Last Movie You Watched? the 8th

Python wrote:

Watching GONE WITH THE WIND. Never seen it before. 10 minutes in. It's a great looking movie so far, I'll give it that, but the sentimental look back at this era is just rubbing me the wrong way, particularly slavery being something to look back at fondly. That was the kind of bullshit I said in another thread that would be more damaging than DJANGO UNCHAINED's portrayal of slavery. I'll at least try to finish this, it's not a musical at least, but dammit it's over 3 and a half hours.

It's BIRTH OF A NATION as a romance.

But it's well-made. It looks great, I'll give it that.

One has to except these films as products of their time. DJANGO and PRECIOUS don't have the same excuse.

Maybe. I'll just watch it as propaganda flick first, romance film second.

I didn't mean product in that sense.

Largo's Shark wrote:

One has to except these films as products of their time. DJANGO and PRECIOUS don't have the same excuse.

I try to sink into the time and place a film was made, but I didn't think GONE WITH THE WIND aged very well when I saw it. Nice cinematography though. Nice looking, colored movie. I mean color movie.

Python wrote:

An American in Paris (1951)

Tried watching this, I just couldn't finish. It's just like every other Hollywood musical ever made. Boy meets girl, boy sings about girl, some character gets his own sequence that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie but was added because he had enough clout with friends in the studio to get his demand, HEY TAP DANCING TIME, boy gets sad and feels rejected, oh but she DOES love him after all, happy ending! Puke. The only reason I watched this was because it was a Best Picture winner, and I'm trying to watch them all.

The only musical I ever truly enjoyed was Singin' in the Rain many many years ago, and I suspect that might been because it was about Hollywood and I tend to be a sucker for movies that rip on Hollywood.

An American in Paris put me off Minnelli for a while, but I'm glad I found my way back to him. Once you have a feel for him, his musicals are really wonderful - especially The Pirate, which is just about the most fun movie I can think of.

Zero Dark Thirty - Not the most entertaining piece of cinema to get through, but decent enough to see once. The raid on Bin Laden's compound is the best part... just takes an hour-and-a-half to get to it. I don't think Bigelow's direction was any improvement on The Hurt Locker - it was more pedestrian this time around. Despite the docu-style, I didn't buy into the story that much. It's a nice and simple dramatization, but I just can't trust these films. Not sure that Chastain deserved an Oscar nomination. She doesn't say much and is away for large periods of the movie. Still, the whole cast did fine. I'm gathering we'll be seeing more of Jason Clarke in big Hollywood pictures now. Overall, ZDT is not a top-10 film of 2012 for me.

Great Expectations - I wanted to attend the world premiere of this Mike Newell film at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, but didn't have time. It's one of my favourite books and I enjoyed both the classic Lean and the loose Cuaron adaptations. Newell's is by far the closest to the plot and atmosphere of the book, but accelerates way too quickly towards the end with the tying of all loose ends. Jeremy Irvine (the kid from War Horse) and Holiday Grainger (don't recall her from anywhere) are energetic leads as Pip and Estella. But its the Burtonesque supporting cast of Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Flemyng, Robbie Coltrane, and Olly Alexander that steal most of the scenes. I read some criticisms that this version doesn't say anything new about Dickens' world, but I didn't expect it to. It's a well-made straight-up adaptation.

GeneralGogol wrote:

Zero Dark Thirty - [snip] I don't think Bigelow's direction was any improvement on The Hurt Locker - it was more pedestrian this time around.

I thought ZDT was both dull and unpleasant, quite an achievement. Bigelow must be the least visual director in history.

Apart from her being a woman, I just don't understand why she attracts so much praise.

I ask the same of Tom Hooper.

Python wrote:

I ask the same of Tom Hooper.

Hooper's a woman?

THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960, dir. Terence Fisher)

On the big screen at an old-school, slightly run-down movie theater, which was the perfect venue for a film like this. They showed all the Hammer Dracula trailers just before the film started (the trailers for DRACULA A.D. 1972 and THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES got lots of laughs).

For my money, BRIDES OF DRACULA is the best entry in Hammer's Dracula series.

Erica Ambler wrote:

GeneralGogol wrote:

Zero Dark Thirty - [snip] I don't think Bigelow's direction was any improvement on The Hurt Locker - it was more pedestrian this time around.

I thought ZDT was both dull and unpleasant, quite an achievement. Bigelow must be the least visual director in history.

Apart from her being a woman, I just don't understand why she attracts so much praise.

I don't necessarily disagree, but Nolan is also a director whose visual language is rather limited.

You can get away with that if your narrative is strong enough.

Unfortunately, the screenplay was utterly boring and gave the actors very little to spin a good performance from.

Having said that, I did enjoy Hurt Locker (to a certain extent).

The Five Year Engagement

And it felt like it.

Salomé wrote:

Having said that, I did enjoy Hurt Locker (to a certain extent).

THE HURT LOCKER is mostly carried by Jeremy Renner's performance. The man's a fine actor. He shouldn't be settling for shit like HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS.

Harmsway wrote:

THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960, dir. Terence Fisher)

On the big screen at an old-school, slightly run-down movie theater, which was the perfect venue for a film like this. They showed all the Hammer Dracula trailers just before the film started (the trailers for DRACULA A.D. 1972 and THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES got lots of laughs).

For my money, BRIDES OF DRACULA is the best entry in Hammer's Dracula series.

I may go along with you on that. I actually enjoy Cushing more than Lee. I just wish they'd been teamed up again sooner.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I may go along with you on that. I actually enjoy Cushing more than Lee. I just wish they'd been teamed up again sooner.

I love Lee, but the Dracula series rarely gives him much to work with.

Van Damme is getting old but his flicks are still worth a watch. Caught this 2011 release on late night HBO last night.

Assassination Games.

Ever see the Italian film, "Count Dracula"? I've heard it's very true to Stoker and Lee really gets to shine in it, but I can never find a copy.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Ever see the Italian film, "Count Dracula"? I've heard it's very true to Stoker and Lee really gets to shine in it, but I can never find a copy.

Yes. It's not very good.

That's unfortunate.

An Odeon screening of a performance of Jeff Wayne's The War Of The Worlds : The New Generation, recorded live at the O2 last year.

Seen the live show twice, and own both versions of the album ... never tire of it. Brilliant adaptation of a classic story.

Shock Corridor (1963, dir. Samuel Fuller)

Good film that treats the themes of racism, modern warfare physics, personal professional success at all costs, and others, at the backdrop of a (not so important) crime mystery. The evils of the 20th century as causes of mental illness are well studied. Some of the visions/hallucinations are represented by great visuals. Mostly really good film.


The Getaway (1972, dir. Sam Peckinpah)

Very entertaining story, camera, editing, and other elements work very well here, a lot of good directorial choices. Since the couple (who have their own private problems alongside the "professional" ones and who are far from immaculate heroes), or at least the McQueen character, only kills scum, and not innocent people (like police men), there aren't any real ethical issues with this film. I greatly enjoyed it (apart from the ending perhaps). I am surprised to find how much I liked all of Peckinpah's films so far.


The Lady from Shanghai (1947, dir. Orson Welles)

Really clever film with astonishing visuals (1947!). On this second viewing, I fell asleep during bits once again, so I will have to rewatch it in a couple of weeks.

Also saw most of Breaking and Entering on TV. Thought it was passable, but the last third nearly made me puke. Minghella was a mediocre director (much like Mendes is or Daldry). Then turned to the last 75 minutes of Flic ou voyou, which isn't a really good film, but fun.

I Know Where I'm Going

nice little Powell & Pressburger movie, perhaps not quite on the same level as preceding and subsequent works but decent in its own right. Roger Livesey effortlessly charming throughout. Just doing his thing with little power and energy.

Watched a few movies this weekend. SINISTER and the new TOTAL RECALL.

SINISTER was total garbage. Jump scares galore and the music was laughably bad. TOTAL RECALL starts out decently, but quickly descends into a generic sci-fi actioner. Nothing to see there, aside from Kate prancing around in her panties for one scene.

I also watched DISTRICT 9 after seeing the trailer for ELYSIUM. I didn't quite like it as much as I did when I saw it in the theater, but I still think it's easily one of the better sci-fi films to come out recently. Blomkamp's direction is solid, especially for it being his first feature film. His action is hard-hitting and incredibly satisfying, and I really liked the documentary bits, even if that angle does get abandoned mid-way through the film.

THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE (1993, directed by Mel Gibson). A trifle overlong, and more than a little contrived in places, this is nonetheless a riveting and deeply moving coming-of-age drama with memorable characters, excellent performances and superb use of stunning Maine locations. An exceptionally fine directorial debut by Gibson, who also does some of his best acting work.