Last Movie You Watched

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Started watching The Constant Gardener last night which I was enjoying overall, but then decided that I needed something lighter and I switched to Kungfu Panda.  I know, quite the change!

Will probably go back and finish watching the end of it.

PD

[Karl Henning]

Now that I've worked it out, The French Connection. A great gritty snapshot of the seamy underside of 1970 New York (a view I don't feel much nostalgia for.) Enjoyed it a great deal. A damned shame that "Frog One" gave them the slip. And of course, the poor actor who didn't realize he was an accomplice until he was about to be nicked spent four years up the river.

[relm1]

Time Bandits (1981), dir. Terry Gilliam.  This fantasy film starts off a bit silly and unsure but ends strong.  Crazy good cast too, including such luminaries as Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Sir Ralph Richardson, Kenny Baker (R2D2 from Star Wars), a wonderfully villainous David Warner though most of them except Baker and Warner have very brief parts.  The first two thirds feels incredibly low budget but the last third is full of large and visually imaginative sets, special effects, and strong sense of danger from the wonderfully villainous David Warner.  You get the impression Terry Gilliam's imagination was uncontainable.  One story telling flaw is from the climax where we have a text book example of ex machina.  Warner is so evil and powerful that he overpowers every effort the valiant heroes attempt to contain him including using the finest troops and weaponry time has to offer.  After all this fails, the previously unintroduced divine being (god) appears and magically sets all things right.  Apart from that, by the end of the film, I very much enjoyed it and became fully engrossed.  The characters and story are deeply endearing.  Interestingly, the end song was written and sung by ex-Beetle, George Harrison who also produced the film. 

[Karl Henning]

Time Bandits (1981), dir. Terry Gilliam.  This fantasy film starts off a bit silly and unsure but ends strong.  Crazy good cast too, including such luminaries as Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Sir Ralph Richardson, Kenny Baker (R2D2 from Star Wars), a wonderfully villainous David Warner though most of them except Baker and Warner have very brief parts.  The first two thirds feels incredibly low budget but the last third is full of large and visually imaginative sets, special effects, and strong sense of danger from the wonderfully villainous David Warner.  You get the impression Terry Gilliam's imagination was uncontainable.  One story telling flaw is from the climax where we have a text book example of ex machina.  Warner is so evil and powerful that he overpowers every effort the valiant heroes attempt to contain him including using the finest troops and weaponry time has to offer.  After all this fails, the previously unintroduced divine being (god) appears and magically sets all things right.  Apart from that, by the end of the film, I very much enjoyed it and became fully engrossed.  The characters and story are deeply endearing.  Interestingly, the end song was written and sung by ex-Beetle, George Harrison who also produced the film. 

Fun film. Nice review!

[Karl Henning]

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Since I do not dislike Crystal Skull and indeed like quite a bit of it, let me say that I like the last movie even better. In fact, I'm very pleasantly surprised at how good a job they made of it. They had me wondering for a bit if they really would leave Indy back with Archimedes, and that question was settled in a completely satisfactory manner. Mads Mikkelsen made an excellent Nazi villain. And I saw Antonio Banderas' name in the credits, but I'm not sure I know which character he played, which of course is the best compliment one can pay an actor.

[LKB]

Time Bandits (1981), dir. Terry Gilliam.  This fantasy film starts off a bit silly and unsure but ends strong.  Crazy good cast too, including such luminaries as Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Sir Ralph Richardson, Kenny Baker (R2D2 from Star Wars), a wonderfully villainous David Warner though most of them except Baker and Warner have very brief parts.  The first two thirds feels incredibly low budget but the last third is full of large and visually imaginative sets, special effects, and strong sense of danger from the wonderfully villainous David Warner.  You get the impression Terry Gilliam's imagination was uncontainable.  One story telling flaw is from the climax where we have a text book example of ex machina.  Warner is so evil and powerful that he overpowers every effort the valiant heroes attempt to contain him including using the finest troops and weaponry time has to offer.  After all this fails, the previously unintroduced divine being (god) appears and magically sets all things right.  Apart from that, by the end of the film, I very much enjoyed it and became fully engrossed.  The characters and story are deeply endearing.  Interestingly, the end song was written and sung by ex-Beetle, George Harrison who also produced the film. 

Time Bandits is noteworthy for another reason, if memory serves: It contains the very first use of CGI special effects, in the scene with the animated stained-glass windows.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks for the suggestion @drogulus regarding that series.

Haven't heard of Tubi before now, so thanks for mentioning it.

And, yes, Youtube's ads can drive you nuts! 

PD

Found it!

[DavidW]

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Since I do not dislike Crystal Skull and indeed like quite a bit of it, let me say that I like the last movie even better. In fact, I'm very pleasantly surprised at how good a job they made of it. They had me wondering for a bit if they really would leave Indy back with Archimedes, and that question was settled in a completely satisfactory manner. Mads Mikkelsen made an excellent Nazi villain. And I saw Antonio Banderas' name in the credits, but I'm not sure I know which character he played, which of course is the best compliment one can pay an actor.

Okay I have disney plus, I'll give it a shot.  My reaction from the trailer is Indy is way too old for this.  An octogenarian is no longer meant to be an action hero.

[drogulus]

    I rewatched K-19: The Widowmaker, the quasi-true story of a Soviet nuclear sub in 1961 that almost blew up from a reactor coolant leak.

[Karl Henning]

Okay I have disney plus, I'll give it a shot.  My reaction from the trailer is Indy is way too old for this.  An octogenarian is no longer meant to be an action hero.

I had the same reaction to the trailer, months since. I allowed my disbelief to be suspended and I rolled with it.

[SimonNZ]

Dune Part 2

An interesting contradiction I don't think I've felt in a film before: a three-hour film that felt like it was five hours, but which I wished had been much longer.

An interesting change from the books is that Alia's role in the film is entirely within the womb, with only a flash-forward vision of a future Anya Taylor Joy.

[Karl Henning]

Dune Part 2

An interesting contradiction I don't think I've felt in a film before: a three-hour film that felt like it was five hours, but which I wished had been much longer.

An interesting change from the books is that Alia's role in the film is entirely within the womb, with only a flash-forward vision of a future Anya Taylor Joy.

I'm finally getting around to Part I this week.

[Cato]

In recent days...from 1995!






And an underground favorite: from a failed science-fiction T.V. show, yet one that has an "underground" following!





Based upon the T.V. series Firefly, which we (Mrs. Cato and I) can also recommend.

[SimonNZ]

And an underground favorite: from a failed science-fiction T.V. show, yet one that has an "underground" following!





Based upon the T.V. series Firefly, which we (Mrs. Cato and I) can also recommend.

A big "like" there for one of my favorites. Seen it five or six times now. So much fun.

"I'll kill a man in a fair fight...or if I think he's going to start a fair fight."

[Cato]

And an underground favorite: from a failed science-fiction T.V. show, yet one that has an "underground" following!





Based upon the T.V. series Firefly, which we (Mrs. Cato and I) can also recommend.

A big "like" there for one of my favorites. Seen it five or six times now. So much fun.

"I'll kill a man in a fair fight...or if I think he's going to start a fair fight."

Yes, a great line!   


This movie stands in contrast to the tedious stuff cranked out today!

[DavidW]

A big "like" there for one of my favorites. Seen it five or six times now. So much fun.

"I'll kill a man in a fair fight...or if I think he's going to start a fair fight."

I've always loved this scene from Firefly, I actually remembered it all this time:

[Cato]

A wise-guy comedy with Steve Martin:





Based on a character created for television in the 1950's by comedian Phil Silvers: a fast-talking con man making a career in the Army pay much better than it should!

[Karl Henning]

Dial of Destiny II: The Search for Antonio Banderas.

[Cato]

Dial of Destiny II: The Search for Antonio Banderas.

The Puss-in-Boots movies contain some of Antonio's best work!

[VonStupp]

A wise-guy comedy with Steve Martin:

Based on a character created for television in the 1950's by comedian Phil Silvers: a fast-talking con man making a career in the Army pay much better than it should!

My wife will occasionally salute ala Sgt. Bilko. She thinks it is hilarious!
VS