Last Movie You Watched

[JBS]

TD

Not sure if this counts, but I just watched the first (2 hour) installment of Ken Burns' Country Music.
[/quote]

How is it?

[Burns strikes me as a kind of Topsy: when he is good he is very good, when he is bad he is very bad]

[SimonNZ]

TD

Not sure if this counts, but I just watched the first (2 hour) installment of Ken Burns' Country Music.


How is it?

[Burns strikes me as a kind of Topsy: when he is good he is very good, when he is bad he is very bad]

Which of his do you think of as "very bad"?

Hadn't heard he'd done one on Country music.

[Karl Henning]

How is it?

[Burns strikes me as a kind of Topsy: when he is good he is very good, when he is bad he is very bad]


The first episode covers the roots of country music (going back to earliest settlers and music brought over from Ireland, Scotland and England) and the major artists/recordings of the 20s and 30s.  Well done.  I've been studying the history of this music for the last few years and I didn't learn anything new, but thought he covered the material accurately and well balanced. 

Would be an excellent introduction to someone who has only had a superficial knowledge of, or exposure to, country music.

Nice.

[Ken B]

The French Connection

I did see this before, probably in the 70s. The chase, though silly, still works. The movie in toto is unmemorable.

[JBS]

Which of his do you think of as "very bad"?

Hadn't heard he'd done one on Country music.

1)  Jazz.

2) It's brand new, being shown on PBS over 8 weeks.  You can stream the episodes here
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/country-music

[JBS]

How is it?

[Burns strikes me as a kind of Topsy: when he is good he is very good, when he is bad he is very bad]


The first episode covers the roots of country music (going back to earliest settlers and music brought over from Ireland, Scotland and England) and the major artists/recordings of the 20s and 30s.  Well done.  I've been studying the history of this music for the last few years and I didn't learn anything new, but thought he covered the material accurately and well balanced. 

Would be an excellent introduction to someone who has only had a superficial knowledge of, or exposure to, country music.

Thanks.  The second installment is on tonight....

[SimonNZ]

1)  Jazz.

Ah. I thought the final episode was a trainwreck - blindly following Marsalis' conviction that most of post 1970 Jazz is beyond the pale and Not Jazz. But I thought it was fine up to that point - at least as something aimed at the non-specialist or new listener.

[aligreto]

The Way, Way Back





An interesting and engaging film about the development and coming of age of a young teenage boy and the resolution of family issues. This is not the first time that I have seen it and it makes for enjoyable viewing.

[Ken B]

Drums Along the Mohawk
John Ford 1939

The Blue Dahlia
1945. Stars Veronica Lake and was written by Raymond Chandler.

I had to watch Mohawk in stages. It has some good scenes, but I usually struggle with Ford. First (and last) viewing. Most people like it, but it's just so very very John Ford.

I had seen Blue Dahlia before. It's pretty good, if not up to what it should have been. VL turns my crank about as hard as it can be turned though.

[aligreto]

Before I go to Sleep





This is fine, taut thriller. It is worth your time.

[Karl Henning]

Watched A Serious Man again, last night.

[aligreto]

We Bought a Zoo





This is a feel good story with the typical Hollywood message of good conquering adversity despite all odds.

[Karl Henning]

We Bought a Zoo





This is a feel good story with the typical Hollywood message of good conquering adversity despite all odds.

Well, that's very unlike A Serious Man

[aligreto]

Well, that's very unlike A Serious Man

I have not seen A Serious Man but I trust your judgement Karl.

[Karl Henning]

I have not seen A Serious Man but I trust your judgement Karl.

The inscription for the movie is "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you," but the main character experiences so relentless an assault of bad fortune, the epigram comes to seem like a sarcasm. Kind of a modern Job in the American Midwest.

[aligreto]

The inscription for the movie is "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you," but the main character experiences so relentless an assault of bad fortune, the epigram comes to seem like a sarcasm. Kind of a modern Job in the American Midwest.

Cheers Karl and thank you for the added comment.

[SimonNZ]

[71 dB]

I have never been heavily into James Bond movies, but I have enjoyed especially Roger Moore's Bond. About 2 months ago I got interested again. Bond-movies are not the best movies in the World, but they are entertaining, fun to watch. I bought the Bond movies on Blu-ray (Dr. No to Skyfall) for about 60 euros. I have never cared for Timothy Dalton's and Pierce Brosnan's Bond movies. I had seen Daniel Graig's first 2 Bond-movies, but not Skyfall or Spectre. Casino Royale is ok, Quantum of Solace is bad. Then I see Skyfall. Wow! So good! So well directed by Sam Mendes! Really liked it. Bond finally re-invented the right way after decades! So I wanted to see Spectre too, because it's also directed by Sam Mendes. Luckily it was just shown on TV and I saw it liking it as much as Skyfall! What an unexpected turn. I have only two (minor) things to complain about Skyfall and Spectre:

1. Extremely blant title songs by Adele and Sam Smith. Really boring and syrupy stuff!
2. Yellow tepid tint of the picture. Why can't they emulate "technicolor" picture? I love the colors of early Bond movies.

[Karl Henning]

 True Grit (1969)

[Madiel]

I have never been heavily into James Bond movies, but I have enjoyed especially Roger Moore's Bond. About 2 months ago I got interested again. Bond-movies are not the best movies in the World, but they are entertaining, fun to watch. I bought the Bond movies on Blu-ray (Dr. No to Skyfall) for about 60 euros. I have never cared for Timothy Dalton's and Pierce Brosnan's Bond movies. I had seen Daniel Graig's first 2 Bond-movies, but not Skyfall or Spectre. Casino Royale is ok, Quantum of Solace is bad. Then I see Skyfall. Wow! So good! So well directed by Sam Mendes! Really liked it. Bond finally re-invented the right way after decades! So I wanted to see Spectre too, because it's also directed by Sam Mendes. Luckily it was just shown on TV and I saw it liking it as much as Skyfall! What an unexpected turn. I have only two (minor) things to complain about Skyfall and Spectre:

1. Extremely blant title songs by Adele and Sam Smith. Really boring and syrupy stuff!
2. Yellow tepid tint of the picture. Why can't they emulate "technicolor" picture? I love the colors of early Bond movies.

I'm not really into Bond movies either, but the acclaim of Skyfall when it was released persuaded me to go see it at the cinema, and it was superb. I ended up telling quite a lot of other people that if you were ever going to go see a Bond movie, this was the one to go see.