What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[BobHufford]

Though based on an allegedly "original" 70s novel, it's a virtual remake of The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (1959), right down to characters surviving by being deep down in mines, and the sexual and racial identity of the three survivors: Margot Robbie (Inger Stevens), Chris Pine (Mel Ferrar), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Harry Belafonte).

Thank you! I remember seeing this movie on TV in maybe the late 1960s and could never remember who was in it or what the title was. Now I want to watch it again...

 

[Edward]

Edward - Nope, Cranston's seemingly not dead in Wakefield, just going through, um, SOMETHING.

Agreed that Ewan McGregor in the SW prequels was an outstanding choice to play young Alec Guinness (he's also pretty believable as the younger Albert Finney in Big Fish). But in a way, he's a character actor playing another character actor, whereas Harrison Ford is a lead actor with less obvious "business"... and thus trickier to replicate.

You're right that Chris Pratt actually does have some of the same self-deprecating-star qualities as Ford, but at 39 he's already too old to play a "young" Indy. His being middle-aged Indy with Ford doing framing flashbacks is a possibility... though not one I'd want to watch personally.

I could see Disney doing a reboot of the Young Indiana Jones concept, actually: it would probably be much easier to have 'new Indy' not be an adult, at least to begin with. Pratt may well depend on whether Lucas has laid any conditions about crossing timelines and such, as he's now around the age Ford was at the time of Raiders. Given Ford's rumoured involvement, the only thing that really makes sense is him bookending a series of flashbacks. Another possibility is a younger actor, in his twenties, portraying the story of Indy and his mentor, Abner Ravenwood, though I'm not sure Disney will want to stick to the canon facts there, given the tricky matter of Marion's having been jailbait. The other way to explore the character as established, rather than a reboot, would be to do something with the war-era Jones, forever trying to stop the Nazis from collecting various occult artefacts in neutral countries.

I'm sure we'll see in due course: I can't believe, however, that Disney would have spent the money acquiring the property to not do anything new with it.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I'm sure we'll see in due course: I can't believe, however, that Disney would have spent the money acquiring the property to not do anything new with it.

I just read an online article a day or two ago that stated Disney is still sorting out a fifth movie with Harrison Ford starring as Indy, but it was a rather short article because it's main purpose was simply to announce they had pushed the release date to 2021 with no further details. That said, it seems apparent that Disney's primary interest in Lucasfilm was to obtain the Star Wars franchise, but if they handle it properly the Indiana Jones franchise could be quite lucrative for them.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Indiana Jones and The Catheter Bag of Death."

 

[Zombie_61]

 

[Bushman]

I've strangely been finding myself enthralled by late 70s/early 80s musical animations by Nelvana such as "Rock & Rule" and "The Devil and Daniel Mouse". They're not exactly my kind of animated movie, and I find these animated movies incredibly dated and ostentatious, and yet I can't help but be entertained and curious of them. Most of these movies I have never heard of before, which lends me to believe they're more cult classics than anything else, but they're still curious.

 

[Edward]

I just read an online article a day or two ago that stated Disney is still sorting out a fifth movie with Harrison Ford starring as Indy, but it was a rather short article because it's main purpose was simply to announce they had pushed the release date to 2021 with no further details. That said, it seems apparent that Disney's primary interest in Lucasfilm was to obtain the Star Wars franchise, but if they handle it properly the Indiana Jones franchise could be quite lucrative for them.

I can only assume they plan to use Ford as a framing device then, though possibly they might try a 'Son of Indy' type thing (in which case Ford is less Grown-Up-Kevin-Arnold and more Shatner in Generations - a bridge from one to the other. The early 60s is going to be longer ago by then than was 36 from 1981 when Raiders came out. Of course, it dispenses with the whole idea of what Raiders pastiched, but I doubt that has the same resonance for the likely target audience anyhow.

 

[Zombie_61]

I can only assume they plan to use Ford as a framing device then, though possibly they might try a 'Son of Indy' type thing (in which case Ford is less Grown-Up-Kevin-Arnold and more Shatner in Generations - a bridge from one to the other...

You're no doubt aware they tried this (sort of) in the last movie, but the fans were so outspoken about their dislike for Mutt Williams and Shia LeBeouf that Disney almost immediately announced neither would be brought back for the next movie. Ford hasn't been shy about expressing his desire to play Indy as long as he's able to do so, so I can't see them easily convincing him to "bookend" a movie by playing an older Indy sitting in a rocking chair narrating tales of his adventures like George Hall did in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Everyone involved has a lot of "damage control" to perform after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and they'll have to get very clever about how they move forward. Unless, of course, they re-boot the franchise and start over after Indiana Jones V, which is probably their only viable option at this point.

 

[Edward]

You're no doubt aware they tried this (sort of) in the last movie, but the fans were so outspoken about their dislike for Mutt Williams and Shia LeBeouf that Disney almost immediately announced neither would be brought back for the next movie. Ford hasn't been shy about expressing his desire to play Indy as long as he's able to do so, so I can't see them easily convincing him to "bookend" a movie by playing an older Indy sitting in a rocking chair narrating tales of his adventures like George Hall did in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Everyone involved has a lot of "damage control" to perform after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and they'll have to get very clever about how they move forward. Unless, of course, they re-boot the franchise and start over after Indiana Jones V, which is probably their only viable option at this point.

Funny thing is, I actually like Crystal Skull, BUT Ford is now ten years older, and I simply don't believe you can credibly have a post-1957 Indy.... What was fun about Mutt was seeing Indy engage with that father / son dynamic, at the other end than he did with Connery (which was beautiful; Connery really knew how to almost steal the scene yet not overplay it, really worked those gags - for me, it was the performance of his career). Coincidental or not, it also showed Indy as a much older man, wiser than when he played quasi-dad to Shortround, and the better for it as he does treat Mutt as a kid, as opposed to the stunted adult his younger self made of Shorty. Mutt worked well in that film, I felt, but he was a part of Indy finding himself with Marion again, settling down, a natural winding up of the hero's tale while there are still adventures to go (I loved that touch at the end with Mutt lifting the hat, how it plays with them throws away the idea of him taking on the mantle). That said, I don't feel the need to see more of the character. Again, the big thing for me is that Indy is a man of a certain time: he's already a dinosaur in 1957, and much after that it just won't work for me.

Maybe they could just digitally young him down, like Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy, and set it in 1945 or whatever?

Franchise crossover I'd like to see (but will never happen, obvs): Indy's WW2 years working with the BPRD and Hellboy....

 

[Seb Lucas]

I think Ford will play main Indy again. Too much ego and star power to do otherwise, surely?.

I may be unusual but I absolutely loathed Last Crusade. Connery acted like he was in a whole different movie and the dialogue, plotting and effects were sub-standard. Hard to imagine the snappy, visually innovative Raiders turning into such visually tired schmaltz. They really can't hurt this idea any further.

 

[bluesmandan]

Watched “The Neverending Story” with my 4 year old. She was mesmerized!

Begged me to get her a Luck Dragon to ride! LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zombie_61]

Funny thing is, I actually like Crystal Skull...

I liked parts of it--Indy mentoring Mutt, for example--but overall it didn't work for me. All of the movies have had some form of supernatural element, but I thought "interdimensional aliens" was pushing it a bit too far.

...BUT Ford is now ten years older, and I simply don't believe you can credibly have a post-1957 Indy...

Ford is in good physical condition for his age, but it was evident in some scenes in Crystal Skull that he has slowed down a little over the years. Also, in the real world the chances are slim that Dr. Henry Jones Jr. would be out in the field chasing down artifacts himself (or, in the case of Crystal Skull, returning them to their rightful place) in his late 70s. And, yeah, assuming they're setting this movie in the late-1960s I have a hard time imagining Indy interacting well with students who have become part of the "counterculture".

...I may be unusual but I absolutely loathed Last Crusade. Connery acted like he was in a whole different movie and the dialogue, plotting and effects were sub-standard...

My only real issue with Connery's performance in Last Crusade is that he doesn't seem to know how to play "clueless" convincingly. So when Dr. Jones Sr. was befuddled by the circumstances he found himself in, I didn't buy it for a moment.

 

[Fading Fast]

I finished "You Can't Take It With You" yesterday and, as long as you can deal with the utopian communist undertone and over-the-top screwball-ness of the house, there's a good movie in there. What most impressed me was that the "evil" banker - played by the actor Hollywood asked to play evil bankers, executives, etc. for two decades, Edward Arnold - is actually an interesting and nuanced character throughout (even if he is given a few cardboard "evil" banker lines to fit the forced political narrative), which makes his transition at the end kinda believable.

Plus I'm willing to watch any movie with super-cute Jean Arthur who is also a first-rate actress who can take mediocre dialogue and hard-to-believe situations and imbue them with credibility - which she as to do several times with this bumpy script.

 

[Edward]

I liked parts of it--Indy mentoring Mutt, for example--but overall it didn't work for me. All of the movies have had some form of supernatural element, but I thought "interdimensional aliens" was pushing it a bit too far.

It's interesting a lot of peopled felt that. I think it was just a change in tone that a lot of the audience clearly didn't like, away from the 30s pulp to 50s scifi. That's actually one of the elements to it that I really liked: taking the populist action genre of the period in which it's set and pastiching that.

Ford is in good physical condition for his age, but it was evident in some scenes in Crystal Skull that he has slowed down a little over the years. Also, in the real world the chances are slim that Dr. Henry Jones Jr. would be out in the field chasing down artifacts himself (or, in the case of Crystal Skull, returning them to their rightful place) in his late 70s. And, yeah, assuming they're setting this movie in the late-1960s I have a hard time imagining Indy interacting well with students who have become part of the "counterculture".

Actually, I was really pleased that they did play him as an older man rather than try to gloss over it - "I thought that truck was closer", "we were younger then", et al. Sure, he get bit of a pass (although he crossed the seal and will never be immortal, he did drink from the Holy Grail.... but Jones ultimately belongs to a certain era, and I can't see it making sense to have him run much later.

My only real issue with Connery's performance in Last Crusade is that he doesn't seem to know how to play "clueless" convincingly. So when Dr. Jones Sr. was befuddled by the circumstances he found himself in, I didn't buy it for a moment.

I actually liked him doing that, but then when I first saw it I hadn't seen Connery in anything in years, so I didn't have the same preconceptions. I always loved his delivery on "She talks in her sleep."

 

[Doctor Strange]

The 1952 adaptation of My Cousin Rachel with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton... as a comparison to the recent version with Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin, which I'd watched a few weeks ago. The older version is more a noir-ish crime drama with an overbearing score that constantly amps things up; the new one is a more contemplative take. In both films, Rachael is the better-acted and more interesting character; her much younger male cousin is a passionate yutz who gets manipulated big-time.

Neither is a great film (and I can't speak to their fidelity to the Daphne du Maurier source novel), but they are okay if you're in the mood for a romance/mystery set amidst mid-1800s Brit gentry.

 

[Worf]

"The Endless" - Interesting flic recommended by some Youtuber. It can be found on Netflix. Two brothers who claim to have escaped from a "Heaven's Gate" like UFO cult convince themselves to go back to the community they escaped from as pre-teens. It's a slow film and none of the actors stand out too much. The whole thing is pretty confusing until one brother.. the one who really didn't want to return, starts putting the whole puzzle together. No one's aged at all... they all appear as they did when they first escaped this is the first clue that something at the commune is not "quite right". Plot holes abound but by the end you're on the edge of your seat wondering if the two will escape. We enjoyed it.

Worf

 

[Zombie_61]

It's interesting a lot of peopled felt that. I think it was just a change in tone that a lot of the audience clearly didn't like, away from the 30s pulp to 50s scifi. That's actually one of the elements to it that I really liked: taking the populist action genre of the period in which it's set and pastiching that...

My issues with the movie have more to do with the execution than the concept. When they first announced it would have more of a sci-fi element because it would be set in the 1950s I thought it made some sense. But I have a real problem with fake-looking/obvious CGI, and this movie was loaded with it. If they had used a little restraint with the visuals and kept it more "real world" I would possibly have enjoyed it more, but that obviously didn't happen.

...Actually, I was really pleased that they did play him as an older man rather than try to gloss over it - "I thought that truck was closer", "we were younger then", et al. Sure, he get bit of a pass (although he crossed the seal and will never be immortal, he did drink from the Holy Grail.... but Jones ultimately belongs to a certain era, and I can't see it making sense to have him run much later...

I appreciated those nods to Ford's/Indy's age too. But watching Ford at some points during Crystal Skull I was reminded of Charles Bronson in some of his later "action" movies when he was clearly no longer able to chase the much younger "bad guys" down the street. It was embarrassing. I know there's a lot of money (and egos) at stake, but at some point someone has to sit these actors down and tell them, "You're too old for this ****," and Ford may have reached that tipping point.

And I agree that Indy is becoming anachronistic. The concept still worked set in the 1950s, but the 1960s was a very different era and he'd likely be perceived as "The old man who still wears fedoras". That could work in their favor, allowing some humor and perhaps showing how his methods are still better than relying on the advancing technologies of the day, but it all depends on how they handle it.

...I actually liked him doing that, but then when I first saw it I hadn't seen Connery in anything in years, so I didn't have the same preconceptions. I always loved his delivery on "She talks in her sleep."

Connery is good at subtle humor and knows how to underplay dialogue like that, and it was a great character moment; Professor Jones might be up in years, but he's still "got it". But it's those "fish out of water" moments like, "What about the boat? We're not going on the boat?" where he loses me.

 

[Formeruser012523]

"We named the dog Indiana."

Best line in the entire movie IMO.

 

[belfastboy]

"The Endless" - Interesting flic recommended by some Youtuber. It can be found on Netflix. Two brothers who claim to have escaped from a "Heaven's Gate" like UFO cult convince themselves to go back to the community they escaped from as pre-teens. It's a slow film and none of the actors stand out too much. The whole thing is pretty confusing until one brother.. the one who really didn't want to return, starts putting the whole puzzle together. No one's aged at all... they all appear as they did when they first escaped this is the first clue that something at the commune is not "quite right". Plot holes abound but by the end you're on the edge of your seat wondering if the two will escape. We enjoyed it.

Worf

We started to watch but gave up when it got weird(er) with the strange alien/otherworldly occurances. It was Netflix not a rental so we bailed on it.

 

[belfastboy]

Watched "The Guilty" a Danish feature on a number of "best of 2018 lists". This is a movie that shows the magic of film. A simple unchanging set, one man, a head set, and a series of phone conversations. Edge of your seat compelling for the entire 90 minutes. Shows to me, the magic of a good premise, great script and competent performances.....magic is made.