Last Movie You Watched

[AnotherSpin]

Reds.  A cinematic monument to Portlander and commie John Reed, one of only a handful of Americans buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.  I'd never watched the entire movie, and I'd not watched any of it since the late 80s, so I decided to give it a go.  Given its length, the intermission ended up providing a perfect point to split the movie into two viewing sessions.  First, the debit side.  The multiple witness interview scenes are entirely worthless and detract mightily from the narrative.  (I streamed it, so perhaps an optical disc allows for excising the interviews.)  The film is poorly edited, with some almost jarring but mostly just amateurish transitions from scene to scene.  There's a herky-jerky sense to the storytelling as a result.  Stephen Sondheim's original music kinda sucks.  Not all the stars put in particularly good work.  Jack Nicholson seems more like Jack Nicholson than Eugene O'Neill, for instance.  His Oscar nomination seems unwarranted forty years on.  Oh well.

On the credit side, it is fun to see actors earlier in their careers, like Paul Sorvino.  Maureen Stapleton steals every scene she's in as Emma Goldman.  The locations are well selected and act as good stand-ins for the historical locations.  The physical sets and old-fashioned matte paintings look excellent.  Some of the individual scenes are mighty compelling, and some of the dialogue is sharp and realistic.  While the scenes may seem stitched together in many places and the editing ain't so hot, the overall arc of the story works very well.  It's essentially a grand, romantic opera in multiple acts and scenes translated to film and stripped of great music.  It's not even close to being in the same league as a flick like Lawrence of Arabia, even though it shoots for that type of thing.  It earned far too many award nominations and wins, and it has not really held up among movie buffs as far as I can tell – though I could be wrong on that front as I'm not a true movie buff – but it was good enough to warrant one split viewing session.

I heard John Reed was buried in a common grave. Quite appropriate for a communist. Did you read his Ten Days That Shook the World book? I did, but it was a long time ago and I do not remember a thing from it.

[Todd]

Did you read his Ten Days That Shook the World book?

No.

[Karl Henning]

Revisiting The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm already on record as liking it the better, when truest to the source, so I shan't belabor the point. I'm not crazy about the fight between Gandalf and Saruman in Isengard, but I accept it, as a suitable cinematic liberty. Something which may be new upon this viewing, I think it a nice touch to have Arwen come to fetch the wounded Frodo to Rivendell.

[Karl Henning]

Revisiting The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm already on record as liking it the better, when truest to the source, so I shan't belabor the point. I'm not crazy about the fight between Gandalf and Saruman in Isengard, but I accept it, as a suitable cinematic liberty. Something which may be new upon this viewing, I think it a nice touch to have Arwen come to fetch the wounded Frodo to Rivendell.

I cannot forestall disappointment in the Council of Elrond devolving into rather a barroom brawl. There is a great deal of dignity in the books which the screenplays scuttle utterly. Just calling balls and strikes, here.

[Ganondorf]

I cannot forestall disappointment in the Council of Elrond devolving into rather a barroom brawl. There is a great deal of dignity in the books which the screenplays scuttle utterly. Just calling balls and strikes, here.

I actually started re-reading Lotr a little while ago and I agree with this post of yours wholeheartedly. While your overall feelings may be more positive I have never liked Lotr movies by Jackson, especially scenes with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. Also taking The Eye of Sauron literally annoys me and shows marked superficial reading of The book.

[71 dB]

The Day of the Jackal (Fred Zinnemann, 1973)

Surprisingly good movie! The runtime is about 140 minutes, but the movie feels shorter than that.

[Karl Henning]

Also taking The Eye of Sauron literally annoys me and shows marked superficial reading of the book.

Heartily agreed.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Reds.  A cinematic monument to Portlander and commie John Reed, one of only a handful of Americans buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.  I'd never watched the entire movie, and I'd not watched any of it since the late 80s, so I decided to give it a go.  Given its length, the intermission ended up providing a perfect point to split the movie into two viewing sessions.  First, the debit side.  The multiple witness interview scenes are entirely worthless and detract mightily from the narrative.  (I streamed it, so perhaps an optical disc allows for excising the interviews.)  The film is poorly edited, with some almost jarring but mostly just amateurish transitions from scene to scene.  There's a herky-jerky sense to the storytelling as a result.  Stephen Sondheim's original music kinda sucks.  Not all the stars put in particularly good work.  Jack Nicholson seems more like Jack Nicholson than Eugene O'Neill, for instance.  His Oscar nomination seems unwarranted forty years on.  Oh well.

On the credit side, it is fun to see actors earlier in their careers, like Paul Sorvino.  Maureen Stapleton steals every scene she's in as Emma Goldman.  The locations are well selected and act as good stand-ins for the historical locations.  The physical sets and old-fashioned matte paintings look excellent.  Some of the individual scenes are mighty compelling, and some of the dialogue is sharp and realistic.  While the scenes may seem stitched together in many places and the editing ain't so hot, the overall arc of the story works very well.  It's essentially a grand, romantic opera in multiple acts and scenes translated to film and stripped of great music.  It's not even close to being in the same league as a flick like Lawrence of Arabia, even though it shoots for that type of thing.  It earned far too many award nominations and wins, and it has not really held up among movie buffs as far as I can tell – though I could be wrong on that front as I'm not a true movie buff – but it was good enough to warrant one split viewing session.

I remember watching that movie years ago...long (thankful for the intermission), but very very good.

PD

[Karl Henning]

I remember watching that movie years ago...long (thankful for the intermission), but very very good.

PD

Interesting. I ought to borrow that from the library.

[JBS]

Interesting. I ought to borrow that from the library.

My memory of it is close to Todd's. Nicholson, Beatty, and Keaton all play themselves.

I did like the witness interviews, but I can understand why they seem out of place.

[SimonNZ]

My memory of it is close to Todd's. Nicholson, Beatty, and Keaton all play themselves.

I did like the witness interviews, but I can understand why they seem out of place.

Interesting you both say that, because my memory of Reds is that its the one time Nicholson dialed it back, wasn't just being his usual self. Last time I saw it I thought it his best work, largely for that reason.

[SimonNZ]

Photographer Richard Billingham's first feature film. A recreation of his childhood in a Midlands council estate with parents who had given up years ago and become totally apathetic and wanted nothing more from life, or family, than drinking and smoking the days away. Thatcher-era squalor captured in granular detail.

Brilliant and quite unlike anything else.

[T. D.]

The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, co-produced among the United Kingdom, the United States, and Poland. Loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, the film focuses on the life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig, who live with their family in a home in the "Zone of Interest" next to the concentration camp. Christian Friedel stars as Rudolf Höss alongside Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss.

[Karl Henning]

I actually started re-reading Lotr a little while ago and I agree with this post of yours wholeheartedly. While your overall feelings may be more positive I have never liked Lotr movies by Jackson, especially scenes with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. Also taking The Eye of Sauron literally annoys me and shows marked superficial reading of The book.

The Two Towers. Yes, I'll continue through to the end of the trilogy even though I know that the gratuitous departures from Tolkien accelerate and grow more odious. One of the greatest offenses IMO is making Gandalf's healing of Théoden King into a cod exorcism as if Saruman had been a demon possessing him. Makes me want to throw something at the screen.

[JBS]

Interesting you both say that, because my memory of Reds is that its the one time Nicholson dialed it back, wasn't just being his usual self. Last time I saw it I thought it his best work, largely for that reason.

Think of Nicholson in Chinatown or The Last Detail. and not Nicholson in The Shining.

[Karl Henning]

Think of Nicholson in Chinatown or The Last Detail. and not Nicholson in The Shining.

Love Chinatown.

[Karl Henning]

Two of my feel-good movies I've recently returned to: The Birdcage and Grosse Pointe Blank. Curiously, Hank Azaria is in both.

[Karl Henning]

The Two Towers. Yes, I'll continue through to the end of the trilogy even though I know that the gratuitous departures from Tolkien accelerate and grow more odious. One of the greatest offenses IMO is making Gandalf's healing of Théoden King into a cod exorcism as if Saruman had been a demon possessing him. Makes me want to throw something at the screen.

One line which distills how little the screenwriters understood the heart of Tolkien's book: Orlando Bloom's Legolas apologizing to Aragorn: "I was wrong to despair." Tolkien's Legolas does not despair. Separately, of the many objectionable departures from Tolkien's Middle Earth, Elrond's supposedly having an elven host to send in reinforcement of Helm's Deep is one of the grossest. The Two Towers is a tough watch, for me. It's reminding me why I discarded the DVDs I first bought.

[DavidW]

Tolkien's Legolas does not despair.

That just makes his character boring.  This is probably a generational thing but I think that character depth is not a strength of Tolkien.  If everyone just possessed a calm sense of stoicism it would be a pretty dull film unless you're a Vulcan.

Movies are not books.  When I decide if an adaptation is good I usually just look for just broad consistency with the plot and themes.  Just IMO.  They have to be their own creations.  I think a valid criticism is that Jackson has favored action far more than the books do which makes it tonally different.

But giving a character feelings and motivation sounds good to me.  I'll just leave this here:

Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
--Kurt Vonnegut

[DavidW]

I was rewatching Leaving Las Vegas, and what a difference age makes.  I feel now like it is was overwhelmingly depressing, it was such a hard watch for me because it is so brutal and real.