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Author Topic: Write about the last movie you watched (2006-2010)  (Read 5997162 times)

FroHam X

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39170 on: December 14, 2010, 09:50:27 PM »
I'm sure if I could see these things side by side I'd notice a difference, but generally speaking, if you made me sit down, not knowing the format, I wouldn't be able to tell you. And I'm not talking BD vs. 70mm, I'm talking Laserdisc vs. BD (ok, maybe not that extreme, but I'd still not much notice a "problem." I just don't get excited by technical specs.

Again, it's not about the technical specs per se. It's what those specs allow you to do. Example: DVD looks really good on a 42" TV. On a 100" projector it is usually quite nice too. Blown up to 50 feet and it kinda looks like crap. Blow it up to 50 feet and then sit in the front row so that the screen takes up as much of your field of view as possible and it will be a blurry mess. Blu-ray would hold up fine on a 50 foot screen. Very well in fact. I saw Close Encounters projected at a movie theatre using a Blu-ray player and it looked amazing and sounded even better. But the only way to sit as close as I did with 2001 earlier today and not have the picture look blurry and even give you a headache after a while is to watch in 70mm. See, it's not really about the specs themselves, but what they allow you to do. In this case 70mm allowed me to see 2001 as it was meant to be seen, taking up nearly my entire field of vision, and doing so while still maintaining the integrity of the image.

And I'm serious when I say that this presentation in 70mm changed how I view the film. I have seen 2001 so many times and have never had more than simple appreciation for its craft. This time I was blown away by it, and a lot of it comes down to having been able to see it on a big damn screen.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39171 on: December 14, 2010, 09:54:39 PM »
The Milk of Sorrow (rewatch) - Maybe my medical condition is making me a little cranky, but I feel like this has lost a bit of its lustre.  I still find it very unique and intriguing, but it is awfully slow at times, and not as aesthetically impressive as I felt on the first viewing.  Like so many of my recent purchases, it's good but not good enough to be a keeper.  I am learning to curb my spending habits, though.  Rating: 8


The Bridge on the River Kwai (rewatch) - I hate to say it, but it's another DVD (in this case, Blu-Ray) that I shouldn't have bought.  Oh, the film is marvelous entertainment... great performances and moves like gangbusters.  I like that how no matter how delusional and insane Nicholson gets, he still makes a tiny bit of sense and his appeal to principle can be seductive.  But I've seen it about 5 times now and it's just not something I'm going to want to watch again on a whim.  Poor David Lean... I really like his movies, but he's not holding up well in my personal collection.  I've bought and sold Zhivago, Brief Encounter and now Kwai.  Maybe I should just leave the upcoming Blu-Ray of Lawrence of Arabia as a rental.  Rating: 9

jdc

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39172 on: December 14, 2010, 09:59:30 PM »
I'm sure if I could see these things side by side I'd notice a difference, but generally speaking, if you made me sit down, not knowing the format, I wouldn't be able to tell you. And I'm not talking BD vs. 70mm, I'm talking Laserdisc vs. BD (ok, maybe not that extreme, but I'd still not much notice a "problem." I just don't get excited by technical specs.

I am not certain it is being excited about technical specs exactly.  I put a lot into my HT and audio toys and enjoy the best experience possible.  But I would always rather watch a good movie on DVD vs a bad movie on Blu-ray.  But given the choice, I would rather watch the good movie on Blu-ray. 

In this case you get a great film that looks pretty amazing on BD and get to see it in an even better format.  Not to say it is bad on laserdisk (though the 4x3 VHS probably sucks).

I always wished that their would be more re-releases of older films (from any time period) from time to time in theaters just to give people the chance to them as they were intended like the did with Alien back around 2002or 2003. I would jump at the chance to see 2001, Jaws, LoA, or a double billing of BttF and Die Hard in a good theater. 
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Nathan Adams

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39173 on: December 15, 2010, 01:10:27 AM »
The Tourist (2010) */*****

The Tourist is a remake of a French film from 2005 named Anthony Zimmer.  If the original was even half as dumb as this remake, then I feel bad for the French.  What we get here is little more than a collection of trinkets.  The filmmakers have cobbled together a small collection of actors and locations that are pretty universally beloved and admired and brought them into the theaters for show and tell.  Cast Angelina Jolie to bring in the fellas, throw in Johnny Depp for the ladies, and then have them run around Paris and Venice for a little under two hours; it’s the perfect formula for a movie, right?  There will be spy plot action, but also they’ll fall in love!  It’s like somebody built a super advanced computer program and had it suss out a prototype for the most universally appealing film of all time, then they made it and sat back to wait for the cash to roll in.  The problem with that setup is their super computer must have also wrote the script; a clichéd bit of nonsense that had nothing of note to offer, shallow characterizations, and felt more like a cobbled together pastiche of overly familiar situations than it did any sort of original piece of work.  Is it possible that this script was constructed by some sort of psychopath who snipped words out of other screenplays and then arranged them in a new order with glue and tweezers?  Yes, I would say that it’s very possible.  All of the elements of this film are conceived of and presented in a manner so bluntly aimed at getting a positive reaction out of a general audience that it feels like pornography.  Johnny Depp is quirky and interesting even though he’s supposed to be playing an average Joe.  Angelina Jolie plays more of a statue than she does a real woman.  Opulent hotels, designer clothing, the cobblestone streets of Paris, and the canals of Venice are all lingered over by the camera as if they are things that are integral to the story.  This is what you want isn’t it?  This is the escapism of cinema!  Lap it up fools!  Lap it up!     

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verbALs

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39174 on: December 15, 2010, 05:30:32 AM »
@MartinTeller re: Kwai. I like your point about the speed the film moves at. My reaction at the point when the camp escape happens was, I didn't realise it happens right at the beginning of the film- in fact it was already 45 minutes in; but the initial pacing is incredible. Marrying that to a recent Marathon comment (1SO I think) that the second half seems quite slow (paraphrasing), I think that is also correct because the change in pace is very noticable as the whole point of the film changes. {On my recent viewing I could also see the point that Holden's Shears is not much more than cypher relying on the Sefton persona quite heavily; except he then steals the film with the bellowed "kill him" line}.
My question to you though is do you feel as I do that Kwai stands separate from Lean's epics? Even at a quite impressive length it still feels like a more intimate short film than the later Lawrence/ Zhivago etc. do you agree with that?
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IDrinkYourMilkshake

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39175 on: December 15, 2010, 08:50:04 AM »
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2010)  Dir: Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas  Source: DVD [First-watch]  Rating: 8/10

they have done this really cool thing using photo's and animation to tell the story, presenting it in a comic book style.

It reminded me of Julien Temple's Joe Strummer doc.
"What should have been an enjoyable 90 minutes of nubile, high-school flesh meeting a frenzy of blood-caked blades, becomes instead an exploitational and complex parable of the conflicting demands of agrarianism and artistry. I voted a miss."

Jared

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39176 on: December 15, 2010, 10:47:21 AM »
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1931)

should have waited awhile before getting to the older version, which is shorter in runtime than the 1980 versions first chapter. The long runtime was absolutely necessary with this story, and it shows in watching this shorter film. You dont really get the sense that Franz cares so much about "going straight" when he is corrupted after a half hour of run time. Still a decent story with good performances however.

3/5


The Kids are All Right

Well, for what its worth, this should probably win the Globe for best comedy or musical given its competition. Mark Ruffalo and Annette Benning are both very good throughout the film. Julianne Moore was a little rough in the first 20 minutes or so for me but really pulled it together. Anyways, I love comedy derived from extremely awkward situations, and thought this movie pulled it off well.

4/5

MartinTeller

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39177 on: December 15, 2010, 11:13:33 AM »
@MartinTeller re: Kwai. I like your point about the speed the film moves at. My reaction at the point when the camp escape happens was, I didn't realise it happens right at the beginning of the film- in fact it was already 45 minutes in; but the initial pacing is incredible. Marrying that to a recent Marathon comment (1SO I think) that the second half seems quite slow (paraphrasing), I think that is also correct because the change in pace is very noticable as the whole point of the film changes. {On my recent viewing I could also see the point that Holden's Shears is not much more than cypher relying on the Sefton persona quite heavily; except he then steals the film with the bellowed "kill him" line}.
My question to you though is do you feel as I do that Kwai stands separate from Lean's epics? Even at a quite impressive length it still feels like a more intimate short film than the later Lawrence/ Zhivago etc. do you agree with that?

I agree.  It doesn't have that same sense of "epicness".  Intimate is the right word for it.  It just doesn't feel as... fussy.

And yes, the pace slows down in the second half... noticeably, but not to the detriment of the film.


Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39178 on: December 15, 2010, 11:34:05 AM »
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I

Yea, I'm late to the party. Finals/being sick/laziness made me write this review about a month after I saw it.  :P

1SO

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #39179 on: December 15, 2010, 11:41:22 AM »
GOAL!  Sam and I agree!

The action sequences in this film are too visually cluttered and over-edited, creating an incoherent set of action setpieces that bookend the three acts of the film. Nothing still compares to his work in the last act of Order of the Phoenix.

I'm the only person who's said this.  Most feel that HP7a has the best action, but the battle of the Ministry of Magic is the highpoint of excitement.  I think FroHam agrees as well, though he's more enamored by Dumbledore v. Voldemort and I think the entire sequence should get credited, starting with the hello to Jason Isaacs