Last Movie you Watched?

HJackson wrote:

May be because I haven't watched a film in a month and a half, but I watched WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS last night and loved it. The first thirty minutes is the strongest, since the procedural stuff afterwards has a much weaker pulse, but as a whole it was entertaining. Dana Andrews plays a nutter quite well.

These words are correct.

Preminger's best film at Fox. And Andrews' best performance, over The Ox-Bow Incident and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Iñárritu - one of the most overrated filmmakers currently working.

Sharky wrote:

Iñárritu - one of the most overrated filmmakers currently working.

Are there any working filmmakers you like?

Loomis wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Iñárritu - one of the most overrated filmmakers currently working.

Are there any working filmmakers you like?

Steven Spielberg, David O. Russell, Mike Leigh, Wong Kair Wai, Neil Jordan, John Moore, Peter Weir, Alexander Sokurov., Wes Anderson, Alex Cox, Jeff Nichols, Coens, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Shane Meadows, Pedro Almodóvar, Terence Malick, Chen Kaige, Alexander Payne, CJ Carpenter etc.

Agreed on Iñárritu (with Sharky). Amores Perros is decent, but he's gone sharply and continually downhill.

Went to see Biutiful in the cinema months ago and it went kaput with an hour to go. All that wanton misery that I missed. Pity.

Sharky wrote:

John Moore

Really? I've never seen any of his films, but I was under the impression that they're considered to be awful (not that that means we're not free to like them, of course, but it does make Moore a surprising choice, particularly as virtually all the other directors you mention are critics' darlings). Presumably you're looking forward to A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD based on Moore's participation?

Loomis wrote:

Sharky wrote:

John Moore

Really? I've never seen any of his films, but I was under the impression that they're considered to be awful

I was going too throw Paul W.S. Anderson in here too, but yeah. I like his films, and i like sticking up for the underdog.

Loomis wrote:

particularly as virtually all the other directors you mention are critics' darlings).

Some of them, but not all of them.

Loomis wrote:

Presumably you're looking forward to A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD based on Moore's participation?

I am.

Shane Meadows? I always thought you better than that, Sharky.

Better than what?

P.S. Any luck with the commies yet?

HJackson wrote:

Shane Meadows? I always thought you better than that, Sharky.

What's wrong with Shane Meadows?

Full Metal Jacket

The 80s must be Kubrack's weakest period.
I just read from a former Parris Island recruit that everything Ermey does is authentic.
I do find Lawrence's demise to be very unconvincing. He was actually becoming a brilliant soldier with the prospect of being in the infantry. I know his plans were giving him the strength to persevere, but, let's be honest, the treatment that he got wasn't that bad at all. His lunacy and suicide are exaggerated in content and execution. The only scene I quite liked was the talk about what to do with the dying sniper in the end. In fact, the whole sniper section was pretty good.
I'd like to know what's supposed to make this film so outstanding. Many a war film is far superior.
(second viewing)

PS: I thought I should add that I hadn't seen MARNIE in perhaps 21 years. The depiction of her character and illness isn't fully convincing. There is only one decent suspense scene. On the whole, the film is a VERTIGO for the easily pleased.
But I did weep in the end, because what happened to little Marnie in the past is quite sad.
SPUR was pretty decent. A quite engaging tale, with only the final revelation of the about-face in the main character being a bit too Hollywood pehaps. (Not that it wasn't being prepared plausibly in the film before it, it was just that moment; I may be wrong, though).

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes - It's refreshing to see such a focused and non-bloated popcorn flick, although the title is definitely misleading (the film should've been called The Rise of San Francisco of the Apes). The apes were stunningly done... much more engaging than the bland human cast.

DANCER IN THE DARK (2000)

Usually hate musicals, but this was enjoyable. Outstanding visuals (which are standard with Von Trier) and some great drama. There was a knot in my stomach from the scene where Selma asks for her money back, all the way to the end of the film.

My first film since returning home, and since I have spent the past 2 weeks around the UK, almost fitting that is was...



The Grass Is Greener (1960) Dir. Stanley Donen

Got it cheap at the Heathrow HMV.

Very fun romantic-triangle comedy set amongst the stately homes of the English countryside, particularly one owned by Earl Cary Grant and his wife, Lady Deborah Kerr, who have the house by virtue of their ancestry, so naturally enough survive by opening it to tourists and selling mushrooms on the side. Having sent the kids away for a week, their idyllicly dull existence is broken when one day, American Oil millionaire Robert Mitchum walks into a room marked private to find Kerr. After a bit of banter, they're smitten, leading to a rather humourous romantic triangle in which everyone knows the everyone knows whats going on, but nobody's willing to speak it out loud until Cary challenges Mitch to a duel, in their glasses naturally, which you can see in the piccie above. Throw in Jean Simmons as the rather scattered fourth point of the love triangle, and much fun ensues.

Pretty average print of the film, which was annoying, but the cast are all very fun - Cary, Deb and Jean get to speak in british accents and it was good to see Mitch in a role I actually liked him in, I remember before I went overseas I'd seen him in a string of fairly dull pictures. But here, alls good. :)

FourDot wrote:

These words are correct.

Preminger's best film at Fox. And Andrews' best performance, over The Ox-Bow Incident and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Still have WHIRLPOOL and FALLEN ANGEL to watch here (picked up the BFI Noir collection, which also has NIGHT AND THE CITY), so hopefully they're at least of a similar quality, if not as good. Need to dig into Preminger properly one of these days - LAURA is the only one I've seen that I've not been extraordinarily keen on.

Sharky wrote:

P.S. Any luck with the commies yet?

Unfortunately not. I'll put an ad in the Socialist Worker.

Sharky wrote:

Better than what?

Loomis wrote:

What's wrong with Shane Meadows?

I can't stand his work, though I say this not having seen THIS IS ENGLAND. To put it in unsophisticated terms, the stuff I've seen has been crap. I can't find any merit in it.

colly wrote:

I have spent the past 2 weeks around the UK

Which parts of this great country did you get to see?

THIS IS ENGLAND is his masterpiece.

HJackson wrote:

colly wrote:

I have spent the past 2 weeks around the UK

Which parts of this great country did you get to see?

Not a whole lot, I suppose - coming over from Ireland, i spent 2 days in Liverpool to see the Liverpool v Swansea game on November 5; spent 6 days in Edinburgh and the Scotttish Highlands around the Isle of Skye, then trained down to family freinds in Surrey (near Guildford), spent a weekend there, including a lovely few pints in Richmond by the Thames, and then a couple of days in London. So not a whole lot, but twas excellent.

Sharky wrote:

THIS IS ENGLAND is his masterpiece.

I guess I'll give him one more chance, since it seems a bit unfair to dismiss someone without having seen their great work. Can't say I'm in a rush to see another one of his films though.

colly wrote:

Not a whole lot, I suppose - coming over from Ireland, i spent 2 days in Liverpool to see the Liverpool v Swansea game on November 5; spent 6 days in Edinburgh and the Scotttish Highlands around the Isle of Skye, then trained down to family freinds in Surrey (near Guildford), spent a weekend there, including a lovely few pints in Richmond by the Thames, and then a couple of days in London. So not a whole lot, but twas excellent.

Sounds like a fine overview, wisely avoiding Wales and incest-ridden Cornwall.

colly wrote:

spent a weekend there, including a lovely few pints in Richmond by the Thames

Some outstanding pubs in that area. Must find myself a rich widow.

Oh - The Black Swan. How I love that film....

The King's Speech - last saw this at the cinema, where I thoroughly enjoyed it. Colin Firth deserved the Oscar - he captured the part so well, Mr. Darcy didn't cross my mind once. Even with other cast members of Pride and Prejudice around.

Age of Heroes - Strange film. Good in one way; bad in that it just - ends. But you don't know how it ends. And I don't really understand why Sharpe lets Billy the Limpet into the Commandos.

colly wrote:

Not a whole lot, I suppose - coming over from Ireland, i spent 2 days in Liverpool to see the Liverpool v Swansea game on November 5; .

snap, a friend of mine went up there for the same game, took his two little boys
small world

Sharky wrote:

Loomis wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Iñárritu - one of the most overrated filmmakers currently working.

Are there any working filmmakers you like?

Steven Spielberg, David O. Russell, Mike Leigh, Wong Kair Wai, Neil Jordan, John Moore, Peter Weir, Alexander Sokurov., Wes Anderson, Alex Cox, Jeff Nichols, Coens, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Shane Meadows, Pedro Almodóvar, Terence Malick, Chen Kaige, Alexander Payne, CJ Carpenter etc.

Ravenstone wrote:

Oh - The Black Swan. How I love that film....

The King's Speech - last saw this at the cinema, where I thoroughly enjoyed it. Colin Firth deserved the Oscar - he captured the part so well, Mr. Darcy didn't cross my mind once. Even with other cast members of Pride and Prejudice around.

.

I never saw P&P so no problem :) He did a good job and Bonham Carter as the Queen Mum (God Bless Her, as they say). Geoffrey Rush was superb if you ask me. Film worked and brought George VI to people who might otherwise wouldn't have sought him out.

HJackson wrote:

Loomis wrote:

What's wrong with Shane Meadows?

I can't stand his work, though I say this not having seen THIS IS ENGLAND. To put it in unsophisticated terms, the stuff I've seen has been crap. I can't find any merit in it.

Well, I don't know what you've seen, but of the Meadows canon I've seen just THIS IS ENGLAND (which I didn't much care for, although it did keep me watching to the end - many, many films don't, and I'm not the sort of chap who sticks with a flick till the bitter end if he's not enjoying it, for life is too short), A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS (which I quite enjoyed and reviewed a few posts ago on this thread) and DEAD MAN'S SHOES (which I found absolutely riveting and terrifying - he seems to have a knack of getting knockout performances out of Paddy Considine).

So while I don't hold Meadows in the very high esteem that Sharky seems to, I do think he's a good director, based on the three films of his that I've seen. I've done quite nicely out of him, really. And I can't wait for his documentary on the reunion of The Stone Roses, which I imagine will be with us a year or so from now.