Movies you've just watched

[vol.2]

Fright Night (1985) ✶✶✶ / ✶✶✶✶✶

One of those "I'll get around to it eventually" movies that I clearly should have gotten around to when I was more likely to be into it. I have a lot those lists of movies and books and whatever that I have been keeping since I was about 10 or 12 and there isn't any rhyme or reason to it, it's just "that might be interesting."

Roddy McDowall was maybe the best actor in the movie, who some of you might know from the Planet of the Apes. Chris Sarandon (Prince Humperdinck from The Princess Bride) was also of note here, but not exactly the performance of his life I'm to be honest. The main character is basically a nobody who shows up for the role but doesn't impress, and his girlfriend is the woman who plays Marcy on Married With Children. She's both amazing and awful, depending how much stomach you have for the ditzy helpless woman trope.

When the movie shines is moments when they employ practical effects; that's done quite well, and it's worth seeing for that alone. It's not going to absolutely blow you away, but there are some really good models and death scenes that are worth the wait. There's also a decent amount of atmosphere, and it's got that period nostalgic horror feeling that will be pleasing to some people.

All in all not a bad watch. It does drag here and there, but never for too too long.

[NYN]

I re-watched that last year, and was most annoyed by the length (and pace). For all the fun it offers, it's so overdrawn I find it painful. Those some 100 minutes should really be around 90. Hum, you're not that cool, Brewster!
Double for Poltergeist! It really should be over when it is pronounced that this house is "clean", however then it goes on for 20 more minutes. Last time I was close to being enraged!

[vol.2]

For all the fun it offers, it's so overdrawn I find it painful. Those some 100 minutes should really be around 90.

Agreed. Although it would make a decent movie to have on in the background at a party, or to see at a drivethru on a date; anyplace you were going to be splitting your attention.

[NYN]

Aha! Date movie. Gotcha. Well, under that dimmed light, it makes a whole more sense!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you're a horror movie fan, watching the 1985 Fright Night is a rite of passage to view it in it's entirety. Sure, I'd see this particular movie available for rent at the local Blockbuster Video joint when they used to rent out VHS tapes back in the early 1990s (before switching to renting DVDs entirely by October of 2000 -- fast-forward to 2012-2013 when all the BV stores were shutting down for good). There is a proper sequel to FN worth checking out as well.

Blockbuster Video Factoid: If you wanted to buy a BV franchise store, it'd cost a whopping $500,000 usd to buy into it. Of course, you'd earn that initial buy-in fee back rather quickly (due to the consistent revenue coming in on a daily/weekly basis) and have enough to open a second/third location. Rinse and repeat. There's one last remaining surviving BV store in Bend, Oregon, still up & running nowadays. BV had an opportunity to buy Netflix back in 1999 but turned down the offer to do so.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[cj iwakura]

Manhunter

Quite interesting to see early Michael Mann, I dare say before he mastered his craft. While I love some of his signature night shots, there's a few hokey lines that seem out of place for such a "cool" director. Weird seeing a bit of cheese where I recall none from Thief. Anyway, that's pretty easy to get around considering this was from 1986. Interesting to see a different, more subdued take on Hannibal Lector. And shout out to the quintessential 80's cop Dennis Farina!

I actually saw this last week, and I really enjoyed it. It was a much moodier take, and the OST, as said, is front-to-back bangers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjxbYj1CcyY

My highlight was this little back-and-forth between Will and the tabloid guy:

"Is this case affecting your sex life?"
"No, it's affecting yours, go fuck yourself."

[To Far Away Times]

Gladiator 2 is great fun if you are willing to roll with a few idiotic things and a not quite historically accurate Rome.

Denzel is one of the GOAT actors and he steals every scene he’s in.

You will be entertained.

[blackoak]

You guys ever see the original Tomie? I've been looking for any j-horror hidden gems and watched it last night. Overall I can't say it was super scary, nor did it really fulfill the potential of its premise (why is the horror of immortality so rarely portrayed?)... but the atmosphere and direction were great. I often wonder what happened to japanese film. Was it really just the switch to digital that has rendered everything recent so sterile? It feels to me like this (the late 90s) was the last era of quality japanese directors.

[BIL]

I remember watching the live action of his Uzumaki, must be at least a decade ago... didn't hate it, but really cocked an eyebrow at some of the added slapstick.

Watched Gantz around then, too, and its manga-divergent sequel. Thought they were alright, though I can't recall much. I did think it was pretty cool how the second film served as an alternate conclusion to the ongoing manga; a bit like Akira's theatrical anime was compelled to. I always admire that kind of narrative escape artistry. (or wince in pain at failed attempts! see Seven Kingdoms Senki's 2019 pratfall, oof)

Must've seen Death Note, too. I remember thinking the guy who played L did ok. I heard the buzz around the live action Attack On Titan was poor, and at that point I decided my dalliance with 00s/early 2010s manga adapatations was over for the time being.

None of this stuff really made an impression. (in case this rather lukewarm post hasn't given that away, haha) Sterile is an apt word; all felt rather straight-to-video. Not that I mind DTV in principle! Just lacking the polish and intensity of their manga. I did like that CGI Gantz adaptation of a mid-series arc, which I guess is much nearer the realm of anime.

Now you mention it, I am kinda curious as to what their 70s~early 90s antecedents might be like. Were there any major live adaptations of the big marquee manga, Gundam etc? Actually, now I think about it, Gundam's roots are in anime, and even noobs like me know of Char's Counterattack. And Macross's DYRL. And all the Dragon Ball stuff...

All I really know is that Western-made Fist Of The North Star, which, well. (I wish I could find this ancient Youtube upload of a certain headsplosion, ca.2007; the uploader "GREAT VIP" had his watermark fade in right as homie's inflatable head blew off, which just really made the scene!)

[GaijinPunch]

Oppenheimer
Been busy, so am really late to the game on this one. I enjoy Nolan flicks, but also feel like I'm always letting quite a bit slide. Nothing wrong w/ that, but they hit different. Anyway, this one felt like there was a bit less of that in this go. Despite the 3 hour runtime, it felt like a few things were crammed in and was hard to keep track of the timelines. I was also on a plane and a bit tired. Murphy's performance was great, but Robert Downey Jr. really stuck out. Plenty of small roles filled by familiar faces, which I don't think added too much, but were fun to point out.

Interesting choice to not show Japan in any way shape form or fashion. Given my tenure in Japan, I have probably dove a bit more into the politics of the time than the average Joe. Even so I've come to loathe August 6th every day, as until I started flipping past such posts, my timelines were filled with people bickering over the argument if the Japanese would truly surrender or not, and subsequently saying the US was guilty of war crimes.

Serpico
Based on the true story of police officer Frank Serpico, in New York in the late 60's and 70's. Apparently the only cop with a conscious on the force, he quickly makes enemies, and shit proceeds from there. Some prototype Pacino performances of him borderline losing it are present. Definitely a bit more drama than most police flicks, but pacing is fine. Tons of "that guys". Had to hit IMDB right after to match names with faces.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The LE Steelbook set release of Alien Romulus on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and Digital Code as a d/l is finally out today, 12/03/2024. It has plenty of deleted scenes (that were removed during the editing room floor as usual). Am surprised that even a DVD release of AR has been released as well (with an alloted running time of 1 hour and 59 minutes). AR looks awesome on 4K format as it is with 2.39:1 aspect ratio presented.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

La Notte

A day in the life of a married couple that by today's standards seems not too crazy: care for each other deeply, but have close to zero romance. It's hard to sum up the dynamic, but we learn it pretty early on in the film. Over half of the entire story is set at around an evening out (hence, the title, "The night") culminating at a party. I'm sure the modern take on it would be them exploring polyamory.

[Randorama]

GP:

La Notte tries to depict a modern upper class (and middle-aged?) couple of the early 1960s in Italy, so the writers went for the Pragma type of love (ok, another reference is here, and that’s technical but fun reading). One of the writers, Ennio Flaiano, wrote several movies for Fellini. I remember it being full of nuanced satire about Italy of the time (let’s just define it ‘Rich but completely aimless and apathetic’). I believe that it is one of earliest Michelangelo Antonioni’s movies.

A different time and a different country, for sure.

[GaijinPunch]

Nice insight! Thanks! Not sure if you've read my other posts, but I'm now flying across the pond (sadly not to Italy), regularly, as I'm in a relationship with one of yours -- and as luck would have it, she's VERY well versed in cinema. Of all the old ones I've loaded up and watched on the trek over, La Strada really spoke to her, as she's a performer. I've got quite the queue of things to go through, but she's been excellent source of cross referencing. Anyway, La Notte was enjoyable and the 2 hours went by rather quickly, but it didn't hit me with the beautiful cinematography of others like Rocco e i sui fratelli or 8 1/2 (which I grabbed like 10 screenshots of while watching it). Anyway, tons more to go through. I'm certain to watch at least one more "serious" flick on the trip home.

[Lord British]

Nice insight! Thanks! Not sure if you've read my other posts, but I'm now flying across the pond (sadly not to Italy), regularly, as I'm in a relationship with one of yours -- and as luck would have it, she's VERY well versed in cinema. Of all the old ones I've loaded up and watched on the trek over, La Strada really spoke to her, as she's a performer. I've got quite the queue of things to go through, but she's been excellent source of cross referencing. Anyway, La Notte was enjoyable and the 2 hours went by rather quickly, but it didn't hit me with the beautiful cinematography of others like Rocco e i sui fratelli or 8 1/2 (which I grabbed like 10 screenshots of while watching it). Anyway, tons more to go through. I'm certain to watch at least one more "serious" flick on the trip home.

Giulietta Masina is probably my favorite actress at this point

As for the Trilogy I go L'Avventura > La Notte > L'Eclisse, which happens to be chronilogical.

Also GP, I gotta remind you not to forget Rohmer!

[Randorama]

GP and LB: I am actually sorry to admit that I have been reading this thread and forgetting to chime in on Italian cinema for, well, years by this point? I feel almost guilty Let me try to remedy, please:

(TL; DR stuff? Hey, next time you hit the loo, please bring a tablet and your readings are covered!)

GP: I guess that your partner is an Italian working in Germany (Berlin?) as a performer, right? This is what I can recall from all the various hints (Curiosity: which city? You can tell that you know an internet guy from L'Aquila and check how does she react). I believe that you can just directly ask her to guide you through 20th century Italian cinema - from WWII to the late 1960s, I would say. I have this lingering feeling that she might have a BA-level of knowledge on the matter, and you could just sit down and spend days (or weeks...) discussing the topic.

GP and LB, re: Italian cinema:

My general understanding is that during these decades there were several authors who experimented with the form at the expense of "plot" (e.g. Antonioni, Fellini). I watched most of their movies while growing up, so my memories are fuzzy. However, if you watch this type of movies with the premise of studying a beautiful formal exercise in cinematography, you should be easily enthralled by just about any of these movies. Basically, those were authors who were shaping the language of cinema but not were not concerned with making (too) much sense. With the right frame of mind, they're all bliss if only because of their aesthetical value (photography, mise en scene, and some musical scores by musicians such as Ennio Morricone and Piero Piccioni were also stunningly brilliant).

Nevertheless, there are also tons of very "popular/low brow culture" movies that, by modern times, would combine historical and social commentary, drama, comedy (often, of the pitch black variety...), satire and so on. For instance, Commedia all'Italiana is (was?) a genre that predates dramedy though it is quite more complex and articulated, and that formed the backbone of "general movie entertainment" in those decades (two readings are here and here). I believe that you guys have watched classics like I Vitelloni , so you might have an initial idea.

Many of these movies are actually technically very well crafted even if their plots might really require a bit of reading beforehand to be enjoyed. They tend to be deeply immersed in Italian culture of their respective years, and thus they may offer almost alien contexts to the casual spectator. Nevertheless, you may explore the genre at your leisure and discover a lot of highly enjoyable movies which could be summarized with a bittersweet si ride per non piangere ('one laughs to avoid crying').

Personally, I would suggest trying out various works with Alberto Sordi as the main actor, as he literally embodied the genre with his roles. However, there are dozens of interesting movies that you can watch from those decades, if you are willing to do some preliminary reading first (really, a few blogs, IMDB entries, and so on). I am not from Rome, but I am old enough to have watched many of his movies and I did spend some years in the capital city. There is a sense in which you can watch one of his movies and have a perfect and actually realistic model of the country and its history, I believe, while also getting a very clear-cut rendition of the typical (modern) "Roman".

Personally, I believe that you could learn some Italian and watch the movies with subs, though I guess that this might be your current approach already. To quote an aphorism by Ennio Flaiano (eh!), "Italian is a language mostly spoken by dubbers", which means that movies from that period mostly feature actors speaking absolutely artificial standard Italian, for a long list of reasons. Even with some rather basic Italian, you would suddenly get a lot of acting talent out of the dialogue and possibly enjoy the writing in a more accurate manner (note: Sordi always had this faint Roman accent. It can be endearing once you can get used to it ).

...and if I may suggest one movie: This one, which in English it may be known as "Voyage through Australia". I played Piero Piccioni's original score when I landed in Sydney in March 2007 along with Data East's Wolf Fang/Rohga's OST. Brief summary: piss-poor Italian immigrant living in the Outback tries to find an Italian wife and offers to pay for the trip to Australia but lies about his identity and wealth; a disenchanted Roman prostitute answers the call and tries to present herself as a chaste, poor countryside girl in search of fortune. The two embark upon a journey across Australia.

...I will not add anything else about the movies to avoid spoilers, but I will add that Fantastic Plastic Machine (Aka Tomoyuki Tanaka) created a cover/remix of the theme in his first album (a bit of info is here). I believe that a lot of Shibuya-kei and modern lounge music/easy listening performers own a deep intellectual debt to the composers providing the OSTs to those movies, so you might also want to explore this side of the genre as well.

OK, one more link: Montefiori Cocktail are a DJ duo who have created dozens of brilliant covers of those songs, so you may want to explore their modern take to classic "Movie-style Easy Listening Italian music". Be sure to sip a Negroni or a Martini while enjoying their music

[GaijinPunch]

As for the Trilogy I go L'Avventura > La Notte > L'Eclisse, which happens to be chronilogical.

Also GP, I gotta remind you not to forget Rohmer!

Added these two to the watchlist. Got a top 3 for Rohmer? I will likely be wide awake on my flight back this trip so will add at least one, maybe two "non-brainless" films. At times it's great to have the brain shut off and just pass time on those god damn flights.

GP and LB: I am actually sorry to admit that I have been reading this thread and forgetting to chime in on Italian cinema for, well, years by this point? I feel almost guilty Let me try to remedy, please:

(TL; DR stuff? Hey, next time you hit the loo, please bring a tablet and your readings are covered!)

Fo sho!

GP: I guess that your partner is an Italian working in Germany (Berlin?) as a performer, right? This is what I can recall from all the various hints (Curiosity: which city? You can tell that you know an internet guy from L'Aquila and check how does she react). I believe that you can just directly ask her to guide you through 20th century Italian cinema - from WWII to the late 1960s, I would say. I have this lingering feeling that she might have a BA-level of knowledge on the matter, and you could just sit down and spend days (odo r weeks...) discussing the topic.

Close. While we met in Berlin, she lives in London. I've come here... kind of a ridiculous amount this past 18 months. If you count coming for last xmas and leaving after 2024 started, I think I made six trips. We've also met in other places over the months. Not sure how qualified she is on paper on Italian cinema, but it in practice it has been quite a lot. I think maybe I've found one she hadn't seen and in the end she knew what it was about. I go through the TCM section on Max (North American only I believe) which usually has a nice selection.

// SNIP

I will bookmark this post and come back to it. I've been studying my ass off for job interviews as I hadn't felt the most job security the last year or so. It has taken up 100% of my reading cycles, and a LOT of my video watching cycles - including on the treadmill and stationary bikes. That's subsiding a bit, so I'll try to get back into some more enjoyable things in terms of videos/film. There's a few US based series I've been hoping to get to, but just haven't had the time. Time to enjoy life a bit.

Personally, I believe that you could learn some Italian and watch the movies with subs, though I guess that this might be your current approach already.

Infatti - but it's quite slow going (due to the distractions above) and so it's generally quite bad, although I can maybe pick up some nuances that the subtitles miss, but definitely not all. My hearing is also deteriorating -- only a small enough, but it's enough that makes picking up another language quite difficult. Actually going to look at these fancy new hearing aids next year.

[Lord British]

Added these two to the watchlist. Got a top 3 for Rohmer? I will likely be wide awake on my flight back this trip so will add at least one, maybe two "non-brainless" films. At times it's great to have the brain shut off and just pass time on those god damn flights.

I'd go with one film each from these three periods:

1962–1972: Six Moral Tales and television work

I started with My Night at Maud's (prolly his most famous movie) and Claire's Knee

1972–1987: Adaptations and Comedies and Proverbs

I started here w/ The Green Ray (also one of his more well-knowns) and Girlfriends & Boyfriends

1987–2009: Tales of the Four Seasons and later film career

Only seen A Summer's Tale and A Winter Tale

I could recommend any of these. I would watch a couple others before watching Maud's (and I really like that one). Just watch what you find available otherwise, all of these movies are equally "good", and it just comes down to your own preference. I will say though that A Summer's Tale might be a very good intro to Rohmer.

[Randorama]

GP: crunch time? I will need to renew my contract soon, for the 2025-2030 period. Duck style: show that you are fine and perfectly placid, but furiously beat your legs underwater to swim around, so that nobody sees you.

Lighter stuff: if your partner is an Italian-style cinema connoisseur, she should be highly knowledgeable irrespective of eventual certifications, in my experience. With the language, you should be fine once you have 20 minutes per day to practice. Don’t forget hand gestures and swear words for improved survival, cazzo!

Christmas suggestions: anything by Sergio Leone, maybe, but Parenti Serpenti is a must. A pitch-black comedy that actually shows a typical Italian Christmas. You watch this movie and you know why I NEVER go back for Christmas (and, possibly, why your partner freaks out when you say the C-word). An interesting reading for when you will be fluent in the language (but auto translation is good enough, too).

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Regal Cinemas Alien Romulus Face Hugger Containment popcorn bucket that was sold out everywhere back in August of 2024 (that was part of the second back-ordered batch), finally arrived today. It's quite impressive, especially with the internal green-colored led lighting, giving it a surreal appearance leading one to wonder if it's alive or not. The prominent Weyland-Yutani logo is present as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

Thanks for the info, Lord British and Rando. Bookmarking some stuff for later. For my flight back over the pond, I zagged a bit, and watched some stuff in color.

Giuliette degli Spirit / Juliette of the Spirits
A well-to-do woman dabbles in the spiritual world with queries about her philandering husband. Starring Giuietta Masina, Felini's wife, this one boasts of some extremely elaborate scenery, often feeling like something out of a Broadway musical... but quite a bit more unnerving. Given the subject matter, I didn't find it too dark. It is, however, not super straight forward. Quite beautiful in Technicolor, and, I'd say necessary.

Il Deserto Rosso / Red Desert
The majority of this follows a pretty un-well woman, who happens to be pondering an affair. That is more or less the headline, but her deteriorating psyche seemed to play a much more front and center roll. The choice of color here was strange as the palette is extremely drab (think Stalker, etc.) although color does play a small roll in a couple of places. Directed by Antonioni, and stars Monica Vitti. Quite a slow burn, and, a pretty dark one.

[Randorama]

No worries GP and question: are you finally in love with (young) Monica Vitti? Don’t deny it, we all are

[GaijinPunch]

No worries GP and question: are you finally in love with (young) Monica Vitti? Don’t deny it, we all are

She's on the list, but young (and current) Monica Bellucci was already my second favorite Italian, even before she made that surprise appearance in Twin Peaks: The Return.

[Vexorg]

Red One: *1/2

Standard issue Dwayne Johnson movie, Christmas flavor. Santa's been kidnapped, and it's up to his bodyguard (Dwayne Johnson) and Level 4 Naughty List resident and bounty hunter Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans) to save him from a discount clone of Cate Blanchett's Hela from Thor:Ragnarok. Suffers from a common problem that a lot of these types of movies (especially made-for-streaming movies like this one) run into where they spend a bunch of time building up a somewhat interesting backstory and then throw it out in favor of all the usual overplayed boring action movie tropes, assuming that they're building up to a "cinematic universe" that will never happen after the first film bombs. That doesn't mean you can't make an entertaining movie out of something like that, but I'm pretty sure there's only about a trailer's worth of interesting stuff in this one. I'd recommend watching it with one finger on the fast-forward button. Or better yet, just watch Hobbs & Shaw again, but still keep the finger on the fast forward button.

[Sima Tuna]

If you saw Brotherhood of the Wolf and you don't love Monica Bellucci then I don't know what to tell ya.

[Randorama]

Re: Monica Bellucci. She started as a hottie willing to show boobs (because discrimination, women in cinema, etc. etc.) and then demonstrated to be a great actress with a wide range of skills and a powerful screen presence: she must have the most powerful and intense gaze in cinema, I believe.

I never really adored her looks for an extremely simple reason: she might be hot, but her Mediterranean appearance is extremely common in our part of Italy (Umbria, literally central Italy: she's from a place 80 kilometres from my hometown), including her apparently fake lips (nah, I think she inflated those as soon as she could). To be really honest, when she started getting more mature and getting hired for her acting skills, I stopped having a slight contempt for her as only being a "boobs girl".

Fun Fact: I remember that in some (forgettable) movie she played a character speaking her own native dialect, and she was absolutely, hilariously rustic and endearing. Picture a hot con-woman who gives away her being a total country bumpkin the moment she opens her mouth. I never expected that she could also handle comedy and, to be fair, to speak dialect so thick that people would need subtitles to understand her and the other characters. I don't think she has aged well (she took up, like, 20 kilos?), but her acting has only refined over time. She also has played in a few comedies (not in dialect!), and she was good.

Monica Vitti and other classic Italian actresses (e.g. Claudia Cardinale) have more of an exotic look by Italian standards, so they probably became "sensual icons" also because of that (i.e. "I adore her, but I don't necessarily lust after her": Italian romanticism?). Sophia Loren is another icon who leaves me cold for the same reasons as Bellucci. Key fact, though: all these women might have had killer looks but could also act, or they would have lasted until the first hint of wrinkles or sagging breasts. Still, Hollywood basically cancels anyone who is older than 40, so...

[Sima Tuna]

Nah Rando, Monica (old or young) is exactly my type. Even the newest photos I could find still have my interest.

I don't wanna be thirstposting on fucking shmups farm but I'm just saying. Also the fact she can act and has so much screen presence doesn't hurt.

[Randorama]

Oh well, watch any movies you can find of her: she could read the grocery list on tv and still perforate the screen with her presence, I know (her theatre work is apparently impressive, also). It is just that she generally looks like, dunno, my mom and my grandma or my older sisters, and I do not suffer from GSA

On Italian women (from Italy, of course), you can "simply" get an Italian wife: you will never be disappointed looks-wise, trust me. The rest, I pass judgement....

The comedy is this one, by the way: .

[GaijinPunch]

Guess I'm glad I didn't grow up in Italy - she's still prime time fap material here.

[NYN]

Lifeforce

First. Picked for Tobe Hooper. Easy to claim that this is a rip-off of at least 3 more distinct films of genre. Funny that, despite the, uh, strong influences, it's a simple formula: Q&A session followed by pfx or vfx, all of them nifty, another Q&A, more fx, etc. Only the means of the interviews differ: under hypnosis, threat of harm, dream revelation, drug use, all with truth at every turn. A male-dominated piece just as it is, only 3 women of interest exist, perhaps meant as archetypes: Lillith, Mistress of Nude, masochistic gal who prefers to be mistreated, and a secretary who after offering tea becomes a most useful battery. A B movie who reaches too far in run time and outlives it by at least 20 minutes. Ah, and the all-connecting energy is of pale blue hue, and sparkles up close. That is all, metaphysically.