Last Movie you Watched?

Harms, I don't know where you find the time.

Kung Fu Panda 2

3.5/5

Captain America: The First Avenger

4/5

Drive

Loved it, although my attention started to flag towards the end, mostly because of the very repetitive score.

Harmsway wrote:

PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961, dir. Roger Corman)

Splendid. I love the title sequence. And the score.


THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964, dir. Roger Corman)

It gets a bit bogged down with the conventional handsome young lad/pretty young girl romance, but it is by far the most exquisitely beautiful of the Poe films.


THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964, dir. Roger Corman)

Not the most meticulously photographed of the series (though, at times, it's visuals are astonishing). It's VERTIGO in Gothic clothing.

Considered looking at those. Instant has lots of Corman.

They're well worth a look. They're excellent films, and perfect seasonal viewing.

Also Horrible Bosses. It was pretty average but I had a chuckle at some points.

JFK

An intricate plot about a supposed conspiracy surrounding K. Fast paced, marvelously shot, with fine sets and decent acting. A very demanding amount of facts to cope with, but generally excellently handled. Pretty tense, too. I canot believe it was Stone who directed this! (Although it sounds as if I had not seen it yet, which ain't true, as I'd seen it on TV years ago).
The only thing I didn't like was Costner weeping at court. It reeked of a leftist director desperately trying to make it obvious that it's Liberals like him that are the true patriots, while the evil war loving criminals are only interested in power and even won't shun assassinating their own pres. I'm not saying there is no truth at all to this, it's just too pathetic an ending. (Williams is not the greatest).
PS: It's madness some people say Se7en was the best film of the 90s, when there are films like HEAT, TWELVE MONKEYS, THE INSIDER, JFK, UNFORGIVEN and many many more...

Don't forget SHORT CUTS.

12 MONKEYS is overrated. One of my least favourite Gilliam films.

SHORT CUTS I like.

12 MONKEYS is my favourite Gilliam film. A film I truly love, the first viewing (and some of the following) being unforgettable. It didn't have the same impact on me the last time, but I believe it's one of the most original and genuinely moving (Sci-Fi) films I've seen.

I found the performances unconvincing, and it maintains many stereotypes about the mentally ill.

BRAZIL BARON MUNCHAUSEN, and FEAR AND LOATHING are much better.

The mentally ill I thought weren't supposed to be studied accurately; they are just a quirkily portrayed counterworld to the evil people around Jeffrey's father, and they are rather likeable and harmless in this film.
I don't get what's supposed to be special about LOATHING at all (I almost loathe it ;) ).

Gilliam's films thrive on atmosphere and tone. LOATHING creates such a specifically distilled atmosphere, a fascinating brew of nightmare and comedy. LOATHING has such a unique personality that it's almost inevitable that it would turn some people off, but I find LOATHING compellingly horrifying and extremely hilarious.

Re: TWELVE MONKEYS, it's decent enough, but it's lacks staying power, probably due to its lack of strong iconography.

Halloween (1978)

An effective film. Very nicely shot. Most horror films today should watch and take notes.

It's hokey as hell, but I think that works in the film's favor.

Cedar Rapids - reasonably amusing comedy with Ed Helms as a mild-mannered smalltown insurance salesman who goes to a sales conference and gets his eyes opened as to the ways of the world. John C. Reilly steals the show as a boozy, vulgar fellow salesman.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - what with having been only 8 when the Alec Guinness-starring BBC adaptation was broadcast and never having read the novel, I can't make comparisons ... but for what it's worth, I quite enjoyed this.

Charade (1963)

It's been a while since I have watched this sub-hitchcockian (Stanley Donen in truth) tale and its still very entertaining. Along with Grant and Hepburn there is strong support cast all of whom get a moment to shine (though fewer than they really deserve imo) and the film really has a classic cosmoploitan vibe. The humour keeps it fun but perhaps it could have done with the more visceral edge Hitchcock himself added to his tales. (a decent 7/10 film imo)

Given that Cary Grant was supposedly one of the first actors the producers wanted for Bond Charade is perhaps the closest suggestion to how it may have played out being of the same era as Dr No and probably similar in scale/scope too. I think had the Bond producers been permitted their first pick, Bond would have been forced to become Grant rather than vica versa which could have been quite a burden to the series given his age here, its certainly difficult to see the series having anything like the impact it actualy did with the then unknown Connery as the lead.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

A film that I admire at this point more than I enjoy. It's the same with TOUCH OF EVIL. These two are held up as pretty much the best noir has to offer, but I prefer films like OUT OF THE PAST, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and various other studio films, B-pictures, and programmers.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Halloween (1978)

An effective film. Very nicely shot. Most horror films today should watch and take notes.

It's hokey as hell, but I think that works in the film's favor.

As with a great many excellent horror films, the silliness of it all is a bit of an asset. Gotta love Donald Pleasance running around half-crazed (his descent into hammy madness is pretty much the only great thing about the sequels).

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007, dir. Tim Burton)

Still my favorite Burton film.

Harmsway wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Halloween (1978)

An effective film. Very nicely shot. Most horror films today should watch and take notes.

It's hokey as hell, but I think that works in the film's favor.

As with a great many excellent horror films, the silliness of it all is a bit of an asset. Gotta love Donald Pleasance running around half-crazed (his descent into hammy madness is pretty much the only great thing about the sequels).

I can't believe they couldn't find a car with a damn state seal on it. Or that nobody noticed the obvious psychopath with a mask on walking down quiet streets in broad daylight.

Harmsway wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Halloween (1978)

An effective film. Very nicely shot. Most horror films today should watch and take notes.

It's hokey as hell, but I think that works in the film's favor.

As with a great many excellent horror films, the silliness of it all is a bit of an asset. Gotta love Donald Pleasance running around half-crazed (his descent into hammy madness is pretty much the only great thing about the sequels).

Seemed like half of the scenes in HALLOWEEN 4 were of Loomis wandering the streets, approaching bystanders, and saying things like "He's evil! You've got to stop him!"

Batman: Year One



Very, very effective. Wasn't sure of Ben McKenzie's voice at first, but it grew on me as the show went on. A great adaptation of the book -- some stuff is cut but honestly I didn't even miss it, I had to go back and look to see what it was. If anything got short-changed it was perhaps the Sarah Essen subplot. Otherwise a great animated film, and maybe just a step below Under the Red Hood. But still a great production, with the stand-out qualities being the animation and Bryan Cranston's Gordon.
And I liked that they kept it 80s-style, like when the comic was done, right up to the music.

Cranston wouldn't be a bad live-action Gordon.

One thing I should mention is that the movie is as much Gordon's story as it is Batman. Also, while it covers similar ground to BATMAN BEGINS, it is not the same movie -- we have less of the mechanics of Wayne becoming Batman (making the suit, building the gadgets, etc etc) and much more of an exploration of WHY Gotham is a city that NEEDS a vigilante (it's up to its necks in corruption).

Finally, now that the comic is in motion picture form, it's interesting to see just how much Nolan mined it for things to put in BATMAN BEGINS. It has a very different focus, and is a very different film, but a lot of little moments are still gonna be familiar.

One thing I didn't get in BB or TDK is the corruption. The city didn't seem especially corrupt to me, mostly in TDK. Yeah, it has crime families. Any city of that size will.

Maybe it was the way Nolan tried to make Gotham appear ordered in comparison to the Joker that made it look like Any Big City, and not some crime-infested warzone.