Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:

For perhaps not quite a week, I have had the Blu ray edition of Rosemary's Baby waiting around, while I in turn waited to be ready to watch.  Fact is, I was powerfully impressed by the creepiness, when I watched on DVD (oh – I forget how long ago).  And that reinforced the unease which is the now-distant memory of partially watching a TV broadcast, LONG ago.

So, why – assuming for the purpose of discussion that I am not a glutton for punishment – did I want to watch again?  To relive the suffering?

First, in the interval I have watched Chinatown, which is beautiful and a magnificent achievement.  And it set me to recollecting my experience of the Baby, and I started to sift what it was that I saw, from the emotional trip I was sent on.  And I had to own that R's B was, likewise, beautiful and a magnificent achievement, and I wanted to watch it again, for that reason.  I also realized via hindsight, that there is quite a bit of wry humor at play in the movie, with perceiving which, my preoccupation with The Creepy interfered.

Second, as I think I have noted here before, I am quite a fan of Alien, and can now watch it again and again without jumping out of my skin (which was certainly my experience in the cinema when I first saw it).  So I felt speculatively confident that, watching R's Baby again, I would smile more than I did on previous viewings.  (And yes, smiling at all would be "more.")

The experiment, I can report, was a complete success.  I watched without becoming embroiled in the unease, but fully appreciating it from an emotional remove.  There was also, of course, the inevitable appreciation of two dozen details which escape you when watching a rich film only once.  Among these, the score – I love it when the storytelling is so engrossing that I am not conscious of the music, which is also partly the composer's art.

So, what can I say?  If you can bear it, I heartily recommend watching this, again.

[Karl Henning]

Parenthetically . . . a couple of weeks ago, wishing to rewatch Yojimbo, I placed a hold at the BPL . . . for Sanjuro, also, which I have not seen.  Practically the next day, I found an e-mail msg alerting me to a Criterion flash sale, so I went ahead and slid the Yojimbo/Sanjuro two-fer, on Blu ray into my cart.  And as I perused the catalogue for an additional item, so as to qualify for free shipping, lo! I saw Rosemary's Baby in the catalogue, and, while I have spelled out the rationale above, I felt in a split second that that was exactly the third item for me at this time.

This was true, and yet it was nevertheless something of a surprise . . . I still had the Experience to overcome, as noted above:  Yes, I wanted to see it again, but I needed to pick the time.

Am I finicky? Well, perhaps.

[Karl Henning]

Last night:  Yojimbo (1961) and Play It Again, Sam (1972)

If my timing that day had worked out otherwise, I was going to post:

Play It Again, Sam (1972) and Rosemary's Baby (1968) — two very different not-entirely-normal relationships . . . .

[milk]

If my timing that day had worked out otherwise, I was going to post:

Play It Again, Sam (1972) and Rosemary's Baby (1968) — two very different not-entirely-normal relationships . . . .

"not those candles, those are for a Jewish holiday!" - or something like that

[Karl Henning]

"not those candles, those are for a Jewish holiday!" - or something like that

Great fun!  As we expect . . . .

Bananas is next!  When they/it lands.

[Draško]

Maybe too long, but I was entertained.

[Karl Henning]

Last night's B-movie adventure was Predator.  I did not go to it absolutely "fresh";  long ago I saw maybe five minutes of Schwarzenegger toting an arsenal in the jungle, at a time in my life when I had little artistic patience for that sort of rannygazoo     ;  and last week, I watched a review of the movie on YouTube by someone who simultaneously entirely enjoys the movie, yet had fun poking holes in the narrative's logic – a review in which the excerpts, if strung together, basically told the Reader's Digest version of the plot.  Oh, and earlier still, I watched (also on YouTube) Siskel & Ebert, and was greatly tickled at how sharply (yet amicably) they differed on the flick's merits.  ("Your standards are dropping.")

http://www.youtube.com/v/oXN0MeZKw88

But I did not watch it, requiring that the plot be entirely new to me.  Per Ebert, I just wanted to be entertained.  I was also curious, because Predator was the movie John McTiernan made the year before Die Hard.  So yes, I was fully prepared to enjoy Predator now, even as it was (as I say) absolutely not a movie I should have much liked, had I watched it back when it was first released.

For a slasher movie (in the segment which is a slasher movie – one of the ways it's fun, is its genre-switching) we actually do get to know all the team members, so there is a sense of mounting loss.

Loved Alan Silvestri's score, not the subtlest work, but it's got the militaristic punch where it's needed, and keening tension elsewhere.

Goldarnit, I'm surprised at just how much I enjoyed this 'un.

[Ken B]

Last night's B-movie adventure was Predator.  I did not go to it absolutely "fresh";  long ago I saw maybe five minutes of Schwarzenegger toting an arsenal in the jungle, at a time in my life when I had little artistic patience for that sort of rannygazoo     ;  and last week, I watched a review of the movie on YouTube by someone who simultaneously entirely enjoys the movie, yet had fun poking holes in the narrative's logic – a review in which the excerpts, if strung together, basically told the Reader's Digest version of the plot.  Oh, and earlier still, I watched (also on YouTube) Siskel & Ebert, and was greatly tickled at how sharply (yet amicably) they differed on the flick's merits.  ("Your standards are dropping.")

http://www.youtube.com/v/oXN0MeZKw88

But I did not watch it, requiring that the plot be entirely new to me.  Per Ebert, I just wanted to be entertained.  I was also curious, because Predator was the movie John McTiernan made the year before Die Hard.  So yes, I was fully prepared to enjoy Predator now, even as it was (as I say) absolutely not a movie I should have much liked, had I watched it back when it was first released.

For a slasher movie (in the segment which is a slasher movie – one of the ways it's fun, is its genre-switching) we actually do get to know all the team members, so there is a sense of mounting loss.

Loved Alan Silvestri's score, not the subtlest work, but it's got the militaristic punch where it's needed, and keening tension elsewhere.

Goldarnit, I'm surprised at just how much I enjoyed this 'un.

I also watched it late on video and was a bit embarrassed to like it. I bet it holds up better than Tootsie which I just rewatched. Some good writing early on but then the I Love Lucy plot takes over.

[aligreto]

The Dressmaker....





A stylish film about revenge and retribution.

[Omicron9]

My most recent is "La belle noiseuse."  1991; dir. Jacques Rivette. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101428/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I really enjoyed this; so much so that I need to see it again; mostly due to the ending.  Very slow-paced, but not in a dull way; light on dialogue.  If anyone else has seen this, I'd love to discuss the ending.  One of my very favorite endings ever.   It should also be noted that this is a 4-hour movie; I screened it over two nights.

In conclusion: recommended.

-09

[Karl Henning]

Last night I watched Bananas, and it was a revelation.  I expected it to be a series of set-piece jokes, expected the story to have an overall shape, though not the emotional roots of the later work, expected it to be reliably entertaining throughout.  Beyond these, it exceeded good expectations.  Never had I seen so much physical comedy on Allen's part;  his facial acting on the subway car especially must have set Cary Grant himself to beaming with pleasure.  I was not expecting that scenes from this early effort would slot themselves among my favorite Woody Allen scenes, but they did.  To name but two instances:  the 'break-up' scene – how they managed to play this without 'corpsing,' I'll never know;  and Fielding saying good-bye to his parents in the OR.  I think that part of the reason I was not expecting to be nearly so impressed with Bananas, is (e.g.) Allen's participation in What's New, Pussycat? – but, I might have guessed from how well Allen's work toward the end of Casino Royale helped out that . . . curious endeavor.

An even wider-eye-opening element was Marvin Hamlisch's music.  One of my first girlfriends was a GREAT fan of A Chorus Line, so I hope I may be forgiven for saying that at an early point, I grew passionately bored with that music.  The score for Bananas is expertly wrought, and expertly witty – a work (I do not much hesitate to suggest) of genius.  Who knew?

[aligreto]

Boulevard....





An excellent performance from Robin Williams.

[Draško]

New Philippe Garrel film. It's a wonderful breezy rumination on relationships, desire and fidelity. A well acted three-hander for most of the time, beautifully shot in b&w in what looks like typical Parisian locales. The type of story that could have been situated in any of the last three or four decades and only few appearances of mobile phones place it as contemporary.

Don't know if it's currently in theaters I've seen it at the local film festival. Also have tickets for the latest Francois Ozon film and the Assayas/Polanski one, though I'm not sure I'll make it to both.

[drogulus]

     Recently I watched The Death Of Stalin. It's great fun.

     https://www.youtube.com/v/ukJ5dMYx2no

[NikF]

Looks/sounds interesting.

My most recent is "La belle noiseuse."  1991; dir. Jacques Rivette. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101428/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I really enjoyed this; so much so that I need to see it again; mostly due to the ending.  Very slow-paced, but not in a dull way; light on dialogue.  If anyone else has seen this, I'd love to discuss the ending.  One of my very favorite endings ever.   It should also be noted that this is a 4-hour movie; I screened it over two nights.

In conclusion: recommended.

-09

Yeah. Good stuff.
Also, on watching it I frequently find myself thinking 'Isn't nature wonderful?'

[SonicMan46]

Last night we streamed a couple of films that are nominated for tomorrow's Oscar Presentation, i.e. March 4 - Sunday:

Darkest Hour w/ Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill - 6 nominations including 'Best Picture' and 'Best Actor' for Oldman who was quite remarkable - mainly about the first half of 1940 up until the Dunkirk 'rescue' (another film nominated for 'Best Picture').

The Shape of Water - 13 Oscar nominations - my word!  'Best Picture' & Sally Hawkins for 'Best Actress' + MANY more - a fantasy flick (w/ reminders of the 'Creature from the Black Lagoon') - we enjoyed the movie but not sure how many Oscars will be won? 

There are 9 films for Best Picture and all so different - we've now seen 7 of the nominees - 'Three Billboards....' is probably my pick but who knows in this rather eclectic mix?  Dave

 

[aligreto]

For some reason I would like to see that one.

[bhodges]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017, dir. Martin McDonagh) -- Saw this last night. As a big fan of McDonagh's work, my first reaction was "wow," but will have to think more about why. Without giving anything away, the cast is excellent -- even the smaller roles, though Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell are the standouts. McDonagh's screenplay has many of his trademarks: playing with language in often hilarious ways, unexpected violence, quirky characters.

Haven't seen nearly enough of the Oscar nominees, but I'd be happy to see this win many awards tonight.

[asin]B0785VLCFD[/asin]

--Bruce

[aligreto]

Diabolik....





It certainly was diabolical and not in a good way!.

[milk]

Perhaps the best movie of last year. Extraordinary! Much better than Ladybird.