Last Movie Watched.... The Xenforo Edition

Discussion in 'Movies, TV and Music' started by Val1, May 4, 2012.

  1. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
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    Argentina
    The Sundowners (1960)-Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov star in a tale of an Australian nomadic family. Good, but long. Good scenery.
     
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  2. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
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    Club Brugge KV
    I think it's good, just very misunderstood at the time?
    Arguably this didn't just derail Cimino's career, it put a stake through the heart of 1970s era type auteur cinema.
     
  3. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    The Mauritanian (2021)-Good whodunit about a Gitmo prisoner who may or may not be guilty. Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tahar Rahim star. Raises questions about US policy.
     
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  4. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    IIRC it was more the business model that fell apart, than a problem with the films themselves?

    These epics just got too expensive, and especially it got super expensive to market them on TV due to the need to drive audience quickly at the opening - you couldn't reliably get people to watch them - whereas increasingly if you spent your budget on Michael Douglas, Sly or Arnie, then you could tentpole your film around the advertising based on those stars to make your film pay off.
     
  5. bungadiri

    bungadiri Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jan 25, 2002
    Acnestia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's one of those movies I'll spend some time watching whenever I'm given the opportunity. It's compelling, despite Cimino's what-do-you-call-it?...self indulgence and despite Kristofferson being a bit wooden. Mainly, I remember it giving a sense of the frontier world that felt real and vivid, even though I'm sure much of it must have been pure fantasy.
     
  6. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Nomadland (2020)-Frances McDormand stars as Fern, a nomad who travels around the country. Pretty good flick, though I'd imagine that serial killers would prey on nomads. I imagine this will get some awards consideration, especially for McDormand.
     
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  7. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
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    DC United
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    Argentina
    Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)-Funny comedy about a guy (Jason Segel) who breaks up with an actress (Kristen Bell) and then encounters her and her new boyfriend on a trip to Hawai'i. Has me reconsidering when to take a trip, so as not to encounter the ex. Stellar comedy cast.
     
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  8. NORML

    NORML Member+

    Aug 9, 2002
    Lake Wobegon, MN
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    NSC Minnesota Stars
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    Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Story about Fred Hampton and Chicago Black Panthers and FBI's work to defeat it. This movie deserves award nominations. The cinematography, soundtrack and acting are all amazing. Lakieth Stanfield is legit a great actor and deserves some consideration for heavier lead roles down the road. Wow.
     
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  9. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    The Quick and The Dead (1995)-Too clever by half Western. It stars Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman and Russell Crowe. Deals with a shooting competition. Some entertaining points. Sam Raimi directs.
     
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  10. StiltonFC

    StiltonFC He said to only look up -- Guster

    Mar 18, 2007
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
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    United States
    Watched the pilot of the new CBS series Clarice. The lead actress does a very credible job of mimicking Jodie Foster's version of a WV accent.

    It's isn't horrible. The typical internecine bureaucratic nonsense prevents us from having any sympathy for the FBI, which may be intentional in these days of governmental intrigues.

    7.5 out of 10, mainly for Rebecca Breeds faithful rendition of Ms. Starling, especially in that she's from Oz.
     
  11. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Twisted Nerve (1968)
    Dir. Roy Boulting

    [​IMG]

    Martin Durnley is a child of privilege, having been raised by a doting mother and a wealthy banker step father. His step dad resents the fact that his step son dropped out of Oxford for no apparent good reason and hasn't a job nor any real passions in life at 22. In reality, Martin is a deeply disturbed individual who loathes almost everyone and everything in his life. After a chance encounter with Susan, a pretty girl he meets at a toy store who shows him some kindness, his pathology swiftly latches on to her. After another confrontation with his step father leads to him being kicked out of the home, he decides to make Susan something of a project. Having introduced himself as Georgie instead of Martin and having pretended to be mentally challenged during their initial meeting, he is forced to keep up the act. He quickly finds out she is a student working a part-time job at a library who lives with her lodging-house keeping mother. Through a series of lies, he also becomes an inhabitant of the home and it is slowly revealed that his deception will end tragically for Susan and the people around her.

    Very interesting psychological thriller. Nicely shot, with many on-location scenes in and around London. Hayley Mills (likely still most famous for the original "Parent Trap") plays the object of the protagonists obsession, a nice bit of stunt casting on behalf of the Boulting brothers (though likely the fact that she was Roy Boulting's real-life wife at the time probably also played a part). On that note, supposedly this film caused enough of a scandal that it somewhat harmed their career, in a similar way to how Peeping Tom almost destroyed Michael Powell's. Some of the ideas espoused here, about psychology and the nature of intellectual disability as well as some mildly racist dialogue aimed at the (sympathetic and laconic) lone South Asian character feel dated.
     
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  12. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
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    DC United
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    Argentina
    The Missouri Breaks (1976) Quirky Western that stars Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, in their only screen pairing. Brando hams it up. Not as bad as some reviewers have it. Worth a watch if you can.
     
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  13. ASU55RR

    ASU55RR Member+

    Jul 31, 2004
    Brooklyn, NY/Brno,CZ
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    (At this point sort of hate-) watching the Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel documentary on Netflix.... To be fair, the first episode that covers the history of a historic but disgusting low-rent hotel is sort of interesting, but the rest is basically a white supremacist away from being everything wrong with internet culture.
     
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  14. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    The Swordsman (2021)
    Dir. Jae-Hoon Choi


    [​IMG]


    A half-blind former swordsman lives an isolated life on a remote hill, together with his adopted daughter. When his daughter insists they go down to the nearest town to find medicine that might save what remains of his eyesight, they get tangled up in a conflict which has reached their world: the arrival of several representatives of the Qing Dynasty, led by the Emperor's own nephew. The men in question are cruel and revel in enslaving and humiliating the people living under Joseon rule. The Joseon ruler realizes that there might be a time when the invaders' ever more obscene demands might also include him. To that end, he devises of a plan to protect his only child, a daughter. Said plan happens to involve the swordsman's own daughter, which means the man gets involved in these political machinations, even though he swore off court life decades earlier. At the same time, the most skilled Joseon soldier is going through a crisis of conscience, questioning the validity of his creed and the wisdom of his past decisions in light of the Qing invaders' behavior.


    Very enjoyable Korean action-drama. Set in 17th century Korea, it is essentially something like "Taken meets John Wick but make it Chanbara!". Very good lead performance by Jang Hyuk and a very fun villain turn by martial arts superstar Joe Taslim. If you are into the genre at all, definitely check this out.
     
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  15. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    Yield to the Night (1956)
    Dir. J. Lee Thompson

    [​IMG]

    We follow a young woman through a stroll around London. When she arrives in a residential neighborhood, she waits for the return of another woman and proceeds to shoot her just as the stranger is carrying shopping bags into her home. The murderer is revealed to be Mary Hilton. After being found guilty of premeditated murder, she is in prison, waiting for her execution, or a potential government reprieve. Whichever the outcome will be, she - and the audience - will know in two weeks time. We follow her day to day routine in prison. Interspersed with this are flashbacks which are meant to reveal how she ended up committing the crime and the tragic love affair at the center of it all.

    This was a very nice surprise. Essentially a noirish crime drama, it takes several risks I wouldn't associate with the era. It doesn't go through great lengths in making the protagonist overly sympathetic. Besides the lead being female, most of the prison staff including all of the guards are female, which also means that this film obliterates the Bechdel test quite easily. The camera work and the use of the frame are quite inventive at times. The low angles in the opening scene effectively induce a feeling of dread long before any violence is on screen. The use of the frame in the prison scenes is clearly meant to convey the claustrophobic feel - both in the physical and emotional sense - of her ordeal. And that closing shot will stay with me for quite a while. Diana Dors is very good in the lead role but on some level Yvonne Mitchell outshines her in a supporting role as a sympathetic guard. A hidden little gem of a film.
     
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  16. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Adrift (2018)-Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin star in this tale of a boat trip gone horribly wrong from Tahiti to San Diego. Woodley is great in her role. Interesting decisions by Baltasar Kormakur, the director.
     
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  17. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
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    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    High Noon (1952)-Classic Western about a marshal (Gary Cooper) who has to fight four bad guys and is deserted by the townspeople. Grace Kelly also stars. Seen by some as a metaphor for McCarthyism. Famously hated by John Wayne.
     
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  18. KensingtonSC

    KensingtonSC Still Lazy After All These Years

    FC Vaduz / Philadelphia Union
    Jan 7, 2010
    Andalusia, PA
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    This is the movie that John McClane references in Die Hard!

    "Still the cowboy, Mr. McClane. Americans - all alike. Well, this time John Wayne does not walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly."
    "That was Gary Cooper, asshole."
    "Enough jokes."
     
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  19. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
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    DC United
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    Argentina
    And Wayne called High Noon Un-American!
     
  20. KensingtonSC

    KensingtonSC Still Lazy After All These Years

    FC Vaduz / Philadelphia Union
    Jan 7, 2010
    Andalusia, PA
    Club:
    FC Vaduz
    According to the Biopic "Trumbo", Wayne was responsible for the blacklisting of a few people in Hollywood, and when he gained more power, they had to kiss his ass and show they weren't communists if they wanted to get work in Hollywood. He made some good movies, but he was nothing more than a chickenhawk during the red scare years.
     
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  21. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
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    Argentina
    Chinatown (1974) Hadn't seen this in 15 years. Classic noir film, directed by Roman Polanski (ugh). Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway star. Followed by a sequel, The Two Jakes.
     
  22. Belgian guy

    Belgian guy Member+

    Club Brugge
    Belgium
    Aug 19, 2002
    Belgium
    Club:
    Club Brugge KV
    The Mob (1951)
    Dir. Robert Parrish

    [​IMG]

    Police Inspector Johnny Damico botches an intervention where he catches a murderer in the act, only the man gets away after he successfully convinces Johnny he is a fellow cop, after flashing a real-looking badge. The man in question turns out to have stolen the badge from a cop he killed, and his other victim was the key witness in a racketeering case. Damico is sent on probation for his cock-up, only in reality he gets a chance to redeem himself. He is being sent undercover on the waterfront, to infiltrate the dockworkers world in the hope to identify the elusive man who is running all of the illegal mob-related activity. To that end, he assumes the identify of a newly arrived dockworker who is on the run from the law in New Orleans. Within days of his arrival, his behavior gets him the attention of some of the criminals who have a stranglehold on the docks.

    Interesting crime noir with character actor Broderick Crawford as the unconventional but very good lead. Features Ernest Borgnine in a supporting role and Charles Bronson in a one-scene pre-fame cameo.
     
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  23. KensingtonSC

    KensingtonSC Still Lazy After All These Years

    FC Vaduz / Philadelphia Union
    Jan 7, 2010
    Andalusia, PA
    Club:
    FC Vaduz
    Ares (2016) - In the year 2037, corporations rule France, and the people are kept from revolting from their crippling poverty by a violent sports contest.

    Ares is a washed up cage fighter - France's favorite sport of gamblers and pharmaceutical companies. Thanks to legalized doping and human experimentation, fighters are loaded up with their sponsors' latest drugs. The winners give those pharmaceutical companies a chance to peddle their products to the public, and the losers not only lose sponsorships, but also cost their sponsors.

    Ares, is washed up, but is found to be compatible with an experimental drug made by Donevia which makes him feel no pain and makes him 10 times stronger. He is offered the chance to fight in Arena by Donevia, which is like EuroVision, but for fighting until surrender. By taking the drug, he is offered a large amount of money. He refuses because he wants to retire and buy a small corner market, and live out his days in peace. However after his sister is arrested under suspicious circumstances, he's forced to accept their offer in order to pay off the cops to get her released - and help take care of his nieces. Ares enters the Arena a massive underdog, but will the drug allow him to become a champion and change his life, or will he fail and lose everything for himself and his sponsor?

    I took a chance on this movie as it was in Netflix's list of dystopian movies. I am surprised that I liked it as much as I did. Although the movie has fighting, and it feels like the central part of the movie, it's so much more. It was only about 75 minutes long, but the last 25 minutes felt like 4 different movies. It was actually really cool, and I enjoyed the ending. Is it going to win any awards? Probably not! But it's low-budget fun, and there are worse ways you could spend 75 minutes reading subtitles.
     
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  24. Father Ted

    Father Ted BigSoccer Supporter

    Manchester United, Galway United, New York Red Bulls
    Nov 2, 2001
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Hated it, is it a documentary or mockumentary or a story? I just didn’t get its purpose and I kept waiting for it to end after about 20 minutes.
     
  25. Chesco United

    Chesco United Member+

    DC United
    Jun 24, 2001
    Chester County, PA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    The Two Jakes (1990) -Disappointing sequel to Chinatown. Jack Nicholson directs and reprises his role as actor. Meg Tilly, Harvey Keitel and Madeleine Stowe star. Only worth watching if you have nothing else to do.
     
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