Last Movie You Watched? 6.0

ALIENS

A mindless piece of shit with a half-assed James Horner score. I don't know why I gave this one another chance.

Prometheus - despite the chuckling cretins behind me whose only previous experience of Alien movies was (I suspect) those Alien vs Predator pieces of shit, I thought this was really rather good. A more than worthy prequel to the original film.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Prometheus - despite the chuckling cretins behind me whose only previous experience of Alien movies was (I suspect) those Alien vs Predator pieces of shit, I thought this was really rather good. A more than worthy prequel to the original film.

Indeed a grown up scifi movie that like all Ridley Scott movies visually stunning. I actuall liked it a lot that the movie veered away from the regular Alienseries. I guess after all attempts before we needed the original director to give us a new direction.

And a beautifull 3D movie it is (filmed in 3D because it fitted in with RS his vision).

Not a movie that is advised to go and see with a pregnant lady or somebody due to deliver.

BATMAN FOREVER

I ended up enjoying it better than the last time I watched it. Not really sure why. Maybe it's nostalgia, as BATMAN FOREVER is my earliest cinematic memory and I probably watched it hundreds of times before the 90's ended. Turned me into a full on Bat-fanatic. I could vaguely point out bits of the other Batman films in my youth, but knew FOREVER by heart. FOREVER is also a big and loud action movie and those types would benefit from the difference in screen size since my last viewing.

It's still not very good. There are little hints that there might be a better movie lurking somewhere, but FOREVER is passable at best and horribly immature at it's worst. Carrey is the worst offender, as Nigma would have been an interesting character if he didn't overwhelm us with Ace Ventura. I swear sometimes I can see Tommy Lee Jones scowling at Shumacher when the camera isn't focused on him.

There are bits of FOREVER that I do like. The concept of Bruce having second thoughts about Batman after seeing Dick go through the same tragedy he did is a good concept. However, a lot of the positive stuff isn't followed through.

FOREVER is also a shining example of the 90's movie marketing practice of dominating every conceivable entertainment vehicle to promote a blockbuster. FOREVER had the movie, the novel, the video game, the pinball machine, hundreds of toys, and two chart topping songs written specifically for the film. Movies don't command that kind of domination today. The last movie I can remember that really attempted that was WILD WILD WEST. Then again, maybe that's why they stopped.

Holy Bat-Rankings:

1) BATMAN RETURNS
2) BATMAN
3) BATMAN FOREVER

In between RETURNS and FOREVER, I took a Bat-break and watched

THE SEARCHERS

Which was not only a good rest from the hectic comic book action before and to come, but also a visual miracle after the fuzzy and murky transfers WB gave the Bat-films. One of the best images I've seen on my setup.

The movie was entertaining, too. I was especially amused at Jeffery Hunter constantly acting like a bratty 10 year old.

Tubes wrote:

BATMAN FOREVER

I ended up enjoying it better than the last time I watched it. Not really sure why. Maybe it's nostalgia, as BATMAN FOREVER is my earliest cinematic memory and I probably watched it hundreds of times before the 90's ended. Turned me into a full on Bat-fanatic. I could vaguely point out bits of the other Batman films in my youth, but knew FOREVER by heart.

It's the one I had on VHS, so it was the one I was most familiar with in the 90's. It needs a more interesting story with Two-Face. Oddly, Two-Face is almost in the comic relief position for Riddler's main villain.

I still think that Alec Baldwin would have made a terrific Two-Face... though I'd want to see that in a better movie with a real director. I'd be okay with someone other than Burton directing, and I'm scratching my head trying to think of the right director for it. Maybe Sam Raimi? I'd be fine with a change from Burton, totally fine with that. Just not Schumacher.

I'd even be fine with an alternate FOREVER starring Val Kilmer. But not Chris O'Donnell.

An alternate FOREVER would be cool to dicuss the Batman thread (TDKR thread that is). Raimi? Fincher?

Fincher would be as bad as Nolan. They're cut from the same cloth.

Any alternate version of FOREVER would be shit on by Warner executives anyways. They where interested in pushing Batman back into the hip and cool mainstream. Hence why they swapped out Art Deco and German Expressionism with MTV and Madonna.

The only path to a better third Bat-flick is if Burton shot 2 and 3 back to back.

That sounds similar to my own feelings on the film. Saw it as a kid, loved it and grew up with it. As I got older I picked up more and more of Batman's history and appreciate the film for what it is. However, it really is harmed by the series of edits performed by studio scissors. The idea behind the film is commendable though: attempting to combine the reason behind Batman with the heroic quality of his vigilantism.
Kilmer is still probably the best live-action Batman. He nails it. All of it, especially the psychological repression and damage. The score is great too.
The deleted scenes on the SE DVD are very rough, and only a handful are presented. Check out the novel for a glimpse at what the original 2 hour 45 minute cut would have presented. There is a really great movie in there somewhere.
Burton's Batman III would supposedly have been Robin Williams as the Riddler, Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face and Keaton as Batman. However after the lack of merchandising interest with Returns the studio shooed Burton out.
Here's my recent review, and yes I still love this problems and all. /http://thehificelluloidmonster.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/batman-forever-1995/

I still hope the original version is released someday. I'd like to see a Donner Cut style re-appreciation of the film. Rank:
1.Mask of the Phantasm/Returns tie
2.Batman
3.Forever-had it not had these problems, it would rank higher.
4.Begins
5.The Movie
6.TDK
7.You know which one...

And I know I sound like a broken record on this, but the LaserDisc of Forever will knock your head back. The image is good for the format, but the sound is incredible. And I'm not talking about the 5.1 mix, but the lesser Dolby Surround matrixed track. Phenomenal bass! It's the VHS surround mix in lossless PCM as far as I can tell.

Trying to watch TERMINATOR SALVATION.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B0sFtRTlx4#t=9s

I'm looking at my TV with TERMINATOR SALVATION on (well, not while typing) and it's mindnumbing. I don't know or care about what is happening in this movie. Seriously, is there a plot? Prisoner Monkeys, please tell me what is happening and what you know will happen in the next 9 Terminator films.

I gave up. I pushed the info button to see the time remaining and it was an hour. I hated everything about this movie except Michael Ironside and that one lady getting topless. Not that I was overly excited to see her topless, she does nothing for me. I'm just trying to accentuate the positive here. So, Michael Ironside and tits. That's all I got out of this POS.

Sam Worthlesston being dull goes without saying. Why can't they find a good John Connor? Nick Stahl was an utter joke as Connor. It was like getting Seth Green to play him, but worse. Now Bale. Why Bale, other than his star statis? He brings nothing to this film.

I have no problem with Furlong as Connor. He's supposed to be a punk kid.



This is the only adult John Connor I've ever liked.

I will say this movie made me appreciate T3 more. T3 is a soulless retread with a horrible choice for a lead, but at least it's well-directed for the action genre. TS was like watching a long video game commercial.

I only ever saw the first two many years ago. Remember enjoying the first because of its simplicity and loathing the second like I do all other Cameron films. Think I may have seen a bit of the third once.

I saw Snow White and the Huntsman this weekend. I'm all for darker imaginings of fairy tales. After all, it IS a fairy tale. But this one felt like it was trying way too hard to be "dark and serious and stuff". In that sense, I think the director's inexperience really showed through. In general, though, not a bad flick. It just didn't all come together for me.

Caught MEN IN BLACK 3 at the cinema today. Harmless entertainment. Baddie looked like Randy Savage. Tommy Lee Jones looks old and bored. The standout is Josh Brolin, who not only imitates Jones's mannerisms perfectly, but also brings some emotional weight to the proceedings. Can't really rank it with the other MIB movies because I haven't seen them in ages.

Summer-athon

1) THE AVENGERS
2) MEN IN BLACK 3
3) BATTLESHIP

Now, time to watch BATMAN & ROBIN. Wish me luck.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Both inspiring and frustrating. So I guess I have to hate Robert Wise now?

Yes.
Unequivocally.

Except when THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is on, you should always hate him, and remember him as someone who participated in Cinema's equivalent to the Holocaust.

Battleship: Stupid as hell, but good fun. The first 45 minutes was pure tedium. Almost ask-for-a refund material. But movie picks-up once the action starts. Then one just enjoys it for what it is - enjoyable escapist entertainment.



Men In Black III: I liked this film a lot. It delivered as promised. Had a real neat twist at the end. Again we have the 1960's retro thing going on, ala X-Men First Class. Lots of fun and lots of jokes. Andy Warhol is given his own unique bizzaro send-up, and we learn that Mick Jagger was exposed as an alien who came to earth to mate with human women.

Stones trippy, 2000 Light Years From Home is featured in the soundtrack. Nice touch there. The recreation of the Apollo 11 Moon launch was really well done. The final action frenzy is centred around the rocket launch.

Snow White and the Hunstsman: Bella meets Thor. Big bore. Could hardly follow what was going on, I was so numb from not caring. And they changed the 7 dwarves names. No Sleepy or Grumpy or Dopey etc, just a bunch of tall actors heads superimposed on little bodies. So we get dwarf Ian McShane and dwarf Bob Hoskins. Kristen Stewart, has cornered the teen-girl market. The showing I attended was packed with teens. Their squeally presence though does create an enthusiastic atmosphere for such a film

Waiting next on Prometheus. That should be a serious film, unlike the three above.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Both inspiring and frustrating. So I guess I have to hate Robert Wise now?

Not really. It wasn't his decision to cut the film, it was RKO's and he was still a hired employee under contract. If it weren't for Orson having to go off and do It's All True and getting some government sponsorship then this probably wouldn't have turned out as badly.

trevanian wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Both inspiring and frustrating. So I guess I have to hate Robert Wise now?

Yes.
Unequivocally.

Except when THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is on, you should always hate him, and remember him as someone who participated in Cinema's equivalent to the Holocaust.

I guess you mean that he named names for HUAC?

Tubes wrote:

Now, time to watch BATMAN & ROBIN. Wish me luck.

Luck wished. It's worse than you probably remember. I wound up yelling at it 2 minutes in. Studio money grabbing mess.

Joan of Arc (1999)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178145/

It was better than the Luc Besson movie and 16 year old Leelee Sobieski is easier on the eyes than Milla.

4.5/5

The Artist (2011)

It's clever, funny and romantic and Hollywood obviously loved it enough to deem it Oscar-worthy but for me it's nothing more than light piece of fluff.

It works beautifully as a breezy, uncomplicated romance. In mitigation of his occasional postmodern winks, it's clear that Hazanavicius has imposed some period discipline on the manner in which he has filmed, with moving camera used only sparingly. The black and white stock lovingly investigates the texture of its subject: the topography of the faces of the (often familiar) supporting cast, the grain of costume and set material, and the high contrast of contemporaneous expressionism.

The Artist is an honest, original film. So why on earth is an extended extract of Vertigo used to underscore its most serious sequence? There is very little direct reference to other films of either the period (either side of 1930) or today, so why one of 1958? There are two possibilities. First, that someone could think of no better sweeping, romantic music for the sequence. Which is rather a snub to the hitherto more than serviceable score from Bource.

Second is that the music is designed to reflect thematic ideas in Vertigo that have some pertinence to The Artist. This I cannot buy: the references are generic, of a period not a specific film; the relationship between the characters may involve an imperiled love but the circumstances surrounding them are simply too distinct.

For me the inclusion of the music was a little distracting but apart from that it wasn't too challenging I guess.

Senna (2011)

Based purely on the subject matter, being an avid amateur Formula One historian, especially with regards to Senna, I guess I know too much about the subject matter to not overlook the flaws, omissions, and half truths.

So I started to judge it as a pure documentary film, and I was not sure what the aim and purpose of the film actually was. It wasn't to tell of the life story of Ayrton Senna, as the narrative rarely ventured outside the world of Formula One. Despite the marketing media, it wasn't about why Ayrton Senna is regarded by many as the greatest driver that ever lived, as there was not discussion about his relative merits compared against other greats. It certainly wasn't an impartial account of Ayrton's time in F1, as there were only one moment of criticism (other than those from the villains of the piece, Prost (unfairly portrayed here) and Balestre) which came from Sir Jackie Stewart, which was never explored once Ayrton's gave his weak rebuttal. Furthermore, I felt the film lost its way after the rivalry with Alain Prost lost its intensity and it couldn't get to the end fast enough.

A good evening's entertainment, but one that I don't think would have been diminished had I seen it on TV as an hour special on the 3 year rivalry between Senna and Prost, which is when the film was at it's strongest, in my opinion

Tubes wrote:

Now, time to watch BATMAN & ROBIN. Wish me luck.

Taken with the Rifftrax (www.rifftrax.com) its actually a riot of fun, I promote the madatory inclusion of the mixed rifftrax with all future releases.

The Final Option (1982)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083941/



Hey, I got to admit it!

This movie was pretty good!

4/5

trevanian wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Both inspiring and frustrating. So I guess I have to hate Robert Wise now?

Yes.
Unequivocally.

Except when THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is on, you should always hate him, and remember him as someone who participated in Cinema's equivalent to the Holocaust.

TDTESS is the film I had on my mind when I posed the question. Even THE SOUND OF MUCUS can't negate it.

THE HAUNTING is a pretty exceptional piece of cinema from Wise.

I've got a lot of fondness for THE SAND PEBBLES and THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN too.