Last Movie You Watched

[JBS]

Believe it or not I own this on VHS somewhere...

I have in the back of my mind to go through all the Shakespeare plays, and the BBC series is the obvious way to do it. But it seems that the reception to their versions was decidedly mixed.

But for some plays there aren't many other options. I was trying to start with The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and all I can find is a couple of stagings on YouTube that aren't well filmed. Basically pointing a single camera at a live performance.

Amazon US offers this BBC series, and one from the RSC dating from 2015, in modern dress and pricey (67USD!).
May as well do Youtube. After all, the single camera route is really what you would get if you were in the theatre audience.

[Madiel]

The frame rate changes were a bit jarring.  At the high frame rate, looked excellent but stuttered a bit in the low frame sequences.  

One of the cinemas here had clear options whether to see the high frame rate 3D or regular 3D. I deliberately chose a regular frame rate session to avoid any problems with this.

[Madiel]

After all, the single camera route is really what you would get if you were in the theatre audience.

Well, sort of, but no. Because my own head moves when this sort of camera doesn't... more generally though, when watching on a TV I want an experience suitable for the medium, rather than an exact replica of sitting in a theatre.

There's also issues with the picture and sound quality for an amateur setup.

Anyway, we'll see. It's not as if I don't have a bajillion other things to watch.

[SimonNZ]

Believe it or not I own this on VHS somewhere...

I have in the back of my mind to go through all the Shakespeare plays, and the BBC series is the obvious way to do it. But it seems that the reception to their versions was decidedly mixed.

But for some plays there aren't many other options. I was trying to start with The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and all I can find is a couple of stagings on YouTube that aren't well filmed. Basically pointing a single camera at a live performance.

I've seen maybe a third of the BBC big box now and while some are merely okay I've yet to encounter one I thought was actually bad. I admire that they are full text or close to it, which often highlights aspects and implications of the play often lost, and that there is a strict emphasis on clarity of language, and no-one is allowed to just prattle.

Some will find they tiny budgets for sets and costumes hard to acclimatize to, but dispite the financial constraints they always had fine actors, if only seldom recognizable names.

The Measure For Measure is especially fine, and being so seldom performed and never filmed makes it a gem.

I recently watched a lot of versions of Richard III and ended with the BBC and I actually thought it the best version.  Without a big star in the lead, and without cuts favoring the big star, you appreciate what a panorama it is of political corruption, the rationalizations and justifications, the blindness willful or otherwise to what is right in front of them. (but be prepared for no-budget sets that make 60s-era Dr.Who look like Cecil B. DeMille).

[71 dB]

PHONE (Ahn Byoung-Ki, 2002) DVD

It has been a long long time since the last time I saw this South-Korean movie. I remembered it being really good. I have been hoping for a Blu-ray upgrade and that's why I haven't revisited this old DVD. I gave up waiting and watched the DVD again. Bad picture quality, but at least the movie is great, right? Well no! I was shocked how little I enjoyed this movie. It was as if I had never seen it before. The mental images I had were so different! The movie felt rushed. It didn't take its time. Many scenes ended abruptly seconds before they should have making the movie feel a bit jugged. Editing is a clear weakness of this movie. The directing is better, but since directing and editing go so strongly together, even directing suffers from a rushed feel when this movie needs a "moody/atmospheric" feel. The movie is a lot more of a crime mystery movie than I remembered and all the supernatural "ghost" stuff feels like it was added to cash in on the J-Horror boom of the day. This is far from a great "J-Horror" movie (or should we say K-Horror?), but it isn't the greatest crime mystery movie either, because combining these two genres means compromises and having two types of movies in one makes things feel even more rushed than the lousy editing alone. The acting in this movie isn't that great either (except for the child actor who makes this movie creepy at least). Music was worse than I remembered. Beethoven and Mahler aren't used to the full effect. This movie feels very western. It gives very little Asian vibes. Maybe South-Korean culture just is much more "western" than Japanese culture. I love the Japanese feel in Japanese movies. All in all I was shocked by how little I enjoyed this movie this time around and how little it corresponded with my memories of it. At least I can stop dreaming about being able to upgrade this to Blu-ray so there is that...



How do I attach pics without them appearing twice?

[Todd]

Rewatched Noah.  Not Aronofsky's best, and The Watchers look even clunkier on the small screen, but the seriousness of the approach yields some good scenes.

[Florestan]

First-time watching this (sic!):



Actually, my 10yo son wanted to watch a western and the first that popped up on Netflix was this.

I confess I turned it off at the scene when Charles Bronson rips up Claudia Cardinale's dress because I feared something inappropriate for my son would follow. After he went asleep we watched on and realized that nothing of the sort actually followed, so we shall resume watching it soon. (My wife even told me: Come on, this is a 1968 movie, what sexually explicit scenes can it contain?  )

[LKB]

First-time watching this (sic!):



Actually, my 10yo son wanted to watch a western and the first that popped up on Netflix was this.

I confess I turned it off at the scene when Charles Bronson rips up Claudia Cardinale's dress because I feared something inappropriate for my son would follow. After he went asleep we watched on and realized that nothing of the sort actually followed, so we shall resume watching it soon. (My wife even told me: Come on, this is a 1968 movie, what sexually explicit scenes can it contain?  )

This was the first Western I ever became a fan of, a great film. Casting Henry Fonda as a villain = GENIUS.

[Florestan]

Casting Henry Fonda as a villain = GENIUS.

This was both mine and my wife's reaction: Henry Fonda as a villain, WTF? 

[LKB]

There is an anecdote which was related by either Fonda himself, or another person associated with the film, possibly Leone. According to this account, Fonda initially resisted participating in the film, so Leone described for him the first dramatic scene, in which an entire family is murdered...

" And as the shooting finally stops, the camera slowly pans upward from the smoking barrel of a pistol, up to the face of... Henry Fonda! "

After hearing this description of the reveal, Fonda signed on to the film.

[71 dB]

(My wife even told me: Come on, this is a 1968 mainstream movie, what sexually explicit scenes can it contain?  )

I made an important addition in bold text. If it is an independent/underground low budget movie from 1960's, the decade of sexual liberation/revolution, all bets (clothes?) are off! 

[Florestan]

I made an important addition in bold text. If it is an independent/underground low budget movie from 1960's, the decade of sexual liberation/revolution, all bets (clothes?) are off! 

Why, of course! There's excellent porn from the 1960s. 

[SonicMan46]

Still culling down my old DVD-R collection - many films available as HDs on Amazon but being quite selective (have about 300 discs) - but did upgrade the two below:

Bad Company (1972) w/ Jeff Bridges and Barry Bond (who committed suicide at age 27) - story below about young Civil War draft dodgers escaping west (summary below) - the scenery is spectacular and the ending sudden and uncertain - Ebert's review HERE (3*/4*).

The Fountainhead (1949) - summary and cast in second quote; music by Max Steiner - I've enjoyed this film since my teen days - release reviews mixed but have improved w/ age - the author Ayn Rand wrote the screenplay (a good idea?) - wife enjoyed - both films are recommended if the actors and stories are of interest.  Dave

Bad Company is an American Western film directed by Robert Benton, who also co-wrote the film with David Newman. It stars Barry Brown and Jeff Bridges as two of a group of young men who flee the draft during the American Civil War to seek their fortune and freedom on the unforgiving American frontier. Later classified by critics as an "acid western", Bad Company attempts to demythologize the American West in its portrayal of young men forced by circumstance and drawn by romanticized accounts to forge new lives for themselves on the wrong side of the law. Their initial eagerness to be outlaws soon abates, however, when the boys are confronted with the realities of preying on others in a nation ravaged by war and exploitation. (Source)

The Fountainhead is an American drama film produced by Henry Blanke, directed by King Vidor, and starring Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey, et al. The film is based on the bestselling 1943 novel of the same name by Ayn Rand, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation. Although Rand's screenplay was used with minimal alterations, she later criticized the editing, production design and acting. The story follows the life of the fictional character Howard Roark, an individualistic young architect who chooses to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision. Roark fights to design modern architecture. Roark's complex relationships with those who assist or hinder his progress allow the film to be both a romantic and philosophical work. Roark represents Rand's embodiment of the human spirit, and his struggle represents the struggle between individualism and collectivism. (Source)

 

[Papy Oli]

First-time watching this (sic!):



Actually, my 10yo son wanted to watch a western and the first that popped up on Netflix was this.

I confess I turned it off at the scene when Charles Bronson rips up Claudia Cardinale's dress because I feared something inappropriate for my son would follow.[/i]  )

A great one! Stunning scenery, filming, music and Claudia 

[Karl Henning]

First-time watching this (sic!):



Actually, my 10yo son wanted to watch a western and the first that popped up on Netflix was this.

I confess I turned it off at the scene when Charles Bronson rips up Claudia Cardinale's dress because I feared something inappropriate for my son would follow. After he went asleep we watched on and realized that nothing of the sort actually followed, so we shall resume watching it soon. (My wife even told me: Come on, this is a 1968 movie, what sexually explicit scenes can it contain?  )

May I suggest as an alternate either The Searchers or The Shootist?

[SimonNZ]

Quite a lot better than the trashy late night sci-fi flick I was expecting.

Guy experiences 10-minute moments of sudden lucidity days or weeks apart, unaware how he has lived between these moments. We too see only these ten-minute windows and have to piece the story together along with him.

Quite smoothly done, given the challenge the filmmakers set themselves

[Madiel]

Quite a lot better than the trashy late night sci-fi flick I was expecting.

Guy experiences 10-minute moments of sudden lucidity days or weeks apart, unaware how he has lived between these moments. We too see only these ten-minute windows and have to piece the story together along with him.

Quite smoothly done, given the challenge the filmmakers set themselves

Metacritic score of 27 and Rotten Tomatoes score of zero...

[SimonNZ]

Metacritic score of 27 and Rotten Tomatoes score of zero...

Yup, that's how I roll. You better factor that in before you take me up on any Shakespeare recommendations.

Seriously, though: it certainly has plenty you could criticize: the too-many fight scenes are poorly choreographed, there is a flood of unnecessary gratuitous nudity in one scene, Brian Cox is in it but is given nothing to do and could have been anyone, the Hemsworth brother needs to take the OTT villain down a couple of notches, the director/lead actor likes showing off his muscles with undisguised vanity, and I could go on.

But I thought the central conceit was done well, and it proved better late night trash than I expected. I'm not telling anyone they should or must see it.

[Madiel]

Showing off muscles AND a Hemsworth.

Well for that alone...

[Florestan]

May I suggest as an alternate either The Searchers or The Shootist?

Duly noted, thanks.