Last Movie You Watched

[George]

Finished up with the fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  So reliably funny.

Indeed!

[milk]

With the simplest of concepts and sparest of techniques, Robert Bresson made one of the most suspenseful jailbreak films of all time in A Man Escaped. Based on the memoirs of an imprisoned French resistance leader, this unbelievably taut and methodical marvel follows the fictional Fontaine's single-minded pursuit of freedom, detailing the planning and carrying out of his escape with gripping precision. But Bresson's film is not merely process-minded—it's a work of intense spirituality and humanity.

[asin]B00AQ6J3AG[/asin]

One of the greatest films ever made. So, what's the explanation for James posting this way? I see it's been brought up before but I haven't seen a real explanation. Does he work for Criterion or something? ...I probably missed the answers and comments surrounding these phenomena.

[Ken B]

the famous Romanian-born actor, Edward G. Robinson.

He invented the pen.

[drogulus]

     Last night I watched one of the great movies of the '70s, Sorcerer, directed by William Friedkin. I understand he feels this is his best film. No worries, it is, and as time passes more and more discerning viewers will agree.

     

     

     

     

[Bogey]

Agreed:  Fun movie and good score.

Ditto.  Catch Me If You Can is one of Williams' finest scores IMO.

Coming soon (NOV):

[North Star]

Yesterday, first viewing of NORTH BY NORTHWEST. Great movie, but doesn't quite join the ranks of PSYCHO and VERTIGO in my estimation, probably because it doesn't feel as unique/original (but of course it would have been slightly different to have seen it when it was new).

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday, first viewing of NORTH BY NORTHWEST. Great movie, but doesn't quite join the ranks of PSYCHO and VERTIGO in my estimation[....]

That's fair;  I guess I just find it an enjoyable yarn, and the score is cracking fun.  Sentimental attachment!

Thread duty:  Last night, Jaws.  I'd never seen the whole thing from start to finish.  Asked my wife afterwards, "Do you feel you needed to?"  In the big scheme of things, probably not.  Dreyfuss, while still not what I should call a fine actor, was perfect for the role.  There are other movies for which John Williams's score is magnificently well voiced;  but in this movie, I found the character of the music in a couple of places poorly judged, or it may be, a little facile.

Also last night:  Batman Begins. It so transpired that the missus watched the whole movie with me (a little unusual, as she does not, as a rule, have my patience with watching movies).  When I saw the closing credits roll, I chided myself for not recognizing Rutger Hauer!  By a wide margin, the best acting in the movie was Michael Caine.

[milk]

That's fair;  I guess I just find it an enjoyable yarn, and the score is cracking fun.  Sentimental attachment!

Thread duty:  Last night, Jaws.  I'd never seen the whole thing from start to finish.  Asked my wife afterwards, "Do you feel you needed to?"  In the big scheme of things, probably not.  Dreyfuss, while still not what I should call a fine actor, was perfect for the role.  There are other movies for which John Williams's score is magnificently well voiced;  but in this movie, I found the character of the music in a couple of places poorly judged, or it may be, a little facile.

Also last night:  Batman Begins. It so transpired that the missus watched the whole movie with me (a little unusual, as she does not, as a rule, have my patience with watching movies).  When I saw the closing credits roll, I chided myself for not recognizing Rutger Hauer!  By a wide margin, the best acting in the movie was Michael Caine.

Is it just that Jaws is dated? Some stuff has a short shelf-life whereas other stuff is timeless. Spielberg has always been pretty manipulative and I wonder if he just went overboard.

[Karl Henning]

Probably dated . . . the cartoonish mayor who refuses to close the beach until there's too much of a body count to ignore, e.g.  Not (I do not think) a great movie, and I have less than no interest in the sequels.  I love Michael Caine's remark about whichever of the sequels he was in, to the effect of, "I'm told it was dreadful, but I do like the house it bought me very much."

[SonicMan46]

Ditto.  Catch Me If You Can is one of Williams' finest scores IMO.

Coming soon (NOV):

Thanks for the 'heads up' on the above!  I've owned that film on VHS tape, now on DVD, which will soon be replaced w/ the BD on release (expect good reviews w/ Criterion doing the re-mastering) - Dave

[SonicMan46]

I bought & watched a stunning blu ray transfer of Jaws last year. Still love it, such a classic. In fact, within our home theater we have the movie poster framed and up on one of the walls.

Agree w/ the above - I replaced my DVD of Jaws w/ the BD recently - the video and particularly the sound are spectacular on a HDTV; review HERE for those who might be interested.  Dave

[milk]

Probably dated . . . the cartoonish mayor who refuses to close the beach until there's too much of a body count to ignore, e.g.  Not (I do not think) a great movie, and I have less than no interest in the sequels.  I love Michael Caine's remark about whichever of the sequels he was in, to the effect of, "I'm told it was dreadful, but I do like the house it bought me very much."

I'm interested in why some things become dated and others not so much. A lot of comedy becomes dated quickly. But the Marx Brothers still seem pretty funny to me. Obviously there are aspects of most old movies that seem a little dated, especially the way extra-diegetic music is used. I guess it's the difference between hackneyed and not hackneyed. Or maybe it's just that the stock characters have changed with the times.

[North Star]

That's fair;  I guess I just find it an enjoyable yarn, and the score is cracking fun.  Sentimental attachment!

Well, you're making my post look like I didn't enjoy the film very much, score & all, when I just said that I didn't quite reach the heights of two of the greatest masterpieces of cinema, and that there have been more similar movies made after it. Not every string quartet movement can be Große Fuge.

[Karl Henning]

Well, you're making my post look like I didn't enjoy the film very much, score & all, when I just said that I didn't quite reach the heights of two of the greatest masterpieces of cinema, and that there have been more similar movies made after it. Not every string quartet movement can be Große Fuge.

Sorry if I seemed to re-color your comment!

I'm interested in why some things become dated and others not so much. A lot of comedy becomes dated quickly. But the Marx Brothers still seem pretty funny to me.

One one hand (vaudeville obviously no longer a "living" tradition), there are elements of the Marx Bros which are perforce "date" . . . but I agree:  their work remains wonderfully fresh and witty.

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:

Last night, Valkyrie with Tom Cruise, Ken Branagh (and, I feel certain, at least two fellow castmembers from "Branagh's" Shackleton).  Apart from the flick starting off on something of (literally) a sour note with Tom Cruise's voice-over in German (to my ear he sounded a bit too much like an American actor trying to speak German . . . would be interested to hear a native German speaker's impression), a thrilling account of the (final) unsuccessful attempt on Hitler's life.  Honestly, I did not anticipate liking the movie so very well.

[Karl Henning]

Agree w/ the above - I replaced my DVD of Jaws w/ the BD recently - the video and particularly the sound are spectacular on a HDTV; review HERE for those who might be interested.  Dave

Oh, I had no complaint with the image or sound quality

[Jaakko Keskinen]

You either hate this movie or you love it. I love it. It's stupid as hell, I admit but it has much of so crosses the line twice-kind of overblown hysterical hilarity in it that I like it anyway. Even at it's worst it is so bad it's good. And I just can't get over this one line:

"Take this honky out and waste him!"

Of course this movie is also a bit of racist but it really doesn't distract that much. This movie, and Moore's Bond films in general can be seen to me as a guilty pleasure. Many of them are overblown, more of Austin Powers-like parody than what people think when they hear the name James Bond but they are, to me, highly enjoyable. Of course there is movie like for your eyes only which is a bit more serious, and I don't know whether that is the reason it is my least favorite Moore Bond flick. I guess it is hard for me to take Moore seriously. He looks much younger than Connery in this film yet he is a few years older, IIRC. Although by View to a kill you could really see that he was getting too old. That movie and Moore's performance were quite good though, it just was a bit distracting when he resembled more of Bond's father than Bond himself.

Oh and the theme song, hell yeah. Kind of ironic that Paul Mccartney would make a Bond song considering how in Goldfinger Bond Mocked the beatles.

[Karl Henning]

You either hate this movie or you love it. I love it. It's stupid as hell, I admit but it has much of so crosses the line twice-kind of overblown hysterical hilarity in it that I like it anyway. Even at it's worst it is so bad it's good. And I just can't get over this one line:

"Take this honky out and waste him!"

Of course this movie is also a bit of racist but it really doesn't distract that much. This movie, and Moore's Bond films in general can be seen to me as a guilty pleasure. Many of them are overblown, more of Austin Powers-like parody than what people think when they hear the name James Bond but they are, to me, highly enjoyable. Of course there is movie like for your eyes only which is a bit more serious, and I don't know whether that is the reason it is my least favorite Moore Bond flick. I guess it is hard for me to take Moore seriously. He looks much younger than Connery in this film yet he is a few years older, IIRC. Although by View to a kill you could really see that he was getting too old. That movie and Moore's performance were quite good though, it just was a bit distracting when he resembled more of Bond's father than Bond himself.

Oh and the theme song, hell yeah. Kind of ironic that Paul Mccartney would make a Bond song considering how in Goldfinger Bond Mocked the beatles.

All the vehicular chases are good fun . . . I saw the movie when it opened.  My brother recently read the Ian Fleming novel, which is unendurably racist.  Gotta love Yaphet Kotto (whom I've recently seen in an award-winning Night Gallery story).

A secondary "Can I bear this?" artifact:  the Guns 'n' Roses cover of the title song, used in Grosse Pointe Blank.  Good grief, there are really people who think Axl Rose is a good singer?!

[Brian]

My brother recently read the Ian Fleming novel, which is unendurably racist.

The Fleming novels were on Kindle sale for $2 last year. I got 7, but only made it through three of them because they were all so disturbingly sexist. I'm not surprised they're racist too.

[Karl Henning]

The Fleming novels were on Kindle sale for $2 last year. I got 7, but only made it through three of them because they were all so disturbingly sexist. I'm not surprised they're racist too.

Well, so far as I know, the charge of racism applies particularly (possibly uniquely) to Live and Let Die.