Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

Not for the first time, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (You know, I still have not watched “The Space Seed.”) While I certainly enjoy the movie entirely, I may never understand how it was that Chekov survived that creature.

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[Karl Henning]

Not for the first time, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (You know, I still have not watched “The Space Seed.”) While I certainly enjoy the movie entirely, I may never understand how it was that Chekov survived that creature.

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You know, I'm not crazy about Horner's music here.

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[Karl Henning]

Oh, one more thing ...

Saavik is female, yes? Why does Spock address her as "Mr. Saavik"? As an authority convention?

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[Bogey]

You know, I'm not crazy about Horner's music here.

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Karrrrrrrrrrrrl!
One of Horner's best,...at least for me.  Great movie as well!

[Karl Henning]

No surprise, here: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.  Can't help myself: I like this one every bit as much as II. For itself, I mean, though I do enjoy the termination of some loose ends from II. I don't mind that the Vulcan commander is a less Supreme Villain in comparison to Khan. I enjoy the contrast between Saavik (a somewhat different character than in the prior movie, quite apart from the two different actresses) as the "true-to-nature," purely logical Vulcan, and the other Vulcans—the mysterious child enduring his growing pains, and the bereaved Sarek—living a bit beyond Logic's pale.

Again, the major imperfection (as I see it) in both movies is the alien character of Horner's score, which (in more than one cue) feels unseemly close to a John Williams pastiche.



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[Karl Henning]

Karrrrrrrrrrrrl!
One of Horner's best,...at least for me.  Great movie as well!

Love the movie! I fear we are at odds viz. the score 

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[SimonNZ]

Route Irish (Ken Loach, dir. 2010)

[Karl Henning]

Karrrrrrrrrrrrl!
One of Horner's best,...at least for me.  Great movie as well!

Love the movie! I fear we are at odds viz. the score 

To try to explain a bit better:

The music did not bother me (i.e., I did not feel otherwise than that it belonged) when I first watched the two movies, which would have been while I was at Wooster, the time of their initial release.  The source of my recent problem, as it were, is that I am finally watching the series itself, and the show's atmosphere is very well enhanced by Alexander Courage's score;  in contrast, Horner served up (understand that I am in something of the position of a hostile witness ) what strikes me as boilerplate space-swashbuckling music.

The discussion is apt to veer towards ethics when the subject is Horner's work  but neither are we in the position to disentangle the composer's role and choices, from the demands of the production ("Give us something just like Star Wars...")  There is a well-loved tune in Star Wars (itself related interestingly to a Leitmotiv from The Ring) which Horner manages to echo in The Wrath of Khan, and, why yes, he brings it back at a key dramatic moment in The Search for Spock.

Mind you, while the springboard here has been my expression a degree of disappointment at the artistic effect of the character of Horner's score, I am not (presently ) concerned with the ethics angle.  The broader question of reference/appropriation has been uppermost in my mind as I continue (at last) work on White Nights—though to be sure, all the material is my own—as I find use in these later scenes for material already exposed.

[James]

Night of the Living Dead
1968 ‧ Science fiction film/Drama film ‧ 1h 37m

A disparate group of individuals takes refuge in an abandoned house when corpses begin to leave the graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to devour. The pragmatic Ben (Duane Jones) does his best to control the situation, but when the reanimated bodies surround the house, the other survivors begin to panic. As any semblance of order within the group begins to dissipate, the zombies start to find ways inside -- and one by one, the living humans become the prey of the deceased ones.

[asin]B001CHG054[/asin]

[drogulus]

If Nolan wanted to convey "the fog of war" those nebulous glimpses of German military power would fit in. 

     Now that I've seen the film I can say the WSJ review is worthless. She implies a familiarity with Stuka dive bombers yet fails to recognize the horrific screaming sound they made, one of the most impressive points of accuracy in the film. She didn't mention Spitfires and Me-109s dogfighting above the sea. She didn't mention them, or that the Spitfires were trying to get to the Heinkel bomber and the 109s were escorting the bomber to protect it from the Spitfires. Did she need a scene at RAF headquarters where an officer points to a map and explains the mission? Nolan made it clear what was happening and why to anyone, whatever level of historical or technical knowledge they might have.

     

[aligreto]

Beauty and the Beast....





The original animation version was a big favourite of my daughter when she was growing up. She constantly watched it. It was interesting to see this version a number of years later.

[Bogey]

Well, and I cringe, I heard that they announced Tim Burton was to redo Dumbo.  Seeing I loved the original and that I do not care for his work, I just cannot see it.  Maybe he will surprise me, but until then I will continue to breathe normally.  As for Beauty and the Beast I thought the animated version and the Broadway play were both superior to this installment.

[André]

Good subject. Will Smith "acts nigerian" a wee bit too much. Not entirely convincing.

And:

.

Excellent. First viewing, I had not managed to see it when it came out.

And, later this afternoon, with my son at the nearby plex Theatre:

[Karl Henning]

Well, and I cringe, I heard that they announced Tim Burton was to redo Dumbo.

I was going to ask, Whatever for?  But I suppose the answer is, plain old lucre.

[Cato]

Concerning Dunkirk...

     Now that I've seen the film I can say the WSJ review is worthless. She implies a familiarity with Stuka dive bombers yet fails to recognize the horrific screaming sound they made, one of the most impressive points of accuracy in the film. She didn't mention Spitfires and Me-109s dogfighting above the sea. She didn't mention them, or that the Spitfires were trying to get to the Heinkel bomber and the 109s were escorting the bomber to protect it from the Spitfires. Did she need a scene at RAF headquarters where an officer points to a map and explains the mission? Nolan made it clear what was happening and why to anyone, whatever level of historical or technical knowledge they might have.
   

Many thanks for the comments!  Mrs. Cato and I will probably see it this week, so I will be able to decide if the absence of specific historical figures makes a difference.

The music did not bother me (i.e., I did not feel otherwise than that it belonged) when I first watched the two movies, which would have been while I was at Wooster, the time of their initial release.  The source of my recent problem, as it were, is that I am finally watching the series itself, and the show's atmosphere is very well enhanced by Alexander Courage's score;  in contrast, Horner served up (understand that I am in something of the position of a hostile witness ) what strikes me as boilerplate space-swashbuckling music.

The discussion is apt to veer towards ethics when the subject is Horner's work

I still recall being quite shocked - so much so that it took me away from the story on the screen - when I heard Horner recycling music from Braveheart for a movie called For Greater Glory (with Andy Garcia ) about anti-Catholicism in Mexico and a revolt against the government there in the 1920's. 

Given that the Braveheart score is excellent, and fairly well-known, it was just jarring to hear parts of it appear more than once!  Did the producers not pay Horner enough, so he cut some corners and just plugged in his music for  Mel Gibson's epic?

Concerning remaking Dumbo, undoubtedly not as a cartoon, all I can say is: Hollywood right now loves old ideas!  Anything original...try crowd-funding!

[Ken B]

I was going to ask, Whatever for?  But I suppose the answer is, plain old lucre.

*cough* To Be or Not To Be *cough*

[Drasko]

[André]

In Dunkirk, the music is by Hans Zimmer, with a good helping of Elgar (Nimrod) in the closing scenes.

I enjoyed the movie. Great direction and photo. As usual with movies based on history there are shortcuts and some glaring omissions. But that's ok. It's a POV, not a documentary. Unusually in a WWII movie, there is not a single american character to be seen (or heard).

[vandermolen]

I partly dislike that 1946 version of Great Expectations. The actor of Jaggers, my favorite character in the book, was not good.

Oh, I really like that version of Jaggers - always washing his hands. Arguably the best film adaption of a Dickens book. The opening scenes on the marshes are especially impressive I think.

[vandermolen]

I hope to see Dunkirk soon. Most of the reviews here in the UK are very positive but I've read a couple of very negative ones. There have been criticisms from France as the heroic French defence at Lille which helped allow the BEF to escape is hardly mentioned, if at all. Max Hastings the historian said that the French should make their own film about it. Most films about WW2 come from the USA. Usually they depict the USA winning the war on their own with the British getting in the way ( ). Even 'The a Great Escape' which, in reality featured no U.S. Escapees has Steve McQueen in his 1960 sweatshirt and motorbike. However, he is one of the best things in the film and it would not be nearly so enjoyable without him. Much of the financing of war films comes from the USA so it is totally understandable that their participation is highlighted for American audiences. Some annoyance here was caused by the movie about the capturing of the Enigma Code machine which showed it as a totally American operation whereas in fact it was a totally British operation. Therefore some of the critics here have said, of Dunkirk, that it's good to have an epic type war film which focuses almost exclusively on the British. Let me conclude by saying that I generally love American war movies - Saving Private Ryan, for example, (which ignores any British or Canadian contribution to D-Day) with its bleached out American flag blowing in the wind, maybe implying that the democratic and liberal values which we share are just about surviving and worth fighting for.

Also, the real hero of Dunkirk was Admiral Ramsay at Dover Castle who organised the whole evacuation and is, as far as I'm aware, not mentioned in the film. Also most of the troops were taken home in the Royal Navy ships - the film, understandably, has been accused of over-emphasising the role of the small boats. They were, however, essential for getting the troops off the beaches and out to the destroyers etc.