What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Stearmen]

As for Top Gun, I saw it once just to see what all the fuss was about, and that was more than enough.

Unfortunately, I saw it when it came out. Then, for the next decade, wherever pilots gathered it was playing on the VCR!

 

[Worf]

I feel the same way, but I think, in my case, part of my feeling indifferent is because I missed it in the theater and saw it on TV, back when a movie like that didn't show up on TV until a few years later and, of course, the TV viewing experience wasn't what it is today - high-quality large screen with great sound and (for many movies) no commercials. To me the movie felt cheesy, but apparently, the action sequences in the movie theater - and for the time - were impressive. To some subset of our population, who was of a certain age and saw that movie in the theater - it's just an awesome movie.

My other complaint with the movie is Kelly McGillis. Every once in awhile, Hollywood convinces itself - and then tries to convince the public - that some actor is a leading man or women when they really aren't. Kelly McGillis made it through a few movies before the feedback of "enough" got to the Hollywood decisions makers and they stopped allowing her to be a lead in big-budget movies. Shelly Long and Val Kilmer are other examples of this Hollywood nonsense.

Saw it once, never needed to see it again. Same tired Tom Cruise vehicle. As for Ms. McGillis, she was so memorable I forgot who his co-star even was till you reminded me. I agree with you about Ms. Long and Ms. McGillis, however I think Val Kilmer (with the right material and direction) is an A-list actor. And of course this steaming pile of "meh" also gave us the "Top Gun Jacket"! What a load of drivel.

Worf

 

[Fading Fast]

Saw it once, never needed to see it again. Same tired Tom Cruise vehicle....

Worf

Cocky talented something (pilot, race car driver, bartender [I know!], etc.) pushes the envelope, ignores safety protocols and fights authority has an accident or near accident - that wasn't really his fault, but he believes it is - that injures / kills someone close to him which causes him to "quit" whatever amazing thing he does.

He, then, sulks and looks all angsty, only to come back when everyone begs him to save the day because only he and his amazing talent can do it, but this time, he does it while showing respect for the safety / authority / limits he ignored during his cocky period. Oh, and he initially turns off the pretty girl with his cockiness (even though she is secretly attracted to him). She, then, somehow figures into his epiphany moment and country / business / race-saving comeback which coincides with him finally getting the girl.

Were you implying there was a formula to his movies.

 

[Formeruser012523]

And he always does what I like to call the "weird Tom Cruise run" in every one of his movies.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Let's blame director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer more than Cruise for the macho nonsense, formula, and jingoism of Top Gun. Cruise isn't totally a formula star, he has actually stretched and given some varied performances over the years. Just off hand: Born on the Fourth of July, Interview with the Vampire, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Tropic Thunder, etc.

Sure, he's nuts. But he's a not-bad actor and a genuinely charismatic movie star.

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ I make fun of his formula movies because, well, they deserve to be made fun of - but I gladly admit, I watched a bunch of them back in their day and some were mildly entertaining. As to Cruise, he is far from a bad actor, but does have some, IMHO, over-acting issues. I did enjoy him in "The Last Samurai - and thought he held his over-acting in check. And he does have that X-factor that somehow makes someone a presence on the screen / a "star" (different from a great actor).

 

[AmateisGal]

A wonderful British romantic comedy with Simon Pegg as the romantic lead (I know!!!) called Man Up. Very well done. (It's streaming on Netflix).

 

[Worf]

Cocky talented something (pilot, race car driver, bartender [I know!], etc.) pushes the envelope, ignores safety protocols and fights authority has an accident or near accident - that wasn't really his fault, but he believes it is - that injures / kills someone close to him which causes him to "quit" whatever amazing thing he does.

He, then, sulks and looks all angsty, only to come back when everyone begs him to save the day because only he and his amazing talent can do it, but this time, he does it while showing respect for the safety / authority / limits he ignored during his cocky period. Oh, and he initially turns off the pretty girl with his cockiness (even though she is secretly attracted to him). She, then, somehow figures into his epiphany moment and country / business / race-saving comeback which coincides with him finally getting the girl.

Were you implying there was a formula to his movies.

In a word.... yes.
Good lord I got nauseous just reading your post.

Worf

 

[Edward]

Suicide Squad. We loved it. Forget Justice League, I want to see a film or films based around Harley and Joker. They really captured both characters well here. But then the villains are usually far more fun anyhow...

'Bad Grandpa'. I'm waking everyone in the house up..laughing..!! Can't help it....
(Viewer Discretion Advised)

Isn't that the one with Bobby deNiro? I must try it. I love him... And who'da thunk Travis Bickle/ the Raging Bull would show such a gift for comedy in his later career!

"High Fidelity" on HBO. I guess the film was made to "show" how an in-his-early-30s-directionless man - John Cusack - learns the downside of avoiding decisions and commitments while friends and girlfriends move on with, and expand, their lives over time as he stays securely tucked away in the little safe world he's built for himself.

Okay theme, okay acting, okay movie, but a complete underuse of the music / soundtrack possibilities as Cusack's character is a vinyl music aficionado (and store owner) which was, I suppose, to show his deep soul and passion for truth and beauty in a commercialized world, blah, blah, blah.

While many of the the tunes chosen were good - they were not well integrated into the story and didn't create either a I-want-to-buy-it soundtrack or scene or two where the music was so well entwined with the story that you want to see that scene again. The entire movie just moves along being good enough to hold your interest, but not cohesive enough to make you fully engaged.

That said, Cusack's apartment and record store had some great '20s/'30s architectural eye-candy, such as incredible transoms, woodwork and frosted glass. Fun stuff for FL fans.

I found it very true to the book, the relocation of it to the US aside. The Stiff Little Fingers connection was lovely; they always deserved far more recognition than they have.

A Beautiful Mind. It was a wild film, and seriously boggled my mind a few times where I myself had to question what was real and what wasn't.

I enjoyed it a lot until I found out just how much they sanitised the main protagonist! Friends who worked in mental healthcare had an interesting take on it.

I'm the same. I remember watching Roger Ebert eviscerate Kevin Costner's Robin Hood, but I loved it. I can't stand Avatar, either.

One movie that I did agree with the critics on was Batman vs. Superman.

Avatar was remarkable only for the fact it was the first, big commercial hit of the recent 3d boom. Otherwise, it was a poor rip off of Dances with Wolves. In Space. With overgrown smurfs.

London Has Fallen. Better than Olympus Has Fallen.

Saw em both on a plane. Perfect environment for them. Big, dumb, stupid and hilariously entertaining for it. Perfect vehicles for the lead. The second one was definitely the funnier.

Let's blame director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer more than Cruise for the macho nonsense, formula, and jingoism of Top Gun. Cruise isn't totally a formula star, he has actually stretched and given some varied performances over the years. Just off hand: Born on the Fourth of July, Interview with the Vampire, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Tropic Thunder, etc.

Sure, he's nuts. But he's a not-bad actor and a genuinely charismatic movie star.

I think Tom Cruise has never gotten out of the A lister trap, where after a couple of big hits they stop hiring soneone to act the role, and start hirinv them to play, in his case, the Tom Cruise Movie Star persona. He can act when he chooses (Valkyrie), but mostly he doesn't. He was badly miscast as Lestat.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Isn't that the one with Bobby deNiro? I must try it. I love him... And who'da thunk Travis Bickle/ the Raging Bull would show such a gift for comedy in his later career!

No DeNiro isn't in Bad Grandpa. Johnny Knoxville (of Jackass fame) is the lead along with a young actor as his Grandson. It's an off beat movie where most of the cast seems to be unaware and shocked ordinary citizens of the public, who's reactions to Grandpa's antics make for the audience belly laughs. Certainly a unique production.
HD

 

[Fading Fast]

"Hitler's Children" from 1943 on TCM. I don't know how I've missed this gem of a war-time propaganda film until now. The movie follows the lives of a an American teacher at an "American" school in Germany in the '30s and two students - and American girl of German parents and a boy from a local Nazi youth school.

A lot of what we now know happened in Germany in the '30s is here in this 1943 film: the Hitler Youth movement, the suppression of competing ideas, the turning of children against their parents, forced labor camps, Lebensborn program ("pure" German women encourage by, and supported by, the state to have out-of-wedlock babies - "Hitler Babies -" with "pure" German men), arbitrary rules, laws and arrests, political sentences, suppression of Catholic Churches, forced sterilization, and on and on.

All of this is entwined with the life of the three leads who live in Germany throughout the changes of the '30s and get forced to make horrific choices - resist and risk torture and death, conform and deny all you believe, escape and risk retribution for the ones who helped you / you left behind. While there is almost no subtlety in this film, it does a good job of showing how some of these choices were catch-22s, no wins / how it was impossible to simple "do the honorable thing" in an almost-all-powerful evil state.

There will be no great writing, acting or directing awards coming out of this one - but as a historical curio / propaganda film, it is one to catch.

 

[MisterCairo]

We took the girls to see Ghostbusters 2016 last night. We really enjoyed it, and other than the fact it's not as good as the original, I don't see what all the hate is about. It was certainly better than 1989's Ghostbusters 2, and that was pretty good.

 

[scotrace]

Watched the Redford film The Natural again. Lots of great hats and leathers.

 

[AmateisGal]

We took the girls to see Ghostbusters 2016 last night. We really enjoyed it, and other than the fact it's not as good as the original, I don't see what all the hate is about. It was certainly better than 1989's Ghostbusters 2, and that was pretty good.

I don't see what all the hate is about, either. I thought it was great fun.

 

[belfastboy]

Watched the Netflix offering; The bio of Nina Simone. What a great documentary, well worth the time to view if you love music.

 

[Fading Fast]

Watched the Redford film The Natural again. Lots of great hats and leathers.

I couldn't argue with someone who said the story is seriously flawed in the film - yup, it is, but I don't care. The movie has such a beautiful vintage look, feel and tone, that I just let the story - flaws and all - float by as I enjoy the poetry and aesthetic of it all. And yes, great period clothes, cars, etc.

 

[Worf]

"Indignation" - A good if not great film. Needed some A.C. so I went to the local Art House, picked this one from the bunch and I'm glad I did. Stellar acting, a decent INTELLIGENT script.... a shining star in a summer of dreck. Young, Jewish boy from Jersey City, gets a College Deferment at the height of the Korean War. He goes off to some non-descript College in Ohio and gets this life and faith tested in ways totally unforeseen by him or his increasingly distraught parents. I loved this welcome change and recommend it.

Worf

 

[Fading Fast]

"Indignation" is based on a Phillip Roth novel (name sounded familiar and, then, when you brought up the Jewish theme - which is in most Roth books - I thought it was him and checked). While I haven't read this one, I've read a few of his novels as they tend to get a lot of praise. He's not really my cup of tea, but can't deny the man can write and has a mind full of thoughts about a lot of things. Based on your comments, I just added the movie to my Netflix queue.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Brookyn - a lovely film. Great acting, on-target fifties look, simply gorgeous photography. A very relatable tale of going to a new world and finding your place, and all the fear and growth it entails.

 

[Touchofevil]

Brookyn - a lovely film. Great acting, on-target fifties look, simply gorgeous photography. A very relatable tale of going to a new world and finding your place, and all the fear and growth it entails.

We planned on watching Brooklyn, but with that write up we will move it up the list. Thank you.