Last Movie You Watched

[hopefullytrusting]

Chief of Station



I've not looked this up, but it wouldn't surprise me if Aaron Eckhart produced this film (and Classified) because who else would buy (confuse) him with Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt (this film tries to ape/imp the last Die Hard, lol)?

Honestly, I don't fault him for it - I mean Chris Rock got a Saw movie made (Spiral) just because he had the juice to get it made - the very definition of a vanity project.

It is a fun watch (see my previous post in this thread, as this movie is of the same type) - the sole difference, Michelle is way easier to view as a badass than Aaron, so this does require a larger suspension of disbelief. Also, this film seems more self-aware of its silliness, which actually works against it (example, Mosquito works as a film because the actors take their roles seriously, so they are playing the part and not "acting" the role) because of that this film can come off as a bit smug and up its own ass, so it is near the bottom tier of the genre.

[Mister Sharpe]

"Cow," Andrea Arnold's first documentary film, tracks the last years of Luma, #201699, a milking cow in England, during which she gives birth twice, has her babies taken away from her for sale elsewhere (she's not happy about this), spends most of her days amid muck and feces, gets occasional respites outside in grassy fields where she chows down avidly on fresh grass - even this idyll is hardly idyllic - hordes of flies descend upon her and the rest of the herd, until finally - worn out, ailing and no longer productive - she's administered a bolt to the brain.  According to an animal rights review I read of the film, the dairy in question is kinder than most.  Throughout the film, pop music is broadcast over the cowshed's PA system; often the lyrics relate wryly to what's happening on screen. No doubt the music helps keep the animals docile and manageable, rather like it does us.

[Karl Henning]

"Cow," Andrea Arnold's first documentary film, tracks the last years of Luma, #201699, a milking cow in England, during which she gives birth twice, has her babies taken away from her for sale elsewhere (she's not happy about this), spends most of her days amid muck and feces, gets occasional respites outside in grassy fields where she chows down avidly on fresh grass - even this idyll is hardly idyllic - hordes of flies descend upon her and the rest of the herd, until finally - worn out, ailing and no longer productive - she's administered a bolt to the brain.  According to an animal rights review I read of the film, the dairy in question is kinder than most.  Throughout the film, pop music is broadcast over the cowshed's PA system; often the lyrics relate wryly to what's happening on screen. No doubt the music helps keep the animals docile and manageable, rather like it does us.

I watched this a while ago, too, chancing to find it at the Library.
TD: I watched Buckaroo Banzai again last night. And ya know what? I may watch it yet again tonight.

[Mister Sharpe]

I watched this a while ago, too, chancing to find it at the Library.
TD: I watched Buckaroo Banzai again last night. And ya know what? I may watch it yet again tonight.

If you enjoyed Cow (admittedly, enjoy is not le mot juste), you might like Eo even better.

[Mister Sharpe]

I love film noir. The wonder is that I don't watch it as much as I ought or have the inclination to!  This is a good'un from 1950 and from the opening sequence you know you're in the hands of masters.  Thought to be irretrievably lost (except for crummy VHS transfers) in Universal's catastrophic 2008 fire, it was restored in 2015 from a negative found at the British Film Institute.

 

[Karl Henning]

Last night, again...
Robin Hood: Men in Tights

[Karl Henning]

I had no actual intention of watching Timothée Chalamet as Dylan in A Complete Unknown. It's rather a cheeky endeavor, making a movie about a living musical legend. But, finding the blu-ray on the Library's New Acquisitions table, methought Why not?
Overall I found it feel-good viewing. I had no idea about his correspondence with Johnny Cash, but, of course, it oughtn't to surprise at all. And I enjoyed the dramatization of l'Affaire Newport, of which I have long been peripherally aware. Were those really the three songs he performed? That's exactly the sort of readily verified fact which a movie's liberties should leave intact, but you understand why I pose the q. They were perfect for the moment, especially the fed-up defiance of "Maggie's Farm" and the valedictory "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."

[Karl Henning]

A Beautiful Mind. Had to watch again, informed by my first viewing. 

[drogulus]

I love film noir. The wonder is that I don't watch it as much as I ought or have the inclination to!

    I recommend Gun crazy and Born to Kill.

[relm1]

I had no actual intention of watching Timothée Chalamet as Dylan in A Complete Unknown. It's rather a cheeky endeavor, making a movie about a living musical legend. But, finding the blu-ray on the Library's New Acquisitions table, methought Why not?
Overall I found it feel-good viewing. I had no idea about his correspondence with Johnny Cash, but, of course, it oughtn't to surprise at all. And I enjoyed the dramatization of l'Affaire Newport, of which I have long been peripherally aware. Were those really the three songs he performed? That's exactly the sort of readily verified fact which a movie's liberties should leave intact, but you understand why I pose the q. They were perfect for the moment, especially the fed-up defiance of "Maggie's Farm" and the valedictory "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."

I'm by no means an expert but I understand that really happened.  This wasn't just a folk festival, this was the premiere folk festival, and it seems like that was a spontaneous decision made that day as an FU to the administrators and crowd as he believed they made a condescending remark about his artistry and performers he respected.

Here is a clip and check out the reaction at the end. 

They hated it.  Exactly how he wished they would. 

[Mister Sharpe]

I recommend Gun crazy and Born to Kill.

Thanks, drogulus, will seek them out.

[Mister Sharpe]

Surprisingly entertaining, mostly thanks to Lucille Ball and George Sanders (who can forget him as Uncle Neddy in "Ghost & Mrs. Muir"?).  A crazed serial murderer with a taste for poetry is dispatching women with fierce regularity in London.  Ball is enlisted by Scotland Yard to serve as bait but manages to secure a fiancé, homme fatal Sanders, or is he actually the murderer? Fascinatingly, the perp is found to be, according to the Chief Inspector, "studiously copying the style of Baudelaire, one of the most fantastic madmen who ever lived." No doubt some francophobia makes Baudelaire seem more insane than the versing madmen England produced!     

[Florestan]

A Beautiful Mind. Had to watch again, informed by my first viewing.

One of the best movies ever made. The diamond in Russel Kirk's crown.

My two cents, of course.

[Karl Henning]

One of the best movies ever made. The diamond in Russel Kirk's crown.

My two cents, of course.

An excellent performance!

[hopefullytrusting]

Watched this movie because I found the cover so ridiculous: American Heart starring Bridges and Furlong



Imagine the "creative" minds of Con Air trying to remake The 400 Blows, and you will have a good sense of this film.

Not worth it at all.

The cover of is the high point of the movie.

It also has one of the worst ending songs I've ever heard, so that fits the overall trend of the film.

Also, Crowe's crowing achievement is The Insider.

[Karl Henning]

Parasite. Had I known that the story is so utterly otherwise than the notion I got from the title, I should have watched this long ago. Another disc in this set is a b&w version of the movie. Will watch that before I need to return it to the Library. 

[brewski]

Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (2024) by the Quay Brothers, and incredible. Here's the NYT review (gift link), and an even better appreciation after the premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

The amazing score and sound design are by Tim Nelson, who incorporated excerpts from Alfred Schnittke's music to the 1967 film, Die Kommisarin.

[Karl Henning]

Having wrapped up a project on my desk, I'll celebrate by watching Parasite with the commentary. 

[Karl Henning]

Having wrapped up a project on my desk, I'll celebrate by watching Parasite with the commentary.

And now, wrapping up the affair: the b/w version of the movie.

[Todd]

The Big Red One – aka, Proto-Saving Private Ryan, in its The Reconstruction guise.  I last saw this movie forty-whatever years ago, in its original, shorter form, and the only memories I had were some battle scenes from North Africa and the shocking scene of Luke Skywalker shooting a Nazi right in the face, over and over, in a death camp.  At the time, movies this work influenced were still years away.  And the influence is obvious.  Spielberg not only ripped off the hero's journey structure and bloody D-Day waves for Saving Private Ryan, he also ripped off the use of the color red in an otherwise black and white sequence for Schindler's List.  Kubrick obviously took inspiration in the decorated helmet and the sniper scene for Full Metal Jacket.  Oliver Stone took multiple ideas for Platoon.  So, the film had artistic impact.

The movie opens with heavy screen presence Lee Marvin fighting in the Great War, segues to the division's invasion of Algeria, and follows it along its journey to a death camp in Czechoslovakia, with stops in Tunis, Sicily, and Belgium along the way.  It follows a ragtag group of young soldiers led by Mr Marvin, with nepo baby Robert Carradine the stand-in for director Samuel Fuller, who wrote the script based on his experiences in the titular division.  Low budget, the film relies on stand-in physical locations and practical effects only, which is refreshing. 

The plot and storytelling is ragged and jagged, the dialogue often stilted, with some lines of striking directness and bluntness.  In one scene, a soldier asks "[d]id I kill the guy that killed me?", a line that Erich Remarque would no doubt have approved of.  The combat scenes are low rent, but effective.  Fuller's reconstruction of D-Day looks like nothing less than a cinematic replication of Robert Capa's photos.  There's one scene of extreme gore, which clearly Spielberg built on.  The Tunis hospital scene highlights the messy, chaotic reality on the ground.  The Belgian insane asylum scene is over-the-top and operatic in a manner similar to Apocalypse Now, but condensed.  Though comparatively bloodless, the dancing crazy lady's actions come close to shocking the viewer, and would no doubt have had bigger impact in the tamer film days of 1980.  (Assuming it was in the original cut, of course.)  The death camp scene does a creditable job of conveying the unspeakable horror of what the soldiers saw, with one child the heartbreaking symbol of the evil that transpired.

Using one set twice, at the beginning and just before the death camp, the redemption arc of the story is set up.  No doubt other actors could have pulled it off, but Marvin does it just right.  Fuller does expert work here, because of course the viewer is not particularly concerned about the fate of the Nazi who ends up offering Marvin's character redemption.  And Marvin is redeemed, but without histrionics, without a grandiose speech, without bellowing or yelling.  While Marvin was perhaps not a great actor, his lived experience informs this role and he brings a very grounded reality to his character.  He's based, as kids may say today. 

The extended version of the movie exceeded expectations going in, and if it lacks the impact of better war movies – eg, the 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, Come and See, The Thin Red Line – it's harder hitting and better than I expected.