Last Movie You Watched

[Cato]

you know,  I never could get into those Comedy Channel series.  Not enough raunchiness.

Have you checked into the incredible NTSF:SD:SUV ?

http://www.youtube.com/v/xbCWYm7B_B4

And...wait for it...wait for it...

http://www.youtube.com/v/QUeqAVIwQqA

[Cato]

Have you checked into the incredible NTSF:SD:SUV ?

http://www.youtube.com/v/xbCWYm7B_B4

And...wait for it...wait for it...

http://www.youtube.com/v/QUeqAVIwQqA

Okay...one more!

http://www.youtube.com/v/JLwPzjxuJGQ

[George]

First viewing. It was damn good.

[Octave]

First viewing. It was damn good.

Apparently the sole extant recording of Walt Whitman's voice was one of the models for D.D. Lewis' "Bill the Butcher" voice.  That character is a divine loony. 

[George]

Long-time Scorsese admirer here .. I need to re-visit this one.

I plan to soon see his Documentary about George Harrison. The one he did on Dylan is phenomenal.

[North Star]

I plan to soon see his Documentary about George Harrison.

I have that waiting in the media box!

[George]

Apparently the sole extant recording of Walt Whitman's voice was one of the models for D.D. Lewis' "Bill the Butcher" voice. 

The voice was the first thing I noticed! I remarked to my girlfriend how impressive it was.

That character is a divine loony.

Indeed!

[SonicMan46]

Well, I thought tonight to start watching some holiday films!  First one up (which I've skipped for a few years) below:

[Karl Henning]

I plan to soon see his Documentary about George Harrison. The one he did on Dylan is phenomenal.

No Direction Home, yes?  Wonderful it is.

[George]

No Direction Home, yes? 

You're right from your side!

[SonicMan46]

First - a new Blu-ray purchase & second continuing my holiday season films:

Quartet (2012) - saw this film at our local theater earlier this year, loved the movie, and bought the BD - just as enjoyable on second watch tonight - won't quote any reviews but strongly recommended to GMGers - Dave

White Christmas (1954) w/ Bing, Danny, Rosie, & Vera - I've owned this film on VHS tape and now on BD - on the latter format, the colors are just fabulous & the sound is the best ever - will continue my 'seasonal' films over the next few weeks. 

 

[Octave]

Over a couple of months, several by Alexander Sokurov:

1. ELEGY OF THE LAND [an arbitrary title?...comprised of two shorter subjects: MARIA (1989) and LAST DAY OF A RAINY SUMMER (~1979?)]
2. PATIENCE LABOUR (1987)  [short film....actually a very funny ~black comedy, though I am not sure it was intended this way; appended to the N. American DVD release of ALEXANDRA]
3. ORIENTAL ELEGY (1996)
4. A HUMBLE LIFE (1997)
5. CONFESSION (1998)
6. ROBERT. A FORTUNATE LIFE  (1999)  [coupled on the DVD of ELEGY OF A VOYAGE]
7. DIALOGUES WITH SOLZHENITSYN (2000)
8. DOLCE (2000)
9. ELEGY OF A VOYAGE (2002)
10. ALEXANDRA (2007) w/Galina Vishnevskaya

What appeal there is for me in Sokurov's films was described several years ago by Val (discussing the film MOLOCH, which he did not much like):

The characters are grotesque, as if they belong to some sort of hallucinated comedia del'arte.
But the scenarios are extraordinary, the mountains, the perpetual fog, the huge rooms. In fact, I feel that the scenarios and the whispers we hear all along the movie, the occasional noises, would be better without most of the characters, Eva Braun excepted. A true symphony (or opera?) of the dead, a limbo were the ghosts of the historical characters would move like shadows.

(Emphases mine.)

I might add that with a number of his films (I think mainly ones made since the ~mid-90s), I've had to acclimate to the look of each one for quite some time...my initial feeling is always disappointment, mild disgust.  (It's often the case that they are videos, so the resolution or just the look of video might be an issue for me.  I don't know if they have always been digital videos (as with RUSSIAN ARK), but as "high-definition" becomes the all-encompassing norm, it almost seems that Sokurov's films have become hazier and hazier, grimier.  Some stills from his recent FAUST make me think that this generalization does not continue to hold, but the stuff I have seen from ~1997-2007 can often look the way Burial's first album sounds to me.)  In a sense, this haziness can work well with what Val described, as what I like in these movies is often the sense of decay, mutedness, haze, mystery, withdrawal, or elusiveness that seems to flit around the edges.  So even though the 4+ hours of CONFESSION can really feel like a slog, I will admit that in particular the exteriors---wispy, dreary passages of snowy landscapes and ships/docks, etc---were anything but dreary for me...as soon as the humans disappeared, the film (video?) got a lot more exciting for me.  (This isn't universally the case, as the frame is packed with humans in RUSSIAN ARK, and that one still is my favorite by a long shot.) 
I am amused and interested by the notion that what is attractive and what is repulsive might be the same thing....I'm sure I am the first person on earth to experience this.   0:)

I see that RUSSIAN ARK is newly available in the USA on Blu-Ray, though it seems that a commentary track, an array of interviews, and the 5.1 surround soundtrack option have all not been included with the Blu-Ray; I don't actually know if these are losses or not, as I never used those features when viewing the DVD.

I am pretty sure that RA and THE SUN are my two favorite Sokurovs to date.  I still have many to see, including at least a couple that are supposed to be among his very best.

[SonicMan46]

Well, the last few days continuing my holiday season film watching - some new, some 'burned' from TCM, etc.:

Remember the Night (1940) w/ Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray - this was 'burned' from TCM several years back; only my 2nd watch - these two made some great films together & had a 'chemistry' - ending 'up in the air' - a fun watch.

Holiday Inn (1942) w/ Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire - great songs by Irving Berlin w/ the film introduction of White Christmas.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) w/ Jimmy Stewart & Donna Reed - BD replacement for me w/ wonderful detail and improved sound - of course, an annual watch this time of the year - Dave

   

[ibanezmonster]

I don't know if it's been 10 or 12 years or however long since I've seen this, but definitely one of the best movies ever made. Exactly what I want to see in a movie. I like stuff that makes you question the fundamental nature of reality.

[George]

I don't know if it's been 10 or 12 years or however long since I've seen this, but definitely one of the best movies ever made. Exactly what I want to see in a movie. I like stuff that makes you question the fundamental nature of reality.

I completely agree, Greg!

[The new erato]

I like stuff that makes you question the fundamental nature of reality.

That's why I visit Internet forums.

[TheGSMoeller]

Recommended by a fellow, friendly comic book fan. He raved about how good Marvel and DC Comics animations are, he was mostly right. I personally would recommend the two DC Comics, Doom and Batman: Under The Red Hood, which both featured clever plots, smart writing. Under The Red Hood is the best of this lot, with some really good voice acting as well. All of these are available on Netflix.

[Todd]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Saw it on the biggest possible screen with all the amenities - 3D, 48 fps 4K projection, Dolby Atmos - which is how this really should be seen.  I'm guessing purists will not like it, or at least take exception with some things, and it is a bit too long in places, but when Smaug hits the screen, it's pretty impressive.  A fine popcorn flick. 

[Cato]

My wife and I agreed that somehow we found the movie better, even much better, than we recalled it:

[asin]1574925628[/asin]

A theme of outer ugliness/inner beauty, as well as inner ugliness/outer beauty, and other variations run throughout the movie.

Also:

[asin]B0006GANX2[/asin]

"When will you make an end of it, Buonarroti?"
"When I am finished!!!"

[lisa needs braces]

History will place an asterisk next to A.I. as the film Stanley Kubrick might have directed. But let the record also show that Kubrick--after developing this project for some 15 years--wanted Steven Spielberg to helm this astonishing sci-fi rendition of Pinocchio, claiming (with good reason) that it veered closer to Spielberg's kinder, gentler sensibilities. Spielberg inherited the project (based on the Brain Aldiss short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long") after Kubrick's death in 1999, and the result is an astounding directorial hybrid. A flawed masterpiece of sorts, in which Spielberg's gift for wondrous enchantment often clashes (and sometimes melds) with Kubrick's harsher vision of humanity, the film spans near and distant futures with the fairy-tale adventures of an artificial boy named David (Haley Joel Osment), a marvel of cybernetic progress who wants only to be a real boy, loved by his mother in that happy place called home.

Echoes of Spielberg's Empire of the Sun are evident as young David, shunned by his trial parents and tossed into an unfriendly world, is joined by fellow "mecha" Gigolo Joe (played with a dancer's agility by Jude Law) in his quest for a mother-and-child reunion. Parallels to Pinocchio intensify as David reaches "the end of the world" (a Manhattan flooded by melted polar ice caps), and a far-future epilogue propels A.I. into even deeper realms of wonder, just as it pulls Spielberg back to his comfort zone of sweetness and soothing sentiment. Some may lament the diffusion of Kubrick's original vision, but this is Spielberg's A.I., a film of astonishing technical wizardry that spans the spectrum of human emotions and offers just enough Kubrick to suggest that humanity's future is anything but guaranteed. --Jeff Shannon

[asin]B004FECNIO[/asin]

You write so well, Jeff Shannon. Thank you for sharing that.