Last movie seen — Page 633

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
It’s fantastic, of course.

Terminator Genisys: I’d read the bad reviews and seen the Honest Trailer but it came on TV last night and I decided to see for myself how bad it was and if anything, the reviews were far too generous.

It recycles the best moments from the first two films but with third rate execution. At one stage, I found myself thinking, “Familiar. Don’t you have anything new?” and there was very little of merit that was new. Every action film cliche was thrown into a storyline and script that should never have seen the light of day: along with T3 and Salvation for that matter. Schwarzenegger seemed to be in it for the money and nothing else. Jai Courtney was dreadful but the material he had to work with didn’t help.

1.5 out of 10.

Last week I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and I must say it was wonderful, refreshing, and satisfying. I think I’ll see it again soon.

Dek Rollins said:

Last week I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and I must say it was wonderful, refreshing, and satisfying. I think I’ll see it again soon.

I liked it even more the second time.

Mirror/Zerkalo directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. It’s truly stunning and beautiful. By far one of the best films I’ve ever seen. I really hope Criterion releases it soon on Blu Ray but I’m very glad I found an original mono mixing DVD of it. Although the picture isn’t as pristine as Criterion it’s still a wonderful piece of art to own and have as part of collection.

Watched the 4K bluray of Godzilla- King of the Monsters (2019) last night.
It’s a wonderful movie.

The Evil Dead (1981) 4K bluray
One of my favorite films. Seeing this restoration was a spiritual experience.
Beautiful.

Anchorhead said:

One of my favorite films of all time and by far my favorite Robert Redford film. Considering the amount of time I’ve spent reading anything and everything, I’ve felt a kinship with Joe Turner for decades. Also for me, my favorite Faye Dunaway film. She’s perfect in this. LOVE her character.

An absolute 5 out of 5 Sparrow Hawks.

Condor is one of those films that really, REALLY grows on you far more over time. The first time it’s a great thriller and one of the better spy films of the decade. Eventually it sinks in and hits you like a load of bricks. Every last detail works beautifully and even the love story is convincing. I don’t know if there is a better or more believable Redford role and the drama is heightened by the fact that he plays a man who is completely in over his head and a bookworm at that long before Jack Ryan was “just an analyst”. The interplay between him and Max Von Sydow is priceless.
Again this is a picture that only grows in stature. The ending is extremely deep and perfectly open ended in the best possible way that so many 70’s films were. While it is reminiscent of MARATHON MAN and others of the same ilk, Condor has its own identity but is still one of the truly timeless films of the decade that isn’t talked about enough. And essential for spy nerds.
This reminds me I still really need to read the book and get the Blu-ray. I had been holding off because there are two different versions in Europe with different transfers/extras. I just have the trusty Laserdisc.

I’ve always loved Sydney Pollack in interviews, lectures and general thought process but usually never liked most of his later films all that much. They’re good and all but just not quite my thing usually. Condor is right up there at the top for me but my favorite is THE YAKUZA which I think is his masterpiece.

DuracellEnergizer said:

I know this is blasphemy, but I’m gonna say it anyway: Vertigo isn’t a masterpiece. It could’ve been a masterpiece — it had the makings of one — but the flashback broke the movie. Whether Madeleine was being possessed by the spirit of Carlotta or not; whether Judy and Madeleine were one and the same or not; whether Scottie’s deduction at the end was accurate or the delusions of a man gone off the deep end — all should’ve been left unanswered and ambiguous.

Also, Madeleine was as pretty as a rainbow, and about as charismatic as a rainbow trout. Why Scottie chose her over Midge, a zesty woman with actual personality, I’ll never understand. Guess he prefers to rob the cradle of love.

Finally, that ending — it’s so abrupt, it’s almost comical.

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Let me put my analyst cap on for a sec…

As much as it pains me to hear someone saying all that you’re not alone. The reveal breaks with screen trends and most reviews and audiences hated the things you mentioned. But it is because of the break with traditions that the film is so completely different, experimental and special. For decades the film’s reputation was not good at all and then you couldn’t even see it until the battered version was reissued in 1983.
There are still some who disagree with the reveal halfway through but it sets up the crux of suspense in ways that Hitch had never done before or since. It becomes an act of emotional and character suspense rather than story driven. From that point onwards it becomes a matter of what will Scottie do if he finds out, or will he find out rather than just: will such and such character get out of a jam? And it also compounds the emotional story on Judy’s side and allows the audience into her genuine emotion which only heightens the suspense, sadness and absolute tragedy. The ending is built to over the entire picture and it’s doomed denouement is perhaps the greatest climax and end shot in the medium.

But to each their own. I get where you’re coming from but this is all what helps to make VERTIGO so different. If it had ended with the tag ending in Midge’s apartment saying Elster was caught by police overseas it would have robbed the picture of so much power.

But it is nice to hear someone talking about how great Midge is and how Scottie is so dumb that this wonderful, fun, warm, intelligent, vivacious woman is right there the whole time and totally adorable. This makes her final departure in the hospital so completely devastating because at that point she is never going to ever be in Scottie’s mind as anything near the ghost of his obsessions and is thus also gone forever. In fact the final shot of her in the film in the doorway is almost like a specter itself.

The Chairman (1969)

This film is Bizarre. Bizarrely edited with a bizarre tone that goes all over the place. Forgotten today with middling to negative reviews.

Yet I’ve tried to see this film for years and found myself enjoying it through its weirdness. Gregory Peck plays an ex-spy professor who goes to China in the midst of the Cold War in a US-British-Soviet joint mission to retrieve a formula for growth enzymes. And yes, setup wise it’s very TORN CURTAIN esque.

A communication device is installed in his skull to permit satellite transmission back to HQ so they can hear his entire journey…except for the fact the neglect to tell him that there is a small explosive charge inside the device that can be implemented if they feel the mission is going sour or when he comes into contact with the titular character…aka where John Carpenter probably got the idea for the similar device in Escape From NY.

I always knew of this as the movie where they put a bomb inside Greg Peck’s head and darn it if it doesn’t somehow work! Sure it’s problematic as hell and will cause you to throw your arms up in incredulity but Peck is stunningly charismatic in essentially a Bondian role and J Lee Thompson directs many scenes very well despite the tone and script being all over the place. The scene where Peck’s character actually meets Chairman Mao is handled brilliantly and is multilayered to say the very least. The action climax is well cut and then the tag ending has echoes of 3 Days of the Condor almost.

Basically had this been made five years later it would have been darker and better. As it stands it is intellectual, well made if inefficient and somewhat plodding. Which of course makes it better than 99% of what hits screens today.

Apocalypse Now for the 40th anniversary.

Mystical, indescribable, powerful and immortal. The theatrical cut is definitive but the new 4K restoration is stunning. The three versions are presented well, the original sound mix is on disc and the new Atmos track has super low frequencies in the LFE track but is still respectful to the original audio mix. While the compression isn’t so good on the included Blu-rays it is still a better 1080p experience than the old discs.

For $22 and SIX discs including all three cuts in HD and 4K , new extras and all old extras it’s a no brainer.

Deadpool 2
Great fun and looking forward to 3, and the rumored X-Force movie 😃

I am still watching the first Harry Potter movie.