Last Movie You Watched Thread
07-24-14, 01:53 AM
#2478
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Last movie you watched
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
07-24-14, 08:30 AM
#2481
Re: Last movie you watched
Under the Skin - 4.5/5
Slow burn sci-fi film about a not so normal woman who abandons her duties and tries to fit in with human society. She eventually finds out the hard way that beauty and acceptance are only skin deep. Beautiful, haunting, intelligent film about human nature as seen by an outsider. Cerebral sci-fi in the vein of classics like Solaris & 2001 or more modern films like Beyond the Black Rainbow & Moon.
Slow burn sci-fi film about a not so normal woman who abandons her duties and tries to fit in with human society. She eventually finds out the hard way that beauty and acceptance are only skin deep. Beautiful, haunting, intelligent film about human nature as seen by an outsider. Cerebral sci-fi in the vein of classics like Solaris & 2001 or more modern films like Beyond the Black Rainbow & Moon.
07-24-14, 06:40 PM
#2483
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Last movie you watched
The Last Keepers
07-25-14, 01:13 PM
#2488
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Last movie you watched
Cross Bearer (2013)
07-25-14, 01:38 PM
#2490
DVD Talk God
Re: Last movie you watched
Noah on Blu Ray.
Rented it last night. Visually it was pretty amazing. But, rock monsters?
Rented it last night. Visually it was pretty amazing. But, rock monsters?
07-25-14, 01:42 PM
#2491
DVD Talk Hero
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Re: Last movie you watched
Obvious Child - I quite enjoyed it. No cinematic masterpiece, but I definitely recommend it. The conversations between characters felt very authentic.
07-25-14, 08:37 PM
#2492
Re: Last movie you watched
Educating Rita - Until recently, I'd never seen any films with Julie Walters outside of the Harry Potter series (where she portrayed Mrs. Weasley). This movie was her film debut and won her a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award. Not the greatest of flicks (and the unique electronic score keep it firmly in 80s territory), but Walters does a great job conveying the struggles and insecurities of a working class woman trying to improve her lot in life by studying literature. Michael Caine plays her alcoholic professor who feeds off her enthusiasm.
The Phantom of the Opera (1989) - Though marketed more like "Freddy of the Opera", Robert Englund manages to put his own stamp on it, making the Phantom a unique character. Too bad the movie itself is barely worth his efforts. While it contains enough violence to please even the most jaded of gorehounds, the final product never manages to feel anything but bland -- despite respectable cinematography, costumes and score. Jill Schoelen (a childhood crush of mine from "The Stepfather") makes for an attractive, though fairly wooden, Christine.
Ali G Indahouse - Sacha Baron Cohen using these characters to interview real life celebrities or political figures, or to point out the stupidity/prejudice of certain groups of people was occasionally brilliant. All of that is lost in this scripted movie that sees Ali G getting elected to Parliament in an effort to save his local leisure center. The movie plays out like a less funny "Malibu's Most Wanted". Cohen and co. wisely returned to the mockumentary format of his television series for his follow-up, the hugely successful "Borat".
The Phantom of the Opera (1989) - Though marketed more like "Freddy of the Opera", Robert Englund manages to put his own stamp on it, making the Phantom a unique character. Too bad the movie itself is barely worth his efforts. While it contains enough violence to please even the most jaded of gorehounds, the final product never manages to feel anything but bland -- despite respectable cinematography, costumes and score. Jill Schoelen (a childhood crush of mine from "The Stepfather") makes for an attractive, though fairly wooden, Christine.
Ali G Indahouse - Sacha Baron Cohen using these characters to interview real life celebrities or political figures, or to point out the stupidity/prejudice of certain groups of people was occasionally brilliant. All of that is lost in this scripted movie that sees Ali G getting elected to Parliament in an effort to save his local leisure center. The movie plays out like a less funny "Malibu's Most Wanted". Cohen and co. wisely returned to the mockumentary format of his television series for his follow-up, the hugely successful "Borat".
Last edited by joe_b; 07-26-14 at 04:50 AM.
07-25-14, 10:32 PM
#2494
Re: Last movie you watched
Dead Soon - 1/5
Low budget indie about a woman who one day while jogging is attacked by a stranger. She is rescued from the attack by some supernatural force. When trying to explain to others what happened, no one believes her. Unsure of what is real, she starts to have a mental breakdown. Pretty bad film with some horrendous acting.
Low budget indie about a woman who one day while jogging is attacked by a stranger. She is rescued from the attack by some supernatural force. When trying to explain to others what happened, no one believes her. Unsure of what is real, she starts to have a mental breakdown. Pretty bad film with some horrendous acting.
07-26-14, 01:14 AM
#2496
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Last movie you watched
Pieces of Talent (2014)
07-27-14, 01:22 PM
#2499
Re: Last movie you watched
Inhale - 1.5/5
With only a week to spare, a district attorney whose daughter needs a life saving transplant goes to Mexico in search of a lung donor. A film with a message that is hard to take serious because of how unrealistic and clichéd it comes across.
With only a week to spare, a district attorney whose daughter needs a life saving transplant goes to Mexico in search of a lung donor. A film with a message that is hard to take serious because of how unrealistic and clichéd it comes across.
07-28-14, 01:03 PM
#2500
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Last movie you watched
A series of adaptations of an individual novel, kind of interesting.
Point Blank- Existential, experimental, iconoclastic 1960s crime thriller in the mold of the then-popular French New Waves movies. Icy, odd, distant, and structurally fairly unusual, even today. Uses the novel's basic premise as the springboard for an odd tale about existential emptiness and revenge. Great performance from Lee Marvin, some stunning cinematography, and very stylish, moody direction. A touch dated, but an interesting curio of a time when American cinema was willing to fund more than blockbusters.
Payback- Directorial debut of screenwriter Brian Helgeland, recut by Mel Gibson's production company in an attempt to make it into Lethal Weapon 5, complete with Gibson's obligatory torture scene and eventually him taking on the whole mob and blowing stuff up. An odd blend of Helgeland's attempt at Stark's aesthetic and a recut by someone going in a completely different direction.
Payback: Straight Up: The Director's Cut- Though not quite as rough as the Westlake novel, Helgeland's original cut hews closer to the original. It's a small movie of a small tale, and works much better than Gibson's knowingly ridiculous cut and plays like a 70s crime thriller Helgeland wants to emulate, though without the existential underpinnings or rawness. Still pretty good for what it is, and probably the closes adaptation outside of Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel.
Full Contact- Though not officially an adaptation of The Hunter, it does have a similar setup. Chow Yun Fat stars in this version from director Ring Lam Ling-Tung, a brutally violet, viciously nihilistic tale of a double-crossed thief who then proceeds to kill his way to revenge. Shot with a sucker-punch visual style and full of grimy, disreputable people, with the unique energy you'll find only in Honk Kong Action Cinema of the period and nowhere else. Interesting, but kind of punishing and so brutal that you eventually run out of people to care about and sort of watch it like a car accident. The famous "bullet-cam" shots still have a certain novelty value.
Elsewhere...
The Crazies- George Romero's tale of infected humans and bureaucracy trying to contain a virus. Intelligent and interesting in the way it deconstruction bureaucracy and social breakdown, but its raw, low-budget quality means that time has been very unkind to it in places. Interesting, but flawed.
The Crazies- Breck Eisener's remake of the above, loses most of sociological clout and depth of the original, but works much better as a thriller, one crackerjack set piece after another, and nicely nihilistic tone and electric energy. If only there were a way to fall between the two.
...28 Days Later- Despite director Danny Boyle's usual hyperactive visual tics, this derivative but highly effective horror thriller is one of the better ones of recent years. Yes, I know "THEY'RE NOT ZOMBIES!" and the infected hew more closely to the infected of the above-mentioned Romero film, but the plot and feeling seem more like Dawn of the Dead, and the whole third act is basically stolen from Day of the Dead. That said, it's done well, there's a nice intelligence behind it, it's properly gory and viscerally frightening when it needs to be, with a nice human edge. Shot on interlaced digital video at 576i, probably in an attempt to call back to the grainy 16mm of yore.
28 Weeks Later- Though this one is shot on grainy Super 16 (And looks fantastic, it must be said.), this sequel aims more broadly. I'm not sure what its budget was, but I bet it was significantly higher than its predecessor. There are lot more impressive FX shots and a much bigger scale, though still grounded, at least nominally, in human drama. Said human drama isn't quite as effective this time around, but it's a nice backbone for the super-bloody thrills which build to splattery bloodbath finale, ending in a cruel apocalyptic joke. Selfishness has a way of coming back to haunt you, and interventionism is scarier than you bargain for.
Point Blank- Existential, experimental, iconoclastic 1960s crime thriller in the mold of the then-popular French New Waves movies. Icy, odd, distant, and structurally fairly unusual, even today. Uses the novel's basic premise as the springboard for an odd tale about existential emptiness and revenge. Great performance from Lee Marvin, some stunning cinematography, and very stylish, moody direction. A touch dated, but an interesting curio of a time when American cinema was willing to fund more than blockbusters.
Payback- Directorial debut of screenwriter Brian Helgeland, recut by Mel Gibson's production company in an attempt to make it into Lethal Weapon 5, complete with Gibson's obligatory torture scene and eventually him taking on the whole mob and blowing stuff up. An odd blend of Helgeland's attempt at Stark's aesthetic and a recut by someone going in a completely different direction.
Payback: Straight Up: The Director's Cut- Though not quite as rough as the Westlake novel, Helgeland's original cut hews closer to the original. It's a small movie of a small tale, and works much better than Gibson's knowingly ridiculous cut and plays like a 70s crime thriller Helgeland wants to emulate, though without the existential underpinnings or rawness. Still pretty good for what it is, and probably the closes adaptation outside of Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel.
Full Contact- Though not officially an adaptation of The Hunter, it does have a similar setup. Chow Yun Fat stars in this version from director Ring Lam Ling-Tung, a brutally violet, viciously nihilistic tale of a double-crossed thief who then proceeds to kill his way to revenge. Shot with a sucker-punch visual style and full of grimy, disreputable people, with the unique energy you'll find only in Honk Kong Action Cinema of the period and nowhere else. Interesting, but kind of punishing and so brutal that you eventually run out of people to care about and sort of watch it like a car accident. The famous "bullet-cam" shots still have a certain novelty value.
Elsewhere...
The Crazies- George Romero's tale of infected humans and bureaucracy trying to contain a virus. Intelligent and interesting in the way it deconstruction bureaucracy and social breakdown, but its raw, low-budget quality means that time has been very unkind to it in places. Interesting, but flawed.
The Crazies- Breck Eisener's remake of the above, loses most of sociological clout and depth of the original, but works much better as a thriller, one crackerjack set piece after another, and nicely nihilistic tone and electric energy. If only there were a way to fall between the two.
...28 Days Later- Despite director Danny Boyle's usual hyperactive visual tics, this derivative but highly effective horror thriller is one of the better ones of recent years. Yes, I know "THEY'RE NOT ZOMBIES!" and the infected hew more closely to the infected of the above-mentioned Romero film, but the plot and feeling seem more like Dawn of the Dead, and the whole third act is basically stolen from Day of the Dead. That said, it's done well, there's a nice intelligence behind it, it's properly gory and viscerally frightening when it needs to be, with a nice human edge. Shot on interlaced digital video at 576i, probably in an attempt to call back to the grainy 16mm of yore.
28 Weeks Later- Though this one is shot on grainy Super 16 (And looks fantastic, it must be said.), this sequel aims more broadly. I'm not sure what its budget was, but I bet it was significantly higher than its predecessor. There are lot more impressive FX shots and a much bigger scale, though still grounded, at least nominally, in human drama. Said human drama isn't quite as effective this time around, but it's a nice backbone for the super-bloody thrills which build to splattery bloodbath finale, ending in a cruel apocalyptic joke. Selfishness has a way of coming back to haunt you, and interventionism is scarier than you bargain for.
Last edited by hanshotfirst1138; 04-01-15 at 09:56 PM.