What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Stand By]

Thank you for this reply. I am not a sci-fi guy at all having never read a novel of this genre in my life so I came to the movie with a hugh degree of tech/sci fi ignorance. Did you read the novel? I wonder how closely it followed the book? I agree Matt Damon did not deserve any manner of award. It was Matt Damon being Matt Damon.....genial and non threatening but it was not great acting. But then the part was non demanding. For my wife and I it was 2 hours of escapist fluff on a Saturday night and a bit of respite from death, destruction and sex....the usual movie fare. Thanks again for a great perspective well outside my realm.

You're most welcome.
No, I hadn't read the book. But perhaps that reads better? One can only hope.
Cheers!

 

[AmateisGal]

Now Voyager.

 

[Fading Fast]

Now Voyager.

While I know doping is wrong, it wouldn't have been the worst idea if somebody had given Paul Henreid some uppers or something before his performance in this movie, "Casablanca," and everything else I've seen him in. Overall, I still like him as an actor, but lighting a match under him wouldn't have been the worst idea.

 

[2jakes]

Now Voyager.

Saw it for the first time on TCM.
Love the background music in this scene.
Brings back memories of long ago.

 

[AmateisGal]

While I know doping is wrong, it wouldn't have been the worst idea if somebody had given Paul Henreid some uppers or something before his performance in this movie, "Casablanca," and everything else I've seen him in. Overall, I still like him as an actor, but lighting a match under him wouldn't have been the worst idea.

Haha! I actually like how calm he is.

 

[1mach1]

Forbidden Planet (1956)

 

[Formeruser012523]

Re; The Martian. SPOILER ALERT REPLY

Oh BB, it felt to me as though the makers had realized that, with Gravity, they'd seen a film that went from the plausible to the totally unrealistic - but people had bought in to it enough and lapped it up and been entertained (as I myself was) and hadn't it done well for the studio? So they decided to up the ante it in all regards - thus taking the implausibility to ridiculous levels.
It started okay enough with that threatening storm and the sense of drama that unfolded, but really, seeing the storm in all its alien viciousness and how our hero was taken out, then surviving it? Then using duct tape to seal a spacesuit? Duct tape.
Matt Damon won a Golden Globe for best actor for this - and it was a completely flat, dead-pan performance he gave (perhaps it was how he was directed to play it?). Nothing seemed to daunt this guy (except in one scene only - and that was brief) and his resolve was unreal, given the situation. And he was a flat character.
But he grew crops as he's a botanist - okay, I bought that.
But then he needed power to drive his short-range vehicle to turn it into a long-range rover and he hooks up the dreaded plutonium power core to it. To paraphrase Dr. McCoy, "I'm a botanist. Not a nuclear scientist!". But he did it - and safely too. And with no pesky radiation leaks. He has power galore! Our hero can now explore vast areas of Mars and that's all that matters.
Then the air lock explodes on him and the main area depressurizes and freezes instantly (Didn't see it coming. It was very well done and the loss of the crop was real drama) - BUT he repairs the gaping wall in the base with polythene sheeting and the duct tape again. And he re-pressurizes it - and it holds! Really? Really. Sorry, but there's such a thing as suspension-of-belief to make any film work - and this was just so far beyond any sense of credulity. I laughed out loud. Well, it's laughable, isn't it?
NASA back on Earth: Terrible from beginning to end. Sean Bean was woefully miscast as the Brit among them - he looked confused most of the time (wondering how and why his agent got him the gig, probably) and the Chief was no leader and the team aren't much help and it was all so predictable - but then there's the rogue student who dreams up the rescue and makes his own clandestine computations by hacking the main computer at night. Good Lord. Who saw that coming?
And a sop to the Chinese Space Agency too - clearly done for selling film rights to China.
And searching for - and finding - that derelict lander on a far off region - er, needle in a haystack anyone? Oh! And lo, and behold, it works! He can communicate with NASA! Jolly good then.
And the rescue - Good God (my girlfriend had left to do laundry at this point - on a Saturday night. She couldn't take any more) - and there's an unused, fueled spaceship from another previous mission to be used to get him into orbit for pick-up. What? Er, why, er, how can one be there? Surely it would have been USED by the previous mission to get back to orbit to go back home? You mean the previous mission took two escape vehicles all the way to Mars but intended to use only one? No matter. It's there, that's all that matters. So he strips it right down - including the heat shield as it's too heavy for escape velocity (it drops with a heavy clang to show how heavy it is and the need for it to go) - and is replaced with - Ta!Daaa! Polythene and Duct Tape! (I'm laughing as I write this). Seriously. It's MacGuyver in space! But with no cleverness or electronic gadgetry. Just plastic sheets and duct tape.
Into the infinity of space out hero flies - and gets collected by a passing spaceship. It's Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - except that was a comedy. They're selling this to us all as serious drama. They're thinking that the visual effects alone (inspired by Gravity) will carry this farce.
And home he comes. Ill from all that radiation? No, he's good. Gets a job at NASA. Smashing. The End.

Awful. And this from me, someone who loves old classic Dr. Who and b/w sci-fi movies like Quatermass, and The Black Hole, Moonraker and Silent Running and so many others. I'm an easy going guy who can enjoy most movies ... but this was an insult. I saw it on Netflix too - had I seen it at the cinema, I'd have left feeling angry and mugged by the studio.
No stars.

Gee, tell us how you really feel.

Personally, I kept waiting for Kristen Wiig to do something ridiculous in every scene she was in. But I'm accustomed to that.

 

[2jakes]

Gee, tell us how you really feel.

Personally, I kept waiting for Kristen Wiig to do something ridiculous in every scene she was in. But I'm accustomed to that.

After watching Wiig in "Walter Mitty", I also expected much more
from her in the "Martian" flick!

 

[green papaya]

Billy Jack 1971 starring Tom Laughlin

 

[Fading Fast]

"Housewife" from 1934 with George Brent, Bette Davis and Ann Dvorak. Despite Brent and Davis (clearly) becoming bigger stars, Dvorak outshines both in this by-the-numbers (until the end) pre-code.

Faithful wife (Dvorak) helps turn diffident husband's (Brent) career around only to, then, almost lose her now prosperous and confident husband to the unattached, aggressive and successful career woman (Davis).

While Brent is wooden and Davis has yet to fully hit her stride as an actress - relying more on her looks and half-dollar-sized eyes than acting chops to draw Brent (and the audience) in - Dvorak glows throughout bringing emotion, nuance and authenticity to her role.

Made in '34, it feels as if the code enforcement or looming enforcement compelled an out-of-the-flow-and-tone of the movie snap-on "happy" ending. While that's jarring, the movie's strengths are Dvorak, the fun of seeing an inchoate Davis and a lot of great period details - clothes, cars, houses, furniture, etc. The story - silly ending or not, other than in one brutal Dvorak-Brent break-up scene - never rises above average.

 

[Stand By]

Gee, tell us how you really feel.

Personally, I kept waiting for Kristen Wiig to do something ridiculous in every scene she was in. But I'm accustomed to that.

Seriously though. Compare and contrast Matt Damon's performance in that - to his sensational acting in The Departed. I can't say more than that.

 

[Bushman]

Just got done with "Cabin Fever", the 2002 original by Eli Roth (didn't know they remade it and by the looks of it, it's pretty bad). It has some great visuals and make up, including hair raising gore. It feels like a classic '80s slasher flick though, complete with utterly incompetent adults, laughably poor cops, and cheesy over the top gore and acting. It's really nothing groundbreaking, but if you're looking for a modern spin on all the classic slasher tropes look no further than this flesh eating feast.

 

[Worf]

"They Were Expendable" - A personal fave. My favorite WWII naval picture. Robert Montgomery gives a great nuanced performance as a commander of one of the first PT Boat Squadrons in the US Navy. It's particularly heartbreaking when he has to abandon some of his men near Bataan when he knows that'll mean almost certain capture or death. Wayne is... well Wayne. Donna Reed is stunning and gives a great heartfelt performance as an Army nurse who falls in love in the wrong place and time and some would say, with the wrong man (Wayne). And when Montgomery and Wayne take the last plane out, again knowing that all left behind are certainly doomed, the touching and tender way he puts his arm around Wayne's shoulder speaks volumes.

"What are you gonna do if the Jap's make a landing?"
"Ah been building this for 40 years, they're gonna have to fight to get me!"

"You got wet clothes on under that blanket son?"
"No sir I'm just scared!"
"Well you don't do have a monopoly on that."

Worf

 

[Stearmen]

"They Were Expendable" - A personal fave. My favorite WWII naval picture. Robert Montgomery gives a great nuanced performance as a commander of one of the first PT Boat Squadrons in the US Navy. It's particularly heartbreaking when he has to abandon some of his men near Bataan when he knows that'll mean almost certain capture or death. Wayne is... well Wayne. Donna Reed is stunning and gives a great heartfelt performance as an Army nurse who falls in love in the wrong place and time and some would say, with the wrong man (Wayne). And when Montgomery and Wayne take the last plane out, again knowing that all left behind are certainly doomed, the touching and tender way he puts his arm around Wayne's shoulder speaks volumes.

"What are you gonna do if the Jap's make a landing?"
"Ah been building this for 40 years, they're gonna have to fight to get me!"

"You got wet clothes on under that blanket son?"
"No sir I'm just scared!"
"Well you don't do have a monopoly on that."

Worf

Something I just found out about the movie is, John Ford got one more not so subtle dig at Wayne's expense. Ford listed in the credits, the rank and branch of the cast and crew that served in WWII!

 

[Formeruser012523]

Finally saw Interstellar... Kept wishing I was an editor 'cause I woulda chopped that thing apart with a machete. So long. Overall, interesting but left me feeling it cut out parts of the plot it shouldn't have & left in bits it should have left out. I'd say I'd like to see it again but, at near three hours, not sure I've got the time.

 

[Claudio]

Well, 'Cafe Society' is looking tasty ...

 

[AmateisGal]

Clueless. This 1990s modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma is pretty dumb, but fun nevertheless. I have no idea why I haven't watched it before considering it came out while I was in college.

 

[AmateisGal]

Larry Crowne. What a delightful gem of a movie! A total "feel-good" flick. Loved it.

 

[Fading Fast]

Clueless. This 1990s modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma is pretty dumb, but fun nevertheless. I have no idea why I haven't watched it before considering it came out while I was in college.

That and a couple of Aerosmith videos was Alicia Silverstone's 15 minutes of outsized fame.

 

[Doctor Strange]

An early Frank Capra film via TCM, American Madness from 1932 - no masterpiece, but a fascinating depths-of-the-Depression artifact.

Walter Huston plays a bank president who - anticipating George Bailey's Bedford Falls Building & Loan - gives out "questionable" loans to people he trusts vs. just looking at their financials. After the bank is robbed, fast-flying rumors lead to a bank run with hundreds of panicked customers trying to close their accounts, and the fat-cat board of directors refuse to loan their own fortunes to prevent running out of cash from shutting down the bank. The ultimate resolution is exactly the same as in It's A Wonderful Life 15 years later: when they hear of Huston's troubles, all those little people he trusted come running to make deposits into their accounts, providing the cash to satisfy the withdrawals.

Director Capra (and screenwriter Robert Riskin) hadn't quite reached maturity, and some aspects of the film, notably a romantic problem that complicates the main plot, are awkward. But Huston is great as always, the bank set is outstanding... and oh, those hats on the hundreds of extras in the bank run scenes!