Rate / Review the Last Film you've seen v.3

[gertiekeddle]

Every good thread is a trilogy. #1, #2.

Let us know more about the last film you've seen!

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Yay, I'm first!

Exorcist: The Beginning
I watched Dominion (Prequel to The Exorcist) the other day, and taken together, these two films make for an interesting study, a fine demonstration for what it is a director really does. For those who don't know, Paul Schrader completed Dominion, but the production company, Morgan Creek, rejected his cut, it wasn't the violent, flashy horror story that they wanted from their Exorcist prequel, so they brought on Renny Harlin, and indeed, his version is shallower and more violent. Neither film is great, but Schrader's is far better (he gets a terrific performance from Stellan Skarsgard, who is not as engaging in Harlin's version, despite having all the same things to play).

[lcbaseball22]

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

Yay, I'm first!

Heh, which is surprising considering I had the most posts last time by a factor more then double. I've had some rough weeks of classes lately though so my movie watching has slowed considerably. For the most part I've only got time to watch on the weekends right now.

[Yoana]

The Departed - 7/10 - I remember being swept off my feet by Infernal Affairs which I can't say for this one. But that may be because I saw the former in the cinema and I was also more impressionable then. Still, I liked this one especially for its depiction of the bad guys - no glorified misguided geniuses or great men there, just sociopaths with inflated egos. I also really liked DiCaprio's character - he felt very realistic to me.

[HedwigOwl]

A Single Man
10 of 10
Superb job on script from book, and excellent performances all around, especially Colin Firth.

[Yoana]

The Ghost Writer - 7/10 - sufficiently macabre and gripping, but the plot twist seemed half-baked - I like it when a plot twist provides a whole new explanation for everything else discovered prior to it, invalidating previous explanations - not when it leaves it suddenly making no sense. That makes it look glaringly made-up.

[Rastaban43]

Originally Posted by HedwigOwl

A Single Man
10 of 10
Superb job on script from book, and excellent performances all around, especially Colin Firth.

Who knew ickle Nicky Hoult could act!

[vitacus]

Titanic II
I kid you not.
Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly from X-Men movie) stars.
B-movie direct to video ofcourse.
It managed to also rip off The Poseidon Adventure and The Abyss.
I disliked it very much.
I give it an F-, or a 0 stars.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

The Lady Eve
My first Preston Sturges movie, and what a superb comedy it is. It boasts an excellent, really sharp script, and it's a terrific showcase for Barbara Stanwyck and demonstration of what it is that made her such a wonderful presence onscreen.

[NumberEight]

The Aviator (Blu-Ray): This is my second favorite Scorsese film, from what I've seen of his work. It surpasses Goodfellas, The Departed, Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, and Taxi Driver. I also think DiCaprio's best performance is present here. The way he and Scorsese handle OCD is stellar as I witness the behavior every day. If you compare DiCaprio's performance here to the ones in Shutter Island and Inception, they are inferior. Cate Blanchett really stands out and she earned her Oscar. As usual, the Academy got it wrong when they chose Eastwood's sub-par Million Dollar Baby as Best Picture. Scorsese deserved the statue not only with Goodfellas and Casino, but here as well.

As for the Blu-Ray, well, the transfer is outstanding and there aren't many faults with it. The only problem with the Blu-Ray is the lack of lossless audio.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Sweet Smell of Success
Fantastic noir drama dripping with style and featuring a truly smart, incredibly cynical screenplay and career-best performances from Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.

[lcbaseball22]

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

The Lady Eve
My first Preston Sturges movie, and what a superb comedy it is. It boasts an excellent, really sharp script, and it's a terrific showcase for Barbara Stanwyck and demonstration of what it is that made her such a wonderful presence onscreen.

Yep, glad you liked it

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

Sweet Smell of Success
Fantastic noir drama dripping with style and featuring a truly smart, incredibly cynical screenplay, career-best performances from Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.

Oooh, I kinda wanna see this. There's been a lot of mention of it since Curtis' recent death. Many have said it's his best movie...well if it's better then Some Like it Hot it must be quite a treat. Anyways, after a hectic week I finally found some time to watch a movie...


The Birds

Acting- 7
Script- 7.5
Visuals- 9
Sound- 9
Editing- 7

Total Score = 79

Verdict- I'm not sure whether to consider the premise an interesting "what if?" or something completely ridic but it's crafted quite well.

You know what it reminded me of in a way? Children of Men Cause both are "what if? sci-fi" films and neither give any explanation.

I think Children of Men is a much better film though and one that's not as likely to be scoffed at.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

Oooh, I kinda wanna see this. There's been a lot of mention of it since Curtis' recent death. Many have said it's his best movie...well if it's better then Some Like it Hot it must be quite a treat. Anyways, after a hectic week I finally found some time to watch a movie...

I am by no means knocking Some Like It Hot, I just want to make that completely clear. They're two totally different kinds of performance, of course, so if you're partial to broad comedy (which I believe you are), you'll end up preferring Some Like It Hot, and if you lean more toward cynical noir (that's me), you'll lean toward Sweet Smell of Success.

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

Verdict- I'm not sure whether to consider the premise an interesting "what if?" or something completely ridic but it's crafted quite well.

Oh, it's ridiculous, but when The Birds works, it works, it's often a highly effective "what happens when nature turns against man?" thriller.

[lcbaseball22]

Originally Posted by IenjoyAcidPops

Oh, it's ridiculous, but when The Birds works, it works, it's often a highly effective "what happens when nature turns against man?" thriller.

Yeah, I agree with this.

It doesn't always work; some eye rolling moments and the first 45 min is slow but many times I thought "wow, this is quite brilliant"

[Fawkesfan1]

Just saw '1984' and had a re watch of 'Grumpy Old Men'... liked them both.

'1984' -- 8/10

This film was just downright chilling and scary in parts . Considering where we're at today with surveillance and what not... Orwell was right on the dot about a lot of it.

It really made me think. And emotionally, I felt sorry for both Winston and Julia, for the position that they were both in. 'Damned if they did something and damned if they didn't...'

And one of the main themes that stood out to me was the betrayal by everyone involved...

'Under the spreading chestnut tree -- I sold you and you sold me...'

Said betrayals are underneath spoiler tags for those who haven't seen the film yet...

Spoiler: show

The Party and Members... basically the party lied to the members about what was really going on war wise; Winston and Julia (his lover) -- they basically sold each other out; Winston and O'Brian -- basically the man who had helped him out originally... sold him out to the party and was a member of it; and the Party and the people (ie: the paroles, etc) -- they lied about what was going on Party wise and war wise to them.

This was one very involved piece, and pretty much everyone did a good job acting wise. As for the environment -- they did a good job in portraying the dark and gloomy atmosphere the book describes.

Overall, it's worth a watch.


--------------------------------------------------------------


'Grumpy Old Men' -- 9/10

I love this one . Basically two old men, played by Walter Matthieu and Jack Lemmon respectively -- continue their lifelong feud... due to a woman who moves in across the street from them.

The plot line in this film is nice -- with their feud playing in the foreground and Jack Lemmon's character's daughter having marital issues.

By the end of the film, things are ok for both the two old men and their son and daughter .

The writing, banter and humor are three of the things that draw me into this movie, every time . And the chemistry between all of the cast is just wonderful and the soundtrack is good too.

I definitely recommend this movie for anyone who likes to watch a movie for a good laugh.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

An American Werewolf in London
I don't know that it numbers among my favorite horror comedies, but it's a very fun take on the werewolf legend, from the peak of John Landis' career. I especially love the scene with Jack and the rest of the undead suggesting ways for David to kill himself - that's some seriously macabre humor.

[lcbaseball22]

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Acting- 8
Script- 6.5
Visuals- 8.5
Sound- 7.5
Editing- 7

Total Score = 75

Verdict- To me this is basically just a freebie that came in TCM's Murder Mysteries 4 Pack which I bought for the other three (The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, and Dial M for Murder) I don't think I'd even heard of this film before. Well, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. With a better script and editing I think it could have been. I have a lot of issues with the plot and the pacing but I won't get into all that...

I'm sort of curious to find out if the remake with Jack Nicholson fixes any of the problems...except the remake won't have Lana Turner.

[Yoana]

RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous) - 1/10. My God. Many adjectives, similes and metaphors went through my head in description of how bad this is, but this film is so bad, so very bad, that even just thinking about it wears me. I just have one question - how on earth did Helen Mirren and John Malkovich end up in it?!

I gave it 1 only because I have seen worse.

[Clockworthy]

Beowulf (2007) - Oh, continuity of book adaptions, you slay me. It wasn't horrible

Spoiler: show

(DRAGON FIGHT!) But I didn't like the changes to Beowulf's character. And for an animated movie (Though gorgeously animated), there's an awful lot of naked people xD7/10

[lcbaseball22]

Winter's Bone-

Acting- 9
Script- 7
Visuals- 8.5
Sound- 8.5
Editing- 7

Total Score = 80

Verdict- Good movie but I don't think it's the darling the critics make it out to be. Yes, Jennifer Lawrence gives an awe inspiring performance and the atmosphere is chilling but the story is weaker then I expected and the movie feels a lot longer then it is.