Movies you've just watched

[GaijinPunch]

I'd say A History of Violence, with Dead Ringers as a close second. The Fly and Eastern Promises aren't far behind, though.

Didn't get into A History of Violence for some reason. Saw it in the theater... just didn't do much for me.

[Moniker]

I'd suggest a second viewing, with particular attention to the acting and direction/cinematography. Viggo manages the herculean effort of balancing Tom/Joey. In every scene you can see the tension, and it's handled nigh perfectly. The cinematography and direction remind me, more than anything, of No Country for Old Men - a steady, plodding, deliberate pace and an eye for beauty in the context of violence.

Then there's also the epistemological issue of Tom/Joey's identity. He is simultaneously both and neither. What exactly constitutes an identity? Can two identities coexist within a single personality? Can something as abstract as identity be split into more complex derivations?

Not to mention that Ed Harris and Wm. Hurt put forward some of the best performances of their respective careers.

[CMoon]

Man, I just watched Videodrome again last week. Never got into the brood. Definitely need to see Scanners again soon. I really miss 80's gore, especially Cronenberg's surreal gore.

[GaijinPunch]

I enjoyed the performances. Maybe I'll give it another go if I can stomach the violence.

For what it's worth: I love Viggo Mortensen. Still crushing on Aragorn. However, his voice distracts me. Sometimes too much.

[Aleksei]

Just watched prisoners, totally not what I was expecting, they always have that one actor act like a whiny bitch in every movie he's in, if you've seen There will be blood then you know who I'm talking about.

The movie itself was very good.

[Never_Scurred]

For you Cronenberg fans (like myself), what did y'all make of Cosmopolis?
I didn't hate it, but I don't think I'll ever watch it again.

[Mischief Maker]

I'd say A History of Violence, with Dead Ringers as a close second. The Fly and Eastern Promises aren't far behind, though.

Didn't get into A History of Violence for some reason. Saw it in the theater... just didn't do much for me.

I think it's an example of a great director elevating a ho-hum script. What started out as a bog standard "ex-con in an assumed life gets found out" turns into a meditation on identity.

Like all Cronenberg movies, this is about the self in revolt, only here it's not Viggo's body that's in revolt, it's his mind. Born and raised into a world of violence and depravity, he makes a conscious decision to stop being "Joey" and become a good man Tom Stahl. And he loves the life of Tom Stahl, a life embodied by his wife Edie. Yet the world of violence starts crowding into his self-created paradise and he starts facing crisis after crisis that would leave Tom Stahl dead, only Joey has the killer instinct to survive in this environment. But the more and more Joey comes back, the more and more Edie retreats from him. Can a man truly choose his own identity, or does his environment force an identity on him?

Instead of the usual Cronenberg trick of having Viggo watch in horror as his body transforms into a grotesquerie, instead Viggo stares in horror at the grotesque gagging shuddering hunks of flesh he transforms his enemies into when his Joey nature rises to the surface.

[emphatic]

I've always loved The Naked Lunch, but History of Violence was great too.

[MadSteelDarkness]

For you Cronenberg fans (like myself), what did y'all make of Cosmopolis?
I didn't hate it, but I don't think I'll ever watch it again.

My thoughts exactly. I mean, it was much better than A Dangerous Method. But that's a pretty low bar...

[BulletMagnet]

Kazetachinu / The Wind Rises

I very rarely go to movies, but was in NYC a few days and there was a week-long showing of the movie subtitled (supposedly that's the minimum to qualify for Oscar consideration; apparently a dubbed version is coming in February), so figured I'd give it a watch, if only for all the rather silly consternation it's caused in its homeland. Liked it overall, due in part to the somewhat unusual subject matter, and the fact that for the most part they resist the temptation to hit you over the head with it; near the end things got a bit melodramatic for my tastes, but on the whole it's probably about as good a fictionalized history centered on aeronautical engineering you're likely to see.

There are some people that speak other non-Japanese languages though (the title itself is taken from a French poem), so not sure how they will handle those aspects in the dub. I don't think they handled it all that great in Japanese considering we're in such an international age.

In the subtitled version they left most of those parts un-subtitled, so if you don't speak German/French/etc. you won't know what's being said; a little awkward, but I can understand why they chose that route.

[chempop]

Robot & Frank - Enjoyed every moment. The crotchety old man (Frank Langella) was brilliant and had me chuckling throughout. His gradual affection for the robot was convincing and 'dare I say' moving. Maybe I'm prone towards being sympathetic for elderly with Alzheimer's.

Olympus has Fallen - Not great but nearly worth it for the 30 min straight of the white house being absolutely crushed. Was hoping for an actual message at the end, like why other countries hate the USA maybe? Could have been meaningful... but alas, ended with junk patriotism.

The newest Bond which name escapes me - Outside of a couple moments of great visual cinematography, it was complete rubbish. Shame too, because Javier Bardem was excellent in No Country for Old men, sadly he couldn't save this one.

[Raytrace]

I have just watched all 3 of the Star Wars Despecialized Editions and I fuckin loved them from start to finish.

While I haven't been the most new trilogy and special edition hating type over the years, seeing the originals again pretty close to the way they
were in the cinema makes you realise just HOW much has been messed with. Even things you think in your head are 'original' are actually post 1997 meddling.

I watched all 3 with my 4 year old son and he loved them. It was quite funny watching the first scene in Star Wars when the Stormtroopers and Vader come in, he had asked me about the Rebels 'are they good guys?' and I said 'Yep' and then when the Stormtroopers came in and started shooting them he was like 'WHY ARE THE GOOD GUYS SHOOTING OTHER GOOD GUYS??!!!' because he's so used to seeing the Clone troopers on Clone Wars on TV :p.

[lilmanjs]

I have just watched all 3 of the Star Wars Despecialized Editions and I fuckin loved them from start to finish.

While I haven't been the most new trilogy and special edition hating type over the years, seeing the originals again pretty close to the way they
were in the cinema makes you realise just HOW much has been messed with. Even things you think in your head are 'original' are actually post 1997 meddling.

I watched all 3 with my 4 year old son and he loved them. It was quite funny watching the first scene in Star Wars when the Stormtroopers and Vader come in, he had asked me about the Rebels 'are they good guys?' and I said 'Yep' and then when the Stormtroopers came in and started shooting them he was like 'WHY ARE THE GOOD GUYS SHOOTING OTHER GOOD GUYS??!!!' because he's so used to seeing the Clone troopers on Clone Wars on TV :p.

Awesome sauce. What did you use to watch them? VHS? Laserdisc? or some other way?

[Ixmucane2]

Machete Kills

Disappointing. Rodriguez took a wrong turn, with a lot of events, characters and gags that depart from Machete's established style of exaggerating the clichés of "realistic" action movies: fantastic (e.g. a character who claims precognitive powers) rather than exaggerated, silly in the wrong way (e.g. the definitely non-badass Star Wars land speeder reproduction someone drives), lacking melodrama (e.g. the quick death of some good guys) or lacking conflict (e.g. Machete vs. the President of the United States), or about a higher plane than simple action (e.g. the countdown).

Some of these ideas are good (for example beginning with a trailer for "Machete Kills Again ... IN SPACE!" which seems to have nothing to do with Machete at first, but at the end of the film turns out to be a plausible sequel) but feel out of place; even the protagonist is a worse character.

[Raytrace]

I have just watched all 3 of the Star Wars Despecialized Editions and I fuckin loved them from start to finish.

While I haven't been the most new trilogy and special edition hating type over the years, seeing the originals again pretty close to the way they
were in the cinema makes you realise just HOW much has been messed with. Even things you think in your head are 'original' are actually post 1997 meddling.

I watched all 3 with my 4 year old son and he loved them. It was quite funny watching the first scene in Star Wars when the Stormtroopers and Vader come in, he had asked me about the Rebels 'are they good guys?' and I said 'Yep' and then when the Stormtroopers came in and started shooting them he was like 'WHY ARE THE GOOD GUYS SHOOTING OTHER GOOD GUYS??!!!' because he's so used to seeing the Clone troopers on Clone Wars on TV :p.

Awesome sauce. What did you use to watch them? VHS? Laserdisc? or some other way?

no these are fan made .mkvs:

https://plus.google.com/photos/10960942 ... 3596349302

I enjoyed them muchly .

[system11]

Pacific Rim came out on Blu-Ray this week.

It's just awesome, not as awesome as on the cinema screen but still an incredible home experience. Just posted a review on my blog but essentially everyone who still has a sense of adventure should watch it.

[null1024]

stuff about Despecialized Editions

Yeah, it's amazing how much the Special Edition changed, really. Seeing the original 70s/80s effects reinstated was certainly impressive.

although I can't bring myself to finish Return of the Jedi because I really begin to hate it half way through and end up just watching Empire Strikes Back again

[Mischief Maker]

I watched all 3 with my 4 year old son and he loved them. It was quite funny watching the first scene in Star Wars when the Stormtroopers and Vader come in, he had asked me about the Rebels 'are they good guys?' and I said 'Yep' and then when the Stormtroopers came in and started shooting them he was like 'WHY ARE THE GOOD GUYS SHOOTING OTHER GOOD GUYS??!!!' because he's so used to seeing the Clone troopers on Clone Wars on TV :p.

Spooky that George Lucas is teaching our kids to trust people who wear skull helmets:

http://youtu.be/VImnpErdDzA

[emphatic]

The Stone Roses - Made Of Stone - 5/5. Loved it. Really miffed I've never seen them live though.

Sample This - 4/5. Very interesting subject (Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band and their fantastic version of Apache and it's influence on Hip Hop music) but it was sometimes a bit silly and slow.

[heisenbergman]

Jobs - Ashton Kutcher is a terrible actor. The screenplay and direction is so overdramatized even for Hollywood standards. Yet, Steve Jobs' life just seemed so fascinating that I could help but watch it through until the end.

[GaijinPunch]

Akira on the big screen

It's no joke that I'm a sucker for old movies in the theater, and I'm a sucker for Akira in general. This is the 3rd time I've seen it in the cinema in Japan. While it was by far the nicest theater, it was also the worst print. There is a 5.1 version that was remastered somewhere around 2003, but they didn't bother to get that. This was clearly a 1988 print... rather dusty too, and the audio was not super impressive. I'm glad I went, and would not gawk at it. Still better than watching it at home, but I was ready for the audio to blow me out of my seat. I was sitting closer to the front than the back as well.

[null1024]

My family dragged me off to see The Best Man Holiday, when there was Gravity right there.

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

[system11]

I watched Silent Night, Deadly Night (remake).

Don't waste your time, aside from some of the gore (one killing is particularly cruel) it's inferior to the original in every way. No humour, rubbish storyboard, bad acting all round from people who should know better. Awful.

[Raytrace]

stuff about Despecialized Editions

Yeah, it's amazing how much the Special Edition changed, really. Seeing the original 70s/80s effects reinstated was certainly impressive.

although I can't bring myself to finish Return of the Jedi because I really begin to hate it half way through and end up just watching Empire Strikes Back again

I love all 3 of them, though ROTJ is admittedly probably my least favourite...

[spadgy]

Squeezed in four films this weekend.

Gravity (in 3D). Perfect fodder for seeing at the cinema, and great to get into even if it wasn't perfect.
Meatballs Technically a bit shit, I guess, but when Bill Murray was on fire, it was insanely funny.
Usual Suspects I've seen it a tonne of times before, right down to knowing where all the incontinuity edits are (plane wheels and cigarettes mainly), but this was my first viewing in many years. I'd forgotten how noir it really is. Such a great movie.
Pacific Rim I finally got around to watching it. Let's just say it was perfect for a Sunday afternoon with a longing for some low-brow entertainment.

[Lord Satori]

Just saw Ender's Game. It was pretty good. Even though alot of what people have been saying about it is true, I like it despite it's faults.

[dingsbums]

Just rewatched Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) - what can I say - I loved it 10 years ago and I still love this movie . Although it is frightening how much our world is getting closer to become like the world in Brazil.
What's the consens on Terry Gilliam on this forum ? (if there is a consens ). I personally always loved his movies up to The Brother's Grimm (2005) - god I hated this movie (I saw it in the cinema) - it has nothing that made Gilliam's earlier movies great.

[Some-Mist]

Just rewatched Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) - what can I say - I loved it 10 years ago and I still love this movie . Although it is frightening how much our world is getting closer to become like the world in Brazil.
What's the consens on Terry Gilliam on this forum ? (if there is a consens ). I personally always loved his movies up to The Brother's Grimm (2005) - god I hated this movie (I saw it in the cinema) - it has nothing that made Gilliam's earlier movies great.

I am actually going to watch this for the first time within the next couple of weeks. I've been meaning to for a couple years, but just never got around to it. I've only seen The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and 12 monkeys... although Time Bandits was playing in the background at Kuma's in Chicago which grabbed my attention. Definitely a fan.

I actually just watched Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972) for the first time yesterday, and it has to be my favorite Tarkovsky film so far (I've only seen The Mirror and Stalker). I'm still making my way through his work, but I will be throwing Brazil and Holy Motors in the mix when I have a chance.

[Vexorg]

Speaking of Bill Murray:

Scrooged: **1/2

A "modern" (for 1988 at least) version of A Christmas Carol that is (oddly enough) based around a TV production of A Christmas Carol, with the scrooge in this case being a really terrible network executive (played by Murray.) It has a few funny parts (most notably a "fairy" with violent tendencies serving as the Ghost of Christmas Present), but really devolves into pure nonsense in the last 20 minutes or so. I suspect they could have gotten a better movie out of the fake film they opened the movie with...

[EmperorIng]

I watched Silent Night, Deadly Night (remake).

Don't waste your time, aside from some of the gore (one killing is particularly cruel) it's inferior to the original in every way. No humour, rubbish storyboard, bad acting all round from people who should know better. Awful.

They remade Silent Night, Deadly Night???

The series could never get better than the sequel, so why even bother?