Movies you've just watched

[CMoon]

Did Michael Mann do Manhunter? Wow, he has actually made one decent movie then.

Fuck you

Edit: Seriously mods, this is a joke. I say it while raising a beer in Skykid's general direction. Of course, Skykid dersevers this reply though.

[neorichieb1971]

Scott Pilgrim vs the world

This movie is warped in a twisted way. I don't really get the movies direction at any stage in it. I do like the fighting and the chicks in it though. The main character is like a 15 year old Dexter Morgan twat face lookalike. The music in the movie and the strange dress choices were just OTT for me.

The blu ray is nice and I got the limited edition HMV steelbook. The artwork is the best thing of the purchase. I would give the movie 2/5.

[drauch]

DIRTY HARRY.

[RGC]

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[emphatic]

Did Michael Mann do Manhunter? Wow, he has actually made one decent movie then.

Agreed, Mann's feature films are yawn-worthy at best. I really don't like how the main character is talking out loud to himself, it makes me cringe. The best Mann movie IMHO is Collateral.

[Skykid]

Did Michael Mann do Manhunter? Wow, he has actually made one decent movie then.

Fuck you

Edit: Seriously mods, this is a joke. I say it while raising a beer in Skykid's general direction. Of course, Skykid dersevers this reply though.

LOL

I was being serious though, his movies are so boring, and not in the intelligent way he thinks they are. Sometimes he gets an okay story there, but his filmmaking techniques are akin to watching dirty bathwater slowly empty out of the tub. That said, I have to give the guy credit for Miami Vice, cos that was too awesome - the 80's series that is, not the pile of dump movie remake.
Oh, and Manhunter. I like that film probably better than Silence of Lambs, which is pretty overrated imo.

[CMoon]

Oh, and Manhunter. I like that film probably better than Silence of Lambs, which is pretty overrated imo.

I will agree with this. Silence of the Lambs is of course the big production everyone wants, but it misses the creepy edge that Manhunter has.

As far as Mann, I did enjoy the Keep, but almost more for being its own entity rather than whatever film Mann was trying to make. It's a film that 15 years after seeing it I still recalled vividly, and that's not something you can say for many films. Even ones you think are great. I still need to see Heat and Thief.

[Skykid]

Oh, and Manhunter. I like that film probably better than Silence of Lambs, which is pretty overrated imo.

I will agree with this. Silence of the Lambs is of course the big production everyone wants, but it misses the creepy edge that Manhunter has.

As far as Mann, I did enjoy the Keep, but almost more for being its own entity rather than whatever film Mann was trying to make. It's a film that 15 years after seeing it I still recalled vividly, and that's not something you can say for many films. Even ones you think are great. I still need to see Heat and Thief.

I have a feeling The Keep is a film that is recalled fondly by people who saw it as kids. I saw it when I was 27, and although I thought it started interestingly, it descended into total drivel about 40 minutes in.

Heat has the centrepiece shootout that everyone always remembers (they forget everything else) which is admittedly decent and the best part of the film. Everything else is like watching paint dry, and the chemistry conjured up between the meeting of Pacino and Deniro is almost non-existent.
Mann doesn't often strike me as someone who knows what he's doing, tbh. Very stylish visually, but totally ham fisted with everything else.

[CMoon]

I have a feeling The Keep is a film that is recalled fondly by people who saw it as kids. I saw it when I was 27, and although I thought it started interestingly, it descended into total drivel about 40 minutes in.

You know, with talk like that, you're going to start saying Zardoz is a bad movie. *lal-lal-lal-lal*I can't hear you*sticks fingers in ears*

[Skykid]

Your signature just reminded me I need to watch the second season of Twin Peaks I bought yonks ago. Problem is I can barely remember the first now...

[CMoon]

Your signature just reminded me I need to watch the second season of Twin Peaks I bought yonks ago. Problem is I can barely remember the first now...

Season 2 is so hit or miss. Some of my favorite stuff is there and some of the worst stuff is there. Not just bad Lynch (who wasn't present for much of the disasterous parts) but bad television in general. I think it would be possible to carefully edit this series down to a 4 or 5 hour movie. Hardcore fans would go nuts, but there is so much trash in the second season it just demands to be edited. There are huge plot arcs that serve no other purpose than just to give certain actors/actresses screen time. For instance, the whole business with the secret diary, the goddamn James goes off on his own plot, pretty much everything with Nadine, etc. Actually, everything with Shelly and James after season 1 could have been trashed.

All that said, I absolutely love TP, but you have to take it on like a problem child. If I knew how to use editing software, I'd consider doing the TP edit project, but it would be a massive undertaking. You'd still probably have to insert a few explanatory screens (like a silent film) to account for one or two dumb facts that came out of a 2 or 3 hour subplot that was mostly pointless/embarassing.

[Skykid]

Boy, you've just destroyed my expectations on that. Thanks.

(Goes to find out what season 2 is worth on ebay...)

[emphatic]

I think it would be possible to carefully edit this series down to a 4 or 5 hour movie. Hardcore fans would go nuts, but there is so much trash in the second season it just demands to be edited.

Ahem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4kVOzh4 ... r_embedded

I really hate the James arch, even though you get a brief appearance my Superstar Molly Shannon as a cop.

[CMoon]

Boy, you've just destroyed my expectations on that. Thanks.

(Goes to find out what season 2 is worth on ebay...)

Well like I said, it's problematic. Season 2 not only has some of the best TP moments, it may have some of Lynch's best moments, so you can't really walk away from it. It is definitely worth seeing; just be ready to cringe quite a bit.

Ahem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4kVOzh4 ... r_embedded

The problem is that 2 hours is far too short. Season 1 probably would only receive minor editing, and what would you edit out of Fire Walk With Me? I'd be far more interested in seeing a significantly paired down season 2. At 21 episodes, there's just far too much wasted time and go no-where subplots. I wrote in my posts about weeding this thing down to 5 or 6 hours, but I don't really think that's possible. Now weeding season two down to 5 or 6 hours might be doable.

I'm worried a 2 hour movie of TP would turn the series into something like FWWM which kept the darkness but lost everything else.

[emphatic]

The problem is that 2 hours is far too short. Season 1 probably would only receive minor editing, and what would you edit out of Fire Walk With Me? I'd be far more interested in seeing a significantly paired down season 2. At 21 episodes, there's just far too much wasted time and go no-where subplots. I wrote in my posts about weeding this thing down to 5 or 6 hours, but I don't really think that's possible. Now weeding season two down to 5 or 6 hours might be doable.

I'm worried a 2 hour movie of TP would turn the series into something like FWWM which kept the darkness but lost everything else.

Yeah, it's going to be two full length parts when complete (according to the editor). Something like 2-2,5 hr parts.

[CMoon]

Yeah, it's going to be two full length parts when complete (according to the editor). Something like 2-2,5 hr parts.

I'm interested, but very skeptical. There are some really wonderful parts that don't really serve any purpose. Of course, that's the whole point of it being a TV series is that you are afforded the time to do that. Elsewhere we were talking about LOTR, and seriously, even with substantial editing, Twin Peaks would still be as long as the whole puffy trilogy. *sighs*

[KindGrind]

The extremely tedious/long plot digressions with James (all of them) are boring to the extreme. Although I like TP in general, the good bits (which pretty much all involve the pie-loving Cooper) are few and far between. A must watch for the Lynch fan that has seen everything else, but for anyone looking for good TV or to get into Lynch, this is clearly the wrong way of doing it.

On topic, I rewatched (500) Days of Summer tonight. Snagged a cheap blu-ray in a bin. I had enjoyed it the first time through, and I thought I'd give this another go. Enjoyed it even more, probably because I watched it alone. First viewing was with my g/f, and she had bitched about it a lot. I couldn't help but really enjoy it anyway, but it had somewhat diminished my enjoyment of it all. Zooey Deschanel is really adorable.

[spadgy]

My father in law is doing me the great honour of forcing some Japanese cinema classic on me (He loves it. In fact my wife/his daughter was named in tribute to Akira Kurosawa).

So, I just recently watched Kurosawa's Ikiru.

One of the first films of his I've seen. Beautiful.

[Skykid]

My father in law is doing me the great honour of forcing some Japanese cinema classic on me (He loves it. In fact my wife/his daughter was named in tribute to Akira Kurosawa).

So, I just recently watched Kurosawa's Ikiru.

One of the first films of his I've seen. Beautiful.

In stark contrast to this I had the misfortunate of sitting through Mushishi by Katsuhiro Otomo. Bafflingly, a distinguished director who made one of my all time favourite movies manages to fall down behind the lens of a real camera as opposed to the wizardy of the animation room. As is the case with 95% of JP live action I'm privy to, these dudes actually have no comprehension of how to edit film footage whatsoever. Painful.

It wasn't even that the movie was badly directed, it's well composed artistically, but it's just slit-your-wrists boring, aimless, pointless nonsense. Nice scenery, that's about it. Strike another one for crap Japanese live action cinema.

[CMoon]

My father in law is doing me the great honour of forcing some Japanese cinema classic on me (He loves it. In fact my wife/his daughter was named in tribute to Akira Kurosawa).

So, I just recently watched Kurosawa's Ikiru.

One of the first films of his I've seen. Beautiful.

It's hard to go wrong with Kurosawa. I'd recommend the obvious Seven Samurai and Yojimbo (big action guy flicks that have been cloned in the west.) I very much like his lean, somewhat hard boiled Stray Dog. And then of course there's Ran which I guess were not going to get a gorgeous criterion blu ray of. Seriously though, every film the guy made (to my knowledge) is at least worth seeing once. I think most people who know Kurosawa's work would have any problem stating he was one of the greatest directors of all time.

[RGC]

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[Acid King]

On topic, I rewatched (500) Days of Summer tonight. Snagged a cheap blu-ray in a bin. I had enjoyed it the first time through, and I thought I'd give this another go. Enjoyed it even more, probably because I watched it alone. First viewing was with my g/f, and she had bitched about it a lot. I couldn't help but really enjoy it anyway, but it had somewhat diminished my enjoyment of it all. Zooey Deschanel is really adorable.

"Roses are red, Violets are blue. Fuck you, whore."

[Depth Charge]

I watched Chinatown for the first time the other night. I've always heard this movie was held in high regard and I have to say I can see why.

The first 30 minutes or so felt like they could have lost me but the way it all starts coming together was really good.

[CMoon]

I watched Chinatown for the first time the other night. I've always heard this movie was held in high regard and I have to say I can see why.

The first 30 minutes or so felt like they could have lost me but the way it all starts coming together was really good.

Gets better with repeated viewings too. It's really a great film.

[DEL]

Not to pollute the other thread:-
To answer GaijinPunch - The American isn't too special.
To answer emphatic - In Bruges is better but not great. I put it in my list mainly because I've been there not long ago and am living in Belgium for the moment.
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Watched Futureworld. First time. Seen Westworld back in the day but missed this one. It kinda tries hard in a semi low budget way. The spacesuits made out of immersion heater cladding are great . Peter Fonda shows serious lack of acting skills in it.

Watched Woody Allen's latest 'You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger' in the cinema. Not bad but not great. The films he makes when he does not star in them himself are usually the weak ones.

Saw 'The Tourist' in the cinema. A decent date movie.

Watched The Other Guys - 3/5. I'm a big Marky Mark fan, but this can't touch his Masterpiece 'The Big Hit'.

[emphatic]

Watched The Other Guys - 3/5. I'm a big Marky Mark fan, but this can't touch his Masterpiece 'The Big Hit'.

I loved it, the humour is so out there. "I'm gonna make you eat a plate of human crap!!"

[drauch]

Tried watching Panic in Year Zero! And man, I pretty much live in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, but this movie is just too boring. "oooooh, cuban missile crisis the world would go crazy" Frankie Avalon doesn't even save it.

[njiska]

Just saw Apocalypto. It was alright. Decent action, but the stretch between capture and the arrival at the Maya city was just too damn slow/long. 35 minutes of walking through the jungle and not much else.

[RGC]

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[BIL]

I watched Drifter for the first time just last week - loved the increasingly ominous atmosphere towards and during the finale! It's just Josey Wales I have left to see now. I've liked / loved all of them with the possible exception of Pale Rider, which Drifter felt like a far better-executed version of.