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Author Topic: Write about the last movie you watched (2006-2010)  (Read 5997987 times)

flieger

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36280 on: September 20, 2010, 03:53:35 AM »
Great, great stuff sdedalus.

verbALs

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36281 on: September 20, 2010, 05:35:11 AM »
re- Le cercle rouge; Not sure why the lack of horse dreams makes it a depressing film. Just makes it a lot more of a straight noir than Asphalt Jungle. Delon is about as superheroically untouchable as a noir character can get.Well something eventually stops him but you know what I mean.

re- ....king Amal; Since this is the first review of it since the top 100, would you agree it belongs in the pantheon (the only copy I could find was going for £75 so please feel free to put me off tracking it down)?
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

Verite

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36282 on: September 20, 2010, 06:37:31 AM »
The result very well may be a new favorite Sirk for me.

It's my favorite Sirk, hands down.

re- ....king Amal; Since this is the first review of it since the top 100, would you agree it belongs in the pantheon (the only copy I could find was going for £75 so please feel free to put me off tracking it down)?

I don't see the compiled Filmspotter list as an exercise pantheon formation.  (Perhaps many did.)  With that said, Amal is the slightest film on the list.  And I'm not pejoratively using the word slightest.  Amal placed high on mine.  And in comparison to the other "slight" films on the list, Amal is "plain": Chungking Express has an unusual narrative structure to go along with its kinetic visual style; Lebowski riffs on The Big Sleep; Eternal Sunshine has visual effects and a story concerning memory that is a subject mostly seen as hefty material.
"When in doubt, seduce."
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Bondo

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36283 on: September 20, 2010, 08:24:28 AM »
re- ....king Amal; Since this is the first review of it since the top 100, would you agree it belongs in the pantheon (the only copy I could find was going for £75 so please feel free to put me off tracking it down)?

Not sure any film merits that expense. How availability varies across countries is kind of strange. I think it is on Netflix Instant stateside which is kind of the epitome of easy access. You'd think we'd be able to sort this sort of thing out by now as a global economy.

Anyway, it's a tough question to answer. I think the film is better than anything in the top ten of the list. But that's just me. I think it is something everyone should seek out if they can find it through reasonable means but I'm not sure it is a must-see that you must go to great lengths for...not because it isn't great (again, top ten on my list) but because it isn't important to a broader film education.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36284 on: September 20, 2010, 09:06:16 AM »
This quote sheds some light on what Scott Pilgrim was trying to do:
Quote
And nearly all of Scott Pilgrim’s facts revolved around the fact that he believes he is the hero in his own movie in his head. And so I think that’s the thing, it’s sort of the character. Until the end, he doesn’t really think of the consequences of things emotionally. I don’t know. He’s like the center of his own universe until it comes crashing down.

'Noke

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36285 on: September 20, 2010, 09:31:59 AM »
because it reduces Ramona herself (who you would think would have her own issues revealed and be overcome through ex combat) to a passive prize, Cera's goal instead of a fully realized character of her own.

Love the reviews sdedalus, esp the ones for CINECAST!ing Amal and Le Cercle rouge, but one thing I wanted to ask is...did you necessarily find this to be a flaw in the film?
I actually consider a lot of movies to be life-changing! I take them to my heart and they melt into my personality.

edgar00

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36286 on: September 20, 2010, 10:46:46 AM »
Shiat, I really have to see Underworld. Thanks for those reviews, sdedalus.
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Bill Thompson

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36287 on: September 20, 2010, 10:49:32 AM »
Night Of The Living Dead (1990) ***

It's not the original, but it doesn't really want to be. It loses all of the socio-political context for straight up zombie fun, and I had fun. Plus, Tony Todd, yo!

Wilson

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36288 on: September 20, 2010, 10:55:05 AM »

re- ....king Amal; Since this is the first review of it since the top 100, would you agree it belongs in the pantheon (the only copy I could find was going for £75 so please feel free to put me off tracking it down)?

You're from the UK right?  Check out your local HMV or Fopp for the Moodysson boxset; it's usually only around £20 for 4 films (3 of which are very good)

verbALs

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #36289 on: September 20, 2010, 12:11:02 PM »

re- ....king Amal; Since this is the first review of it since the top 100, would you agree it belongs in the pantheon (the only copy I could find was going for £75 so please feel free to put me off tracking it down)?

You're from the UK right?  Check out your local HMV or Fopp for the Moodysson boxset; it's usually only around £20 for 4 films (3 of which are very good)

Thanks- Fopp is always good for a bargain, On it.

EDIT: FA is called Show Me Love!?! Just ordered the boxset for £11 from Amazon, but your heads-up showed me how to find it so still thanks.

Once Upon A Time In The West  Grade- A

Frank;
How do you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? Man can't even trust his own pants.

Cheyenne; Judas was content with 4970 dollars less.
Harmonica; There were no dollars in them days.
Cheyenne; The sons-a-bitches…..yeah.

Frank; Who are you?
Harmonica; Jim Cooper…Chuck Youngblood
Frank; More dead men.
Harmonica; They were all alive till they met you Frank.



'Mr. Choo Choo'

Seemed like a good day to revisit, what is clearly a beloved movie. To use Hawks' line- 'a great movie has three great scenes and no bad ones'. Being a western there are three great gunfighting showdowns;

- Harmonica's arrival into Flagstone and the welcome party- two horses too many.
- Morton's men try to ambush Frank. Frank can't figure out why Harmonica helps him.
- The finale.

There aren't any bad scenes. There aren't actually any ordinary ones. There are only great scenes, great lines, great sound effects, and great music. You can say the dialogue and soundtrack are marvellous, but every part is so sparsely used- tiny snippets of theme tune, ultra-loud clicks and thuds in the silence. There is an earlier scene where the great Woody Strode stands under a water tower and a droplet splashes on his head, he puts on his hat and the splash turns to a plop. Brett gets splashed to the exact same accompaniment in Alien. As the film rolls towards a climax, Morricone's music leaves ordinary backing music behind and turns operatic. By that I mean the plot is being expressed in the orchestration.
This never stops being a western, never flinches from the ugliness of these murderers and thieves; it just rises on the magnitude of the story away from its roots to become epic. There is something in the western genre that in every film of this type has the potential to become something greater. Leone's genius is his understanding of that potential and how to express it. Obviously the final scene sends chills straight through you. Two plus hours of jabbing and feinting leading to the greatest punchline in film history(?) Well it is one of the all-time great pay-offs for an act of revenge, I can't at this moment think of another one as good.
This film was no. 27 in my list and no. 3 overrall. Last time I watched it I got the impression it plodded somewhat but still had those great showdowns and terrific climax. I am glad to realise how wrong I was. It has perfect pace. I am beginning to think both ratings were modest for this piece of perfection.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2010, 12:45:42 PM by verbALs »
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy