Last Movie You Watched.

Salomé wrote:

"My gnme is Bjond. Gjams Bjond."
"What was that?"
"My gnme is Bjond. Bjond."
"..."

Audition (1999)

Takashi Miike's most well-known and particularly notorious film especially for the gory climax. Despite the climax though the bulk of this film is actually half slower-paced suspense horror and drama about modern dating and relationships in Japan as well as the effects of abuse. The cast is stellar and features a number of familiar faces such as Ryo Ishibashi and Jun Kunimura who show up regularly in Yakuza films and such. Of the few Miike films I've seen so far this is definitely his most well made film and one of the most effective and eerie horror films to come out of the nineties.

The Commuter - Liam Neeson's latest 'ageing action man' number. Preposterous but enjoyable enough with a decent supporting cast that includes Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Vera Farmiga and Andy Nyman.

PHANTOM THREAD (2017)

Caught this in a theater last night, projected on film.

An incredibly well-written film that is both strange and romantic. Day-Lewis does a fantastic job with his role, but I really loved Lesley Manville's performance the most.

Jonny Greenwood also provides a beautiful score that works to both supplement the film's feeling and atmosphere and also accentuates the drama. Williams' THE POST and Zimmer's DUNKIRK are also two other Oscar-nominated scores that did this. It's hard finding a score today that actually has a purpose within a film. Many just provide background noise or tell you how to feel.

Anyway, the most interesting aspect of the film's production is that Paul Thomas Anderson not only directed this but also shot this. I was expecting Robert Elswit. The visuals are gorgeous. 100% PTA's vision.

It'll be a tough one to choose between Day-Lewis and Oldman for the Oscar, would be a fine way to leave acting (I assume DDL is still retiring?).

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I fear I went old school with my Network DVD of Day the Earth Caught Fire

twin nuke tests have seemingly changed the weather all over the world drastically. A kind of Day After Tomorrow of the early sixties. Except the documentary style is well done, something helped by using the actual then-offices of the Express and on location filming. The now largely forgotten Edward Judd is quite good, McKern is excellent and Janet Munro aside from her beauty, is the perfect foil to Judd's cynical often darkly humourous reporter. Full of familiar faces from British cinema but also a slightly prescient story.
Did they do it in the end? Did they save the world? That is the genius of the ending personally. But I'm easily impressed.

Hilly KCMG wrote:

(I assume DDL is still retiring?).

He's still going through with it, apparently. We'll see how long that lasts.

Control wrote:

Hilly KCMG wrote:

(I assume DDL is still retiring?).

He's still going through with it, apparently. We'll see how long that lasts.

He might be more dedicated to it than Joaquin Phoenix. Were he to stay retired, Day-Lewis at least can boast an impressive array of films. Or a good if not excellent last film unlike say, Gene Hackman or Sir Sean...

The Post - Spielberg, Streep and Hanks bring their usual sure-footedness to this solid telling of the Washington Post's decision to publish the 'Pentagon Papers', invoking the fury of the Nixon administration.

633 Squadron

the effects are a tad tricky (I only twigged this time round, that when the Jerry comes along to beat up the airfield, two explosions are superimposed over two Mossies and you see people somewhat casually moving about underneath), the acting not quite stellar but it's not bad, I don't mind it compared to other films. A sterling Ron Goodwin score (albeit his dubious choice of using the 633 theme when the Norwegians are getting their clobber together), Cliff Robertson, Donald Huston etc do enough with it.
Always find the ending a tad stirring, the music building up, the camera zooming right out (ah, those pre-drone days, where a helicopter clearly was the best option and Goodliffe has to do a decent job of walking with a stiff upper whilst being knocked about by the down-draft).

"Squadron Leader Adams: Well, at least the rockets won't happen.
Air Vice Marshal Davis: Of course they'll happen. But they won't start tomorrow, or this month or on D-Day, and that's important.
Squadron Leader Adams: Then what's it all add up to? All their sacrifice?
Air Vice Marshal Davis: A successful operation.
Squadron Leader Adams: But they're probably all dead. All 633 Squadron.
Air Vice Marshal Davis: You can't kill a squadron."
(cue steady climax of music, Andrews striking a Churchillian pose, the WAAF whose boyfriend's been hideously burnt earlier driving the car away whilst maintaining her stiff upper and so forth)

Three Days of the Condor

Excellent thriller with a great cast, sharp script and a brilliant soundtrack. Politically still very topical, too.

I wonder if Marc Foster took inspiration from it for QOS. Redford waiting in the study in the dark was reminiscent of Craig waiting for Yusef. I believe Foster is on record saying he hoped for QOS to be a 70s revenge thriller so it's not totally outside the realm of possibility. 

If anyone can recommend similar films, I would be forever grateful.

v

The Conversation has been on my list for some time, but it's nowhere to be found in Oz. 

Looks like The Day of the Jackal has just been rereleased too (as of last year), so I'll get onto that. Thanks Ambler.

Erica Ambler wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

If anyone can recommend similar films, I would be forever grateful.

The best - and coldest - thriller of the 1970s is The Day of the Jackal (1973). If you want something more thoughtful then The Conversation (1974) and its later cousin, Blow Out (1981), are highly recommended.

"Blow Out" might now be something of a slightly forgotten gem.
With Lithgow on the talk show circuit recently, I was a bit annoyed that it was so rarely mentioned as one of his more memorable roles of the past.

I thought "Three Billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri" was highly overrated.

We are reaching an "The Emperor's New Clothes" situation with McDonagh in which he is still living off the shine of "In Bruges" and we aren't allowed to point out that the writing in his two subsequent projects has been ever poorer.

His cast does deserve the praise and awards recognition they have gotten, they elevate something that might have otherwise become utterly unwatchable into being still entertaining and enjoyable.

Black Panther - deeper themes at play than your usual Marvel flick, sure. But the action, spectacle and humour haven't been forgotten. Vibrant and fun.

The Shape Of Water - part Cold War thriller, part fantasy, part love story and part love-letter to cinema itself ... there aren't many other movies like this. A strange and lovely thing.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Got the Criterion release yesterday which maybe the best transfer of an older Horror movie like this I've seen so far. Absolutely flawless picture and audio wise and thanks to Romero's documentary-styled approach looks like it could have been filmed yesterday despite the time period. Still one of probably the most starkest and grimmest Horror films made brought to life by believable characters and performances plus some pretty savage for it's time zombie carnage. Despite the upped amount of gore in the sequels I think this one is still the more disturbing and unnerving of the Romero zombie movies due to how bleak it plays out. I hope one day Dawn of the Dead gets a release similar to this.

Mother!

Anyone else catch the religious references in this?

Black Panther.

I am so fucking glad I bought 10 copies of #1 (1977 comic book) several years ago when comic shops were gladly selling a copy for under US$5.

I'm seeing a back issue store listing a #2 at $120 SOOOOOOOO...I put a glib $50 on my #1 (bargain) and sold 5 so far.

I'll sell 2 more and keep 3 copies for a rainy day.

Make gouging great again.

The movie was a fun watch, and an enigma of sorts as the comic book has never been an A-List title. And yet it has clobbered A-graders like Spider-Man and X-Men.

n

n

Thanks but reading it back I was a tad carried. Try telling anyone about the Falklands, if Corbyn thinks it was a thing to help out Tory millionaires and people say just give it to Argentina as it's closest to them.
And as for just giving Germany what they wanted. Well. You suspect that a generation born just before, during and after the war would have had a different viewpoint to that woman's.

Isn't "Give the Germans what they want - good and hard" the official slogan of the Remoaners?

Anyway, reminds me of this recent event I read about:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5323519/Winston-Churchill-inspired-Blighty-cafe-stormed.html

The revisionism on Churchill is an inevitable part of the deliberate demograhphic change visited on Britain, coupled with the authoritarian racial politics of Generations Y & Z.

On Channel 4 +1 last night, The Take - action-thriller with Idris Elba as a CIA agent on the trail of terrorists in Paris. Nothing remarkable, but made for decent enough 'Saturday night with a few beers' bloke-tertainment.

Saw Black Panther again today....it actually is a good comic book movie for a change.

Also cashing in with tees and comic book merchandise.

THE BROOD (David Cronenberg, 1979)

Great commentary on family and divorce. Howard Shore's score keeps you on edge for 90 or so minutes, taking many pointers from the great Bernard Herrmann. Oliver Reed is the strongest actor of the cast but isn't featured nearly enough. What an incredible on-screen presence.

Rick Baker's SFX, Reed's acting and Cronenberg's direction make for a brilliant 3rd act.

File under: Overlooked Cronenberg