Last Movie You Watched

Started by Drasko, April 06, 2007, 07:51:03 AM

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71 dB

COMA (Michael Crichton, 1978) German Blu-ray

Michael Crichton is good at writing science fiction related stories with thriller/suspense elements. Some time ago I watched the movie "Runaway" (1984) written and directed by Crichton. I found the story good, but the directing messy. I thought I give him another chance with this older movie. Well, again the story had more potential than the directing has bang. Especially the scenes of drama are badly directed. Fortunately some other scenes are directed better. Jerry Goldsmith's music is surprisingly lame, but that might be due to the crappy mono sound. Genevieve Bujold in the lead role is pretty good as is Michael Douglas. Patients are put into Coma on purpose so that they organs can be sold for millionaires. Not a masterpiece of a movie, but I like movies from this era. How things look and feel.  0:)
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

Madiel

Quote from: Iota on October 22, 2021, 05:22:01 AM
On the subject of dialogue between languages, it's perhaps worth mentioning that Quisling's name became a standard word meaning traitor or collaborator in a number of languages after the war, so strong was the condemnation of his role in these events.

Yes. Though as much as anything I think his name just sounded right for that role!  ;D There's something about that word/name, quisling, that feels slimy.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

aligreto

Lady Bird





This is a rite of passage type film. Nothing remarkable here for me.

Iota

Quote from: Madiel on October 22, 2021, 10:06:34 PM
Yes. Though as much as anything I think his name just sounded right for that role!  ;D There's something about that word/name, quisling, that feels slimy.

Haha, true! In kind of queasy/drizzling territory.


Quote from: aligreto on October 23, 2021, 01:50:40 AM
Lady Bird





This is a rite of passage type film. Nothing remarkable here for me.

I agree, a disappointing film.

SonicMan46

Quote from: aligreto on October 23, 2021, 01:50:40 AM
Lady Bird


 


This is a rite of passage type film. Nothing remarkable here for me.

We streamed Lady Bird when the film became available (likely early 2018) and enjoyed, however, I have no need for a re-watch - below the award nominations and wins (much more at the link); good review on the Ebert Website for those wanting a more in-depth analysis.  For me a recommendation if the two links appeal.  Dave :)

P.S. loved the early scene above when she jumped from the car (available on You Tube).

QuoteThe film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September 2017, and was released in the United States on November 3, 2017. It received critical acclaim for Gerwig's screenplay and direction, and the performances of Ronan and Metcalf. It was considered by many critics as one of the best films of 2017 and one of the best films of the 2010s. Lady Bird was chosen by the National Board of Review, the American Film Institute, and Time magazine as one of the ten best films of the year.  At the 90th Academy Awards, it earned five nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (for Ronan), Best Supporting Actress (for Metcalf), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director. At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, the film won two awards—Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy (for Ronan)—and was nominated for two others. It was also nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. (Source)

SonicMan46

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) with the actors quoted below - just purchased the 4K version when the Amazon price dropped below $20 USD and watched last night - outstanding AV review HERE - can't believe the film is 44 years old!  I owned the BD which is just as good, although more specifics on the 4K improvements are provided in the link. Much of the production filmed at the Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming (one of the only six USA states that I've not visited) - highly recommended.  Dave :)

P.S. I had forgotten but Francois Truffaut died in 1984 at 52 years from a brain tumor. 

QuoteClose Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story of Roy Neary, an everyday blue-collar worker in Indiana, whose life changes after an encounter with an unidentified flying object (UFO).

 

John Copeland

6 Headed Shark Attack!



One of the best movies ever made!  (not)

SimonNZ

#32007


Superb but tragic and dispiriting documentary about burn victims from a nightclub fire dying unnecesatily due to corruption in the disenfectant company supplying the hospitals, which in turn exposes corruption at every level of healthcare and of the government. Strong stuff. It made for a really good conversation afterward. Remarkable access to the journalists uncovering the story and to the interim healthcare minister battling the system as best he can.

Might be worth showing to some Trumpists about what happens when unqualified cronies are put in charge of departments than then skim for their own benefit, creating a culture of cynicism, apathy and corruption at every level of the now infected system. The election scene was especially heartbreaking, showing unbelievably low turnouts from an electorate with no faith in government.

Wondering if Florestan has seem this and what he made of it with local knowledge.

LKB

Quote from: SonicMan46 on October 23, 2021, 08:54:19 AM
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) with the actors quoted below - just purchased the 4K version when the Amazon price dropped below $20 USD and watched last night - outstanding AV review HERE - can't believe the film is 44 years old!  I owned the BD which is just as good, although more specifics on the 4K improvements are provided in the link. Much of the production filmed at the Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming (one of the only six USA states that I've not visited) - highly recommended.  Dave :)

P.S. I had forgotten but Francois Truffaut died in 1984 at 52 years from a brain tumor. 

 

Four years ago, CE3K was briefly re-eleased to selected theaters which had 4k capability, a chance to revisit a film l've always been enamored of.

First l saw it at the local AMC, and l honestly saw no difference between the new release and the bluray version I'd owned for years.

Then l decided to travel a bit further, to the nearest Alamo Drafthouse theatre which was showing the film, and the difference was quite noticeable.

Moral: If it's a film you care about, the venue matters.

Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen...

SonicMan46

Dune: Part One - the new 2021 film just released - watched on HBOMax, which looked great on my 4K HDTV (not the big screen but not attending movie houses at the moment).  Obviously, quite different from the 1984 film which is about to be released as an expensive 4K version (more HERE), and of course a 'Part Two' will make this new version about 5 hours in length - but I enjoyed, however, despite the mixed reviews of the older film, the production has a brighter and often a comic feel for me.  Not sure when the second half of this 2021 beginning will appear but looking forward to a watch.  Dave :)

 

Fëanor

#32010
Quote from: SonicMan46 on October 24, 2021, 09:14:21 AM
Dune: Part One - the new 2021 film just released - watched on HBOMax, which looked great on my 4K HDTV (not the big screen but not attending movie houses at the moment).  Obviously, quite different from the 1984 film which is about to be released as an expensive 4K version (more HERE), and of course a 'Part Two' will make this new version about 5 hours in length - but I enjoyed, however, despite the mixed reviews of the older film, the production has a brighter and often a comic feel for me.  Not sure when the second half of this 2021 beginning will appear but looking forward to a watch.  Dave :)

 

I say Dune 2021 yesterday.  I think it's a pretty descent film in it's own right but doesn't stand up so well for a decades-long Dune, (the Frank Herbert book), fan like me.  That is, against the 1984 version which is more dramatic and colorful, and against the 2000 miniseries which tells the book's story better, IMO.

The latest Dune suffers, IMO, both from added scenes not in the book or other versions, and also from missing colorful characters such as Princess Irulan, Duke Vladimir Harkonnen's evil mentat, Piter de Vries, and his nephew, Feyd, and others.

The added scenes in some cases give premature explanations for things which the book leaves veiled or ambiguous until later in the plot.  Some scenes involving Leto Atreides' retainer, Duncan Idaho, were seemingly added for no obvious reason than to play to the actor, Jason Momoa, (of Game of Thornes and Aquaman fame).  Almost needless to say there and gender and race equity swaps.

Nevertheless I'll be waiting for Part 2 and also, dare I hope, sequels covering Herbert's own book sequels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.  (The latter were cinematized quite well in the 2003 miniseries).

VonStupp

John Carpenter's They Live (1988)
Roddy Piper & Keith David


I am a John Carpenter fan; the lower the budget, the better for me. Here Carpenter is a bit hamfisted with his scathing, yet goofy sci-fi satire of Reagan-era politics and commercialism, but really this is just unadulterated B-movie fun.

I hadn't seen They Live before, mainly for fear of WWF wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper in the lead, but his stoic, low-word count, character is fine. Keith David is always an intense actor and the 6-minute street brawl is something else. Not a masterpiece ala The Thing or Escape from New York, but the themes and images from They Live have been stuck in my head since I saw it.

As a side note, I met John Carpenter a handful of years ago at a showing of Big Trouble in Little China followed by a Q & A in Chicago, the whole experience courtesy of my wife. What a great time we had.

"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

SimonNZ



A poor early script of Heat combined with a poor early script of Payback.

I hadn't known anything about the story going into this, but expected much more from Guy Ritchie than such reheated cliches.

Karl Henning

Quote from: VonStupp on October 24, 2021, 11:15:12 AM
John Carpenter's They Live (1988)
Roddy Piper & Keith David


I am a John Carpenter fan; the lower the budget, the better for me. Here Carpenter is a bit hamfisted with his scathing, yet goofy sci-fi satire of Reagan-era politics and commercialism, but really this is just unadulterated B-movie fun.

I hadn't seen They Live before, mainly for fear of WWF wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper in the lead, but his stoic, low-word count, character is fine. Keith David is always an intense actor and the 6-minute street brawl is something else. Not a masterpiece ala The Thing or Escape from New York, but the themes and images from They Live have been stuck in my head since I saw it.

As a side note, I met John Carpenter a handful of years ago at a showing of Big Trouble in Little China followed by a Q & A in Chicago, the whole experience courtesy of my wife. What a great time we had.



What a blast! And of course, Big Trouble in Little China is great fun!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

71 dB

Quote from: VonStupp on October 24, 2021, 11:15:12 AM
John Carpenter's They Live (1988)
Roddy Piper & Keith David


I hadn't seen They Live before, mainly for fear of WWF wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper in the lead, but his stoic, low-word count, character is fine. Keith David is always an intense actor and the 6-minute street brawl is something else. Not a masterpiece ala The Thing or Escape from New York, but the themes and images from They Live have been stuck in my head since I saw it.

Wrestlers are amazingly good in movies, because the theatre they keep up in the wrestllng ring is a fine school of acting and many of these superstar wrestlers have strong charisma good for a lead role in movies. For me the problem is the movie around these wrestlers are almost always unbearably bad. I just can't watch that junk. They Live, however is a much older movie and I do like it. Maybe I can someday even get the Blu-ray, but is hasn't been easy.

Quote from: VonStupp on October 24, 2021, 11:15:12 AM
As a side note, I met John Carpenter a handful of years ago at a showing of Big Trouble in Little China followed by a Q & A in Chicago, the whole experience courtesy of my wife. What a great time we had.

Very cool.  8)

Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

Todd




Introducing, Selma Blair.  A documentary filmed over a couple years as Ms Blair's disease got worse and then as she underwent stem cell transplant treatment.  The suffering in the early part of the film and during chemo is hard to watch given how very real it all is.  I don't know how much she may earn from this, but she deserves every red cent, though that's not really the point. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

SimonNZ



A favorite I've seen a half-dozen times now.

Karl Henning

Courtesy of our Cato: Time Limit (1957) dir. Karl Malden
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Fëanor

Quote from: SimonNZ on October 25, 2021, 03:41:48 PM


A favorite I've seen a half-dozen times now.

Yes, Constantine is a lot of fun.  I especially love Tilda Swinton as Gabriel and Peter Stormare as Satan

milk

Quote from: Fëanor on October 24, 2021, 11:03:36 AM
I say Dune 2021 yesterday.  I think it's a pretty descent film in it's own right but doesn't stand up so well for a decades-long Dune, (the Frank Herbert book), fan like me.  That is, against the 1984 version which is more dramatic and colorful, and against the 2000 miniseries which tells the book's story better, IMO.

The latest Dune suffers, IMO, both from added scenes not in the book or other versions, and also from missing colorful characters such as Princess Irulan, Duke Vladimir Harkonnen's evil mentat, Piter de Vries, and his nephew, Feyd, and others.

The added scenes in some cases give premature explanations for things which the book leaves veiled or ambiguous until later in the plot.  Some scenes involving Leto Atreides' retainer, Duncan Idaho, were seemingly added for no obvious reason than to play to the actor, Jason Momoa, (of Game of Thornes and Aquaman fame).  Almost needless to say there and gender and race equity swaps.

Nevertheless I'll be waiting for Part 2 and also, dare I hope, sequels covering Herbert's own book sequels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.  (The latter were cinematized quite well in the 2003 miniseries).
I thought this was extremely boring and bland. It seemed very flat to me - unexciting. I have nothing against the actors but this just seems made for a global audience and almost like a video game or something. There was no strangeness to it. Somehow Hollywood takes imaginative fiction and makes it conform to the widest expectations of what action should look like and what the effects should be. I see this with Apple's Foundation. I feel the spark and fun have gone out of this generation. There's rarely anything big like this that jumps out as original.