Last Movie You Watched

[Leo K.]

Saw Spielberg's Lincoln. I really enjoyed it and would like to see it again.

[Lake Swan]

Creepshow

[SonicMan46]

Well, a few days ago, Susan & I made one of our rare appearances at a local movie complex to see:

Lincoln (2012) w/ Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, et al - the film is long (2 1/2 hrs) and covers a short period at the end of the Civil War w/ an emphasis on passage of the 13th amendment; rather talky and slow at times, but quite atmospheric and some excellent performances (probably liked Tommy Lee Jones the best).

Reviews:  4+/5* on Amazon (suggest reading the 2* comments for some interesting 'fisticuffs'!); 91% (8.1/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, so liked by the critics; and 8.2/10 on IMDB - the latter two equating to 4*, I guess.  Susan liked the movie more that me and would probably do at least 4* (but she is a BIG fan of Day-Lewis) - I'd probably go 3+/5*. 

Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln?  Sally is our age, i.e. mid-60s (all 3 of us born in the same year) which made her 20 yrs older that Mary Todd, but Sally has always looked younger, the make-up was good, and her round face & plumpness did resemble the appearance of Lincoln's wife.  Bottom line for me - worth seeing -

[Karl Henning]

Creepshow

Is that what they're calling The Hobbit now?!

[Lake Swan]

Is that what they're calling The Hobbit now?!

"Meteor shit!"

[Karl Henning]

Strange to say, I saw that one in the cinema back when it was first released. So that cameo was the first I had seen Stephen King himself.

[Lake Swan]

Strange to say, I saw that one in the cinema back when it was first released. So that cameo was the first I had seen Stephen King himself.

I saw him first in an American Express TV commercial.

[Karl Henning]

I'd forgotten that.  So . . . now I'm unsure.

[CaughtintheGaze]

The Dark Knight Rises. Some truly amazing cinematic moments, but largely a blah story. I think it was the weakest of the trilogy.
The Amazing Spider Man. Some truly amazing cinematic moments, but largely a blah story. I think it was easily the strongest Spider Man taking.

[SonicMan46]

I heard an interesting bit of trivia: The producers had asked James Taylor if he would be Lincoln.  He declined.  Daniel Day Lewis was their second choice!

Hi SanAntone - James Taylor -    I know Spielberg likely considered a number of actors and Day-Lewis was not his first choice, but I think the Liam Neeson was in the 'early running' for the role - could be wrong?  Dave

[Karl Henning]

Why did anyone suppose that Jas Taylor could act…?

[TheGSMoeller]

Hi SanAntone - James Taylor -    I know Spielberg likely considered a number of actors and Day-Lewis was not his first choice, but I think the Liam Neeson was in the 'early running' for the role - could be wrong?  Dave

This is correct. I remember hearing this years ago.
But then Liam became an action-star, Lincoln was too talky and slow-paced for him, he fell asleep reading the script, Liam needs constant kinetic energy nowadays. I'm pretty sure I just made that up.

[CaughtintheGaze]

This is correct. I remember hearing this years ago.
But then Liam became an action-star, Lincoln was too talky and slow-paced for him, he fell asleep reading the script, Liam needs constant kinetic energy nowadays. I'm pretty sure I just made that up.

Pretty sure Liam said that he felt he was too old to portray Lincoln.

[TheGSMoeller]

Pretty sure Liam said that he felt he was too old to portray Lincoln.

That sounds a bit more accurate.

[Octave]

Why did anyone suppose that Jas Taylor could act...?

Your point stands, though I still think Monte Hellman's TWO LANE HIGHWAY is good movie, and Taylor's Bressonian modeling in that movie is quite effective.  Now whether it's "acting".... 

[Octave]

Frank Tashlin's ARTISTS AND MODELS (1955?).  Apparently, says Jonathan Rosenbaum, an inspiration for Jacques Rivette's CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING.  I do not frequently find Lewis funny, here, but if watched as a kind of horror film, it works quite well.  Young Shirley Maclaine c. this exact time period was doing some excellent movies (cf. SOME CAME RUNNING), and I still need to do the work to see if here ingenue, innocents, and airheads are as smartly played and subversive as they seem to me now; Dean Martin is a hugely enjoyable screen presence for me, even when he is employed to play (??) assholes (cf. his character's behavior toward Shirley Maclaine's, and all women everywhere, in SOME CAME RUNNING).  His work here makes me glad for feminism, among other things.

An aspiring artist doing time on a billboard scaffold is something that turns up in the McCarey LOVE AFFAIR remake, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, the following year I think.  I wonder how frequently the art/showbiz dilemma is thematized during this period?  Stan Brakhage was doing commerical and/or ads around this time, I think.

[snyprrr]

BODY DOUBLE (1984)

Reminds me of China Blue too,... with Tony Perkins? Anyhow, BD is such a wonderful movie's movie. Wassen is such a wuss! It also reminds me of Argento.

[Lake Swan]

LOOPER was outstanding: time travel, crime thriller, drama, telekinesis, good stuff. A new favorite here.

[TheGSMoeller]

LOOPER was outstanding: time travel, crime thriller, drama, telekinesis, good stuff. A new favorite here.

Totally agree, Dave. Took a surprising turn midway through that was shockingly satisfying. Plus, I credit the filmmakers for not allowing the trailers to give away too much of the plot.

[Lake Swan]

Totally agree, Dave. Took a surprising turn midway through that was shockingly satisfying. Plus, I credit the filmmakers for not allowing the trailers to give away too much of the plot.

I actually said "Wow!" at that ending.