Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Aug 15, 2022 4:38 pm
CJB wrote:
Thought Raw Deal was totally forgettable outside of "you shewd naht drink and bake."
Red Heat is a gold mine though.
Just the opposite for me, I barely got throught RED HEAT once, got very tired of hearing Horner's 48HRS/GORKYPARK/COMMANDO music yet again, and my only good takeaway was that Gina Gershon should probably play the lead terrorist in my script if Madonna wasn't interested. RAW DEAL actually feels like an inspiration for LTK to me, right down to the Davi casting (though that may rely more on Eon's fascination with Joel Silver projects), and it is only in act 3 when all the YOJIMBO style stuff goes out the window in favor of COMMANDOism.
Never seen all of BLUE STEEL, am allergic to most movies where gun gets lost and the place isn't locked down immediately.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:36 am
Frenzy - the tone of this late-period Hitchcock is set early on, when a Thames-side politician pontificating about how the river will soon be cleaned up is ironically interrupted by the discovery of the latest victim of the 'Necktie Killer' floating in it.
'Wrong man' plotting, a sexually deviant killer, macabre humour - what better director than Hitch for this sort of thing?
Perilagu Khan 00 Agent
Posts : 5641 Member Since : 2011-03-21 Location : The high plains
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:42 pm
Frenzy is a very disturbing film. Even for Hitchcock.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:24 pm
And yet, and yet ... it's impossible not to laugh at the likes of Barry Foster's killer attempting to retrieve the lapel pin that will give him away from Anna Massey's deceased-at-his-hands clutches in the back of the potato truck. It's a kind of horrible slapstick.
trevanian Head of Station
Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:12 am
Blunt Instrument wrote:
And yet, and yet ... it's impossible not to laugh at the likes of Barry Foster's killer attempting to retrieve the lapel pin that will give him away from Anna Massey's deceased-at-his-hands clutches in the back of the potato truck. It's a kind of horrible slapstick.
I saw FRENZY on network TV as a teenager -- well, quasi-saw it, given the cuts -- and the years later the lapel pin scene was just about the only thing I could remember about the movie, it was just a lightning rod for me. The 'wrong man' I felt was very uncharismatic, I do remember that, which is funny, because in recent months I've watched actor Jon Finch in THE FINAL PROGRAMME 4 times and he is just awash with charisma in that, sort of like young Billy Zane -- minus the psycho aspect.
I did rent FRENZY on disc many years back, but actually got upset watching and stopped. It had at times this feel of, I dunno, arty porn or something? It also reminded me of how Hitchcock wanted to make THE SHORT NIGHT and was treading there on STRAW DOGS territory with his intentions to have Sean Connery play a somewhat agreeable protagonist despite committing rape early on.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sat Aug 20, 2022 11:24 am
The Commitments - adap of the Roddy Doyle novel directed by Alan Parker, this gritty but life-affirming musical comedy is a joy. A ragtag bunch of working-class Northside Dubliners form the titular soul band ... but can they make it to the big time? Very funny, with (naturally) a terrific soundtrack.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:11 am
Nope - Jordan Peele's latest is a sci-fi horror with underlying themes of spectacle and exploitation which nicely balances intensely creepy moments with more humourous ones. With Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yuen and a cherishable turn from Michael Wincott as a grizzled, cynical cinematographer.
CJB 00 Agent
Posts : 5498 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : 'Straya
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sun Aug 21, 2022 1:35 pm
Prey
Completely drab and lacking in suspense and tension and everything that made the original great. The lead is a one-note, unstoppable Mary Sue.
Another film that the meeja orders you to love. I'm sure that has nothing to do with its subtext of 'da white man is da real predator!'
Predator
Needed to watch this as a palate cleanser. Here, you get genuine menace and tension. The jungle feels hot, claustrophobic. You feel it when those bongo drums start.
The cast of characters is great. The humour is great as well, yet doesn't detract from the horror.
Anyone telling you Prey is fit to lick Jesse Ventura's tobacco off Carl Weathers' boot is an ideologically-motivated liar.
Perilagu Khan 00 Agent
Posts : 5641 Member Since : 2011-03-21 Location : The high plains
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sun Aug 21, 2022 4:54 pm
You tell 'em, CJB.
Somerset 'R'
Posts : 439 Member Since : 2021-06-19
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Aug 22, 2022 5:01 am
I actually just saw Predator for the first time, spurred on by the buzz around this Prey thing perhaps but also my summer seems to be occupied with watching "movies most everyone else has seen except me (aside from bits out of order on cable) and I should really get around to."
In addition to Predator that includes the likes of:
Training Day Collateral 8mm Zodiac Goodfellas (!) Michael Clayton Ocean's 12 Talented Mr. Ripley Manhunter Edge of Tomorrow And more!
Might do an "end of summer" ranking in about a month.
I'm glad to have finally seen Predator. I don't think I'm going to get sucked into this as a franchise, though.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3303 Member Since : 2011-03-17
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Aug 22, 2022 11:02 am
CJB wrote:
Prey
Completely drab and lacking in suspense and tension and everything that made the original great. The lead is a one-note, unstoppable Mary Sue.
Another film that the meeja orders you to love. I'm sure that has nothing to do with its subtext of 'da white man is da real predator!'
Predator
Needed to watch this as a palate cleanser. Here, you get genuine menace and tension. The jungle feels hot, claustrophobic. You feel it when those bongo drums start.
The cast of characters is great. The humour is great as well, yet doesn't detract from the horror.
Anyone telling you Prey is fit to lick Jesse Ventura's tobacco off Carl Weathers' boot is an ideologically-motivated liar.
I like both Predator and Prey.
Prey was perhaps helped by my low expectations, since none of the other sequels have been any good.
It's certainly the most coherent film among the sequels and the one most interested in the Predator character. Also appreciate the use of practical effects for the character wherever possible.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3303 Member Since : 2011-03-17
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Aug 22, 2022 11:07 am
Decision to Leave
Park Chan-wook's newest directorial effort since 2016's The Handmaiden lacks the historical drama's epic (& sapphic) grandeur. The ambitions might be more modest here, but you are still watching grown-up cinema, with a visual richness that is entirely lacking in modern day Hollywood studio film-making. Well worth your time.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Wed Aug 24, 2022 7:33 am
Greta - passable Neil Jordan thriller, in which Chloe Grace Moretz befriends Isabelle Huppert only for the latter to unfortunately turn out to be a full-blown loon.
Somerset 'R'
Posts : 439 Member Since : 2021-06-19
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:55 am
THE FUGITIVE (1993)
One of those ones I've been catching bits of on cable for years without ever seeing the full thing start to end. Perfect Harrison Ford role. Fun chase movie. Would've been a good night out at the pictures in the early 90s.
Seen quite a chunk of the tv show as a kid. Caught an old episode within the last few years, and based on that refreshing of my memory the movie strikes a totally different mood, but as a chase movie I guess it had to.
CJB 00 Agent
Posts : 5498 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : 'Straya
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sat Aug 27, 2022 2:06 am
That iconic jump must've been parodied dozens of times.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sat Aug 27, 2022 10:57 am
The Simpsons one is good. Poor Milhouse.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sun Aug 28, 2022 10:36 am
Airplane! - still a strong contender for one of the funniest films ever made ... so many different types of gag (puns, slapstick, surreal, visual, parody, aural) all thrown into the mix, and the vast majority of them 'land'.
Perilagu Khan 00 Agent
Posts : 5641 Member Since : 2011-03-21 Location : The high plains
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sun Aug 28, 2022 5:30 pm
I don't think there's any question Airplane is one of the 10 funniest films ever made. There are probably six or seven gags in it that are just classics.
CJB 00 Agent
Posts : 5498 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : 'Straya
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Aug 29, 2022 1:32 pm
Certainly is. Comedic filmmaking peaked in the 80's with all the Zucker/Abrahams/Proft movies IMO.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:24 am
Team America : World Police - was in the mood for more Trey Parker and Matt Stone after watching the South Park 25th anniversary gig, so into the DVD player this went. Still a hoot.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Sep 05, 2022 10:58 am
Meatballs - late 70s summer-camp comedy that was Bill Murray's big-screen debut. Passably amusing, albeit without (surprisingly, given the genre) any nekkid ladies.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
Posts : 3303 Member Since : 2011-03-17
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Mon Sep 05, 2022 12:38 pm
Nope
I would say that like Get Out!, this was interesting, smart but ultimately falling just short of greatness. (I didn't care for Us). The main difference with his break-out movie is that whilst Get Out! made the universe increasingly smaller, this film instead makes its vast, dangerous and unknowable. It's basically man vs. nature but the subtext is about the nature of performance. The key difference in that regard is the contrast between the characters played by Daniel Kaluuya and Steven Yeun. Beautifully shot (which is hardly surprising considering it's Hoyte van Hoytema). Jordan Peele: an interesting filmmaker but I'm still waiting for his true masterpiece.
trevanian Head of Station
Posts : 1958 Member Since : 2011-03-15 Location : Pac NW
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Tue Sep 06, 2022 12:02 am
CJB wrote:
Certainly is. Comedic filmmaking peaked in the 80's with all the Zucker/Abrahams/Proft movies IMO.
TOP SECRET! is so funny to me that I almost never need to put the disk in, because I can make myself laugh just recalling any of about 50 or 60 moments or lines or lyrics. Am pretty sure NAKED GUN had a ton of laughs, but the sequel must have diminished my feelings about it, because outside of a GOLDFINGER-looking atom bomb, I didn't find anything funny in 2, and haven't even bothered with the third one.
Oddly enough, the films that I thought were gutbustingly funny and timeless and could merit endless rewatches in the 70s (THE PARTY, RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER and especially THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN, which is practically a Bond movie in scale, all by Blake Edwards) don't register well for me at all anymore.
I guess it is like how certain films are enhanced by having a roomful people erupting in response. Yet I remember seeing PLAY IT AGAIN SAM alone in a nearly empty theater when I was 14 or so and laughing so hard I actually fell into the aisle (the only other time that happened for me was IT'S ALIVE, when cops corner the wrong baby.) Was very disappointed to buy the LP of the film and hear all the jokes ruined by an obnoxious laugh track.
Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Tue Sep 06, 2022 11:07 am
I reckon we're probably less inhibited with our laughter in our youth ... distinctly remember watching The Man With Two Brains in my teens and literally falling off the sofa I was laughing so hard, and similar happening with one of Billy Connolly's stand-up shows in my early 20s.
Somerset 'R'
Posts : 439 Member Since : 2021-06-19
Subject: Re: Last Movie You Watched. Tue Sep 06, 2022 2:43 pm
I hear that, BI. You might be onto something. Personally I'm unsure whether that's because I'm more inhibited (perhaps via life's stresses/responsibilities)...or if I simply don't make the time and space to laugh as a younger self would. I might just not seek it out as much. But then there's the novelty effect...you can only hear the same jokes so many times.
My favorite humor when I was a kid was definitely the silly stuff. I think the Python sketch I laughed hardest at on first viewing in my teens was the fish slapping dance one.