Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

A few of the movies I watched recently, and no, A Fantastic Woman is not the sequel to A Serious Man.




How did you like it, Greg?

[TheGSMoeller]

How did you like it, Greg?

Quite a bit, Karl! The journey of Larry in this film reminded me of Llewyn Davis' journey, which I find the Coen's are masters in telling. Although Llewyn Davis was much more stubborn, and caused many of his troubles, whereas Larry in A Serious Man watches powerless as his life is turned upside down. But as with many of the Coen's films, it's filled with intriguing supporting characters, and gorgeous cinematography from Roger Deakins. Recommended viewing!

[Karl Henning]

Quite a bit, Karl! The journey of Larry in this film reminded me of Llewyn Davis' journey, which I find the Coen's are masters in telling. Although Llewyn Davis was much more stubborn, and caused many of his troubles, whereas Larry in A Serious Man watches powerless as his life is turned upside down. But as with many of the Coen's films, it's filled with intriguing supporting characters, and gorgeous cinematography from Roger Deakins. Recommended viewing!

Cool, I do love it, too

[André]

RIP Agnès Varda 

[Ciaccona]

Mostly crap, but it's fitting, so was the band.

Going to watch this one soon!.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I don't know whether they enhanced the special effects afterwards but this looks awesome! The writing was top-notch as well (I haven't read Wells yet but it seems the movie was changed from the book quite a bit, especially in its portrayal of clergy plus the fact that the world wars are mentioned).

[NikF4]

I don't know whether they enhanced the special effects afterwards but this looks awesome! The writing was top-notch as well (I haven't read Wells yet but it seems the movie was changed from the book quite a bit, especially in its portrayal of clergy plus the fact that the world wars are mentioned).

Even if they didn't, as the saying goes 'you can't polish a turd". So with that in mind -

A combo of the practical effects being life size (as opposed to miniatures) that are photographed in three strip technicolour with a film speed the *equivalent of maybe about modern ISO 5 - while something like an iphone might be about 25 or 50? - which means with the correct use 'grain the size of tennis balls' is far away. And skilled use of double exposures, although in some scenes clearly imperfect.
Also, depsite what most(?) online 'experts' state, while War of the Worlds was screened in the US in an aspect ratio of 1.66 : 1 it was shot at 1.37:1, which as anyone who knows anything about this stuff will tell you means greater (or at least different) options are available as far as making the viewer see stuff in a certain way.

I don't know if you watched it in a cinema, but if not then maybe try to do so - it looks even cooler and you'll experience the cinematographer dragging your eyes over the big screen at his whim.  Anyway, glad to hear you enjoyed it. 

*Yeah, I know it's not possible to directly compare

[SonicMan46]

I don't know whether they enhanced the special effects afterwards but this looks awesome! The writing was top-notch as well (I haven't read Wells yet but it seems the movie was changed from the book quite a bit, especially in its portrayal of clergy plus the fact that the world wars are mentioned).

One of my favorite Sci-Fi films from the 1950s (when I was a kid!) - I own the DVD below which fills the screen on my HDTV, so assume 1.66 aspect ratio as shown in the technical stats from IMDB - apparently also recorded in 'stereo' - the back cover notes states 'Dolby Digital - English 2.0 Surround - English & French Mono'  Now, filmed on a 35 mm negative format which should make a decent blu-ray restoration if the original is in good condition - BUT, I've been waiting for years for a BD of this great film to appear - .  Dave

 

[SimonNZ]

Watchable but slight, and they tried way too hard to be noirish and stylized with at best mixed results.

[SimonNZ]

RIP Agnès Varda 

Sad news.

I saw recently that someone had uploaded to YT a verite documentary she made on the Black Panthers back in 1968:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugi7BkX5jlo

[NikF4]

One of my favorite Sci-Fi films from the 1950s (when I was a kid!) - I own the DVD below which fills the screen on my HDTV, so assume 1.66 aspect ratio as shown in the technical stats from IMDB - apparently also recorded in 'stereo' - the back cover notes states 'Dolby Digital - English 2.0 Surround - English & French Mono'  Now, filmed on a 35 mm negative format which should make a decent blu-ray restoration if the original is in good condition - BUT, I've been waiting for years for a BD of this great film to appear - .  Dave

 

If you want to see the film the way it appeared as a theatrical release you need to see it in 1.375:1
1.66 is a soft matte via an aperture mask employed by the projectionist in certain theatres to take advantage of the 'new' widescreen fad.

e: another way to consider it. A great mono recording is 'Electronically Re-channeled for Stereo' to take advantage of a new fashion or selling point. The one that comes most readily to mind for me is Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys - mono recording reprocessed into duophonic sound. The guy who produced it was deaf in one ear.

[Todd]

For no good reason, I watched The Dirt.  It's all about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.  It's good to see Ramsay Bolton playing a rocker.  The Ozzy scene is funny, though I could have sworn the snorting ants thing happened on a tour bus, based on vague memories of the 80s.  Oh well, it's just a (mediocre at best) flick.

[SonicMan46]

Well, my 'to see' list of recent movies has hit nearly two dozen, so over the last few nights, I streamed a few from Amazon:

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) - an animated superhero film that was well reviewed, so had to give the feature a watch - ratings: 8.5/10, IMDB; 97% Rotten Tomatoes; 4.5*/5*, Amazon - the film was dedicated in memory of the creators of Spider-Man, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, who died on November 12, and June 29, respectively (Wiki Source).  The animation was excellent, the characters enjoyable, and the overall effect w/ 'comic book dialog comments' was different - I'd give this a 4* rating on Amazon - great film to enjoy w/ older kids.

Creed II (2018) - well, I cannot remember how many Rocky films and their sequels under other names have appeared since my wife and I saw the first Rocky way back in 1976 - the synopsis below w/ Rocky Balboa training Apollo Creed's son and Ivan Drago his own for an ultimate fight in Moscow (did not see Trump in the audience next to Putin - ).  Ratings: 7.3/10, IMDB; 84%, Rotten Tomatoes; 4.3*/5*, Amazon - I enjoyed this film more than most of the recent 'sequels' - I'd do at least 3.5*/5* on Amazon; if you're a fan of these films, then a recommendation.

n 1985, Russian boxer Ivan Drago killed former U.S. champion Apollo Creed in a tragic match that stunned the world. Against the wishes of trainer Rocky Balboa, Apollo's son Adonis Johnson accepts a challenge from Drago's son -- another dangerous fighter. Under guidance from Rocky, Adonis trains for the showdown of his life -- a date with destiny that soon becomes his obsession. Now, Johnson and Balboa must confront their shared legacy as the past comes back to haunt each man.

 

[drogulus]

If you want to see the film the way it appeared as a theatrical release you need to see it in 1.375:1
1.66 is a soft matte via an aperture mask employed by the projectionist in certain theatres to take advantage of the 'new' widescreen fad.

e: another way to consider it. A great mono recording is 'Electronically Re-channeled for Stereo' to take advantage of a new fashion or selling point. The one that comes most readily to mind for me is Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys - mono recording reprocessed into duophonic sound. The guy who produced it was deaf in one ear.

     

     There's a version of this film on the web that's 4k HDR. The aspect ratio is 1.374.

[lisa needs braces]

This French film based on an American thriller novel is a solid good time.

Tell No One, 2006:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362225/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvvY1M8vjzI

Probably gushed about it before in this thread...

[Todd]

The Highwaymen.  Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson play the tough guy Texas Rangers who hunted down Bonnie and Clyde.  Looks good, with nice period detail.  Meh dialogue, and of course one knows the ending.  A postively OK waste of time.

[drogulus]

     Alien is now available in 4K, with both the theatrical and directors cut versions included.

[Cato]

Greetings!

I have been somewhat overwhelmed by assorted things recently, and so have had little time to drop by GMG.

This came up a few days ago: great news!

Sergei Bondarchuk's digitally restored, four-movie version of War and Peace, with the great score by the late Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, will be available as of June 25th on Blu-Ray thanks to Criterion.

https://www.youtube.com/v/3DqanxfecIA


See:

https://www.criterion.com/films/28891-war-and-peace

See also:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/movies/war-and-peace-bondarchuk-lincoln-center.html

[ritter]

Two classics of French cinema:


This quite enjoyable take on the Orpheus myth is very Cocteau-ish (but marred IMO by terrible acting by Jean Marais  ). Will be watching Le sang d'un poète (which partly inspired Elliott Carter's First SQ that I listened to in concert last weekend) and Le testament d'Orphée next.


Beautiful film, bordering on perfection. Beautiful! 

[André]

I haven't seen Orphée - don't particularly like Cocteau's films except the extraordinary La Belle et la Bête.

Truffaut's Les 400 coups is one of those first works that hit a bull's eye and becomes an instant classic. The title is hard to translate, it means to be reckless, always in trouble.