Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

Greyhound with/by Tom Hanks. I had expected more to be frank. Still, worthwhile watching.

 

Greyhound - also watched last night; same feeling as above, i.e. thought the characters would be more developed, and the CGI was overdone to my eyes, although younger viewers brought up on this technology will likely enjoy - this REVIEW pretty much reflects my thoughts about the film w/ a 3*/5* rating given - a one time watch for me.  For another 'older' take (1957) on the same theme, The Enemy Below w/ Mitchum and Jurgens would be my recommendation; unfortunately, the blu-ray restoration (if even done for the video) leaves much to be desired (more HERE).  Dave

[drogulus]

Greyhound with/by Tom Hanks. I had expected more to be frank. Still, worthwhile watching.

     Hanks did some heavyweight research to produce a script so detailed about how a destroyer escort on convoy duty operated against a U-boat wolfpack.

Greyhound - also watched last night; same feeling as above, i.e. thought the characters would be more developed, and the CGI was overdone to my eyes, although younger viewers brought up on this technology will likely enjoy - this REVIEW pretty much reflects my thoughts about the film w/ a 3*/5* rating given - a one time watch for me.  For another 'older' take (1957) on the same theme, The Enemy Below w/ Mitchum and Jurgens would be my recommendation; unfortunately, the blu-ray restoration (if even done for the video) leaves much to be desired (more HERE).  Dave

     My father was in the Merchant Marine in the war. Us kids grew up with The Enemy Below.

[TheGSMoeller]

Haunting, and unforgettable. Unlike any other war film I've seen.

[Christo]

Haunting, and unforgettable. Unlike any other war film I've seen.

Saw it back in 1986, would love to see it again.

[Madiel]

All I'm getting is a blank box.

[aligreto]

Shutter Island





I had seen this one many years ago but I remembered it differently from when I saw it this time around.

[Christo]

All I'm getting is a blank box.

Am sorry! This one:

[SonicMan46]

Am sorry! This one:

+1 - saw back in the fall of 2015 when released - on a visit to our son in Carmel, Indiana - was in a big screen theater that had its own brewery and served food - quite an experience! More HERE - a number of posts around April 2016 on the film also - bought on an excellent BD and have watched a few times since.  Dave

[Karl Henning]

I started watching The Maltese Falcon last night.  Amazingly I've never seen it before despite being a Film Noir fan.

Keen to hear your report!

[Todd]

Dragged Across Concrete.  Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn star as cops who get filmed brutalizing a drug dealer, which necessitates their suspension.  Both have assorted personal issues that make a couple months without pay untenable, so they decide to rob some thieves.  The dialogue is neo-noir and not particularly good, and the film verges on the surreal in a Nicolas Winding Refn sort of way, but without the extreme visual stylization.  That written, S. Craig Zahler does some fine things.  First, he takes his sweet time with this two-and-a-half hour movie.  Pacing is deliberate yet not too slow.  Second, he takes time to properly introduce characters, including a minor character introduced halfway through the film.  Third, he eschews shaky handheld camerawork and instead uses long, steady shots.  That's refreshing.  Fourth, and here's where Refn or Gaspar Noé seem to be influences, Zahler uses short bursts of extreme (exaggerated) horror-film inspired violence to emphasize certain scenes.  It's not a great movie, but it has compelling moments, and it doesn't match up to Refn's best work, or at least I prefer Refn, but there's enough in this film to make me consider viewing Zahler's other work. 

[aligreto]

First Kill





A man takes his young son on a hunting trip and something that they witness plunges them into mortal danger.

[Brian]

Michael Jai White needs to be in more things. His starring turn in Black Dynamite is a classic performance.

[SonicMan46]

Criterion Releases Just Arrived! - offerings newly out!  The restorations are spectacular, especially on War of the Worlds w/ plenty of supplements and the usual excellent booklets.  I'm a BIG fan of 50s Sci-Fi films (my boyhood years) and this one is a favorite.  Both highly recommended!  Dave

Lady Eve, The (1941) w/ Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Coburn, and others; written and directed by Preston Sturges - synopsis below - check link for more technical details about the restoration.

War of the Worlds, The (1953) w/ Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, et al - synopsis below, also from Criterion - check link for details - watched two of the many supplements about restoration of the film - amazingly done! 

Barbara Stanwyck sizzles, Henry Fonda bumbles, and Preston Sturges runs riot in one of the all-time great screwballs, a pitch-perfect blend of comic zing and swoonworthy romance. Aboard a cruise liner sailing up the coast of South America, Stanwyck's conniving card sharp sets her sights on Fonda's nerdy snake researcher, who happens to be the heir to a brewery fortune. But when the con artist falls for her mark, her grift becomes a game of hearts—and she is determined to win it all. One in a string of matchless comedic marvels that Sturges wrote, directed, and produced as part of a dazzling 1940s run. (Source)

A mysterious, meteorlike object has landed in a small California town. All clocks have stopped. A fleet of glowing green UFOs hovers menacingly over the entire globe. The Martian invasion of Earth has begun, and it seems that nothing—neither military might nor the scientific know-how of nuclear physicist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry)—can stop it. In the expert hands of genre specialists George Pal and Byron Haskin, H. G. Wells's end-of-civilization classic receives a chilling Cold War–era update, complete with hallucinatory Technicolor and visionary, Oscar-winning special effects. Emblazoned with iconographic images of 1950s science fiction, The War of the Worlds is both an influential triumph of visual imagination and a still-disquieting document of the wonder and terror of the atomic age. (Source)

 

[aligreto]

War of the Worlds, The (1953) w/ Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, et al - synopsis below, also from Criterion - check link for details - watched two of the many supplements about restoration of the film - amazingly done! 

Interesting, I have not seen that version.

[SonicMan46]

Interesting, I have not seen that version.

Well, the remake in 2005 w/ Tom Cruise - streamed the film then off Amazon - directed by Spielberg and not bad, especially the CGI - BUT, the 1953 version is special now that Criterion has done a super AV restoration - the technicolor primary colors are vibrant and the sound superb - AND no CGI - the Martian space crafts hovering were done w/ wires (not seen at all) - if you plan to watch the older film, then try the Criterion version, if available.  Dave

P.S. Barnes & Noble HERE is currently having their 'half off' Criterion BDs, i.e. available for $20 USD, for those interested.

 

[Christo]

+1 - saw back in the fall of 2015 when released - on a visit to our son in Carmel, Indiana - was in a big screen theater that had its own brewery and served food - quite an experience! More HERE - a number of posts around April 2016 on the film also - bought on an excellent BD and have watched a few times since.  Dave

I can imagine you did, really liked it very much. Over the last few years, Spielberg made a series of really special films IMO. 

[Madiel]

There's also a new television version of The War of the Worlds, which I haven't started watching yet. But with a very promising cast list.

[Daverz]

Greyhound with Tom Hanks, set in the Battle of the Atlantic and based on The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester.  I quite enjoyed this one, and it's short.  (I couldn't find a video cover.)

[aligreto]

The Soloist





A truly wonderful film where the intensity is palpable throughout. There are really good performances from both of the main protagonists.

[aligreto]

Well, the remake in 2005 w/ Tom Cruise - streamed the film then off Amazon - directed by Spielberg and not bad, especially the CGI - BUT, the 1953 version is special now that Criterion has done a super AV restoration - the technicolor primary colors are vibrant and the sound superb - AND no CGI - the Martian space crafts hovering were done w/ wires (not seen at all) - if you plan to watch the older film, then try the Criterion version, if available.  Dave

P.S. Barnes & Noble HERE is currently having their 'half off' Criterion BDs, i.e. available for $20 USD, for those interested.

 

Cheers, Dave. I have seen the Tom Cruise version but I will certainly look out for that Criterion version.