Last Movie You Watched

[NikF]

Kontroll (2003)

A comedy/thriller of the dark variety, set totally underground in the Budapest Metro system. An enjoyable film that looked nice, partly on account of the way the it was lensed by Gyula Pados (a former assistant of Oscar winner Vilmos Zsigmond, who he apparently shares a taste for glowing colours in the darkness, as seen in 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind') along with a plot that stops off on some interesting places before swiftly getting underway once more and reaching the (obvious) end of the  journey.

[Karl Henning]

At first, as I was watching Batman Begins again, and seeing the discussion, I was going to say that the first & second movies have a focus, and even (often) an elegance, which I found wanting in the third, which pursues so many lines.

Now, I've re-watched The Dark Knight Rises. Probably because I've already absorbed so much of the expository material, the movie was much clearer to me. I certainly agree that The Dark Knight is superior. But I do find that I think much better of the third movie now, than I did at the first viewing.

[lisa needs braces]

This...looks...so...good.

("The Revenant" starring Leo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OfPMJQ3Bpo

Apparently its production was quite troubled.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-leonardo-dicaprios-revenant-shoot-810290

[Todd]

Calvary.  Brendan Gleeson plays a priest whose life is threatened in the opening scene by an unseen man in a confessional who vows to kill the priest because he's done nothing wrong.  The priest has one week to live.  The priest spends the next week talking with a variety of characters (or caricatures) trying to figure out who made the threat, and dealing with the sins of the world.  The premise is silly, and the characters often over the top, but Gleeson is wonderful, Kelly Reilly is good as the priest's daughter, and M Emmet Walsh, of all actors, shows up in a good, small role.  Visually, the film is very attractive, with some well executed compositions for some static shots, and a good use of the Irish scenery.  Not a great film, but an intriguing one.

[Brian]

This weekend:

The Overnighters, a totally mesmerizing documentary about migrant workers in the North Dakota oil fields. It begins empathetic and emotional, telling the stories of the workers, but it snowballs into something bigger, as drama develops in the town, a storyline takes shape, and lives are changed forever. Pay very, very close attention to the first 60 seconds, as they will become unimaginably important.

A Room with a View, the 1985 Merchant/Ivory film that is, when you remove the literary adaptation angle, basically a witty English romcom. And it's very rom, rather com, and extremely English. An unbelievably stacked cast, with character actors Denholm Elliott and Simon Callow, the Platonic ideal of English old ladies in Judi Dench AND Maggie Smith, technically the first-ever film role for a young lady named Helena Bonham Carter, and another early role for another young actor, Daniel Day-Lewis. DDL steals the whole show as the utterly preposterous bookworm who tries to seduce HBC, but sadly doesn't know the first thing about seduction.

The documentary Exporting Raymond, about the attempt to remake "Everybody Loves Ramond" for Russian audiences. Amusing to see how big the culture barrier is, and amusing to watch the original "Raymond" creator spar with Russian counterparts like a costume designer who wants all the characters kitted in haute fashion.

And finally PT Anderson's The Master, which, upon this second viewing, opened up in ways that very fine wines open up on the second glass. This is a difficult movie, as dense and charged with meaning as many great novels, but I think it's as worthwhile as those. Ultimately the theme seems to be captured in this line: "For if you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, because you'd be the first person in the history of the world." As with A Room with a View, immense benefit from the all-star cast of Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons (aka "Meth Damon" from Breaking Bad), the late Christopher Evan Welch, Amy Adams, and, in two of the best acting performances maybe ever, Joaquin Phoenix and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

It's strange to say about such a recent, borderline "new" movie that two of the lead actors, both under age 50, are dead.

[Green Destiny]

Received my DVD of Fury Road earlier in the week and watched the movie again (that's 4 times I seen it so far).
I lost count of how many times I watched all the other Mad Max movies - I love Fury Road and think its a worthy addition to the series.

[Daverz]

Calvary.  Brendan Gleeson plays a priest whose life is threatened in the opening scene by an unseen man in a confessional who vows to kill the priest because he's done nothing wrong.  The priest has one week to live.  The priest spends the next week talking with a variety of characters (or caricatures) trying to figure out who made the threat, and dealing with the sins of the world.  The premise is silly, and the characters often over the top, but Gleeson is wonderful, Kelly Reilly is good as the priest's daughter, and M Emmet Walsh, of all actors, shows up in a good, small role.  Visually, the film is very attractive, with some well executed compositions for some static shots, and a good use of the Irish scenery.  Not a great film, but an intriguing one.

Agree with all your comments.  I found this film very well done, but the screenplay was just bollocks, as they say over there.

[NikF]

La note bleue (1991) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102557/

A few days in the company of George Sand, Frederic Chopin, Ivan Turgenev, Eugene Delacroix, Alexander Dumas, fils, and an assortment of others, during which they indulge in their pursuit of creativity, relationships, but also mild hysterics and perhaps even debauchery.
In the main the critics don't appear to have been kind to this film, however if you watch it purely for the tale of a mother and her children, then for the most part I feel their complaints can be overlooked.

[Drasko]

Quite an ending

[listener]

THE LAST TRACK (Das Zweite Gleis)  E. Germany 1962
noir-ish war thriller in b&w with dark secrets about the recent past threatening relationships in a family.
Electric and steam traction are well photographed by Ralf Schenk

[Brian]

No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood.  Both excellent.  I was struck by the absence of music in the Coen brothers film, but it worked very well without it.  I am a huge Cormac McCarthy fan and was impressed with how faithful they were to the novel.

Remember when they came out and everyone was obsessed with comparing them, deciding which one was "better," insisting that one of them had to be "better" than the other one?

Maybe this was because I was in college at the time, and college's aren't known for having the maturest art appreciators. But it was definitely a partisan battle between Team No Country and Team Blood.

[Drasko]

[TheGSMoeller]

No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood.  Both excellent.  I was struck by the absence of music in the Coen brothers film, but it worked very well without it.  I am a huge Cormac McCarthy fan and was impressed with how faithful they were to the novel.

I saw No Country on opening night in a small theater in Dallas. When Jones finishes his monologue about his dream and it cuts to black and absolute silence, about 10 seconds later I remember hearing the audience exhaling as if everyone was holding their breath. The closing scene contains such a calm exhilaration.

[listener]

DRUNKEN TAI-CHI    HK 1984   starring Donnie Yen with several actors who had noticed Shaw and Golden Harvest were slowing down so they looked elsewhere to keep working.  Yen is still young and in great shape, remarkable kicking.   But the plot to get to the final fight is cobbled together almost like a 3 Stooges collection. Not art, but worth reminding those interested of its existence.   Beefcake level high.   
This version (PAL) has a Cantonese track with no subtitles and a terrible English spoken one.  There is an art to good dubbing, I won't use it here.

[TheGSMoeller]

On its way, will be watching it soon. Haven't been this excited for a Criterion release in a few years...


[asin]B011SDC25S[/asin]

[mc ukrneal]

On its way, will be watching it soon. Haven't been this excited for a Criterion release in a few years...


[asin]B011SDC25S[/asin]

Have you seen it before?

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I think that if I get my work done early, I may watch all three of the Kieślowski' Three Colors films this afternoon, with an eye toward discerning more links between them - there are some!  Which of the three is your favorite? In a pinch, I'd go with Red.

[asin]B005HK13T0[/asin]

[TheGSMoeller]

Have you seen it before?

I have, many times. But the DVD release was very thin on substance, I think it even excluded chapter stops per request of Lynch. Mostly excited to see the HD transfer.

  Which of the three is your favorite? In a pinch, I'd go with Red.

I agree with Red. Overall the best, but all 3 are great. I was initially enamored with Blue with my first viewing, probably more because of the music from Prienser, but the visuals are still stunning. Kieslowski is still a one of a kind, I need to revisit these works.

[SimonNZ]

  Which of the three is your favorite? In a pinch, I'd go with Red.

When I originally saw them at the cinema it would have been Red, but on the most recent watch of the three on dvd it was White that took a big leap forward in my estimation.

[Drasko]