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Last Movie you Watched?
I know, there was a thread created. But I've started every thread of this type since 2005. Please let this stay open. Let's try to keep some of the traditions.
Please, pretty please?
:)
Please, pretty please?
:)
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EDIT: Oh, god, everything looks screwed up now.
EDIT EDIT: Well, I think I'm on to something. It has to do with the div classes. Mine are set to
Though, on iTunes.
Hey, embedding works. Was curious about that.
Listening to this:
Just glad I keep my own, non-MI6 lists.
Sorry, character limited exceeded. Try again later.
I remember he took a hiatus from the site for awhile. He was a real loss. It would be a shame if he were gone again.
And I like embedded youtube links. There are so many things I dislike on the new format, but I do find the few improvements to be nice.
I love that movie.
Great movie. Jeff Bridges was once more amazing. But Hailee Steinfeld really stole the show.
Believe it or not, I had never seen a Western before True Grit. I absolutely loved it and it immediately made me want to see more! So I got some DVDs and I watched:
Sergio Leone's: The Dollars Trilogy
Aka, A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Amazing films! The music, the atmosphere, the characters, the actors. Everything. And needless to say, Clint Eastwood is bloody fantastic! All three of them are definitely in my top films list.
Once Upon A Time In The West
Another classic western by Sergio Leone. Fantastic! Once again, with Ennio Morricone's amazing soundtrack.
Next on the list is The Magnificent Seven, and then some modern westerns like Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. Can't wait to see them.
Just finished watching a film I am starting to consider an absolute favourite. I saw it for the first time about halfway through last year, and this is my fourth or fifth viewing. I think it's perfect.
THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN
Josef von Sternberg, 1935
There is so much I could say about this 76 minute masterpiece. The most striking thing about it is probably the incredibly dark way it portrays Marlene Dietrich. Sternberg discusses the corrupting influence of women in previous films, and Dietrich often serves as the corruptor in those films too. The Blue Angel is the most obvious example, perhaps. But if we compare the two films, we'll see that the earlier picture lingers much more on the effects of the woman on the man. Here Sternberg is more concerned with showing Dietrich's character, Concha, as a cruel deceiver of men. Elements of the caring mother from Blonde Venus appear briefly and fleetingly, but Sternberg's overriding attitude appears to be one of distaste, brought on by romantic distress. Elements of explicit misogyny are present, the most obvious being when Captain Pasqual beats Concha, but always with a strong admission of shame. Pasqual cannot look Concha in the eyes during the next scene. The identities and thoughts of the characters are not as black and white as the goregeous photography which captures them. Concha is a cruel mistress, but she shows signs of remorse to those she ruins. Pasqual is clearly ashamed at himself, but takes pleasure in exercising some form of authority over the woman who exercises supreme authority over him - she is in possession of his heart. It's a very complex film, from a somewhat confused man, but it's utterly enthralling.
It is this complexity and obscurity, combined with the incredible artificiality of the production, that I find so fascinating. Every single action appears choreographed, every ray of light and every ornately designed gate is used for a reason. Yet it still feels incredibly robust and real. The emotions are heightened to the same extent as a straight melodrama, but it doesn't feel melodramatic when I watch it.
And man, I wish people still made movies in black and white. You could never make a film this Earth-shatteringly beautiful in colour (although, admittedly, nobody could make one in black and white either now that Sternberg is long dead and buried). If I had to pinpoint one scene in any film I've ever watched which is just perfect, it would most certainly be the climactic duel in this picture. The dark figures entering and exiting the frame en-masse, the heavy rain obscuring the entire image and attacking the participants, the brief, fleeting moment of calm before a shot rings out - it feels like an eternity.
Such an overwhelming motion picture.
And harmsway, BETTER return. It'd be so wrong to go on without him.
Absolute pants, I've seen better episodes of Miami Vice, what happened to William Friedkin?
Bullitt
I had to watch it in two parts because I was too tired to finish it yesterday. Ended on the car chase yesterday and started with the car chase today. Oh, those poor, poor cars. That's something that is missing in today's chases. You can tell that those cars went through the grinder for those shots.
As far as the rest of the movie, the first half was too slow for my tastes, but the second really takes off. McQueen dominates the screen. One of my favorite looking "flat" films, in terms of composition. I have a feeling I'll like Bullitt better the more viewings I get in.
A strange directorial debut from The Coen Brothers, I didn't quite catch what was all going on but it was a good noir film with interesting twists. Dan Hedaya played an especially cold and ruthless character which is a far cry from his many comedic roles later on and M. Emmet Walsh was brilliant as a psychotic private eye. Kind of a precursor to the great No Country for Old Men which was also set in stark and dark Texas.
Coen-Meter:
1. No Country for Old Men (2007)
2. Miller's Crossing (1990)
- 3. Blood Simple (1984) -
4. Burn After Reading (2008)
5. Barton Fink (1991)
6. Fargo (1996)
7. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001)
8. Raising Arizona (1987)