Topic: Last Movie You Watched

[Drasko]

[Corey]

Is that "I Served the King of England"? What did you think? I was a bit disappointed, but then I'm not a huge fan of comedies.

[SonicMan]

In a Sergio Leone mood the last two evenings:

 

[Corey]

[Drasko]

Is that "I Served the King of England"? What did you think? I was a bit disappointed, but then I'm not a huge fan of comedies.

I enjoyed it, though it's not among Menzel's best. It is too long and it feels long, pace lags and focus isn't strong enough so it feels episodic more than it should. Also sometimes feels more caricatural than it needed be. But it does have that elegiac bitter-sweet humor for which Menzel (and some other Czech directors) is famous for, and which I really like. Also film is beautiful, gorgeously shot (some cgi aside) and it does deal with some serious historical issues in typically non-pretentious manner.

Of recent Czech films I loved Jan Sverak's Vratne Lahve (Empties).   

[Feanor]

Stanley Kubrick: A Clockwork Orange

A mild indictment of politicians' duplicity and disingenuousness.

A much stronger indictment of synthesizer music thanks to Walter (nowadays, Wendy) Carlos' weary and terribly dated renditions of various classical works, including notably LvB's 9th, 4th movement.  One is amused by the 1971 styles in general, e.g. the clothing, especially weird on the politician roles.

[Beethovenian]

Stanley Kubrick: A Clockwork Orange

A mild indictment of politicians' duplicity and disingenuousness.

A much stronger indictment of synthesizer music thanks to Walter (nowadays, Wendy) Carlos' weary and terribly dated renditions of various classical works, including notably LvB's 9th, 4th movement.  One is amused by the 1971 styles in general, e.g. the clothing, especially weird on the politicians roles.

I'll have to listen to that soundtrack again. I've always liked it.

[Brian]

Is that "I Served the King of England"? What did you think? I was a bit disappointed, but then I'm not a huge fan of comedies.

I'm going to be reading the original novel, by Bohumil Hrabal, for class next week.

[Corey]

Review here.

[Feanor]

I'll have to listen to that soundtrack again. I've always liked it.

Lemme say that I enjoyed the movie including the soundtrack.  But it's become a period piece.

I recently acquired the soundtrack and found I was disappointed by the stand-alone music.  Maybe it was the state of technolgy at the time, but the synthesizer renditions come across today as murky caricatures of the real music.

[Beethovenian]

Lemme say that I enjoyed the movie including the soundtrack.  But it's become period piece.

I recently acquired the soundtrack and found I was disappointed by the music standing by itself.  Maybe it was the state of technolgy at the time, but the synthesizer renditions come across today as murky caricatures of the real thing.

It was pretty much my intro into the classical music world, so I probably have a soft spot for it.

[Corey]

Finally found a decent-quality torrent for this:



I've given up hope of finding a similarly-decent rip of Four Nights of a Dreamer, which seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth, a fact which shows how little respect film gets as a serious art form. The loss is in my opinion similar to, say, a Guernica or a Les Noces simply disappearing.

[Drasko]

I've given up hope of finding a similarly-decent rip of Four Nights of a Dreamer

I can find you links for decent looking VHS rip, well as decent as VHS rip goes.

[Barak]

And how was Une Femme douce, Corey?

[Corey]

And how was Une Femme douce, Corey?

Brilliant. Even with the VHS-quality video, this is Bresson's most visually beautiful film — and Dominique Sanda is mesmerizing.

[Corey]

I can find you links for decent looking VHS rip, well as decent as VHS rip goes.

I'm in the middle of getting what I think is the only version floating around online. From what I've heard, the quality is pretty bad, but when it comes down to either seeing it or not seeing it the choice is obvious.

[George]

Much better than the 28% it got from Rotten Tomatoes.

I won't say anything about it because I don't want to spoil it for folks.

[Drasko]

I'm in the middle of getting what I think is the only version floating around online. From what I've heard, the quality is pretty bad, but when it comes down to either seeing it or not seeing it the choice is obvious.

I know of two rips floating around. Both are sourced from same NewYorker VHS release but one is about 400 MB and looks piss poor, the other is about 900 MB and looking far better (as possible from VHS).

[Beethovenian]

I don't watch much TV but I really enjoy this sitcom. We've watched season one on DVD and now are on season two, and the third season is currently being televised. It never fails to cheer me up.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory

[Barak]

Brilliant. Even with the VHS-quality video, this is Bresson's most visually beautiful film — and Dominique Sanda is mesmerizing.

My thoughts exactly - although last time I saw it must have been over 25 years ago  . Bresson once again turned to Dostoievsky for his subject. Pacing, lighting, acting are quite extraordinary. I don't think I've ever seen a more enigmatic feminine figure than Sanda. Mesmerizing is very appropriate in her case. I do remember that everything is suggested, never acted out, let alone explained. Very elliptical.