Last Movie You Watched

[André]

I watched the Criterion restoration L'Atalante, who has had a very chequered history of cutting, rearranging of scenes, soundtrack changes etc. Vigo's last film (1934) has long been viewed as one of the best films ever made and has influenced moviemakers as diverse as Truffaut, Godard, Kusturica, Bertolucci. The wiki article mentions that:

L'Atalante was chosen as the 10th-greatest film of all time in the British journal Sight & Sound's 1962 poll, and as the sixth-best in its 1992 poll. In the 2002 poll, it ranked 17th, with 15 critics and directors (including Jim Jarmusch) naming it as one of their 10 favorite films.[1] In 2012 it was ranked 12th on the critics poll with 58 votes, including David Thomson, Geoff Andrew and Craig Keller

The cinematography, by Boris Kaufman (brother of Dziga Vertov, of Man With a Movie Camera fame) is superb. Each shot is conceived as a painting, with exquisite detail, often shot from unusual angles. Many scenes are conceived as the characters would have been living them, instead of being from the spectator's viewpoint. The many excentricities (absurdities) of Zéro de conduite - filmed the previous year - give way to a surreal visual poetry. Whereas the earlier film was provocative, over the top and, in the end an artistic dead end, L'Atalante shows how imagination and fantasy can elevate the prosaic to the transcendent.

[André]

Kore-Eda has been hailed as the artistic heir to Ozu. I can't vouch for that as a blanket statement, but there are certainly meeting points, both philosophically and artistically between this film and many of Ozu's. The subtle, complex tangle of relationships between children and parents, the clash of values that generational changes bring are acutely observed. Visually, transitional shots are a clear echo of a favourite Ozu method - ellipses that suggest a change of time and place, both actual and psychological. This is a film of great delicacy, poignancy but that does not shirk the devastating psychological disturbances the characters - especially the two young children - must face in this story of babies mixed at the hospital (it starts when they are 6 and are preparing to enter school).

Warmly recommended.

[aligreto]

The Lake House





This is a modern fantasy and it is the story of how a couple who have both lived separately in the same house carry on a distance relationship by letter. The issue here is that the time scale is a problem since they live in separate time points two years apart [no spoiler as this is established early on in the film]. The story is how the relationship develops and is ultimately resolved. I liked it.

[steve ridgway]

The Last Witch Hunter. The film stars Vin Diesel as an immortal witch hunter who must stop a plague from ravaging the entire world. It's in the job description .

[aligreto]

The Gift





A study in how a lie can infiltrate people's consciousness and have devastating consequences. It was quite watchable.

[Todd]

Journey's End.  A centenary production commemorating the Great War, this latest adaptation of the 1928 play of the same name offers some good acting (from Paul Bettany, particularly) and a nice, mostly physical production to look at.  The combat portions are not emphasized, with the dialogue taking center stage.  Quite play-like, it does not sound natural in its cadence or delivery, but it works well enough. 

[greg]

Awesome! 10/10.

I had been watching many horror movies over the last year, mostly either trying to find a pleasant surprise, or to find a good one under what I had imagined what I would like for the genre, and this fits exactly with what I was wanting.

I had played the first two Silent Hill games years ago, and it does fit the mood quite a bit.

[71 dB]

A Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-ray collection.

[asin]B0058N2T3K[/asin]
I watched all 7 movies of this boxset in 3 days. 

The first one is a classic in my opinion, essential horror from the 80's. The second one is a misstep. The third one is good again. The fourth one is directed by Finnish director Renny Harlin (Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola) who went the same school I did, but before my time as he is much older than me. I think this movie is one of his best directing efforts as I find his style generally "overblown" (e.g. Cliffhanger). Unfortunately the fourth movie in this series has imho weak script. The fifth and sixth movies are even weaker, lacklustre even, but Wes Craven's 7th movie is good and fresh! Movies 1, 3 and 7 form a nice trilogy while movies 2, 5 and 6 are pretty pointless.

[mc ukrneal]

I saw:
[asin]B0001GOH6Q[/asin]
I had high expectations of this based on the reviews and the actors. While the actors were good, the movie was just awful. The characters don't actually develop, and at times they dig their heals on to insist on carrying on the behavior that hasn't worked for many years. Albert Finney tells a good story, but the plot's insistence that he never divert from that is wearing as the movie moves on. It's beautifully shot, and it's one of those movies that just meanders forward (something I generally like). It's one of those movies that tries to show you how meaningful it is by hitting you over the head with it (over and over). Overall, despite some really good acting, it's a wet fish.

[aligreto]

The Square





This is a Swedish film that is a parody on Modern Art. The plot is somewhat disjointed and untenuous and my attention wandered even if it has sections of interest.

[aligreto]

Damascus Cover





An interesting enough and entertaining espionage thriller set mainly in the middle east.

[milk]

This movie is meh. But man am I sick of Glenn Gould's Goldbergs in movies. Not only do they play them but they mention them several times too as if The Goldbergs don't mean anything unless they're played by Gould.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Sideways



Really enjoyed this film!  A bittersweet comedy about two old middle-aged friends who take a weeklong-trip through California wine country prior to one of the men's wedding day.  It was adapted from Rex Pickett's novel of the same name.  Very well done with great acting by all.

PD

[SimonNZ]

My first viewing of this very silly attempt by Hitchcock at a cold war spy thriller, a genre he clearly has never encountered before or researched, seemingly believing what would have worked in his WW2 spy films would still hold true..

And East Berlin in his imagining is one of the wealthiest and certainly the cleanest of cities on earth.

Someone on a bonus feature says contemporary critics of his late films were constantly asking if Hitchcock actually watches other people's films at all as he seems to have no sense of the state of the art or of audience expectations, but rather continues with a 1930's attitude throughout his filmography, with greater or lesser success.

[Madiel]

Sideways



Really enjoyed this film!  A bittersweet comedy about two old middle-aged friends who take a weeklong-trip through California wine country prior to one of the men's wedding day.  It was adapted from Rex Pickett's novel of the same name.  Very well done with great acting by all.

PD

Oh I love that one. There's very specific bits I remember. Like anytime someone mentions Merlot...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Oh I love that one. There's very specific bits I remember. Like anytime someone mentions Merlot...

You mean that scene when they (Jack and Miles) are standing outside the restaurant at night arguing before they go in to meet up with their new lady friends? 

PD

[Madiel]

You mean that scene when they (Jack and Miles) are standing outside the restaurant at night arguing before they go in to meet up with their new lady friends? 

PD

Yup.

THREAD DUTY:

The Keeper of Lost Causes (though the original Danish title, Kvinden i Buret, actually means "The Woman in the Cage").



A creepy crime story very much in the vein of The Bridge. Maybe the film was capitalising to some extent on the success of the first season of that show, but it's based on the first novel in a series which predates that (and is the first in a series of movies which I'll be gradually watching).

Pretty decent, but VERY creepy in certain scenes. Honestly, I was working hard to not hide behind my hands and/or do a little fast forward a couple of times.

[mc ukrneal]

Just finished A Monster Calls
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A phenomenal movie. I recently saw the Big Fish, a movie in the same category (fantastical realism) and this one was SO much better. You really go through a lifetime of emotions in a very short time. It's moving, with evolving and rich characters. And the way the fantastical elements are layered into the movie - it's just so well done and the way it ought to be. A movie I will be thinking about for some time to come....

[aligreto]

Sideways



Really enjoyed this film!  A bittersweet comedy about two old middle-aged friends who take a weeklong-trip through California wine country prior to one of the men's wedding day.  It was adapted from Rex Pickett's novel of the same name.  Very well done with great acting by all.

PD

Yes, a very good one that. I have seen it twice but I would like to see it again.

[aligreto]

Ladies in Black





The name refers to the mode of dress compulsory for the female sales assistants in a high end department store in Australia in the 1950s. The film examines the characters and lives, and how they interact with each other both professionally and socially. I found it to be a most engaging film.