Last Movie You Watched

[haydnguy]

Dancing at Lughnasa. A 1998 film starring Meryl Streep. I decent film with the setting in Ireland.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Yes, that is the first one people mention. I don't know why, but it never grabbed me as much as some of his others. But of course it's great.

We agree yet again (this has to stop).  Even Osu referred to it somewhat self-deprecatingly as melodramatic.  I was glad to listen to the commentary on Criterion which added considerably to my appreciation of Tokyo Story.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Perhaps I meant an Ouzu project?
No, seriously, I keep making vows to work myself through the works of different directors (as well as I can depending on availability). This year I started on Ozu as well as Hitchcock. A viewing project in a similar fashion as listening to let's say the Haydn symphonies. Playing with the idea of Agnes Varda as well.         On that note, it would be interesting if we formed a film club here. We could have a weekly poll on the film we would watch and then discuss it the week after in separate threads...     

THAT is a good idea, Moonfish!  To facilitate participation, we could publish the film list well in advance to allow time for more GMGers to secure copies (through purchase, loan, Netflix, public libraries) of the titles to be placed under our film club's 'intense critical scrutiny.'   

[Bogey]

THAT is a good idea, Moonfish!  To facilitate participation, we could publish the film list well in advance to allow time for more GMGers to secure copies (through purchase, loan, Netflix, public libraries) of the titles to be placed under our film club's 'intense critical scrutiny.' 

I would participate.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

That's a great film! Gosh I love them all. It's hard to say which I love best.
Green Ray, Tale of Winter, The Friend of My Friend, Good Marriage, Four Adventures, Tale of Autumn, Perceval, Aviator's Wife...They are all masterpieces.

Ce sont de très beaux films!  The Friend of My Friend (L'ami de mon amie") is known as Boyfriends and Girlfriends in the English-speaking world. 

[milk]

Ce sont de très beaux films!  The Friend of My Friend (L'ami de mon amie") is known as Boyfriends and Girlfriends in the English-speaking world.

That film has such a weird quality to it. I have to re-watch it. It's like he was particularly interested in artificiality or something in that one. In a way (ok I'm stretching on this one), it could almost be science fiction. I like the idea that maybe we as the audience can see in the characters what they cannot. But many people will not dig deep enough under the surface perhaps. It's just that on the surface it could be a daytime soap. But underneath it there is a whole world of questions and meanings. Also, this film belies the notion that Rohmer is all talk. It may be partially about talking but not about what they say. The discourse of the film is not what they say at all. Unlike My Night With Maud, here Rohmer shows everything while the content of what they say is negligible...if I'm remembering correctly. At a certain point I got so obsessed with Rohmer that I spent a few years trying to write and direct films. None of them turned out very well unfortunately. Recently there are more filmmakers in the States admitting to his influence. But no one has his depth, his sublimity.     

[Todd]

The Lone Ranger.  This movie got bad reviews and flopped, and it's easy to see why, but to some extent I think at least a few reviewers rather missed all or part of the point.  Gore Verbinski is a subversive filmmaker who somehow got a huge budget to make this really rather dark film with homages to films past.  There are some grim scenes mixed into this family-friendly Disney (!) film – some cannibalism and genocide, for instance – and surreal scenes pop up out of nowhere on multiple occasions.  The overall plot, which is completely conventional and predictable, seems largely irrelevant, and the actors are often irrelevant, too.  The first half hour is a bloated, vastly scaled mess, or at least that's what it appears to be until it culminates in a massive, ridiculous set piece involving a train and all manner of unrealistic happenings.  Pretty much all of the action scenes that follow are the same.  Verbinski seems to be mocking big budget films using a big budget film as his tool.  Film homages come up frequently, and I know I missed some, or maybe most, of them.  I dare say that film buffs, especially fans of westerns, would spot more than I did, but it was hard to miss the reference to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in one scene involving silver, or The Bridge of the River Kwai in one involving a bridge, or a couple spoken references to Koyaanisqatsi.  And though it references no specific movie, Barry Pepper's proud Army officer is clearly a film version of George Custer.  I had some misgivings about Johnny Depp playing a Comanche going in – at least the TV show used an actual Native Canadian – but after seeing the film, it is irrelevant; Depp's name was needed to get this thing made, and while Depp isn't particularly good, he's in on the joke.  This is not a great or even very good film, but it was not what I expected, and may benefit from a second viewing at some point.

[Bogey]

Loved the above, Todd!  One of my favorite "summer movies" ever.

[George]

Nice dark humor and suspense on this intense new flick.

[Moonfish]

THAT is a good idea, Moonfish!  To facilitate participation, we could publish the film list well in advance to allow time for more GMGers to secure copies (through purchase, loan, Netflix, public libraries) of the titles to be placed under our film club's 'intense critical scrutiny.' 

Ahh, I like your enthusiasm Zauberdrachen! So perhaps either a director or, alternatively, a theme or random "classical" films ranging the silent films to the present, that then are voted on by members. As you suggested a list for the "season/quarter"(?) can then be posted to allow access/acquisition etc. This would shape a template for discussing films on a weekly (biweekly?) basis depending on participation. It seems like fun to me....   

I used to be a member in a film circle in college. It was a very cool creation in which each weekday had a theme. One could buy access to these themes or go all the way out and purchase a full membership. Needless to say (being a film maniac) I was always getting the full membership and this opened the path to loving film. I watched directors such as Herzog and Fassbinder - films that never ever showed in the local movie theaters that were a bit Hollywood oriented even though this was in Europe.  Anyway, I think it would be a blast to have some bright and friendly GMG company moving through the realm of film.

[Moonfish]

I would participate.

Yay! I always enjoy reading your posts in this thread. I noticed how many classics that are now available via Amazon prime. Does Netflix provide a similar spectrum nowadays or have they gone bonkers on TV shows?

[Ken B]

Yay! I always enjoy reading your posts in this thread. I noticed how many classics that are now available via Amazon prime. Does Netflix provide a similar spectrum nowadays or have they gone bonkers on TV shows?

After 15 years as a customer I think I am going to drop NF. But I don't do DVDs any more, just streaming. (Opposite of music.)  Prime is better for streaming and then there's all the for purchase stuff for streaming.

[Moonfish]

After 15 years as a customer I think I am going to drop NF. But I don't do DVDs any more, just streaming. (Opposite of music.)  Prime is better for streaming and then there's all the for purchase stuff for streaming.

Yes, I dropped NF two years ago as I noticed that I almost never used the service. A prime is a better combo for me. It is pretty amazing how the quality of streaming has increased over the last few years as well as the access to a broad spectrum of film/shows. I sense how different the media realm will be in 10-20 years. I suspect I will remain a person with one leg in each world as I desperately hold on to my cd/dvd collection at the same time as I take advantage of the streaming. So strange to think that dvd/blu ray will be viewed as 78s one day soon....

[Bogey]

Yay! I always enjoy reading your posts in this thread. I noticed how many classics that are now available via Amazon prime. Does Netflix provide a similar spectrum nowadays or have they gone bonkers on TV shows?

Funny you should ask this.  Indeed they do. See, Amazon has quite a few for streaming.  So does Netflix and some here do not overlap.  The key to having both though is the the actual dvds that you can get from Netflix without buying them.  Some lesser known ones like


This one was nominated for Best Picture in 1929.  A copy of a used one costs $37!  Amazon or NF does not have it for streaming, but Netflix has it for rental. 

Then you start getting into the quality of the transfer.  I tried to watch this the other day and had to stop:



Then there is always TCM.  I get their monthly guide and read through it for one that I have not seen or are not yet available.  For example, Mysterious Island from 1929 plays on their from time to time and I have yet to see a copy for sale.

[Moonfish]

Funny you should ask this.  Indeed they do. See, Amazon has quite a few for streaming.  So does Netflix and some here do not overlap.  The key to having both though is the the actual dvds that you can get from Netflix without buying them.  Some lesser known ones like


This one was nominated for Best Picture in 1929.  A copy of a used one costs $37!  Amazon or NF does not have it for streaming, but Netflix has it for rental. 

Then you start getting into the quality of the transfer.  I tried to watch this the other day and had to stop:



Then there is always TCM.  I get their monthly guide and read through it for one that I have not seen or are not yet available.  For example, Mysterious Island from 1929 plays on their from time to time and I have yet to see a copy for sale.

Hmm, you are making a good point. Perhaps it is worthwhile to have both prime and NF while being busily engaged in watching film. One can always easily back out from NF with the monthly subscription.

[Bogey]

Put up five movies on a poll that Amazon and Netflix allow for streaming and let's pick one, Moon. 

[Cato]

This arrives on Tuesday:

[asin]B00HS6DTTS[/asin]

...and apparently contains both the 112-minute and 2-hour-43 minute versions, the former on Blu-Ray, the latter on DVD.  Check the back of the box, when you go to Amazon.

An epic of warfare that seems intimate like a smaller film.  The late Roger Ebert is quoted as saying it was the greatest "B-war-movie" ever made: "A-war-movies" are about the warfare in his opinion, but "B-war-movies" deal with the soldiers.

[Bogey]

This arrives on Tuesday:

[asin]B00HS6DTTS[/asin]

...and apparently contains both the 112-minute and 2-hour-43 minute versions, the former on Blu-Ray, the latter on DVD.  Check the back of the box, when you go to Amazon.

An epic of warfare that seems intimate like a smaller film.  The late Roger Ebert is quoted as saying it was the greatest "B-war-movie" ever made: "A-war-movies" are about the warfare in his opinion, but "B-war-movies" deal with the soldiers.

I did not catch when you jumped to blus.  Enjoying them?

[Ken B]

Funny you should ask this.  Indeed they do. See, Amazon has quite a few for streaming.  So does Netflix and some here do not overlap.  The key to having both though is the the actual dvds that you can get from Netflix without buying them.  Some lesser known ones like


This one was nominated for Best Picture in 1929.  A copy of a used one costs $37!  Amazon or NF does not have it for streaming, but Netflix has it for rental. 

Then you start getting into the quality of the transfer.  I tried to watch this the other day and had to stop:



Then there is always TCM.  I get their monthly guide and read through it for one that I have not seen or are not yet available.  For example, Mysterious Island from 1929 plays on their from time to time and I have yet to see a copy for sale.

The Kennel has been digitally restored I believe. It's a taut snappy fast-moving mystery, better than the book. Look who directed.

[Bogey]

The Kennel has been digitally restored I believe. It's a taut snappy fast-moving mystery, better than the book. Look who directed.

If the stream is the restored, then they better give it another try.  I will try to find a hard copy to rent.  Nice call on the director!