Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

That just makes his character boring.  This is probably a generational thing but I think that character depth is not a strength of Tolkien.

I get that the screenwriters really went to town making characters interesting, but they lean awfully hard into inventing characters who do not exist in the source, "emo Aragorn" being my chief complaint. I find Tolkien's Aragorn of sufficient depth and interest. As a general matter, I like their efforts to bring the Arwen/Aragorn relationship out from the background. I also accept their foregrounding the difficult father/daughter dynamic between Elrond and Arwen, although they come close to textual transgression there. I'll disagree that we need that line to keep Legolas from being boring. And I find Frodo/Sam of sufficient interest in the source that we don't need the invention of Gollum breaking them up. I'm not ecstatic about Faramir dragging the hobbits to Osgiliath, but I'll concede that it's cinematically better than keeping strictly to the text. Was it necessary to make Faramir more "interesting? A matter of taste, I suppose. I think the most interesting aspect there (though again, it's not Tolkien's Faramir) was Faramir's intent to send the ring to his father, an interesting mix of ingratiation with his dad and warcraft.

[Karl Henning]

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

All the members of the Fellowship do have motivation.

[Karl Henning]

At last, All That Money Can Buy, or The Devil and Daniel Webster. Score by Bernard Herrmann, and Walter Huston as Mr Scratch.

[drogulus]

I do not speak French, and the version I own does not have subtitles, yet, I was still moved by the powerful performance of the main character and the tragedy of her existence, especially with the interactions with her mother and the true desperation you see when she is forced to confront the ethical dilemma of honor and survival. A striking film. A beautiful film. Rosetta (1999).

    I don't know which edition you have, but these are from Criterion.

    https://dl.subdl.com/subtitle/687810-1909948.zip

     These might fit a European source.

     https://dl.subdl.com/subtitle/687823-6867.zip

[VonStupp]

The Karate Kid (1984)
Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue
William Zabka, Martin Kove

My wife and daughters competed in a karate tournament this weekend, so I thought I would show them the original Karate Kid afterwards. The competition sequence is remarkably accurate to what I saw, minus the theatrics and the tune You're the Best by Joe Esposito.

Martin Kove gets precious little screen time, but what a memorable baddie! Before practice, I always remind my daughters 'No mercy for the weak!'!
VS

[Madiel]

I am in the middle of watching the Korean film "Decision to Leave". A Korean policeman investigating a man's death becomes obsessed with the much younger Chinese widow.

It's very quirky, but somehow that is intriguing me rather than annoying me. One of the most striking things is people appearing in scenes together when they're actually in different places, but one is observing or thinking about the other.

[Cato]

More of a documentary but what a watch:

FREE SOLO (2018)



"From award-winning documentary filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi ("MERU") and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin comes National Geographic Documentary Film's FREE SOLO, a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world's most famous rock ... the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park ... without a rope.

Celebrated as one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, Honnold's climb set the ultimate standard: perfection or death."




If, like me you struggle at the top of a three step-ladder, this will be a harrowing and mesmerizing watch in equal measures. Our watch was strewn with "Hell Nooooos...." , just way more sweary    The climber's relationships with his girlfriend, the filming crew and fellow climbers while training and preparing this feat add an incredible layer to this documentary.

A great petrified recommendation   

We were in Yosemite last week and gazed upon El Capitan from various standpoints: yes, climbing it was an amazing and incomprehensible feat!

No movies to report upon, as we have had no opportunity to watch anything during our national-parks tour.

However, I did catch a Pitch Meeting which I had missed!

Apparently the anti-geniuses at Disney want to keep Ryan George in business!

Concerning another dreary "superhero"...a commentary on the sad state of movie-making and the lack of creativity in Hollywood!

[Madiel]

I am in the middle of watching the Korean film "Decision to Leave". A Korean policeman investigating a man's death becomes obsessed with the much younger Chinese widow.

It's very quirky, but somehow that is intriguing me rather than annoying me. One of the most striking things is people appearing in scenes together when they're actually in different places, but one is observing or thinking about the other.

The second half did not disappoint.



Reminiscent of the classic film noir in terms of the plot, some nice twists, occasionally VERY funny (I had no idea I could laugh so hard at turtles), and definitely directed with visual flair (won Best Director at Cannes). Admittedly I broke the film roughly in half for personal reasons, but I think it was well-paced throughout. Well worth a watch.

[Cato]

Today we revisited for the first time in probably 60 years:





An absolutely exhausting movie, especially the "eat-with-a-spoon" scene in the dining room, filmed with few cuts.

I wondered how Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke did this several times a week on Broadway!

Directed by Arthur Penn, the shots with the camera on the floor and on the ground outside the house had stuck in my mind for decades, along with Anne Bancroft at times imitating Burt Lancaster's speech patterns (e.g. listen to the scene where she explains to the parents why she needs complete control over Helen).

Yes, it is a classic and highly recommended!  Laurence Rosenthal's score, at times reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's style, is to be mentioned as subtle and effective, although many scenes have no music.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Watched "The Mountain Between Us" with Kate Winslet and Idris Elba.  Enjoyed it.  You can pretty much get what happens at least early on by the cover photo of the DVD.

PD

[SonicMan46]

Today we revisited for the first time in probably 60 years:





An absolutely exhausting movie, especially the "eat-with-a-spoon" scene in the dining room, filmed with few cuts.

I wondered how Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke did this several times a week on Broadway!

Directed by Arthur Penn, the shots with the camera on the floor and on the ground outside the house had stuck in my mind for decades, along with Anne Bancroft at times imitating Burt Lancaster's speech patterns (e.g. listen to the scene where she explains to the parents why she needs complete control over Helen).

Yes, it is a classic and highly recommended!  Laurence Rosenthal's score, at times reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's style, is to be mentioned as subtle and effective, although many scenes have no music.

About 10 years ago we did a trip to Tennessee/Northern Alabama - first stayed in Florence (birthplace of WC Handy - visited his 'museum house'), and did day trips to the Shiloh Battlefield, FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Helen Keller's house in Tuscumbia (pic below from an iPad Forums travelogue I left there - LINK, if interested), and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame - ended up back in Nashville for 3 days.  Dave

[SonicMan46]

We're on a trip to West Virginia meeting our son and DIL staying north of Beckley near the New River Gorge Bridge (below) nearly 900 ft down to the river!  They live in Indianapolis so since COVID we've met at rental cabins in nearby states - he always brings his Apple TV so we've been watching typically action and/or Sci-Fi films - the last two nights (brief reviews/links below):

Mission Impossible - Did Reckoning (Part One) (2023) w/ Cruise and MANY others; the 7th film in the series since 1996 (Cruise aging about 30 years between the two movies) - the specials were great but the film was about a half hour too long for me; however, on Rotten Tomatoes (RT), 96% from the critics and 94% audience.  I've stopped watching these MIs since numbers 3 or 4, BUT if a fan, then recommended.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - 32 year follow-up w/ new younger characters and return of the stars from the previous films, including the deceased Harold Ramis as a 'ghostly' character at the end finale. Entertaining with great specials, as expected - just 64% on RT from the critics but more liked by the audience, 94% - I do own the first Ghostbusters (1984) so worth a watch for fans.  Dave

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 American spy action film directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen. It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. It stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, alongside an ensemble cast. In the film, Hunt and his IMF team face off against "the Entity", a powerful rogue AI. (Source)

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a 2021 American supernatural comedy film directed by Jason Reitman from a screenplay he co-wrote with Gil Kenan. It is the sequel to Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), and the fourth film in the Ghostbusters franchise. The film stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd, alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver. Set 32 years after the events of Ghostbusters II, it follows a single mother and her children who move to an Oklahoma farm they inherited from her estranged father Egon Spengler, a member of the original Ghostbusters. (Source)

 

[Karl Henning]

Today we revisited for the first time in probably 60 years:





An absolutely exhausting movie, especially the "eat-with-a-spoon" scene in the dining room, filmed with few cuts.

I wondered how Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke did this several times a week on Broadway!

Directed by Arthur Penn, the shots with the camera on the floor and on the ground outside the house had stuck in my mind for decades, along with Anne Bancroft at times imitating Burt Lancaster's speech patterns (e.g. listen to the scene where she explains to the parents why she needs complete control over Helen).

Yes, it is a classic and highly recommended!  Laurence Rosenthal's score, at times reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's style, is to be mentioned as subtle and effective, although many scenes have no music.

I remember a "field trip" from school to see the play. Probably my first experience of theatre. I do remember being riveted.

[Karl Henning]

All the members of the Fellowship do have motivation.

[DavidW]

Mission Impossible - Did Reckoning (Part One) (2023) w/ Cruise and MANY others; the 7th film in the series since 1996 (Cruise aging about 30 years between the two movies) - the specials were great but the film was about a half hour too long for me; however, on Rotten Tomatoes (RT), 96% from the critics and 94% audience.  I've stopped watching these MIs since numbers 3 or 4, BUT if a fan, then recommended.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - 32 year follow-up w/ new younger characters and return of the stars from the previous films, including the deceased Harold Ramis as a 'ghostly' character at the end finale. Entertaining with great specials, as expected - just 64% on RT from the critics but more liked by the audience, 94% - I do own the first Ghostbusters (1984) so worth a watch for fans.  Dave

Dave, I also thought that MI movie was too long.  I loved the ones that came before, so it was a big flop for me.  You missed the best ones!  Fallout and Rogue Nation are great.  You should watch them.

As for that Ghostbusters, it was okay.  Not bad, not great either.

[relm1]

Not the feel good movie of the year but a very important documentary for those willing to watch.

"Hearts and Minds" is a 1974 documentary about the Vietnam war.  Those who spoke didn't know how things would turn out a year later during the fall of Saigon and it's both heartbreaking, savage, and prophetic to current times.  One of the things I appreciated most about this documentary is how it fearlessly showed all sides.  Hearing from Vietnamese civilians who suffered greatly, while also following American troops hiring hookers.  Moments later, burning rural villages than saying they don't really understand the war.  I was particularly shocked by the various stances of soldiers under the guise of patriotism - at one point even telling children they might fight and die in wars too and that this returning soldier would sign up again if he had to.  It's a deeply disturbing film because it's so honest and most of those talking don't know how the events would play out.  Very much worth seeing for anyone willing to re-experience an extremely dark period that feels all too familiar. 

[SonicMan46]

Dave, I also thought that MI movie was too long.  I loved the ones that came before, so it was a big flop for me.  You missed the best ones!  Fallout and Rogue Nation are great.  You should watch them.

As for that Ghostbusters, it was okay.  Not bad, not great either.

Hi David - looks like we have similar feelings; as suggested above l've seen all of the MI films just cannot remember them that well. Dave

[Karl Henning]

Hi David - looks like we have similar feelings; as suggested above l've seen all of the MI films just cannot remember them that well. Dave

I may or may not get around to watching the latest.

[Karl Henning]

The Return of the King, Extended Interminable Edition. j/k (although, yes, each disc runs longer than any of the earlier ones.) I watched the first disc. Even given my objections, there is a lot to enjoy (hence my sticking with it.) And I watched a 20-minute segment of the Appendix. I feel there's some gaslighting in their presentation of preparing the script. I mean, if all of them "love the books" and know the Ur-text so thoroughly, I don't see how they think it's a sound idea to have Frodo telling Sam to go home on the Morgul stair. this is both inhumanely impractical (what, Sam traipse all the way back to the Shire alone? As if he wouldn't end up being eaten by orcs) as well as a betrayal of the friendship which is the emotional center of the entire story. Visually, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli on the Paths of the Dead is wonderful, but the rewritten scene is pathetic. Instead of Isildur's Heir commanding the faithless dead, we have Aragorn repeating "What say you?" so many times, it could be a drinking game. I'm not crazy about Elrond serving as a courier delivering  Andúril to Aragorn, but let that pass. Pippin tells Denethor that he doesn't know any songs suitable to the hour, but then, rather than singing a cheerful Hobbit Pub song to underscore the point, he sings a poignant number more suited to an Enya EP. I see the reasons for essentially dispensing with "The Scouring of the Shire." So I do not protest moving Saruman's death up to the conference at Orthanc. My only complaint is that in a series of movies with so many wonderful SFX, the nature of Saruman's death is nothing like in Tolkien: it's just a meat puppet dropping from a great height. It does not rank high among my disappointments in the endeavor, but it is a disappointment.

[Karl Henning]

The Return of the King, Extended Interminable Edition. j/k (although, yes, each disc runs longer than any of the earlier ones.) I watched the first disc. Even given my objections, there is a lot to enjoy (hence my sticking with it.) And I watched a 20-minute segment of the Appendix. I feel there's some gaslighting in their presentation of preparing the script. I mean, if all of them "love the books" and know the Ur-text so thoroughly, I don't see how they think it's a sound idea to have Frodo telling Sam to go home on the Morgul stair. this is both inhumanely impractical (what, Sam traipse all the way back to the Shire alone? As if he wouldn't end up being eaten by orcs) as well as a betrayal of the friendship which is the emotional center of the entire story. Visually, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli on the Paths of the Dead is wonderful, but the rewritten scene is pathetic. Instead of Isildur's Heir commanding the faithless dead, we have Aragorn repeating "What say you?" so many times, it could be a drinking game. I'm not crazy about Elrond serving as a courier delivering  Andúril to Aragorn, but let that pass. Pippin tells Denethor that he doesn't know any songs suitable to the hour, but then, rather than singing a cheerful Hobbit Pub song to underscore the point, he sings a poignant number more suited to an Enya EP. I see the reasons for essentially dispensing with "The Scouring of the Shire." So I do not protest moving Saruman's death up to the conference at Orthanc. My only complaint is that in a series of movies with so many wonderful SFX, the nature of Saruman's death is nothing like in Tolkien: it's just a meat puppet dropping from a great height. It does not rank high among my disappointments in the endeavor, but it is a disappointment.

Disc 2. Like "no one tosses a dwarf," "You and whose army" is suited to Marvel Comics, not Middle-Earth. Are you really an admirer of LOTR, do you understand even the least thing about Tolkien, if you don't draw the lesson that language matters? The Shelob's Lair episode is pretty wonderful. For all of The Return of the King, I've been choosy about my quibbles. Overall, the three movies are a marvelous achievement, and magnificent to watch. Could the endeavor have been truer to the source? Yes, and ought to have been, and could have been, even with the good embellishments (and some of the embellishments are very good.) As long as I bite my figurative lip here and there, I enjoy it greatly. One mildly funny thing is, in his Gimli make-up/costume, Jn Rhys-Davies fakes me out completely. I do not see Indiana Jones' buddy Sallah.