Last Movie You Watched.

STAR WARS
Seeing this on the big screen in 77 was a huge event. It holds up well, it is a very well made film. Unfortunately this was the 97 version. I do not care for the tampering at all, none of it.
I had forgotten that Luke was the first to utter "I have a bad feeling about this." Han would repeat it later in the film, and then it would become a staple for both Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

THE TRUMAN SHOW

Did not like this much when it first came out, I was probably expecting something else. I did enjoy it more now, and can appreciate that it is trying to tell us something about the world we live in.

TOUCH OF EVIL (murch reconstruction)
and
POINT BREAK (orig)

Love 'em both, though the latter has got so many problems it'd need a full review to do them justice. The thing is, it doesn't matter. spoiler [/hide]The guy jumps out of a plane on purpose without a chute. [/hide] That's the birth of the contemporary mindless action movie, or the death of the smart thriller, I dunno which.

ToE still feels vigorously undated in its approach, from cutting to camera angles. I started feeling that in the early 80s. I'm especially taken by Welles' performance.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT

In preparation for watching the new one. This is my favourite in the series so far. Awesome climax, and the editing and cross cutting is really well done here.

The Empire Strikes Back was the coolest thing ever when it came out according to me back then. I cannot say I agree with myself, but it is a classic sci fi b movie. The most iconic scene in the whole series was a real stunner at the time.

"I have a bad feeling about this." uttered:
Episode IV-twice, first by Luke, later by Han.
Episode V-once, by Leia this time.

Phantom Commander wrote:

The Empire Strikes Back was the coolest thing ever when it came out according to me back then. I cannot say I agree with myself, but it is a classic sci fi b movie. The most iconic scene in the whole series was a real stunner at the time.

"I have a bad feeling about this." uttered:
Episode IV-twice, first by Luke, later by Han.
Episode V-once, by Leia this time.  

When Vader confronts look at Bespin, there is a real sense of 'this is a classic movie moment,' from the way Vader is placed in this limbo-with graphic lines setting to the music to ... well, it's just really cool, it is. I think the film is hurt by Hamill's performance (he doesn't get good till JEDI, by which time it doesn't matter because nothing else is good in that one except design/vfx), and the structure is very weird, but I didn't ever go out for a smoke during the Yoda scenes, so it had to have it going on there too.

For me, after GOLDENEYE, I watched DIE ANOTHER DAY (my wife likes Toby) and I only dozed off during act 3, when the movie just TNDs for me (not a good thing.) Followed that up with KILL BILL V2 (still don't like it a quarter as much as V1, despite more Michael Parks) and THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR remake, which we both have always loved. You may laugh, but I really think Rene Russo should have gotten a nomination, she gets to portray a really full range of emotions and doesn't strike a false note, far exceeding what I would have expected based on her previous competent work. I just wish the snazzy music from the break-in at the beginning was on the score CD, I bet I could clean the kitchen much faster if I listened to that cue.

trevanian, I caught myself thinking "Could they not get a better actor for the part of Luke?"

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK


Another classic Lucasfilm, I would not even call this a b movie. It looks fantastic, and Williams does an awesome score, although the Indy theme itself is rather annoying as it gets overused. The ominous chords scattered throughout the movie is a real mood setter.

The introduction of Indiana Jones, where he cracks his whip and steps out from the shadows, is as iconic as the introduction of Bond in DN. Not a boring scene in the whole film. Funniest moment is when Marion kisses Sallah and the ship´s horn blasts off.

Phantom Commander wrote:

trevanian, I caught myself thinking "Could they not get a better actor for the part of Luke?"

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK


Another classic Lucasfilm, I would not even call this a b movie. It looks fantastic, and Williams does an awesome score, although the Indy theme itself is rather annoying as it gets overused. The ominous chords scattered throughout the movie is a real mood setter.

The introduction of Indiana Jones, where he cracks his whip and steps out from the shadows, is as iconic as the introduction of Bond in DN. Not a boring scene in the whole film. Funniest moment is when Marion kisses Sallah and the ship´s horn blasts off.

The bit where Indy can't bring himself to blow up the ark is just monumental for me, though I think I had to see a review cite how important it was character-wise before it fully registered. (it's not even in the revised third draft script I used to own, so I don't know if it was a late addition or just something they kept changing their minds about, but without it, you just don't have the same movie or character IMO.)

My main takeaway on first view was, 'how did they do the ghosts at the ending? and so when I went back the next day, I actually talked the theater people into letting me in way early for the second showing the next day so I could watch the end reel first and try to figure it out, that way I could enjoy the movie and not be distracted thinking about that aspect.

Odd lil tidbit: they only had a couple days scheduled for that sequence during the main unit shoot, so lots of the shots that don't show the full 'arena' were actually done at ILM months later on what I think Richard Edlund called a '3 nazi-sized' stage. It all matches very nicely, but none of it looks particularly real ... that isn't a problem because basically if you're going to reject anything in RAIDERS on account of credibility, you will have left well before that point (not that I know of anybody who ever did!)

trevanian, seems like most people have no issue with the credibility of anything in the 80s movies, but the 4th and 5th get a lot of flak for being too far out there.

STAR WARS Episode VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

There is some Muppet Show going on in both of the first two movies, but here it is taken too far. The script itself is not good, either. Whereas the last one was a good sci fi b movie, this is a bad sci fi b movie. Few things to enjoy, but I like the Emperor (as a movie character, not as a person), also nice seeing more of Leia if you catch my drift. Disappointment back then, and it has not improved. Dreadful.

"I have a bad feeling about this":
Ep IV-Luke, then Han
Ep V-Leia
Ep VI-Han

BADDER SANTA - hadn't seen it in a long while, but there are still some laughs, especially when Billy Bob attacks a kid bully and reflects about how it feels like he has turned a corner -- in a good way -- afterwards. Directed by Zwigoff, who also made GHOST WORLD, a very nice little movie I keep forgetting to rewatch, from back before Scarlett J got all platinumed out.

JUst made another connection here, as Billy Bob and Scar are both in my fave Coen, THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE (a movie that sadly has bottomed out for me after several good views. It still looks great though.)

Phantom Commander wrote:

trevanian, seems like most people have no issue with the credibility of anything in the 80s movies, but the 4th and 5th get a lot of flak for being too far out there.

STAR WARS Episode VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

There is some Muppet Show going on in both of the first two movies, but here it is taken too far. The script itself is not good, either. Whereas the last one was a good sci fi b movie, this is a bad sci fi b movie. Few things to enjoy, but I like the Emperor (as a movie character, not as a person), also nice seeing more of Leia if you catch my drift. Disappointment back then, and it has not improved. Dreadful.

"I have a bad feeling about this":
Ep IV-Luke, then Han
Ep V-Leia
Ep VI-Han

Leia is sexy as hell when she's wearing next to nothing, but looks dreadful later in the film. The makeup, clothing and coiffure did Fisher absolutely no favors.

She gets to strangle somebody, and get really hands-on with it, unlike Vader most of the time. Can we say that about anybody other in that whole galaxy?

Watched EYES WIDE SHUT, as it is a xmas movie, and I feel rather nonplussed. More than ever, my takeaway is that if Kubrick HAD to have a real married couple as his leads, he needed to pick a different pair (Uma with Ethan Hawke might have been awesome; alternately, I could even see Tom&Rita working.) Kidman is just a disaster for me in this, more grating in voice and manner than I recall her in anything else to date, and you folks must know how little appreciation I have for Cruise, but I do find the score memorable, as well as a number of the supporting turns, especially Sydney Pollack.

Excited and nervous to have found the old western CATLOW on dvd. I saw this on the CBS Thursday night movie in 1975-6 and found the first hour terrific, but that it really fell off for the third half-hour before picking up at the end. This is the movie that created in my mind the 'second half of act 2 falloff' effect, and I have to say, I'm retroactively impressed with my 15 year-old self figuring that out so far back, even if I didn't know it was the second half of act 2 (at the time, I called it the '10pm falloff' since the movies on CBS usually ran 9-12, whereas the leaner meaner made for tv movies on ABC were mostly 8:30-10pm and usually didn't have the time to spare to fall off anywhere.

I have not seen this movie in 47 or is it 48 years, so this is one of the longest stretches ever for me between first and second viewings, and I have no idea whether my opinion will change, but I did read that QT considers it one of the alltime worst studio-made westerns of that era.

All I remember is that I tuned in for Leonard Nimoy but stayed for Richard Crenna, who became a go-to fave for me right around that time, owing to a short-lived TV series with Bernadette Peters and catching a rerun of the tv-movie THIEF he did with Angie Dickinson, in which he wears turtlenecks very well and I think this must have been the role that got TPTB interested briefly in casting him as Bond in WARHEAD before Connery thought things through.

Crenna as Bond? Never heard that before, interesting.

INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM

The most intense in the series, but unlike many, I think it is also the funniest. Good performances, and another ominous Williams score, although the Indy theme once again overstays its welcome here and there. This never gets dull either, and is my most viewed Indy movie. Lots of memorable and iconic scenes, and the main villain must be the greatest Indiana Jones villain of them all. A shame they have to demonize Kali worshippers, but that is typical Hollywood.

Last Crusade has some boring stretches unlike the first two, the recurring characters have become carricatures of themselves and much of the humour does not work. Even the score is not equally great this time.

One thing I noticed this time is that the opening secquence on the circus train mirrors the progression in the movie somewhat. First there is the snake carriage where Indy develops his phobia, and you can liken Elsa and her companions to treacherous snakes. Then he goes into the lion´ s den, and that is what he calls Berlin when his dad tells him they need to go there. He ends up in the magic carriage, which you can compare to the cave at the end of the movie, where all the magic takes place in this one.

Dinner Rush (2000)

A mash-up of two tasty genres--gangster and food. Very solid film. Good plot, some interesting characters and a satisfying ending.

STAR WARS Episode I THE PHANTOM MENACE

Not to sound racist, but this would have been so much better without the Gungans. Other than that, well made, well scored, pretty good cast.

I had to interview 43 people in 2-1/2 days about the tech ends of TPM, so that kind of (dis)colors any viewing I might make of it. Another thing I thought was odd: GL's script for TPM actually describes the sabers as 'lazer swords' which is I thought something disappeared during production of ANH. Honestly, I can't imagine the words 'lazer sword' coming out of Guinness' mouth without flinching.

There was some nice stuff in TPM, but for me it was always outweighed by plot failings and the appearance of craptacular Yoda. Sharks have livelier eyes than the thing in that film, which is a far cry from EMPIRE Yoda. Plus TPM was shot almost entirely on film, making it one of the last SW feature entries that actually looked like SW. ATTACK OF CLONES I found abysmal, endless and often looking more like a BARNEY MILLER episode than a SW installment, owing to the low end 'state of the art' digital cameras.

We saw something new for us last night. BARBIE started with a great deal of promise and some decent laughs, but I felt it went way off the rails with the Will Ferrell stuff (he really needed to do more material in the vein of STRANGER THAN FICTION ... well, everybody needs to do more stuff like that.) I actually found myself dozing on it more than once, in spite of very nice art direction and what were obviously the best of intentions.

Still, a flick that can get in a throwaway dis on Zack Snyder special cuts of DC movies can't be all bad (after WATCHMEN, which I love and very recently saw the long cut of for the umpteenth time, Snyder's flicks have all been unwatchable for me, and I gave up on him altogether a few minutes into whichever cut of JUSTICE LEAGUE that had Jimmy Olsen get whacked.)

trevanian, that Lucas himself called them laser swords at the time, well I reacted to that, too, but whatever. He is the Star Wars god after all. Agree that Attack was not that great.



Dead Reckoning is almost as good as Fallout, and maybe a bit more clever than that one. Pretty impressive action thriller, and one of the best MI movies for sure. Looking forward to what happens next.

OPPENHEIMER. Very rocky start IMO, but maybe that was just me not getting the style of presentation. The movie clicked into place right when Damon showed up, and then post-detonation it really kicked into high gear. There are a few moments of brilliance (the imagined sex during the decertification briefings, along with Oppy's speech to the team isterspersed with 'the horror the horror'.)

I'm really astonished by the idea that Nolan could have written a script so tight -- the intercuts between time periods were actually planned that well ahead of time, really paying off aspects of the Op and Downey characters.

I'm also amazed that nearly a billion bucks worth of people saw this film in the theater, maybe I've been underestimating moviegoers, wouldn't think it would hold that many people's attention.

Even though I didn't love it (found the rushed pace of things disconcerting), it more than makes up for the way I felt after TENET (which I still can't even bring myself to rewatch, matching or exceeding my disappointment with Nolan's INSOMNIA.)

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL


I am beginning to see why people dislike this one. It is not about Mutt, he was pretty good. The Nevada opening is still amazing. It is about the Peru sequence, which must be about half the movie, at least. Things are really uneven and silly there. The few jokes that actually worked in Crusade, were brilliant. Nothing like that here.At least not after a couple of viewings.
This is where Indy says "I have a bad feeling about this.", which had been said once or twice by someone in every Star Wars movie.

Scrooged and Elf ... seasonal fantasy comedy rewatches. Goofy fun, albeit a little darker in the former flick.

We almost watched KLUTE, just to be able to wish people a John Klute Xmas afterward, but resisted the temptation once we saw that TCM doesn't have it right now and it would have to be with commercials on tubi or one of those other weird little channels.

Instead watched ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, which we dearly love (must be among my fave movies that I haven't upgraded on, still just a DVD, but pic looks gorgeous owing to great veteran cinematographer who didn't seem to let much messing with his imagery happen back then.) My wife thought we should have watched this with STRANGER THAN FICTION -- two faves that seemed to fly under most people's radar.

STAR WARS Episode VII THE FORCE AWAKENS

As far as SW goes, this was a pretty good restart. I like Rey as the new protagonist, and Adam Driver is always good. Williams is a blessing for the whole series.

Phantom Commander wrote:

STAR WARS Episode VII THE FORCE AWAKENS

As far as SW goes, this was a pretty good restart. I like Rey as the new protagonist, and Adam Driver is always good. Williams is a blessing for the whole series.

Although there's plenty not to love, TFA is actually the only JJ Abrams-directed movie I've ever liked (and I've sat all the way through both of his Treks plus that SUPER8 thing, though I jumped ship early on his M:I.)

I liked a lot of the second one too, TLJ, though it seemed like there was some kind of pushme/pullyou going on with storytelling, which obviously came to a head on the 3rd one, when they steamrollered over most of the good from the second one and delivered ... well, nothing, that I can recall except an endless space battle that was so murky I couldn't tell who was getting killed (not that I cared by that point.) The third one really redefines the floor for SW for me, but should probably rewatch LAST JEDI for the hyperspeed ram and some of the fights.

I was disappointed by Last Jedi when it came out, but we shall see how it fares now. I am rewatching them all, well maybe except Solo, which I really could not stand.

ROGUE ONE


This is more like it. The fun factor is virtually non-existent, but this is a clever prequel to epIV, and a worthy addition to the saga. It has some heart, and I am afraid I must confess I was rooting for the rebel scum and not for the law and order of the Empire. This probably puts me on some watchlist.