What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Zombie_61]

Yes, yes, yes. I saw the first half of it on Saturday on TCM (had to leave, so I recorded the second half). Hadn't seen it in awhile and forgot how absolutely outstanding it is in all its beautiful B&W glory. Also reminded me that Jackie Gleason could act and not just play a ham.

As I understand it, it was a bit of a risk to cast Gleason in the role because he was known as a comedian/comedy actor before appearing in The Hustler. It's a memorable performance, especially considering he's only in the movie for about 20 minutes.

 

[Fading Fast]

As I understand it, it was a bit of a risk to cast Gleason in the role because he was known as a comedian/comedy actor before appearing in The Hustler. It's a memorable performance, especially considering he's only in the movie for about 20 minutes.

He nails it. None of his hamming it up. He is a serious actor in this movie and communicates so much with subtle facial expressions and body movements that his performance could be studied by other actors.

 

[AmateisGal]

Bloodsport. My husband decided to watch it on NetFlix and I had never seen it, so I took the plunge. Oh dear heavens. The acting...horrible. We actually fast-forwarded to the fight scenes which weren't much better than the acting bits. I must be the odd woman out because its rating on IMDB is almost 7 out of 10 stars. I'd give it 1 1/2.

 

[Touchofevil]

Bloodsport. My husband decided to watch it on NetFlix and I had never seen it, so I took the plunge. Oh dear heavens. The acting...horrible. We actually fast-forwarded to the fight scenes which weren't much better than the acting bits. I must be the odd woman out because its rating on IMDB is almost 7 out of 10 stars. I'd give it 1 1/2.

That is probably a little high on a scale of 1-10.

 

[DesertDan]

Event Horizon

 

[Zombie_61]

Bloodsport. My husband decided to watch it on NetFlix and I had never seen it, so I took the plunge. Oh dear heavens. The acting...horrible. We actually fast-forwarded to the fight scenes which weren't much better than the acting bits. I must be the odd woman out because its rating on IMDB is almost 7 out of 10 stars. I'd give it 1 1/2.

Seeing the name "Jean-Claude Van Damme" should probably have been a clue.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Last year's Fantastic Four reboot. Oy, what a stinker!

 

[Touchofevil]

Event Horizon

I liked that movie.

 

[Touchofevil]

Last year's Fantastic Four reboot. Oy, what a stinker!

It was quite bad. It felt cheap which I am sure it was not.

 

[Touchofevil]

Started the Hateful Eight, but chose to go to bed instead of finishing it.

 

[1mach1]

Last year's Fantastic Four reboot. Oy, what a stinker!

I'm sorry.
There are no words.

 

[1mach1]

Deadpool

 

[Doctor Strange]

You know, now that Columbia has worked out an agreement to co-produce Spider-Man with Marvel Studios (and the new Spidey's great in Civil War), maybe there will be a similar deal with Fox, and they'll let the First Family of Marvel get rebooted yet again by folks who actually understand why it's such a revered classic in the first place.

 

[AmateisGal]

That is probably a little high on a scale of 1-10.

Right?!? So, so bad.

 

[MisterCairo]

Seeing the name "Jean-Claude Van Damme" should probably have been a clue.

The muscles from Brussels.

I loved his work in Time Cop.

 

[Benzadmiral]

It was quite bad. It felt cheap which I am sure it was not.

This is, what, the 3rd or 4th try Hollywood has made at the Fantastic Four? And each one has been a stinker or a flop. Why do they keep trying? Not being familiar with the FF storyline/setup, I ask: Is there something inherently unfilmable about them?

 

[Doctor Strange]

I don't think there's anything inherently unfilmable about them, I just think they've been handled wrong in all three iterations. The essence of them isn't about their superpowers, it's that they are a dysfunctional family (*) who squabble and fight and quit... but being a family, they come together when it counts. That emotional realism, along with a hefty dose of hard SF and Jack Kirby's astonishing visual skill, was what first made the book a hit and jump-started the entire Marvel Universe.

(* They really are a family: Reed Richards and his girlfriend/eventual wife Sue Storm, her brother Johnny Storm, and Reed's best friend Ben Grimm - who comes across as a beloved uncle... and also the family's diaper-clad baby.)

The first film was cheap junk, made just to retain the film rights. The 2005 film actually got a fair amount of stuff right... but it expected you to accept beautiful-but-vapid Jessica Alba as a brilliant scientist, didn't really get all the characterizations spot-on (Reed's supposed to be super-brilliant and an authoritative, take-charge leader... not a loser nerd who's afraid to tell Sue his true feelings for her!), and it butchered one of the all-time great comics villains, Doctor Doom (one of the clear inspirations for Darth Vader). That one, and the inferior sequel from a couple of years later, were directed by a guy who's most famous for comedies, and he didn't have a sure enough hand for the required drama or action.

The recent film tried updating the origin to the present, with inter-dimensional transport replacing a space mission subjecting them to cosmic rays being the cause of their powers, and using contemporary geek characterizations. But what a misfire! Nobody/nothing in it was remotely believable, the dialog was awful, they botched Doctor Doom again, and the guy playing Sue and Johnny's legendary scientist father gave one of the worst performances I've ever seen in a big-budget film. Worst of all, it wasn't fun, and though it paid lip service, it didn't adequately communicate the thrill of scientific discovery, which is one of the foundations of the FF.

I've thought from the start that an FF film should be done as a period piece, set in the JFK sixties where the comics originated... as was done quite successfully with X-Men: First Class. It needs a more innocent time than the present, and if it means that they can't interact with other Marvel heroes, that's fine. The FF's popularity was eventually outstripped by later-created characters, and while they always retained their role as "Marvel's First Family", it was more out of respect and nostalgia by both creators and readers than it still being "The World's Greatest Comics Magazine" (as the cover was emblazoned for decades with classic Stan Lee hyperbole!) They are not endlessly malleable characters like Superman or Batman, they need to be handled classically.

In any case, it remains a beloved property that could spawn a successful series, and I'm sure we haven't seen its last film adaptation.

 

[Edward]

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Still very fond of that one, even though thry did completely ruin the ending.... I eish someone would do a film accurate to the book, but this one is so iconic, it'd be a hard sell.

 

[1mach1]

Started the Hateful Eight, but chose to go to bed instead of finishing it.

Was it that bad?

 

[Touchofevil]

Deadpool

And?