS HOLLYWOOD!
Real shame, because Lee hasn't made a decent pic since DO THE RIGHT THING.
Quote :
The Golden Age is more like The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, except somehow even more boring.
My favourite thing about Elizabeth is the TV series Elizabeth R, made back in the 70s. Gotta love Glenda Jackson. She even visited my school once.
FourDot 'R'
Posts : 484 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : There, not there.
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:33 am
Love Blanchard. I'd argue that Malcolm X is a decent pic, though. That main title is amazing.
Blanchard can do genre stuff. His Inside Man score is pretty damn good.
Hilly Administrator
Posts : 8059 Member Since : 2010-05-13
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:34 am
Sharky wrote:
I liked David Hirschfelder's score for the first film. Don't remember the music for THE GOLDEN AGE.
turning the volume up might help. :pirat:
wasn't too fond or keen or excited about the first Elizabeth score. Probably befuddled as to why Eric Cantona and Angus Deyton were in the same film as Richard Attenborough and John Gielguld.
And Daniel Craig.
Last edited by Hilly on Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:38 am; edited 1 time in total
Louis Armstrong Q Branch
Posts : 853 Member Since : 2010-05-25
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:37 am
FourDot's back? Hurray! Or not... here I was, just about ready to spend less time online. -_-
trevanian Head of Station
Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:44 am
FourDot wrote:
Love Blanchard. I'd argue that Malcolm X is a decent pic, though. That main title is amazing.
Blanchard can do genre stuff. His Inside Man score is pretty damn good.
Agreed on INSIDE, but my fave of his is THE CAVEMAN'S VALENTINE.
EDIT ADDON: Saw ROSEMARY'S BABY today. Only third time, but it worked about a million time better than it had on previous viewings (both VHS, if that gives you an idea of how long it has been since I last tried.) Can't believe I wasn't totally wowed before, just about everything works in this thing. And the old couple really made me think that David Lynch must have been channelling this for the 'little' old couple that turn up in MULHOLLAND DRIVE..
Largo's Shark 00 Agent
Posts : 10588 Member Since : 2011-03-14
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:50 am
Seriously, I had some listens to the Armstrong/Rahman score on Youtube, and it's everything I expected. Soulless, factory-produced tripe. It could have been for the films videogame tie-in (if there was one) and I wouldn't know the difference. .
At least the original score's got some personality and genuine sentiment. It's brilliantly spotted too, unlike the sequel, which is practically wall to wall music.
Agreed on the weird cast tho'. Like THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, they're underused.
The White Tuxedo 00 Agent
Posts : 6062 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : ELdorado 5-9970
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 2:52 am
trevanian wrote:
FourDot wrote:
Love Blanchard. I'd argue that Malcolm X is a decent pic, though. That main title is amazing.
Blanchard can do genre stuff. His Inside Man score is pretty damn good.
Agreed on INSIDE, but my fave of his is THE CAVEMAN'S VALENTINE.
EDIT ADDON: Saw ROSEMARY'S BABY today. Only third time, but it worked about a million time better than it had on previous viewings (both VHS, if that gives you an idea of how long it has been since I last tried.) Can't believe I wasn't totally wowed before, just about everything works in this thing. And the old couple really made me think that David Lynch must have been channelling this for the 'little' old couple that turn up in MULHOLLAND DRIVE..
Have you seen REPULSION and THE TENANT yet?
FourDot 'R'
Posts : 484 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : There, not there.
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:10 pm
Little Man Tate (1991, Foster)
Only way it would have worked is if it had ended in a Turning Point-style bitchfight between Foster and Wiest. The actual resolution is most unsatisfying.
Manhunter 'R'
Posts : 359 Member Since : 2011-04-12
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:05 pm
BLOW OUT
I already liked it a lot the first time, but this time it reeked of genius. (Needless to say that with the new player and in HD, it looked like a new film to what I had seen, the difference in sharpness and colours and sound being indescribable). The script is excellent, the suspense really scary; the use of the camera is first rate, very imaginative and effective. To name but one example: the camera swirling around while Terry is hurrying through his room, trying to find a tape that still works; also, several shots from aerial view. This time even the small fireworks/slow motion bit at the end worked for me; not only for creating suspense through retardation, but also to mislead the viewers' expectations as to the outcome, which leads to one of the most brilliant endings to a film, which lends to BLOW OUT an emotional quality that is very rare in movies. Pino's score fits the scenes perfectly, and does a lot to make the ending particularly haunting. I cannot think of many films that are so excellent on so many levels. It's perhaps going to be my favourite De Palma film, and CARRIE is tough to beat. One of the best films I know, simply terrific.
Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 00 Agent
Posts : 8477 Member Since : 2010-05-12 Location : Strawberry Fields
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:47 pm
Hilly wrote:
FieldsMan wrote:
Hilly wrote:
The two Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movies
I was just catching up on some reading and noticed this... What did you think of the second one?
When I first saw it I was swept in some patriotic stupour (the pub had something to do with it). Now it's fine enough but Clive Owen is dull, some of the script's iffy, looks sumptous in places but it's a bit of a mess. Like the first movie it seems too hung up on Elizabeth being hung up on someone (first film, Lord Robert, this: Raleigh). Geoffrey Rush is the best thing in this (and indeed the first film). Armstrong's score does the job, but if they ever do a third film (tie it off as it were) than I can but hope they get out and about, both films seem claustrophobic -stuck in the palaces bar the odd glimpse of her on a boat in Golden Age.
No Arterton though Fields, sorry old chap. :)
I already knew about Artertom... But that's okay.
Thanks for the tips. I was tossing up whether I should buy it. I did really enjoy the first one, but I read some reviews and looked at it's score on IMDB and I wasn't sure.
I watched Salt the other day, Generic stuff. Very James Bond inspired, but it lacks what makes Bond so appealing. The acting was pretty serviceable and the score was tasteless.
trevanian Head of Station
Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:34 am
The White Tuxedo wrote:
trevanian wrote:
FourDot wrote:
Love Blanchard. I'd argue that Malcolm X is a decent pic, though. That main title is amazing.
Blanchard can do genre stuff. His Inside Man score is pretty damn good.
Agreed on INSIDE, but my fave of his is THE CAVEMAN'S VALENTINE.
EDIT ADDON: Saw ROSEMARY'S BABY today. Only third time, but it worked about a million time better than it had on previous viewings (both VHS, if that gives you an idea of how long it has been since I last tried.) Can't believe I wasn't totally wowed before, just about everything works in this thing. And the old couple really made me think that David Lynch must have been channelling this for the 'little' old couple that turn up in MULHOLLAND DRIVE..
Have you seen REPULSION and THE TENANT yet?
Yeah, they're both really something -- even bought the latter for the wife. She is extremely resistant to rewatching CHINATOWN, figuring it is going to be about as painful as opening up one's veins with the top of a soup can, but I'm still angling for that before 2011 ends ...
FourDot 'R'
Posts : 484 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : There, not there.
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:55 am
The Bad Sleep Well (1960, Kurosawa)
The DVD I had was so woeful - subtitles not only poorly translated, but out of sync. A teacher of mine from way back had been adamant that no film should be viewed with subtitles, and that you should be able to get the gist from the visuals alone. True, in Kurosawa's case, since I got fed up with the subtitles and switched them off about 10 or so minutes in. Whether it's the visuals alone or the fact that you can often tell what Kurosawa's actors are thinking just by looking at them I don't know, but it's a solid film. From what I can tell. Not up there with Kurosawa's best, but solid. An interesting departure for Mifune, at any rate.
j7wild Head of Station
Posts : 2038 Member Since : 2011-09-10
Subject: Re: Last Movie you Watched? Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:56 am
Der Untergang aka Downfall (2004)
5/5
what a harrowing film!!
all those Nazis were crazy and in the end, it was the civilians that suffered the most!!