Last Movie You Watched

Started by Drasko, April 06, 2007, 07:51:03 AM

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drogulus

Quote from: SimonNZ on February 25, 2021, 07:29:01 PM


I was unconvinced by the "Good German" character, though. If the lead hadn't been able to play Chopin to prove he was a pianist would the officer still have still seen a fellow human and taken pity on him or would he have shot him on the spot?

     I was convinced by the character. It didn't occur to me that the viewer was supposed to be convinced of his goodness.
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SimonNZ



Hadn't seen this in a couple of decades and its even more powerful and brilliant than I remembered. And not at all dated.


Todd




The Dig.  The Sutton Hoo excavation gets the Netflix treatment.  Carey Mulligan dons her poshest accent and Ralph Fiennes digs deep (ahem) for his most regional, working class accent in this retelling of the unearthing of Anglo-Saxon loot.  (Wait a few centuries, and things switch from grave-robbing to important sciency stuff, and no matter what you call it, the dead don't care.)  The principals have skill so of course they do their thing well, but the movie as a whole is sub-par.  Director Simon Stone and cinematographer Mike Eley try way too hard to put some beautiful compositions on screen, and don't succeed as much as they should.  For instance, one cutaway scene, with the two main characters lying down, ready to sleep, in the same position is particularly annoying and ham-fisted.  The duo often hold a shot for a while - but not quite long enough.  It kind of wrecks the mood.  That written, there is one truly magnificent shot of Fiennes sitting on the bank of a stream as a ship, very much like the one he has unearthed, sails by.  The movie also suffers from pointless sub-plots, presumably inherited from the source novel.  But the killer is the music.  Stefan Gregory's compositions are of the most treacly, heavy-handed, gloppy type, taking an obvious visual scene and then underscoring it to the point where everyone involved in making the film fairly shouts at the hapless viewer "see how poignant this moment is!"  It doesn't stop.  Ugh. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

aligreto

Gran Torino





This was my first time to see this film. Eastwood is old and rickety but I really liked his deep, angry snarl of disapproval throughout the film.

milk


Well, this was an odd duck of a movie. I give it 4 bags of popcorn and two powdery wigs. Have you seen this? OK, obviously it's from a book. That's obvious while watching it even if you haven't read it - and I haven't. So I can't care about however it falls short but it does kind of feel like it's falling short of something. At the same time, it has really intriguing elements and Swinton is awesome. It's a movie that feels like a dream in that the stuff that's happening is fantastical while, at the same time, the attention to detail is stunning. I guess dreams can be like that.

Iota




I may possibly be the only member here who hadn't seen this before, but late certainly proving preferable to never for me on this occasion.
I found the thirteen-year-old Christian Bale extraordinarily impressive in the central role, conveying the power and ambiguity of his feelings with riveting natural mastery. And simultaneously matching the charisma powerhouse that is John Malkovich inch for inch in that department, whenever he appeared, no mean achievement at any age!
Certainly not a brutal expose of war in the Dunkirk or 1917 mode, but nonetheless conveying the epic mess human beings are only ever a few feet from with conviction, and one I certainly found moving at times.

drogulus

#30926
     There's a definite improvement going from the HD version of Heat to the UHD HDR version. It's a subtle difference though, with richer colors and brighter highlights. I've come to the conclusion that for many films, maybe most of them, it's the HDR and not the higher resolution that's responsible for the improvement over standard HD.

     I'm thinking of running a test to see if I can spot a meaningful difference between a UHD HDR file and a 1080p HDR reencode.

     Revise and extend: Michael Mann supervised a 4k restoration of Heat in 2017, and it was released as a 1080p SDR version that year. Mann made some color changes to make the film look more contemporary. Upon further viewing the 4k HDR is a significant improvement over any SDR version.
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Pohjolas Daughter

The first one of the Department Q trilogy:  "The Keeper of Lost Causes".  Sat on the edge of my seat but enjoyed doing it.  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Wanderer

I watched less cinema than I'd like in February, but there's always March.

Worthwhile and recommended films:

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)
The Wild Goose Lake (Yinan Diao, 2019)
Burning (Lee Chang-dong, 2018)
A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)
Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke, 2018)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yinan Diao, 2014)

Karl Henning

Quote from: SimonNZ on February 26, 2021, 02:09:12 PM


Hadn't seen this in a couple of decades and its even more powerful and brilliant than I remembered. And not at all dated.



I need to watch that.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: Wanderer on March 01, 2021, 10:44:04 PM
I watched less cinema than I'd like in February, but there's always March.

Worthwhile and recommended films:

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)
The Wild Goose Lake (Yinan Diao, 2019)
Burning (Lee Chang-dong, 2018)
A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)
Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke, 2018)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yinan Diao, 2014)

I should watch 13 Assassins again.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

André

Quote from: Wanderer on March 01, 2021, 10:44:04 PM
I watched less cinema than I'd like in February, but there's always March.

Worthwhile and recommended films:

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)
The Wild Goose Lake (Yinan Diao, 2019)
Burning (Lee Chang-dong, 2018)
A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)
Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke, 2018)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yinan Diao, 2014)

Burning is a very strong film. It moves slowly and seemingly in circles, but it packs quite a punch when the end is reached.

I'm taking good note of your other recommendations  :).

milk


Still a great evening of cinema. Fosse was a genius like no other. You don't see this kind of towering singular genius anymore/everyday.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: milk on March 03, 2021, 02:54:34 AM

Still a great evening of cinema. Fosse was a genius like no other. You don't see this kind of towering singular genius anymore/everyday.
Yes, a great movie!  :)

Speaking of which, did you ever watch the movie of "The Little Prince" (with Gene Wilder from 1974)?  Bob Fosse played the snake...amazing!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXonK8EBqmk

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

milk

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on March 03, 2021, 03:32:54 AM
Yes, a great movie!  :)

Speaking of which, did you ever watch the movie of "The Little Prince" (with Gene Wilder from 1974)?  Bob Fosse played the snake...amazing!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXonK8EBqmk

PD
I did not know they made such a movie.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: milk on March 03, 2021, 09:57:12 PM
I did not know they made such a movie.
Like the story, the movie is enchanting.  After watching the Fosse scene on yt, I went on to watch the scene with Gene Wilder as the fox (the clip that I watched did not include him dancing).  It literally brought tears to my eyes.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkiZuu79N_I
Pohjolas Daughter

aligreto

La Proxima Piel





There is a troubled youth in an orphanage. A suspected match has been made between him and a missing child from many years ago. The mother is informed and he is taken back to her home. His reintegration into the family and the community is proving difficult because of his past and also because he has amnesia. He cannot remember his father. However, as things develop and as he is informed more about his past, questions begin to be asked as to whether he really is who he claims to be. It is a relatively low key but hard hitting film. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

aligreto

A History of Violence





A man's violent past comes back to reclaim him.
This one still holds up well, I thought. 

pjme

#30938
On TV : Etre et avoir - a 2002 documentary that had (at least in Europe) an unexpected success in cinemas.
Director Nicolas Philibert follows teacher Georges Lopez and his handfull of pupils in a tiny village in the Auvergne.
Now, almost 20 years later it still worked its magic.
2002: the children (ranging in age between 4 and 11) live (without cell phones  ;D) in (apparently :D) happy families, surrounded by  gorgeous nature... It is almost too beautiful.
Lopez, ever gentle and caring, is endlessly patient. Naïve humor and sweet poetry merge seamlessly into this wondrous film....
Alas, the village, Saint-Etienne-sur-Usson (two streets, a bar, a church, a school...) suffered from the unexpected succes. Tourists wanted to see the children "for real", harassed the families and the mayor.

https://www.youtube.com/v/S49qvE86Qs0

SimonNZ



First time seeing this and it was as good as I'd heard and at the same time not at all what I was expecting.

All those guys who were interested in Lucy at the party near the start of the film...she really should have tried out a few of them rather than sticking with George.




I admired the way the varied life stories of these bit part actors is the larger focus of the film and Star Wars is merely the random point at which their stories intersect.