Last Movie you Watched?

Willard Whyte wrote:

God's Gun with Lee Van Cleef and Jack Palance. A nice little story and I really enjoyed the brother arc of it. The score was quite good too.

pity about the dubbing of Jack Palances voice though...
(at least in the version I watched)

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Employees' Entrance? Is it through the back?

Judging by how awesome William deals with everything else in the film, I'm pretty sure he takes the front entrance every time. ;)

And is it wrong that I get a kick of out Borgnine dying in THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX? I couldnt help but love it.

The Blind Side (2009; dir. John Lee Hancock)

Color me surprised, but it was a lot better than I had expected. I was planning to see some guilty white liberal piece of crap made so rich white people around America could smile as the young poor black man turned his life around thanks to white people because we used to own them as slaves.

It's actually not a film about liberals. It's a rich, white Christian conservative family, and their kids go to a Christian school. Thankfully, the religion was set on low. I mean, I don't care what people do with their Sundays. I'm all for helping people, but I don't like it when some people try to use as it a means of indoctrinating the vulnerable. I like that the film focuses on simple human compassion (yeah, it does exist), and the other thing takes a back seat.

The acting elevates this. I found the cast very charming, actually. Sandra Bullock makes so many shitty movies, so I don't actually see her in much. I always thought was she was really hot, but she's actually really good in this. She plays a helluva woman. And it's fun to see Tim McGraw as her husband. He's probably playing himself considering he's married to Faith Hill, and I'd imagine she's a handful.

Oh, their daughter. Lily Collins. God damn.

Their son. I kinda wanted to see him killed.

Kathy Bates lends her Kathy Bates-ness to the film. Ya know, maybe she could have killed the little boy.

Quinton Aaron, who played the huge dude, was actually really good.

Yeah, the film is a bit of a crowd pleaser, but I found it pleasing enough. Above average for the films I've seen in this genre, and I enjoyed it more than most of the films that won Best Picture in the 2000's. Suck it, Haggis.

I also find rich white people to be a fascinating culture. I'm from upper middle class white peeps, but not BMW-driving, megahouse-owning, megachurch-attending, whities. So that was fun to live in for two hours. Add in Lily Collins as some rich, white, Christian, cheerleader princess and you've given me impure thoughts.

I'm thinking of revamping my rate the movies you've seen in 2011 list. The categories are becoming meaningless, so I'm thinking of keeping Top Class and Dire, and putting everything else together. I dunno.

Arkadin wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

But the idea of people running around WWII with baseball bats... I dunno. It just doesn't interest me.

Well, the Basterds are supporting characters in the film. If that helps.

Yup, I recall a lot of the ads in the US only focusing on that second chapter with the Bastards/baseball shenanigans. Heck I remember people being pissed about how the Bastards were hardly in the flick. At least there wasn't some uproar over major portions of the film in German/French w/ subtitles, because you know Americans hate watching non-English language stuff.

A little John Wayne double last Sunday:




Rio Grande (1950)



Back to basics in the last part of John Ford's Cavarly Trilogy. Much more better-looking B&W cinematography than in Fort Apache, and more interesting story than in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. Wayne is good, O´Hara's attractive but the real asskicker is Ben Johnson, he's the main reason I watched the whole trilogy through after when Henry Fonda got killed in Apache. Overall the weakest part in the trilogy but still a fun little western.

8/10



The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)



Wow :shock: , really effective western. The story is ace, the acting is great (Wayne and O´Brien kick major assage), B&W cinematography looks damn good for a 60´s film and the music is marvelous, especially the first cues in the opening credits. Overall the last great American Westerns before the change knowned as Sergio Leone.

9.5/10


John Ford Countdown:
1. The Searchers (1956)
2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
3. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
4. Fort Apache (1948)
5. Rio Grande (1950)
6. Wagon Master (1950)

Ben Johnson's pretty much the only consistently good part of Ford's cavalry trilogy.



The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947) Dir. George S. Kaufman

Even if my viewing was interrupted by a persistent low blood sugar, its still a sparkling ball of satirical fun. Some of it, just bloody hilarious.

Plus, Myrna Loy gets a tiny cameo in the last shot, when Powell's forced to flee to a tropical island, before having to move again because the US are planning to use it for atom bomb tests.

colly wrote:

Ben Johnson's pretty much the only consistently good part of Ford's cavalry trilogy.

He also made Wagon Master for me, without him it would have looked like any other typical yankee western from the 50´s.




Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)



Not even near the excellence of the first one, but it isn't also as bad as everybody says. Sure the voodoo crap and those skull riders in the storm during the concert ( :shock: ) was pretty much out of the place and the recycle of first film's story is cheap, even from Dan Aykroyd and John Landis, but it still has some funny moments, like the fact that Elwood still never shows his eyes, the scene where the band escapes by driving through a lake and the major crash of the police cars, which pays well to the legendary car chases of the original. Overall an OK sequel, not good but certainly not horrible either.

5.5/10


John Landis Countdown:
1. The Blues Brothers (1980)
2. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
3. Trading Places (1983)
4. Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
5. The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
6. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)



O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)



A cracking hillbilly version of Homer's Odyssey set in 1930´s depression made by the almost almighty Coen brothers is in my books an instant ace in the hole...and it is. Clooney, Turturro and Nelson are all damn hilarious and I love John Goodman as the cyclops-esque businessman. And that music is awesome for a country music. Overall a satisfying road movie experience.

9/10


Coen Brothers Countdown:
1. No Country For Old Men (2007)
2. The Big Lebowski (1998)
3. Fargo (1996)
4. True Grit (2010)
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)
6. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
7. The Ladykillers (2004)

The White Tuxedo wrote:

The Blind Side...

Their son. I kinda wanted to see him killed.

Just "kinda"?

What I've seen recently:

Bowfinger (1999)
A Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy comedy. Surprisingly enjoyable. I'd read online that it's not an Eddie Murphy movie - just a movie with Murphy in it. When he's not making the film all about him, he's actually really good. Of course, he played two different characters - I didn't care much for the second one. Movie petered out a bit halfway through. Some good gags and a good variety of em. An enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

The Hard Way (1991)
Fine on the surface. I guess. Woods was a giant ham. I didn't like how the film made a joke of the serial killer. And it went on way too long. I thought the gas station confrontation was the climax. No, there were more set-pieces coming. Characters were flawed everywhere. Was I supposed to like Michael J Fox's character after he decides to let Woods take the blame for a murder? Well, I didn't. The emotional core of this otherwise silly film (Woods' relationship with some broad) fell apart when she left him because she couldn't handle the violence of his policework, but then got back together with him after she was taken hostage by the serial killer and rescued. Didn't that just prove her point? Not recommended.

Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
Didn't end in either of the two ways I thought it might, so that was a nice surprise. Mother and father weren't very complex, but the actors made a lot of the characters. Naturally the mother came off more shallow, considering we spent little time with Meryl Streep over the run-time. I wish my dad was like Dustin Hoffman. I didn't know how to feel at the film's end, but that's fine. I liked how the whole thing felt so real and that neither parent was painted the bad guy.

The Apartment (1960)
Real fun. Got a bit too cute for my tastes at the end (and that's difficult to do, I love cuteness in movies. I lol'd when Sheldrake was handed the executive washroom key), what with the gun/champagne bottle play. Thought they played up the suicide angle a bit too much, in fact. I'd never seen Jack Lemmon in anything before, damn he's a good comic actor. The stuff with the tissues was great. Strong film-making from Wilder, too. Recommended.

Vesper wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

The Blind Side...

Their son. I kinda wanted to see him killed.

Just "kinda"?

I got my hopes up when the car accident happened. It's funny, whenever I see people talking and driving calmly in a film I get this sense of dread. I think I just have a phobia for car accidents.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

I'd never seen Jack Lemmon in anything before, damn he's a good comic actor.

Guy should get more credit these days.

Mr. Trevelyan wrote:

Dear Lord - that looks so much like my brother, it's frightening. :shock:

Raging Bull (1980) Dir: Martin Scorsese

DeNiro is great but I still prefer Taxi Driver, Mean Streets and Goodfellas. Scorsese might have been at his directing peak but I do find the film overrated.

It does have some of the best and most intense fighting sequences Scorsese used many tricks to achieve effects such as making LaMotta seem smaller. The punches always seem much more shattering because of the great editing. The movie is filmed in black-and-white which only makes the fight scenes more devastating. Michael Chapman's cinematography gives the movie a kinetic visual style also worth noting is the soundtrack, which mostly sticks in the background but also makes superb use of the intermezzo from Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana".

Scorsese tries with all his might to hold the movie together with arguably his best directorial performance. But as I mentioned, the real standout is DeNiro's acting. The rage and passion that La Motta shows towards every aspect of his life flow effortlessly from DeNiro.

My problem was that huge parts of LaMotta's life fly by in montage sequences; new phases in his life last a few minutes before they are uprooted to further the plot, and what began as a character study ends up in a race to sum up his entire career. In the end the movie seems to be a collection of snapshots of LaMotta's life and career, with a few short scenes thrown in to try to depict La Motta as more than just a paranoid masochist. But these scenes are few and insignificant when compared to the vast majority that illustrate his explosive violence and rage, and the resulting one-dimensional character, coupled with an event oriented plot, which made me unable to fully relate to or sympathize with LaMotta. Even if certain scenes were to invoke emotion, time flies by so fast that the your left with little time to fully process where the story is headed.

My failure not to care about LaMotta will mean despite the evocative directing and cinematography along with the brilliant acting I can't really rate the film as high as some do.

Martin Scorsese Meter:

Taxi Driver
Mean Streets
Goodfellas
Raging Bull
The Aviator
Casino
The Departed
Gangs of New York

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Louis Armstrong wrote:

I'd never seen Jack Lemmon in anything before, damn he's a good comic actor.

Guy should get more credit these days.

The man is god. 8)

ambler wrote:

Burn after reading

Everyone in Coen Bros films speaks with the same voice. Drives me mad.

I think that's a bit unfair. It'd be a stretch to find real similarities between The Dude, Leo O'Bannon, Anton Chigurh, Barton Fink, Marge Gunderson and Osbourne Cox.

Arkadin wrote:

JACKIE BROWN is absolutely the best of Tarantino's career.

That ain't saying much, really.

The only thing I things I genuinely like in that flick are Pam Grier and the soundtrack. Everything else is bog standard adolescent Tarantino dross.

colly wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Louis Armstrong wrote:

I'd never seen Jack Lemmon in anything before, damn he's a good comic actor.

Guy should get more credit these days.

The man is god. 8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2uNslC2xFI#t=5m39s



Silver City (2004; dir. John Sayles)

I've wanted to see this one since it came out, but I never got around to it. It's a lot different from what I had been expecting. It's got elements of satire, but it's really more seriously handled. The film is uneven, but I like what's there. Good cast, good performances. Wish we'd seen more Chris Cooper and Richard Dreyfuss. Kris Kristofferson is perfect in his role. We get some sexy Maria Bello action. And the star, Danny Huston, acquits himself well. Daryl Hannah is also good as some kind of a rich, hippie nympho. Miguel Ferrer is excellent. Sadly he only gets one scene.

I dunno, it's uneven, but it suits my sensibilities.

I fucking hated The Blind Side.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

It was like 2009's Crash but with more bad accents.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

colly wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Louis Armstrong wrote:

I'd never seen Jack Lemmon in anything before, damn he's a good comic actor.

Guy should get more credit these days.

The man is god. 8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2uNslC2xFI#t=5m39s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIAKMFl0aNI

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I fucking hated The Blind Side.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

It was like 2009's Crash but with more bad accents.

I don't know quite why I didn't hate it. I should, but I didn't. It's so odd. But I enjoyed Sandra Bullock.

colly wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

colly wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Louis Armstrong wrote:

I'd never seen Jack Lemmon in anything before, damn he's a good comic actor.

Guy should get more credit these days.

The man is god. 8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2uNslC2xFI#t=5m39s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIAKMFl0aNI

This is still the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqTvZbt9onU#t=28s

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I fucking hated The Blind Side.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

It was like 2009's Crash but with more bad accents.

I don't know quite why I didn't hate it. I should, but I didn't. It's so odd. But I enjoyed Sandra Bullock.

It's because you got good taste in film.

Laura (1944) Dir. Otto Preminger

Finally a second viewing, and to me, its a masterclass in what noir began as - sophisticated yet dirty thrillers. Of course it became more, but some of the early great 'uns like THE MALTESE FALCON and DOUBLE INDEMNITY fit this description. A film that builds tension magnificently, is shot to perfection and features superb acting from everyone involved, especially Clifton Webb (who I'd say was robbed of an Oscar if I didnt already think that Edward G. Robinson had been robbed in the same category) and... and know I'm alone on this, but fuck it - Dana Andrews. The man rules. 8)

Sharky wrote:

The only thing I things I genuinely like in that flick are Pam Grier and the soundtrack. Everything else is bog standard adolescent Tarantino dross.

Robert Forster's Max Cherry owns JACKIE BROWN.

Boomerang (1947) Dir. Elia Kazan

Solid early example of the docu-noir - a police semi-documentary piece, filmed in real locations, often with a voiceover. Film's got a great start - a preist is shot point blank in the back of the head. Whoa. What a way to grab attention.

For a film that stars my 2 favourite character actors in Arthur Kennedy and Lee J. Cobb, another top 20 actor in Karl Malden and highly respected pros like Dana Andrews, Ed Begley and Robert Keith, not to mention directed by Kazan, might've had too high expectations. But thankfully the Kazan energy is mainly there, but he eclipsed this with PANIC IN THE STREETS a few years later.

Attempting a Kazan-o-meter...

1. EAST OF EDEN
2. ON THE WATERFRONT
3. A FACE IN THE CROWD
4. PANIC IN THE STREETS
5. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
6. BOOMERANG
7. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
8. BABY DOLL
9. VIVA ZAPATA!
10. WILD RIVER
11. SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
12. GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT

British Intelligence (1940)
Dir. Terry O. Morse

Terrific World War I set B-movie featuring a brilliant performance from Boris Karloff. Margaret Lindsay is the beautiful German spy sent undercover as a refugee to the home of a wealthy government official (wonderfully played by Holmes Herbert) in London , in the hope of stealing the plans for the locations of British munition wearhouses and locating the agent known only as Franz Strendler. Karloff, posing as a butler to Herbert, is also a spy and as the plot thickens, with genuine twists and tricks, it is only in the final scene that it is revealed who is actually working for who. Exciting biplane dogfights, thrilling zeppelin bombing scenes and more German agents than you can shake a stick at (even the bloody milkman is a spy) make this a very enjoyable film all round. Frederick Vogeding's German baron, whilst only appearing briefly at the start of the film, makes an impression too. Fun.
Could be seen as a companion piece to Powell's The Spy In Black as both are First World War thrillers, with Karloff's and Conrad Veidt's characters bearing similarites.


4/5

Four Lions - hilarious portrayal of religious extremism in all its horrible, tragic stupidity. Gotta love Chris Morris.