Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

Last night, Ghost Story (1981).  I am sure I saw this in the cinema, back in Wayne, New Jersey, the season it was released, but I scarcely remembered any of it on reviewing it now (save probably the opening descent from a NY high-rise).  But, I am sure it is the movie I remember having seen, with the elder-statesmen cast (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Jn Houseman).  Better than a B movie, not quite good enough for an A movie . . . more an A- than a B+, I think.  I remember it not quite creeping me out back in the day, but I have a recollection of unease.  I guess I have become a less squeamish movie-watcher.

[Ken B]

mother!  Darren Aronofsky has essentially put a nightmare on screen.  The basic plot involves an age mismatched couple, played by Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, living in a dream home under reconstruction being visited by pesky house guests, and then it spins out of control from there.  Aronofsky outdoes himself in the extreme and outrageous images he puts on screen, and there are all manner of other subjects involved - religious themes, environmental themes, the cult of celebrity, the maltreatment of women, the potentially damaging power of blind love (eg, giving someone your heart, sorta like in the poster image) - almost always in an over the top way.  This has been referred to as a sort of horror film, but I didn't really see it as that.  People wanting a standard narrative type film really ought not to see this.  It makes The Fountain appear linear and simple.  (Which, after several viewings, it sort of is.)  A few devices are used repeatedly.  First, Aronofsky relies extensively on close-ups - extreme close-ups.  Lawrence's face, especially, dominates the screen, and it changes from scene to scene, sometimes lovely and innocent, sometimes subtly distorted and disoriented.  I'd love to know how much CGI was actually used for subtle effects.  (Too, some early shots of Lawrence in sheer clothing objectify her body in a devotional way; they sure seem like the work of a middle age dude enamored of his much younger main squeeze, like both Javier Bardem's character and the director himself in real life.)  Second, and most refreshing, there's basically no soundtrack.  The film relies on dialogue, silence, and Foley effects throughout.  This is definitely not for everyone.  It is not the worst film of the year or century, as The Observer reviewer claims, and I doubt it will be the best, and it's not Aronofsky's best work.  It ain't your typical film, that's for sure.

Does it have a goat anus?

[Todd]

Does it have a goat anus?

I cannot say for sure.

[Karl Henning]

Last night, Ghost Story (1981).  I am sure I saw this in the cinema, back in Wayne, New Jersey, the season it was released, but I scarcely remembered any of it on reviewing it now (save probably the opening descent from a NY high-rise).  But, I am sure it is the movie I remember having seen, with the elder-statesmen cast (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Jn Houseman).  Better than a B movie, not quite good enough for an A movie . . . more an A- than a B+, I think.  I remember it not quite creeping me out back in the day, but I have a recollection of unease.  I guess I have become a less squeamish movie-watcher.

[...] Peter Straub's best-selling novel Ghost Story contained all of those elements, and so I plugged away at it for what must have been hundreds of pages before his unspeakable prose finally got to me. At least, he knows how to make a good story, if not how to tell it, and that is one way in which the book and the movie of "Ghost Story" differ. The movie is told with style. It goes without saying that style is the most important single element in every ghost story, since without it even the most ominous events disintegrate into silliness. And "Ghost Story," perhaps aware that if characters talk too much they disperse the tension, adopts a very economical story-telling approach. Dialogue comes in short, straightforward sentences.

Background is provided without being allowed to distract from the main event. The characters are established with quick, subtle strokes. This is a good movie.

[Cato]

Quote from: Roger Ebert

    [...] Peter Straub's best-selling novel Ghost Story contained all of those elements, and so I plugged away at it for what must have been hundreds of pages before his unspeakable prose finally got to me. At least, he knows how to make a good story, if not how to tell it, and that is one way in which the book and the movie of "Ghost Story" differ. The movie is told with style. It goes without saying that style is the most important single element in every ghost story, since without it even the most ominous events disintegrate into silliness. And "Ghost Story," perhaps aware that if characters talk too much they disperse the tension, adopts a very economical story-telling approach. Dialogue comes in short, straightforward sentences.

    Background is provided without being allowed to distract from the main event. The characters are established with quick, subtle strokes. This is a good movie.

Again!  The Hitchcock Rule that a movie can improve a mediocre or even terrible book. 

[GioCar]

[TheGSMoeller]

[aligreto]

A Lonely Place to Die....





A tale of what ruthless people and determined people are capable of.

[Ken B]

For the second time this jewel

[asin]B00CVB6XF2[/asin]

An outstanding proto-noir based a bit loosely on Eric Ambler's book. Greenstreet and Lorre are cinema gold together, as always.

[Mirror Image]

[listener]

FANGS OF THE COBRA    Shaw Brothers HK 1977
directed by Sun Chung
Cobra is a hero in a dramatic story of intrigue to control of a wealthy man's estate. A cobra - mongoose fight replaces one of the usual kung-fu ones.
Lots of breasts.    An unusual curio for reptile fans..

[Karl Henning]

Again!  The Hitchcock Rule that a movie can improve a mediocre or even terrible book. 

Oui!

And one notes that the ineptitude of writing in no way interfered with Mr Straub's pursuit of fame and fortune 

[aligreto]

Edge of Winter....

[aligreto]

Identity Thief....





Good fun.

[listener]

The EARLY SHORT FILMS OF PETER GREENAWAY
A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist (Tulse Luper)  41 minutes, music by Michael Nyman is appropriately pointless.   I liked this the first time I saw it on a large screen, can seen more detail in the DVD, it still rates high with me but I know a lot of people who disagree and I can accept that.  These are odd films.
Also: Water Wrackets, H Is for House, Dear Phone, Windows, Intervals

[aligreto]

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil....





One of the funniest films that I have seen in quite a while.

[aligreto]

Little Evil....





Nowhere near the quality and comedy of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil above.

[bwv 1080]

This magnificent film seems fitting after the Meshuggah album 

Ken Russell - Altered States

Great film, one of my favorite albums since I first discovered it around 1991.  Only recently learned the cover is a screenshot of one of the hallucination scenes

[André]

A fired BBC TV presenter goes back to his roots (journalism). He is told to look for "human interest" stories. He finds one. Based on a true story.

[Parsifal]

Man I'm feeling really pumped after that, I want to be the Chev Chelios of modern classical music  0:)     

In the middle of the movie there is this hilarious sex scene in the middle of a giant crowd in Chinatown (with the crowd cheering along and all!), the funniest sex scene I've ever seen (even beats Dougie/Janie-E from Twin Peaks). I won't spoil the details but this movie is a goldmine 

You'll want to follow it with Crank 2, High Voltage...