Last Movie You Watched

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I have seen Schindler only once and may have to see it again in order to fully appreciate it...

[North Star]

Aye, Bruce;  it is not as though understatement were one of the Spielberg hallmarks 

See e.g. that blatant manipulatory use of the red dress in the otherwise b&w Schindler's List.

But, even though Spielberg does indulge on the occasional overstatements even in the said movie and Munich, the two are certainly far better than many of his other movies. Don't expect them to be documentaries sticking to the script, though.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

My problem with Schindler is partly the black-and white morality. Yes, I know, stupid thing to say when talking about Nazi Germany but I really don't believe every single citizen of Third Reich was evil which the movie at times seemed to imply (an exception with Schindler, of course). Surely there were several mere passive on-lookers, which while is morally lamentable, is understandable when considering the said person lives in a state where resistance can have severe, severe consequences. I have seen the movie only once so there may have been prominent germans (non-jewish) with more sympathetic attributes, but right now... I don't recall one. Ralph Fiennes delivers a terrifying performance as Goeth. Horrifyingly accurate portrayal of emotionless sociopath.

[James]

You know, I do not own this one.  However, this copy is on my wishlist:



This copy is also 110 minutes, so glad you posted your specs so I could compare and thank you.

Here is what else the Criterion release gives in the way of extra features.

http://www.criterion.com/films/558-m?q=autocomplete

I have this .. the ideas are there but it hasn't aged well at all.

[listener]

re the Bo Ying release of M:   
18 chapters, cost was only $3.33  (3 for $10) in Chinatown, so it was a deal.   I've seen a reference to a 111 minute version, hard to get excited about that as running times can be easily rounded and may include a second or two of fade in/out at the beginning or end.  Only a side-by-side comparison might disclose such a small variation.     I picked up  Pepe le Moko and Lang's Die Nibelung at  the same time.
Tonight though, I'll watch THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, not a perfect film but a favourite.
Produced by Stanley Kramer, directed by Roy Rowland, starring Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy,Hans Conried  and Tommy Rettig (more famous for Lassie).  It is truly weird.

[kishnevi]

My problem with Schindler is partly the black-and white morality. Yes, I know, stupid thing to say when talking about Nazi Germany but I really don't believe every single citizen of Third Reich was evil which the movie at times seemed to imply (an exception with Schindler, of course). Surely there were several mere passive on-lookers, which while is morally lamentable, is understandable when considering the said person lives in a state where resistance can have severe, severe consequences. I have seen the movie only once so there may have been prominent germans (non-jewish) with more sympathetic attributes, but right now... I don't recall one. Ralph Fiennes delivers a terrifying performance as Goeth. Horrifyingly accurate portrayal of emotionless sociopath.

Part of that is undoubtedly due to the fact that Schindler's social world is (at least in the movie) almost entirely limited to officers of the SS and army,  to men who like himself were in the business of supplying the army, and their immediate connections...people who were themselves not merely bystanders but implicated in the Shoah and/or the military efforts.  I do not recall a single "civilian",  meaning a true bystander,  with even a minor speaking role, in the whole film, except possibly Mrs. Schindler.

[North Star]

My problem with Schindler is partly the black-and white morality. Yes, I know, stupid thing to say when talking about Nazi Germany but I really don't believe every single citizen of Third Reich was evil which the movie at times seemed to imply (an exception with Schindler, of course). Surely there were several mere passive on-lookers, which while is morally lamentable, is understandable when considering the said person lives in a state where resistance can have severe, severe consequences. I have seen the movie only once so there may have been prominent germans (non-jewish) with more sympathetic attributes, but right now... I don't recall one. Ralph Fiennes delivers a terrifying performance as Goeth. Horrifyingly accurate portrayal of emotionless sociopath.

Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

[Ken B]

Your quotations are apt.
Part of the problem I have with the Ron Paul crowd is that they want, more than anything else it seems, for good men to do nothing.

[Cato]

Tonight though, I'll watch THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, not a perfect film but a favourite.
Produced by Stanley Kramer, directed by Roy Rowland, starring Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy,Hans Conried  and Tommy Rettig (more famous for Lassie).  It is truly weird.

An all-around favorite, although some say it is an attack on classical music as "effete" and "snobbish," I would think it is rather an attack on the effete snobs who ruin the music for everyone else!  The Dungeon Symphony is not to be missed! 

Score by Frederick (Friedrich) Hollander (Hollaender).

[TheGSMoeller]

Werner Herzog has a new film, Queen of the Desert. This film gets the new style of trailer treatment, which I find very silly and unfitting for a Herzog film, even tries to create action from slow camel riding shots . But I'm intrigued by anyway...

https://www.youtube.com/v/tJ0xy9euq24 

[Jaakko Keskinen]

@ North Star: It is easy to say in a modern, safe, democratic welfare state that "I would have done differently had I lived in Third Reich", but unfortunately, in a real situation, in a state led by mad genocidal dictator, not everyone has the courage to do so.

[Cato]

Including the seven-minute cartoon Lava, one of the best movies of the year, and maybe of the decade:



Amazing that the movie somewhat subtly tells the parents in the audience that wanting or demanding constant happiness for one's child is simply wrong, that sadness and other negative emotions are legitimate and necessary and must not be avoided.

When cartoons are the best films Hollywood is producing, you know that in one sense things are not going too well for the regular movies!

[North Star]

@ North Star: It is easy to say in a modern, safe, democratic welfare state that "I would have done differently had I lived in Third Reich", but unfortunately, in a real situation, in a state led by mad genocidal dictator, not everyone has the courage to do so.

Wiesel was in Auschwitz & Niemöller in Dachau.

[Florestan]

@ North Star: It is easy to say in a modern, safe, democratic welfare state that "I would have done differently had I lived in Third Reich", but unfortunately, in a real situation, in a state led by mad genocidal dictator, not everyone has the courage to do so.

As someone who has actually lived in a totalitarian state, I can certainly testify for that: when telling the truth and acting accordingly becomes a matter of life and death (not only yours, but also that of your loved ones), one can take it or leave it --- unless one is made of the stuff saints and heroes are made of, but then I ask anyone here to raise his right hand if he feels up to the task!

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Wiesel was in Auschwitz & Niemöller in Dachau.

I didn't deny that there are people who are gallant enough to fight back and risk everything, including the lives of person him/herself and his/her loved ones. But, lamentably, that doesn't include all of us. Doing nothing while these horrifying crimes against humanity happened is base, but also humane. There are persons prepared to make a difference but amount of those decreases considerably when placed in danger of losing your freedom, or life.

[Todd]

Mr Turner.  A long, slow, and more than occasionally boring depiction of the last 25 years or so of JMW Turner's life.  I know nothing of Turner's bio, so I have no idea if Timothy Spall's acting accurately represents what the man was like, but it is a committed performance.  When Turner has his photograph taken, his fascination mixed with dread is well captured.  The movie has several masterful scenes that depict the real life, or attempted recreations of the real life, events that inspired several of Turner's paintings, and these scenes are visually sumptuous.  A better editor may have yielded a better movie, though. 

[Bogey]

One of the more interesting noirs I've watched.  If you have seen it, you know what I mean based on what was in the box.  Like all Criterion releases I own this one is also impressive in its presentation.  And be sure to enjoy the credits as they roll by your backwards.



(Believe it or not, the above is a young Cloris Leachman.)

[North Star]

I didn't deny that there are people who are gallant enough to fight back and risk everything, including the lives of person him/herself and his/her loved ones. But, lamentably, that doesn't include all of us. Doing nothing while these horrifying crimes against humanity happened is base, but also humane. There are persons prepared to make a difference but amount of those decreases considerably when placed in danger of losing your freedom, or life.

You must mean human, and not humane. Doing nothing while that sort of atrocities are committed is monstrous, certainly not humane.
As to your last sentence, it would lead to a strange situation where the resistance to a Nazi regime will be less significant than that to e.g. a social democrat one.

[Drasko]

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[Karl Henning]

Last night, again: Die Hard With a Vengeance


The one thing that nags me (and some may say, there is more that ought to nags me, where others wonder just what my problem may be) has to do with the puzzles.  The as-yet-anonymous villain plays games with McClane (and Zeus), and it is clear how they solve (e.g.) "How many went to St Ives?" and "What is 21 from 42?"  So it's the water jugs which nag me.  They don't clearly explain, but they play the scene as if they figured it out.  (Or maybe I am being dull;  it happens.)  There are two jugs, one 3-gallon, the other 5-gallon, and they have to seat a jug holding exactly 4 gallons on the scale.  They talk hurriedly and vaguely about shifting water from one jug to the other;  but I still don't get it.  Nearest I can figure it out, seems inelegant to me, and was not quite played out in the scene:


A.  Fill the 5-gallon jug.
B.  From the water in the 5-gallon jug, fill the 3-gallon jug;  2 gallons remains in the 5-gallon jug.
C.  Empty the 3-gallon jug.
D.  Pour the 2 gallons back into the 3-gallon jug;  mark the level.
E.  Pour two gallons, twice, from the 3-gallon jug into the 5-gallon jug.

Is that right?