Last Movie You Watched

[relm1]

So much tension - the warden was a great antagonist, and Clint was cool as a cucumber: Escape from Alcatraz (amazing soundtrack, as well)

Clint is always reliable as the loner tough guy.  I recently saw the Dirty Hairy films for the first time and found them very satisfying.  I don't remember which was which but the one I think I liked the best was when the young woman cop became his partner which he greatly resisted but by the end, deeply respected her and dissed the city mayor.

[relm1]

I just watched The Thief of Baghdad (1940) for the first time as it was on tv, and what a joyful film! It was on tv and felt so alive and captivating and truly swept me away. It's a magical, adventurous spectacle that's still very fun.  It feels timeless once you get in to the vintage storytelling style (think Wizard of Oz).

The special effects were very good considering this came out in 1940. From the flying carpet to the massive genie towering over the screen, everything was so imaginative and beautifully crafted. Sure, we have CGI now, but there's something special about seeing these effects done with such creativity and care. They have a certain charm that makes you appreciate the effort put into creating them.

And the soundtrack by legendary composer Miklós Rózsa's is lush, sweeping, and perfectly matched to the movie's sense of wonder and adventure. Much of it felt like Disney's Aladdin I'd imagine they borrowed/stole from this film. 

[Kalevala]

Currently, Batman and then Batman Returns:

The cat is agitated; look at how it's twitching its tail.  I'd do this shot differently--sorry. 

K

[71 dB]

World On A Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973)

I became aware of this some time ago. I was very surprised to learn Fassbinder has done sci-fi, but I also knew instantly I have to get this one. I was 99.9 % sure I would like this a lot. I bought the Blu-ray released by Second Sight. Excellent cover art! This is in two parts both lasting about 100 minutes. A state run technology institution creates virtual reality inhabited by computer-generated people who think they are real. Strange things start to happen and part one ends with the revelation that The reality is also virtual! Part two is more of a cat and mouse play and the story has surprisingly happy ending for the main protagonist after a lot of hardship. Fassbinder uses mirrors for his camera angles extensively. I did enjoy this a lot. It is interesting how long it took me to find this gem, but then again Fassbinder was insanely prolific and I have seen a small portion of his films.

[hopefullytrusting]

Need to get back on track: rewatching Trust (Hal Hartley)

"I just happened to be here."

[Karl Henning]

I meant to watch this (somehow never having seen the whole picture) back when it was seasonal, but it was, of course, checked out and it and I have only hooked up this week.

[Madiel]

Ant-Man and the Wasp



Good clean fun. It's been a while since I saw the first Ant-Man but my impression is more or less the same: they're coherent films, unlike some of the other MCU films that try to stuff too much in. I guess they don't have the same saving-the-world grandeur but that's just fine by me.

Though I gather the 3rd one of the series wasn't received so well. It'll take me a while to get that far.

The mid-credits sequence in this one is seriously depressing though. And a reminder of what was happening in the higher-stakes Avengers film before this one. I guess they kind of had to tie the stories together.

[Kalevala]

Currently watching Conclave with Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossallini and others.  And, yes, it's about what you would think it would be about:  the election of the new pope after the last one has passed away.  About halfway through it.  I had started it the other day, but too late in the day.

Really enjoying it!  Off to take care of some laundry, then back to it.

K

[SimonNZ]

Director Julie Taymor's commentary track

[LKB]

I just re-watched ( again! ) 2019's The Lighthouse, featuring exceptional performances by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe.

Check it out if you haven't already, but be warned: This is, in some ways, more of a David Lynch film than anything Maestro Lynch was actually able to bring to fruition.

Very graphic in a few places, but also featuring a world-beating monologue for Dafoe, as well as a some amazing work by Pattinson.

[Madiel]

At this moment I'm pausing halfway through the Irish film The Quiet Girl



I'll come back when I'm done.

EDIT: A lovely small-scale film, a little bit sad, and honestly a bit emotionally manipulative right near the end but I didn't resent that at all.

There are some really beautiful shots in there as well. The whole film looks good, but certain moments made me want to sort of sink into the landscape.

[hopefullytrusting]

At least one from each:

[relm1]

I saw Minari yesterday.  This was a very good film.  Nothing big, very subtle but so deeply honest and heartfelt.  I related to every character and understood the sacrifices and needs they had.  Excellent performances and script showing you don't need a villain or loud volume or overt performances for a film to be great.  By the time it ended, I felt so invested in this little family and their experiences and really connected with them.  I had so many thoughts afterwords, it's been a very long time since a film did that to me.

[DavidW]

Nosferatu captures the atmosphere of the Klaus Kinski version with its unique cinematography. It is also much more explicit in terms of violence, sex, and nudity.

Bill Skarsgard stands out for finding a way to deliver his own interesting performance and move out of Klaus Kinski's shadow.

And yes I am familiar with the 1922 original, I just think this feels like a remake of the newer one.

[Cato]

At this moment I'm pausing halfway through the Irish film The Quiet Girl



I'll come back when I'm done.

EDIT: A lovely small-scale film, a little bit sad, and honestly a bit emotionally manipulative right near the end but I didn't resent that at all.

There are some really beautiful shots in there as well. The whole film looks good, but certain moments made me want to sort of sink into the landscape.

Yes, The Quiet Girl is a marvelous movie!

I saw Wicked yesterday, which apparently will be more than twice as long as the stage musical!  (2 hours and a half).  "Part I" is basically the first act: Part I lasts 2 hours and 40 minutes!

I knew nothing about the musical, except that it had made stars out of Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel 20 years ago or so, and that it was a "prequel" to The Wizard of Oz.

My impressions: for most of the movie, I thought I was watching one of Reese Witherspoon's Legally Blonde epics: the only thing seemingly missing was a chihuahua!   

It is preachy beyond belief: did you know what being different is just fine?  Well, it is!!!  BEING DIFFERENT IS JUST FINE!!!          

And bad people are sometimes made bad because of the way people treat them!  And good people are sometimes bad!!!  Did you know THAT?   

The movie will beat you over the head with those ideas!    

The music I found uninteresting, even clumsy, and the "dancing" is, I suppose, typical of what passes today for "dancing."  The leads tend to shout words rather than sing musical notes.

Jeff Goldblum is terrible, seeming to be showing up at a talk show for off-the cuff banter.

Michelle Yeoh seems to have been injected with too much botox, as she seems frozen stiff in many scenes.

The editing spoils many things: the camera rarely lingers on any of the admittedly colorful and fascinating sets, unless it is on the face of one of the leads, which means you will see either an emotionless actress staring or an actress staring with one emotion. One scene has a "library wheel" which is interesting, but which is impossible to see clearly because you get 2-second glimpses of it, as the editor apparently suffered from Adult ADHD.

On the other hand, we only paid $3.00 for the tickets at a little local theater, so we got our money's worth!      Mrs. Cato liked the movie in general, enjoying the sets and computer animation, which were very nice!

[Karl Henning]

Quite off-season by now: A Christmas Story. Having seen buts of it now and then, I'd been meaning to watch the whole. This was thw second year when it was checked out from the Library. This year, I chanced to check the shelf and lo! it was there. My overall feeling is on the lines of "that's 90 minutes I'll never get back." There is no sharp resentment, since the whole is in harmony with the parts I had seen (and long ago I read one of Jean Shepherd's books, which failed to spark enthusiasm in me like unto that of some schoolmates.) I didn't hate it, but it doesn't really resonate with me, somehow. Unlike many another Christmas movie, I'll never watch this again.

[hopefullytrusting]

I love 1990s hacking: Under Siege 2

[Number Six]

Green and Gold

Saw this one at the cinema yesterday. Stars Craig T Nelson as an elderly Wisconsin dairy farmer in the mid-1990s who holds on to the old ways. He's in conflict with his granddaughter, who wants to be a musician not a farmer. And he's in conflict with the bank.

It's a well-acted and beautifully shot meditation on holding true to your principles and slowing down to appreciate life. The script is a bit messily edited (a lot of reviews called it Hallmark level writing, but I think it's a little better than that).

Oh, and our protagonist is a massive Packers superfan (hence the film's title).

I decided earlier this week that I needed a break from all the doomscrolling and dark media that's been my habit, and so this movie really hit the spot. Other viewers are likely to find it a bit saccharine. I am glad I watched this instead of my intended film, Companion.

[Karl Henning]

The first year I'm watching Groundhog Day in a timely manner. Added bonus: we've got some holistically appropriate snow a-falling!

[LKB]

Quite off-season by now: A Christmas Story. Having seen buts of it now and then, I'd been meaning to watch the whole. This was thw second year when it was checked out from the Library. This year, I chanced to check the shelf and lo! it was there. My overall feeling is on the lines of "that's 90 minutes I'll never get back." There is no sharp resentment, since the whole is in harmony with the parts I had seen (and long ago I read one of Jean Shepherd's books, which failed to spark enthusiasm in me like unto that of some schoolmates.) I didn't hate it, but it doesn't really resonate with me, somehow. Unlike many another Christmas movie, I'll never watch this again.

Karl, while it's unfortunate that your reaction to the film was, shall we say, " unimpressed ", I'd say your willingness to take on such a seasonal offering in February is at least notable.

I myself have no problem re-watching reactions to the various iterations of A Christmas Carol. Whether it's Scott, Stewart or Sim, the main message is every bit as important at any time, as it is during the Holidays.