Last Movie You Watched

[SonicMan46]

That's been off my radar entirely, Dave . . . will see if we have it at the BPL!

Hi Karl - Audrey was 30 y/o and Anthony in his late 20s, both beautiful looking people in this film - but I must say that the best performances for me were the roles of Lee J. Cobb & Henry Silva (as the son of the head Indian chief in the area) - let us know if you get a chance to see the film?  Dave

[Bogey]

Like I said Dave, good....but not great on the Wayne film.  Doubt if I get a copy.  Your Alamo assessment was also spot on.  However, it would be a shame to lose the film as The Duke directed it.  Another watchable Wayne film, but neither come close to that Rio Bravo level, but then again, what does?

[Linus]

Black Sunday (1960)



Wow, this is fascinating in a way. Mario Bava, the director, has a plethora of bad ideas and a tremendous lack of talent. He couldn't create atmosphere if his cannoli depended on it.

Also, the dialogue is faux scary, the soundtrack is out of place, the acting is wooden, the editing is clumsy.

This is really a feast of awful.

(I was taken in by a well made trailer and fooled by the seemingly artful cinematography.)

[TheGSMoeller]

The trailer for South African filmmaker Neil Blomkamp's new film, Chappie. I know there are a lot of District 9 fans here that I thought would be interested, and even though his follow up film, Elysium, didn't make much noise, his new one looks to be a bit more promising.



http://www.youtube.com/v/HhNshgSYF_M

[SonicMan46]

Tonight, I watched a couple of old films from the TCM channel recorded on my DVR - one new to me & the other a re-watch after years:

Fort Dobbs (1958) w/ Clint Walker, Virginia Mayo, & Brian Keith - a western w/ some beautiful B&W scenery (Monument Valley) - I've never seen this film & Walker was not a great actor but a formidable presence (6'6" tall!) - Mayo still looks great, so a recommendation if you love westerns & Indian fights (of course, where the latter are bumped off like ants! ).

The Hanging Tree (1959) w/ Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, & George C. Scott - Coop was dead 2 years later so one of his last films - this one is worth seeing; great story and excellent cinematography - great music & vocals by Marty Robbins - this one might deserve a good blu-ray restoration - will it happen?  Highly recommended for fans of Cooper in his last years - Dave


 

 

[mc ukrneal]

Saw Kill Bill 1 and 2.

Typical Tarentino. I think he can't help himself in making bloody scenes as graphic as possible (coming up with new ways of spraying blood). What really irritated me is that the main character is supposed to be a professional killer, yet her tactics were those of a three year old! Made no sense to me. I think Uma THurman did a decent job, but the only characters I enjoyed were the brother and one-eyed Darryl Hannah in the second part. The best fight and funniest moments are with the Vivica Fox (spelling?). I don't know why he has her fight 100 people at the end of #1, which was just boring to watch.

[escher]

Black Sunday (1960)



Wow, this is fascinating in a way. Mario Bava, the director, has a plethora of bad ideas and a tremendous lack of talent. He couldn't create atmosphere if his cannoli depended on it.

Black sunday is one of his most famous movies but one of those I liked the less. Anyway "tremendous lack of talent" is something so wrong that I don't even know where to start. It's true that a lot of his movies are not that great, dull plots and stupid dialogues, but visually a lot of his movies (especially if one likes the kind of fantasies of directors like Melies, Michael Powell or Fellini) are some of the best ever seen on screen, especially when he moved from the first black and white movies to the color.
There's a reason if Fellini, Dario Argento or Lynch were influenced by him and he was admired by other big names like Scorsese or John Landis.

[SonicMan46]

Saw Kill Bill 1 and 2.

Typical Tarentino. I think he can't help himself in making bloody scenes as graphic as possible (coming up with new ways of spraying blood). What really irritated me is that the main character is supposed to be a professional killer, yet her tactics were those of a three year old! Made no sense to me. I think Uma THurman did a decent job, but the only characters I enjoyed were the brother and one-eyed Darryl Hannah in the second part. The best fight and funniest moments are with the Vivica Fox (spelling?). I don't know why he has her fight 100 people at the end of #1, which was just boring to watch.

Neal - just checked my 'Movies Seen' database - streamed (or more likely Netflix DVD rentals) both the Kill Bill films back in 2004 - rated each as a 'B' although as I recall a C+ might have been closer?  The Amazonians seem to have loved the two, i.e. overall 4.5/5* - I'd probably do a 3 1/2* there, if possible - have had no desire to see them again (and each is free on Amazon Prime for me) - Dave

NOW, not to say that I don't like looking @ Uma Thurman - even bought the second The Producers for that reason (although I prefer the older film by far) - 

[Brian]

Saw Kill Bill 1 and 2.

Typical Tarentino. I think he can't help himself in making bloody scenes as graphic as possible (coming up with new ways of spraying blood). What really irritated me is that the main character is supposed to be a professional killer, yet her tactics were those of a three year old! Made no sense to me. I think Uma THurman did a decent job, but the only characters I enjoyed were the brother and one-eyed Darryl Hannah in the second part. The best fight and funniest moments are with the Vivica Fox (spelling?). I don't know why he has her fight 100 people at the end of #1, which was just boring to watch.

I'm learning I strongly dislike Tarantino. Kill Bill was fairly entertaining, and I accepted it because it's unpretentious - just a bunch of silly gory fun. I was much less fond of both Django and Basterds. My favorite Tarantino is still Jackie Brown, because even though it's slow, it's a real movie.

[Karl Henning]

Agreed, Brian, that Django is less satisfying than Kill Bill.  And FWIW, I don't feel at all inclined to try Basterds.

[Ken B]

Agreed, Brian, that Django is less satisfying than Kill Bill.  And FWIW, I don't feel at all inclined to try Basterds.

Basterds is the best of those 4. Django is the worst.

[North Star]

I'm learning I strongly dislike Tarantino. Kill Bill was fairly entertaining, and I accepted it because it's unpretentious - just a bunch of silly gory fun. I was much less fond of both Django and Basterds. My favorite Tarantino is still Jackie Brown, because even though it's slow, it's a real movie.

Agreed on Jackie, but I liked Basterds. If any movie is a movie, it's this one. Granted, it's not 'just a bunch of silly gory fun', or unpretentious - whatever that actually means. It's not like it's 'art film' in a way that makes it impossible to watch as just a regular, silly, gory, war film.

Agreed, Brian, that Django is less satisfying than Kill Bill.  And FWIW, I don't feel at all inclined to try Basterds.

You might want to reconsider, although I won't guarantee you'll like it, Karl

[Drasko]

[Brian]

Agreed, Brian, that Django is less satisfying than Kill Bill.  And FWIW, I don't feel at all inclined to try Basterds.

Watch the first scene of Basterds, then turn it off. That's the best scene, the climactic scene, and the reason Christoph Waltz won an Oscar for being the most terrifying movie villain in, uh, a very long time. EDIT: And one of the best, most brilliantly directed scenes of any movie in the last 20 years.

Basterds is the best of those 4. Django is the worst.

I was surprised to be bored by Django. I mean, Tarantino's indulgent and obnoxious and silly, but...boring?!

[Ken B]

I was surprised to be bored by Django. I mean, Tarantino's indulgent and obnoxious and silly, but...boring?!

He's a man of many talents. Give him credit: Not many directors are quite so determined to prove their first big success was a fluke.

[Wakefield]

Watch the first scene of Basterds, then turn it off. That's the best scene, the climactic scene, and the reason Christoph Waltz won an Oscar for being the most terrifying movie villain in, uh, a very long time.

I think he had two anthological scenes there, being this the second one:

http://www.youtube.com/v/EnENQVoi-oo

[Todd]

Watch the first scene of Basterds, then turn it off.

It's probably the best single scene in any Tarantino movie.  The scene where Waltz asks Laurent questions about her theater is also excellent, with Ms Laurent more than holding her own, and she has the perfect expression when he leaves.  The bar fight scene is also superb.  Tarantino is at his best with talkative scenes.  Well, his music choices are good, too.  I mean, Cat People in a WWII flick?  Inspired.  He should make a movie devoid of violence, just to see if he can.

EDIT: I see Gordo linked a clip to most of the scene with Ms Laurent, sans her expression at the end.

[Wakefield]

The scene where Waltz asks Laurent questions about her theater is also excellent, with Ms Laurent more than holding her own, and she has the perfect expression when he leaves.  The bar fight scene is also superb.  Tarantino is at his best with talkative scenes.  Well, his music choices are good, too.  I mean, Cat People in a WWII flick?  Inspired.  He should make a movie devoid of violence, just to see if he can.

Yes, it's amazing the subtle brutality suggested under all his politeness.

She does a great work conveying her fight against fear.

[TheGSMoeller]

One of the best films I've seen in the past few years.

[Mirror Image]

I watched this the night before last:



A stunning documentary and a must-see for all fans of Britten.