Last Movie You Watched

[SimonNZ]

I've enjoyed it a couple of times on TV, great story.

I remember enjoying the book but being disappointed by the film. I should give the film another chance now the the details of the book have faded and I wont be making a constant comparison.




recently watched:



Dated and baggy, but still of enough interest to not put me off eventually getting around to the John le Carre novel on which its based, and which I'm told it has a large number of very significant differences.

The producers clearly thought Christopher Jones was going to be the next big heartthrob of cinema as far to many scenes are in service of that goal rather than the story.

[aligreto]

Puzzle





Who would have thought that jigsaw puzzles would form the basis of a very good, coherent and meaningful film.

[71 dB]

Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986) German Blu-ray

[asin]B005GIB1UY[/asin]

After the disappointment of the The Ninth Gate picture quality I was pleased to see Blue Velvet has good proper picture quality. Somehow I found this movie now even more interesting than before. I feel like my understanding of Lynch's art has improved since last time I watched this (DVD about 15 years ago). I think Lynch has been "testing out" ideas in his movies and tv-shows. Blue Velvet was a step toward Twin Peaks for example and Lost Highway was a step toward Mulholland Drive. Even Twin Peaks season 3 is a refined version of original Twin Peaks (soap opera elements are removed and the weirdness is bolder).

4/5

[Karl Henning]

The Big Sleep

[71 dB]

Ju-On (Takashi Shimizu, 2002)
Ju-On II (Takashi Shimizu, 2003)
(Nordic Blu-ray release)

Being a big fan of J-Horror I am lucky to live in Finland as these iconic Japanese horror movies got their first Blu-ray release outside Japan in Nordic countries. If that's not enough, this set of both movies costs only 9,95 € (about $12) new! Sure, it is a "cheap" release without extras or fancy packaging, but that's enough for me. The picture quality is nowhere near reference level, but it's decent and gives a BIG improvement over the DVD releases. The first movie has perhaps better picture quality while the second movies has very pale picture, but that's probably part of the aesthetics as all Japanese movies of this era tend to be more or less pale with a yellow tint.

This release has ONLY Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish subtitles and is most probably B-locked. Hopefully these movies get a wider release with other subtitles as Nordic countries is quite a small area with only about 25 million people.

These two movies are not the most scary I have seen, but the over "hopeless" mood of brutal excessive realism in these movies is excellent imho. I have waited for these movies on Blu-ray for almost 10 years and now it finally happened!

Sadako (Hideo Nakata, 2019)
(Nordic Blu-ray release)

My order of the Ju-On set included this newer J-Horror flick connected to the Ring-movies. This one has excellent picture quality of course, but the movie is a bit commonplace. The girl who plays the re-incarnated Sadako, Himeka Himejima, does great work in the movies. Again, only Nordic subtitles available, but this one is only for the biggest fans of J-Horror.

[Karl Henning]

In a sense, for the first time (previous viewings were all marred by the odd disc dropout): Revenge of the Sith.  Overall, good. Indeed, some bits are probably as good as anything I've seen of Lucas's.  The script and casting have their weaknesses: I'd call Natalie Portman fair, and I don't think I've ever seen poorer acting in a major role than Hayden Christenson here.

Will I watch it again? Not in any hurry, to be sure.  I do have the  disc, so . . . never say never.

[aligreto]

The Nightingale





A hard hitting narrative about the English colonial system in New Zealand as told through the eyes of a young Irish convict who had [amongst many others] suffered at their hands. Be prepared for graphic scenes of rape and violence as it does not make for easy viewing.

[Madiel]

In a sense, for the first time (previous viewings were all marred by the odd disc dropout): Revenge of the Sith.  Overall, good. Indeed, some bits are probably as good as anything I've seen of Lucas's.  The script and casting have their weaknesses: I'd call Natalie Portman fair, and I don't think I've ever seen poorer acting in a major role than Hayden Christenson here.

Will I watch it again? Not in any hurry, to be sure.  I do have the  disc, so . . . never say never.

Yeah. Episode III. That's the one that actually becomes kind of bearable to watch. And dare I say it, that's partly because Hayden is less of a pain than he was in Episode II.

[Karl Henning]

It says something, if the best actor in the role of Anakin Skywalker has been a child.

[SonicMan46]

Well, Susan is refusing to watch films from my movie lists (i.e. DVD/BDs & DVD-Rs), so has been searching for her own lists - found the one below listed on the ARRP website - so we did an Amazon rental - may have to explore some more w/ the Poirot character?

Evil Under the Sun (1982) w/ Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, James Mason, et al.  Agatha Christie based film - short beginning synopsis below (link provides the 'spoilers', if not going to see the movie).  Wife enjoyed more than me - guess that I've never been a big fan (or possibly I should watch more?).  The scenery is beautiful, most shot on location in Majorca, Spain. Sadly, Diana Rigg (below at a young age) died yesterday at the age of 82 yrs - in the film in her mid-40s, she still looked great!  Dave

A hiker finds a dead woman on the North York Moors. The victim had been strangled and is identified as Alice Ruber. Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is asked to examine a diamond ring belonging to millionaire industrialist Sir Horace Blatt (Colin Blakely). Poirot declares it a fake and assured that Sir Horace would have had given a real diamond to his mistress and that Arlena Stuart Marshall (Diana Rigg) had returned the fake, Poirot agrees to meet Sir Horace at an exclusive Adriatic Sea island and confront her. The hotel is the former summer palace of the reigning King of Tyrania, now owned by Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith), who had received the palace "for services rendered". ((Source)

 

[Karl Henning]

Well, Susan is refusing to watch films from my movie lists (i.e. DVD/BDs & DVD-Rs), so has been searching for her own lists - found the one below listed on the ARRP website - so we did an Amazon rental - may have to explore some more w/ the Poirot character?

Evil Under the Sun (1982) w/ Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, James Mason, et al.  Agatha Christie based film - short beginning synopsis below (link provides the 'spoilers', if not going to see the movie).  Wife enjoyed more than me - guess that I've never been a big fan (or possibly I should watch more?).  The scenery is beautiful, most shot on location in Majorca, Spain. Sadly, Diana Rigg (below at a young age) died yesterday at the age of 82 yrs - in the film in her mid-40s, she still looked great!  Dave

 

The Avengers certainly kept her fit, Dave!

[George]

Good documentary about a great comedian.

[Karl Henning]

The King Vidor War and Peace

[aligreto]

Duplicity





Two espionage agents strike up a relationship, both professional and personal. This relationship is primarily based on mutual distrust.

[SimonNZ]

^ The rivalry between Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giomatti is wonderfully done in that.

As is the cream / lotion payoff gag.

[Madiel]

I only watched a small fragment of Monster Pies, a very low-budget Australian teen gay coming-of-age film, before I began to suspect I had better things to do with my time.

So I started reading a little about it online. Then I read a specific thing, and fast-forwarded towards later in the movie. At which point, I decided this was not just fairly badly made from a technical standpoint, but has a really bad script as well.

[SonicMan46]

Pat and Mike (1952) w/ Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray, and many 'sports cameos', including Babe Didrikson Zaharias - short synopsis below - famous scene below of Hepburn hitting a row of golf balls; she was an avid golfer and tennis player. Newly purchased BD to replace by old DVD-R burned from the TCM channel years ago.  Recommended.  Dave

Pat Pemberton (Katharine Hepburn) is a brilliant athlete who loses her confidence whenever her charming but overbearing fiancé Collier (William Ching) is around. Women's golf and tennis championships are within her reach; however, she gets flustered by his presence at the contests. He wants her to give up her goal and marry him, but Pat does not give up on herself that easily. She enlists the help of Mike Conovan (Spencer Tracy), a slightly shady sports promoter. Together they face mobsters, a jealous boxer (Aldo Ray), and a growing mutual attraction. (Source)

 

[SimonNZ]

Better than I remember it being from when it first vame out. Not great, certainly not essential, but not a waste of one's time.

[Karl Henning]

Love and Death

[TheGSMoeller]

Love and Death

It's so good. Even with its tremendous fields of wheat.