Last Movie You Watched

[Todd]

They Live.  I think this is the first time I have watched the whole thing since the theatrical release.  John Carpenter's cheesy, campy political satire is even more heavy-handed than Paul Verhoeven's satirical films, with even worse dialogue and worse acting, led (?) by the great Rowdy Roddy Piper, but it's something of a guilty pleasure, like many of Carpenter's films.  Though nary a cell phone is to be seen, the use of techno-gizmo watches sure makes for a timely if unintended poke at current wrist-born tech.  And the final scene, which has stuck with me since 1988, is as funny as ever.

[Karl Henning]

I blame our Bill ... just watched Escape From New York for the first time since watching it in the cinema, the year of its release.

(Edit)

I realize just how ambiguous that is ... if anything, I enjoyed it even better this time.

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[James]

Shin Godzilla
2016 ‧ Science fiction film/Drama film ‧ 2 hours

It's a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different... something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the government scrambles to save the citizens, a rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side—the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

[asin]B071S6ZYW7[/asin]

[listener]

INFERNAL AFFAIRS   H.K.2002
Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang
Moles in the police force and a gang on a hunt for each other,  Remade by Martin Scorsese as THE DEPARTED.
Very well made thriller.

[aligreto]

Passengers....





A very good film with a wonderful concluding twist that I was not expecting; one that turns everything on its head.

[SonicMan46]

Well last night w/ a LOT of old films saved on my DVR, I watched the two below:

It's Always Fair Weather (1955) w/ Gene Kelley, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd, Cyd Charisse, et al - if a fan of the early American musical films, then this is worth watching just for the scene below w/ Kelley singing, skating, and dancing on roller skates - does this kind of talent even exist today?

Interrupted Melody (1955) w/ Eleanor Parker and Glenn Ford - bioptic of the Australian opera singer, Marjorie Lawrence (1907-1979) who was struck w/ polio in 1941 - Parker was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar (did not win); two other Oscar nominations and a winner for best story and screenplay; Lawrence was consulted for the film but her voice was not used and she was not happy w/ the results - based on her autobiography of the same name.  Dave

P.S. that's a young Roger Moore, playing Lawrence's brother, in the last pic!

    https://youtu.be/aZYS2rKh01U 

 

[Cato]

Well last night w/ a LOT of old films saved on my DVR, I watched the two below:

It's Always Fair Weather (1955) w/ Gene Kelley, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd, Cyd Charisse, et al - if a fan of the early American musical films, then this is worth watching just for the scene below w/ Kelley singing, skating, and dancing on roller skates - does this kind of talent even exist today?

Well...No!   We saw LaLaLand and the two principals do their best, but...not even close even to talented amateurs I have seen!

And now...

I came across a report that Mosfilm (which has a YouTube channel) is in the process of restoring Sergei Bondarchuk's epic version of War and Peace !  The report says it "should" be done by the end of this year.

Perhaps this will create a demand for more music by Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov!

And here is an example of their restoration of Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky.

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

MosFilm

[Jaakko Keskinen]

[Karl Henning]

I came across a report that Mosfilm (which has a YouTube channel) is in the process of restoring Sergei Bondarchuk's epic version of War and Peace !  The report says it "should" be done by the end of this year.

Zowie!

[aligreto]

The Gambler....





Interesting; not a waste of time.

[SonicMan46]

 

Just a recommendation for this film, the blu-ray version (pic inserted above) is now available and is a joy to watch - below just a description of the video restoration (LINK); audio also well done (4.5*/5* ratings for both on the link).  Dave

With its expressive black-and-white cinematography by Karl Freund (A Guy Named Joe), Key Largo joins the growing list of impressive Blu-ray restorations from the Warner Archive Collection. Like WAC's recent releases of The Wrong Man and I Confess, Key Largo has been newly scanned at 2k from a fine-grain master positive created from the original nitrate negative. The creation of such fine-grain master positives is part of Warner's ongoing efforts at preserving its library, but negatives of Key Largo's vintage had already sustained considerable damage and deterioration by the time preservation elements were created. Warner's MPI facility has restored and repaired Key Largo frame by frame, creating a 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray image that is almost pristine. Blacks, whites and grays are beautifully balanced, revealing excellent detail in both interiors shot on soundstages and a handful of outdoor scenes shot on location. The stock hurricane footage suffers by comparison, but that is inherent to the source. Densities and contrast are excellent, and the film's grain pattern has been finely rendered.

[drogulus]

The Gambler....





Interesting; not a waste of time.

     The original film is a favorite of mine, which colored my reaction to the remake which I mildly hate, but also enjoyed a little.

[SonicMan46]

Distant Drums (1951) w/ Gary Cooper, Mari Aldon, Richard Webb, et al; Raoul Walsh, director - decent blu-ray release reviewed HERE (4*/5* video & audio) - about the Seminole Wars in Florida in the 1830s-40s - not a great film but some beautiful scenery and the buxom Mari Aldon (a nice Virginia Mayo substitute) is a pleasure to watch.  Enjoyable and recommended to Cooper fans despite historic 'make believe' -   Dave

 

[André]

Brokeback Mountain in Liberty City (Miami). An extremely moving story, intelligently directed and endowed with a fantastic all around cast. I will certainly watch it again, this time with subtitles (I could barely understand the dialogues, although the context was always clear). I suspect this will go down as a classic of its era.

.....................................................................................

In the next movie the context is anything but clear ! This is typical of Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Incendies). One learns the meaning of some shots or scenes only at the very end. I actually had to read the wiki article to confirm hypotheses and understand plot details. Nevertheless, it's gripping from beginning to end. Superb performance by Amy Adams.

[aligreto]

Edge of Darkness....





A good action/thriller watch.

[SimonNZ]

Carla's Song (Ken Loach, dir. 1996)

[aligreto]

L'Histoire D'Adele H....

[listener]

made for television Burt Kennedy western  1988
ONCE UPON A TEXAS TRAIN
Willie Nelson, Richard Widmark, Jack Elam, Chuck Connors, Stuart Whitman, Shaun Cassidy
about a minute of train footage.

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  Again.  My treasure, too, is knowledge.  And it's fun.  Because if you're watching what is basically a comic book on screen, how do you denigrate it for being . . . a comic book?

[Todd]

I got roped into watching The BFG.  As expected from Spielberg, it is visually magnificent, but the story is meh, though it's not really aimed at my age group, I guess.  I've seen better, I've seen worse.