What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[KY Gentleman]

I watched Angel Heart again the other night for the first time in years. It is really a good flick, I think some of that got lost by all the hype of having racy scenes by Lisa Bonet who was a Cosby kid at the time. The music is excellent as well.

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

Watched Johnny Depp in Public Enemies earlier tonight.

I usually have to watch that about twice a month as it's a new favorite. Though not historically accurate.

 

[Miss Golightly]

Dearly Departed - cheaply made documentary from the guy from Findadeath.com basically doing a tour around Hollywood showing where infamous murders and suicides took place. Pretty good.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Thor - it was good: entertaining, funny, and captured just enough of what made the original Lee/Kirby comics unique to call itself Thor.

Some things didn't work (there's an opening prologue that desperately wants to be the one from The Fellowship of the Ring... but it's nowhere near as well-written or realized!) and it actually could have been 15 minutes longer to include more character detail and explain more about the Asgardians. There are several things plot-wise that don't make any sense... but you somehow don't really mind. And the ending is a disppointing dead-stop that they could have handled in a more satisfying way. (The now-standard-post-credits-sequence teaser is also DOA.)

But Chris Hemsworth has charm to burn as Thor, Tom Hiddleston is very good as the sorta-complex Loki (I just saw him perfectly described as "Mad Men's Pete Campbell in Asgard"!) - the other roles are well-handled too - the costumes, sets, and effects work is all good, and Thor and his Asgardian buddies kick some major ass very appropriately. The hammer is awesome! Having Kenneth Brannagh direct turns out to be a good choice: he handles the dysfunctional family palace intrigue like Shakespeare. (Though one of the changes I wasn't thrilled with was reducing the traditional King James Bible-stylings of the Asgardian's language to only a slightly stilted, archaic style... but I guess that's one aspect of comics-exaggeration that wouldn't work in live action.)

I evaluate Marvel Comics flicks by how well they manage to retain the essentials of the classic books. X-Men and X2, and Spider-Man and 2, are still the best by that criterion. Iron Man and both Hulks are a notch below. The two Fantastic Four films below that (*), and dreck like Ghost Rider and Daredevil scrape the bottom.

( * As a huge fan of the sixties Lee/Kirby originals, I was especially disappointed in the FF films, which almost completely missed the unique dynamic of Marvel's first family, reducing them to silliness. These films should have had huge budgets and been set in the New Frontiers sixties, and directed by Spielberg or Cameron... but NO! Anyway, Thor does much better in terms of honoring its classic heritage.)

 

[Edward]

I've seen the trailer for X-Men First Class, and I think that's gonig to be fun: it's a period piece, set during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Personally, I'm underwhelmed by that trailer. Like the last X-film (Wolverine), I think I'll wait for cable.

 

[Doc Average]

On Saturday evening I went to see Bogart and Bacall in "The Big Sleep", at my local 1930s time-capsule cinema, The Stockport Plaza. Also showing was one of my favourite Laurel & Hardy shorts, "Busy Bodies". The programme even included live musical intermissions performed on a huge Compton electric organ that rises out of the stage just in front of the screen. Great fun!

 

[Edward]

Personally, I'm underwhelmed by that trailer. Like the last X-film (Wolverine), I think I'll wait for cable.

I missed that in the cinema, caught it on DVD. I like it a lot, it's a good cinematic transfer of the Origins book. The one real gripe I have is that they switch Wolverine's side in the Civil War to the politically-correct Yankees (I'm certain it was Marvel canon that he fought for the South?), but it's really such a minor plotpoint in that film (would have been different if a significant plot point had turned on that) that it wasn't a big problem.

 

[Lady Day]

Personally, I'm underwhelmed by that trailer. Like the last X-film (Wolverine), I think I'll wait for cable.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.

I'm suffering from superhero movie fatigue. I just don't want to digest another one for a good year no matter how good or bad it is. By the by, did Thor wear his helmet in the movie? I consider Thor the Liberace of the Marvel universe. He's is beyond over the top and for him not to wear the helmet is just...odd?

The Fantastic Four films sucked. I hated the direction, their trite family squabbles and I loathed how they cast as Sue Storm! They were like music video versions of the comics. The *only* bright spot was Mr. Fishburne voicing Silver Surfer in the second movie.

LD

 

[ClaraBow]

Revolutionary Road, thought it was ok did drag on a bit at times.

 

[Doctor Strange]

LD, he only wears the helmet briefly in the opening sequence. Yeah, that's strange... But if I'm not gonna complain about the other visual aspects of classic Thor that they didn't honor - like the Kirby costume with the bare arms and yellow/black boots, and no beard - I'm not gonna go off about it. One thing about the costume that they did get beautifully right is the way his cape stands up over his shoulders like he's always got his own wind wherever he is.

When I say I wished that they spent more time on things... For example, Thor "flies" in his unique manner. But there's no clear shot of him roundhouse-swinging Mjolnir and releasing it and grabbing the strap to start, so it wouldn't be clear to a non-Thor fan that the hammer is actually pulling him. They'd probably just think, "Wow, he can fly too." And while there's plenty of ancient-aliens and realms-in-different-dimensions dialog, there's no explanation given of how/why the Asgardians are nearly immortal, nearly invulnerable, and vastly stronger than humans.

And yeah, those FF movies got nearly everything wrong. Casting, dialog, designs... and virtually none of the intelligence or sense of wonder that back in the day made Stan's cover boast The World's Greatest Comic Magazine so true!

 

[Lady Day]

A History of Violence
I think it should have been called a Legacy of Violence. I had never seen it and really liked the pacing and the unraveling of this man's false life. I did love it when he saw his brother again. That forehead touch was so profound between them.

The acrobatic animalistic sex was kind of uncomfortable, but not pointless because it actually was an emotional plot device. The direction was fantastic, but that's nearly a given with this director.

LD

 

[Doctor Strange]

I really liked that one a lot too. Cronenberg and Mortensen's subsequent collaboration Eastern Promises is also quite good.

 

[djd]

Cloverfield..... surprisingly good I thought. Not what I was expecting at all!

 

[Feraud]

I agree with both posts regarding History of Violence and Eastern Promises. The Cronenberg / Mortensen combo is a knockout!
My wife and I became Viggo fans in '93 when we saw him in Carlito's Way. Viggo's role was a small one but he stood out among actors like Sean Penn, Pacino, and Luiz Guzman.

Just an fyi, they will be working together again in A Dangerous Method scheduled for release near the end of this year.

 

[Danny Ocean]

"The Shawshank Redemption" - :eusa_clap And for once, I managed to watch it all the way through!

 

[KY Gentleman]

I'm watching The Complete Metropolis. Kino released it on Blu Ray and DVD including about 25 minutes of lost footage. Classic.

 

[mrtman]

Last Man Standing with bruce willis.

 

[Miss Moonlight]

Stage Door Canteen is on Netflix instant as I type.

 

[The Good]

I just saw Taxi Driver (1976), directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Robert De Niro. It was a great film, very deep. I can actually identify somewhat with the main character, Travis Bickle, with regard to loneliness, depression, going on and on with the grind of day-by-day life, and so on. It reminded me in some way of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai (1967), too, which I'm pretty sure may have been of some inspiration toward Taxi Driver. Both were relatively slow, drawn-out films with sparse action, and loner protagonists, and both encountered some of the most difficult moments of their lifetimes towards the end of their respective films. Also, this film's got to be the coolest portrayal of the mohawk hairstyle ever. I've got to say, when I first saw De Niro's character emerge out in the open, during the political rally, I thought it was an imposing presence, then he's got that sly smile, and claps like everyone else, preparing to do the hit.

Right now, I think I'll rate it 9/10.