Last Movie You Watched Thread
01-20-15, 12:42 PM
#3076
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Gone Girl - 5/5
01-20-15, 02:10 PM
#3077
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Guardians of the Galaxy
01-20-15, 02:49 PM
#3078
DVD Talk God
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Rented both of these yesterday from my local video store.
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai was a mediocre period martial arts flick. Some decent fight scenes, but I've seen this type of story before about a poor guy who comes to the big city and then trouble starts.
Really enjoyed The Maze Runner. Decent young adult cast and some good action and special FX. Glad it did really well at the box office and there will be a sequel.
01-21-15, 06:47 PM
#3083
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Guardians of the Galaxy - 2nd viewing. Actually liked it more the second time.
01-22-15, 07:21 PM
#3084
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
12 Years a Slave - 4.5/5
In 1841 a free black man from New York is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Not the film I expected and I'm glad for that. Another great film from the man who brought us Hunger & Shame.
In 1841 a free black man from New York is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Not the film I expected and I'm glad for that. Another great film from the man who brought us Hunger & Shame.
01-24-15, 12:20 AM
#3088
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Invasion of the Body Snatchers- Don Siegel's 1956 pulp sci-fi classic has stood the test of time remarkably well, in spite of a few dated elements. The pair of central performances from Kevin McCarthy and Wynter give the film a nice sense of pathos, and the creeping paranoia remains eerily effective to this day. Siegel's lean and mean Roger Corman-style direction, shot in expressionistic shadows, has a creepy undertow and a genuine sense of suspense and dread. The director justifiably hated the studio-imposed frame narrative and cheesy coda, which undermined the film's nihilistic message, but it's a small blemish on an otherwise excellent film. The small-town American setting is slightly old-hat now, but if anything it's a sign of just how strong the film's warnings about the future were. Siegel favored the Shakespearian title Sleep No More, but the studio liked the more pulpy moniker. Time has been surprisingly kind to this deserved classic.
Midnight in Paris- Surprisingly engaging Woody Allen picture about a wannabe bohemian who head to the City of Lights for artistic inspiration and and time-travels back to the city's Modernist intellectual heyday and mingles with his iconoclastic artistic heroes and learns a few unpleasant adult truths about his own life and he dangers of blind nostalgia. Nicely lightweight with just the right amount of intelligence and thematic heft when it needs it, even if the present day-story of the central character-an obvious Allen stand-in played by Owen Wilson-and his overprivileged life feels ever so slightly disingenuous. Allen's first film to use a digital intermediate, though at least for now, he's holding out and shooting 35mm. A nice treat, especially with the in-jokes for an English-lit major such as I. Corey Stoll's hilarious Hemingway steals the show, and Adrian Brody is hilarious in a small cameo as Salvador Dali. "I see a rhinoceros!"
Midnight in Paris- Surprisingly engaging Woody Allen picture about a wannabe bohemian who head to the City of Lights for artistic inspiration and and time-travels back to the city's Modernist intellectual heyday and mingles with his iconoclastic artistic heroes and learns a few unpleasant adult truths about his own life and he dangers of blind nostalgia. Nicely lightweight with just the right amount of intelligence and thematic heft when it needs it, even if the present day-story of the central character-an obvious Allen stand-in played by Owen Wilson-and his overprivileged life feels ever so slightly disingenuous. Allen's first film to use a digital intermediate, though at least for now, he's holding out and shooting 35mm. A nice treat, especially with the in-jokes for an English-lit major such as I. Corey Stoll's hilarious Hemingway steals the show, and Adrian Brody is hilarious in a small cameo as Salvador Dali. "I see a rhinoceros!"
Last edited by hanshotfirst1138; 01-24-15 at 12:45 AM.
01-25-15, 08:19 AM
#3090
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Magic in the Moonlight Goofy little Woody Allen rom-com with 55 year old Colin Firth and 27 year old Emma Stone falling for each other. YES. I Do have a chance!
01-26-15, 12:11 AM
#3095
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Fury- Appropriately gritty, violent, and macho war drama from David Ayer, apparently filmed with the world's only functioning WWII-era Tiger tank. Though well-acted, and with stunning 35mm anamorphic cinematography (Go down swinging, Kodak), the film gives in to cliche a little too often, but has an impressively hellish atmosphere and some brutal battle scenes, basically in the machismo (some might argue misogynist) Peckinpah mold.
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession- Fascinating documentary, in many ways a cinephile's paradise, about a pay cable channel channel in LA which introduced countless films to the US which were and sometimes still are nigh-on impossible to find. A wonderful journey through the days of American's brief pre-multiplex, pre-blockbuster world, and a bygone era for cinema back in the CRT and 35mm days, when it was fighting the good fight for director's cuts and letterboxing. The second part of the documentary, about the channel's founder, who in the end became both suicidal and homicidal, is a bit less interesting, if alternately sad and frustrating. To think there was ever such a thing and people interested in talking about it
. Wonderful for film fans.
Tower Heist- Brett Ratner heist comedy about...well comedians pulling a heist. Basically, Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller get fired and try to steal some stuff. The film nominally purports to have Occupy-era pretensions about corrupt bosses, but it's mostly crass but lightly entertaining junk food which sort of is what it is. Murphy is somewhat funny for the first time in a while, and as lightweight full, the film is decent, unmemorable, unpretentious lightweight junk. A decent way to pass time and nothing worth getting upset about, just formulaic as a production line and unmemorable.
Rear Window- Time has been amazingly kind to this Hitchcock masterpiece about a whellchair-bound photographer who insists that murder lurks in his high-class apartment complex. With a witty and multilayered script,terrific performances, audacious direction, and white-knuckle suspense, the film finds the Master at the peak of his powers, weaving together a gripping story which can be read any number of ways with fantastic cinematography, breathtaking style, rich characterization, and fantastic suspense. Half a century hasn't touched Rear Window, it's as fresh and exciting as it ever was.
Vertigo- Dark tale of obsession, the most Hitchcock of all of Hitchcock's films about a policeman who attempt to reconstruct the past in the form of a relationship. But is he abusive and obsessive, or uncovering a dark secret in which he was a pawn and may be able to repair his broken psyche. Breathtakingly beautiful cinematography, great acting, a screenplay which many rank among the best ever written, Vertigo does occasionally lack the sheer entertainment value of the Master's best, but it's been analyzed, dissected, and studied, by scholars, film students, and filmmakers alike for decades, and like all great art, it feels like there are still mysteries to get to the bottom of even today. Slippery, mysterious, and proof that there may still be magic left in the world, it's that rare film that offers you more each time you see it. Oh, and Bernard Herrman's score is brilliant as well.
Psycho- Though now mostly famous for the dozens of slasher films which followed in its wake and still clog up bandwidth and video shelves, Hitchcock's horror tale, though a shade dated, remains a cinematic milestone, and the film's gorgeously composed black-and-white cinematography and strangely resonant and sad characters stand head and shoulders above the exploitation trash which the film's imitators almost all missed. When Hitchcock was his best, he simply was cinema. Suffused with dark sexual undertones of obsession and repression, boasting great acting from all involved, and strong, sad characters who give the film resonance, it's a masterpiece which belies its pulpy plot and schlocky title. If you ever need a reminder about what it is to love about cinema, just return to the Master at his best. At the top of his game, he seldom disappoints. He was making conversations tense and scary before Tarantino was even born.
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession- Fascinating documentary, in many ways a cinephile's paradise, about a pay cable channel channel in LA which introduced countless films to the US which were and sometimes still are nigh-on impossible to find. A wonderful journey through the days of American's brief pre-multiplex, pre-blockbuster world, and a bygone era for cinema back in the CRT and 35mm days, when it was fighting the good fight for director's cuts and letterboxing. The second part of the documentary, about the channel's founder, who in the end became both suicidal and homicidal, is a bit less interesting, if alternately sad and frustrating. To think there was ever such a thing and people interested in talking about it
. Wonderful for film fans.Tower Heist- Brett Ratner heist comedy about...well comedians pulling a heist. Basically, Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller get fired and try to steal some stuff. The film nominally purports to have Occupy-era pretensions about corrupt bosses, but it's mostly crass but lightly entertaining junk food which sort of is what it is. Murphy is somewhat funny for the first time in a while, and as lightweight full, the film is decent, unmemorable, unpretentious lightweight junk. A decent way to pass time and nothing worth getting upset about, just formulaic as a production line and unmemorable.
Rear Window- Time has been amazingly kind to this Hitchcock masterpiece about a whellchair-bound photographer who insists that murder lurks in his high-class apartment complex. With a witty and multilayered script,terrific performances, audacious direction, and white-knuckle suspense, the film finds the Master at the peak of his powers, weaving together a gripping story which can be read any number of ways with fantastic cinematography, breathtaking style, rich characterization, and fantastic suspense. Half a century hasn't touched Rear Window, it's as fresh and exciting as it ever was.
Vertigo- Dark tale of obsession, the most Hitchcock of all of Hitchcock's films about a policeman who attempt to reconstruct the past in the form of a relationship. But is he abusive and obsessive, or uncovering a dark secret in which he was a pawn and may be able to repair his broken psyche. Breathtakingly beautiful cinematography, great acting, a screenplay which many rank among the best ever written, Vertigo does occasionally lack the sheer entertainment value of the Master's best, but it's been analyzed, dissected, and studied, by scholars, film students, and filmmakers alike for decades, and like all great art, it feels like there are still mysteries to get to the bottom of even today. Slippery, mysterious, and proof that there may still be magic left in the world, it's that rare film that offers you more each time you see it. Oh, and Bernard Herrman's score is brilliant as well.
Psycho- Though now mostly famous for the dozens of slasher films which followed in its wake and still clog up bandwidth and video shelves, Hitchcock's horror tale, though a shade dated, remains a cinematic milestone, and the film's gorgeously composed black-and-white cinematography and strangely resonant and sad characters stand head and shoulders above the exploitation trash which the film's imitators almost all missed. When Hitchcock was his best, he simply was cinema. Suffused with dark sexual undertones of obsession and repression, boasting great acting from all involved, and strong, sad characters who give the film resonance, it's a masterpiece which belies its pulpy plot and schlocky title. If you ever need a reminder about what it is to love about cinema, just return to the Master at his best. At the top of his game, he seldom disappoints. He was making conversations tense and scary before Tarantino was even born.
01-26-15, 11:18 AM
#3097
Moderator
01-26-15, 08:45 PM
#3099
DVD Talk Hero - 2023 TOTY Award Winner
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
An American Werewolf on London- John Landis' horror tale about a backpacking American bitten by a lycanthropic monster. A surprisingly well-handled blend of horror and humor, Landis is stronger with the comedic elements, and his direction of the horror set pieces lacks slightly in comparison, but that's a minor quibble.
This weekend for me:
Calvary - 3.5/5. Kind of disappointed as I adored The Guard.
Whiplash - 4.5/5. I do kind of wonder if this film will stand up to repeat viewings well.
01-26-15, 08:54 PM
#3100
DVD Talk God
Re: Last Movie You Watched Thread
Evidence (2013)
Just watched this on Netflix. Had some actors I knew, so I thought I would give it a whirl tonight.
70% of the movie is found footage horror movie and the other 30% is a cop thriller/procedural. This was a mixed bag for me. Most of the found footage parts were almost unwatchable. But, I did like the huge twist at the end.
I'd give this a C