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Last movie seen — Page 117

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Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Brilliant, dirty, grimy, barren, bleeding Peckinpah vision of tormented lives in Mexico. Probably the last great work from the director. (I know, haven't seen Cross of Iron yet.) It takes the intense degree of utter emptiness from Pat Garrett and amps it up several degrees. Insanely brilliant.

4 severed heads out of 4 sweaty, bleeding Warren Oates carrying machetes.

Duel/The Sugarland Express

I got to see these at my local arthouse in 35mm as double feature. I've wanted to see Duel theatrically forever, as it was supposed to be extended to 90 min (same as DVD version) and be opened up to 1.85:1. The print I saw was unbelievably vibrant, relatively free of damage, and had absolutely remarkable color depth. It was the extended 90 min version, but shown at 1.33:1. I don't know if that's the print Universal sent or if it was masked that way. (didn't look that way because there was no real screen spillover, and it took the projectionist a good 5-10 minutes to switch the masking to 2.35:1 for Sugarland.)

All I can say is after seeing this film a good 15-20 times, I was still blown away.

A still brilliant 4 manic Dennis Weavers out of 4 endless stretches of desert road.

Sugarland  is the lone Spielberg film that I hadn't seen. It's really the lost film in his canon. For quite some time I've held a theory that both this film and Duel are combined into the overall story arc of Jaws. (Duel behind the second half of man alone vs. powerful beast, and Sugarland as the more folksy, humorous, down to earth portrait of society.)i think it's finally time to put this down on paper, because Sugarland indeed came off that way.

It is a well made film with a very Earthy tone of browns and a dense grain structure from the 70's stock and location shooting. The overall problem comes from the abrupt switch from quirky folksy humor to sudden dramatic scenes. The film is based on a true story, but it seems to not know where it wants to go in the end.

A well made 3 100 police car chases out of 4 Ben Johnson closeups.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader

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Gunslinger, as riffed by Joel and the Bots.

They never fail to make me laugh out loud.

 

Two western town facade time warps out of two.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.

I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity, which I'm sure your wife would approve of as much as mine did (which is to say not at all).

Bingowings said:

The Children Of Dune miniseries is much better (it covers the next two books so doesn't have comparison with the Lynch film hanging over it as a second sword of Damocles).

But I firmly disagree with this.  I thought that mini was a mess.  I've never read the sequel books, so it might not be the mini's fault... but it seems to have no idea where it's going until it's just over.  And I was always into Dune for Paul, so I guess I stopped caring once he exited stage left.  Maybe I should have read Paul of Dune, but it is written by that darn KJA.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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xhonzi said:



darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.


I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity

So...armpit hair? ;-)

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TV's Frink said:

xhonzi said:



darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.


I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity

So...armpit hair? ;-)

 And how!

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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I Accuse My Parents.

Boy lies a lot. Boy meets girl. Boy joins mob. Boy leaves mob. Boy goes to court. Boy blames his parents. Boy gets off scott free. Parents everywhere learn a lesson.

2 out of 2 irresponsible parents.

 

I'm on an MST3K kick. Refer to Frink's avatar.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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Tyrphanax said:


I Accuse My Parents.

Boy lies a lot. Boy meets girl. Boy joins mob. Boy leaves mob. Boy goes to court. Boy blames his parents. Boy gets off scott free. Parents everywhere learn a lesson.

2 out of 2 irresponsible parents.

 

I'm on an MST3K kick. Refer to Frink's avatar.
I love how the title is a spoiler for that one.

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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"X-Men: First Class" 

and

"Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins"

 

"X-men: First Class" was excellent. Remo Williams on the other hand was quite lame, and I can understand why the adventure never did continue.

That is a film in desperate need  of a re-make. 

“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison

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TV's Frink said:

xhonzi said:



darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.


I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity

So...armpit hair? ;-)

 Hey!  C'mon, Frink!  How about a spoiler warning?!

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 (Edited)

Th13teen Ghosts (2001) I don't know how I rope myself into watching crappy films like this.

William Castle films are a guilty pleasure, but a pleasure they are.

The man was a genius showman and I rate The Tingler (1959) as a genuine horror classic even with the gimmicks dimmed by the lack of a well timed industrial strength vibrator.

This remake of his more soberly titled 13 Ghosts (1960) has a bizarrely eighties feel about it.

The characters and plot (if you can call it a plot) are 100% cheese.

Imagine The Monster Squad (1987) but without the heart.

The only things worth watching this for are the amazing Perspex set which would be really cool in an episode of Doctor Who or a film with a story and the near subliminal flashes of passable make up effects (thank heavens my flavour of epilepsy isn't triggered that way).

Now these look a bit crap in close up lingering shots and seeing as you never get to find out the story behind the latex creations none of them are really that interesting, which is a shame because there is a fun EC Comics style design ethic behind each one of them.

It seems to have been made with horror action figures in mind which just underlines what a sad waste of artistry is on show.

Three glass cubes for style no balls for substance.

I watched it partly because I had recently dug out an old favourite of mine, The Legend Of Hell House (1973) and I was trying to find another good creepy haunted house film which isn't The Haunting (1963).

Any recommendations out there? 

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 (Edited)

Predators

I went into this film expecting something along the lines of Predator, or Predator 2. Just your run-of-the-mill cheesy, campy action romp.

Holy shit was I wrong on that one.

 

Predators is far from the run-of-the-mill action romp I was expecting, and more along the lines of a serious, Hollywood blockbuster action flick with a plot twist that seriously came out of the blue for me (and I'm one of those people who tries to figure out where the movie is going to end up as soon as I can). I was really on the edge of my seat the whole time with this one. I had no idea where it was going, and I loved every minute of it.

Predators is now one of my top few movies, and easily the best in the franchise. One out of one invisible friends.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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"A Hard Day's Night"

 

“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison

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Ziggy Stardust said:

I love those photos.  These were very popular back in the day at state fairs, etc.  I've got one of these just like of my great aunt from the 1940's.

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xhonzi said:

darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.

I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity, which I'm sure your wife would approve of as much as mine did (which is to say not at all).

Bingowings said:

The Children Of Dune miniseries is much better (it covers the next two books so doesn't have comparison with the Lynch film hanging over it as a second sword of Damocles).

But I firmly disagree with this.  I thought that mini was a mess.  I've never read the sequel books, so it might not be the mini's fault... but it seems to have no idea where it's going until it's just over.  And I was always into Dune for Paul, so I guess I stopped caring once he exited stage left.  Maybe I should have read Paul of Dune, but it is written by that darn KJA.

So I finally go the chance to watch part II, and it is the extended version.  You're correct, there is some European-style nudity (as opposed to Asian, South American, or Oceanian-style nudity, I mean, how many ways can you show one's privates?).  I was truthfully disappointed with all of that, and it seemed to advance the plot very little.  If they'd spent more time telling the story of Dune and less flaunting bodies, it might have been interesting, but now I'm pretty turned off and not sure I want to finish it.

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darth_ender said:

xhonzi said:

darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.

I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity, which I'm sure your wife would approve of as much as mine did (which is to say not at all).

So I finally go the chance to watch part II, and it is the extended version.  You're correct, there is some European-style nudity (as opposed to Asian, South American, or Oceanian-style nudity, I mean, how many ways can you show one's privates?).  I was truthfully disappointed with all of that, and it seemed to advance the plot very little.  If they'd spent more time telling the story of Dune and less flaunting bodies, it might have been interesting, but now I'm pretty turned off and not sure I want to finish it.

For the record, I think all of that nudity is in Part II.  I think there's some sideboob in a tent in one scene, and that might still be coming up.

The reason I called it "european" style is that they shot 2 versions of those scenes.  In the "US release", the girls were lightly dressed in sheer linens and silks, but enough to cover up the naughty bits.  In the European(where and by whom it was filmed)  release, they used the full nudity version.  When they released the extended cut, I guess they (and Roger Ebert) figured that people want to see as much nudity as possible, but silly TV or public cinema standards are getting in their way.  So, of course, when it comes to home video releases, the more nudity the better!

And considering the success of "UNRATED! (w00t!) dvd's" maybe they're right.

But the extended version does add about 10 minutes to each of the three segments.  And, as I recall, those 10 minutes do help quite a bit.

I would encourage you to finish the third part.  But if you haven't dug the first 2/3, maybe you still won't care for it.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

Author
Time
 (Edited)

If we are talking about the Fremen scenes.

It is casual nudity (as in not a big fuss is made of it, they need to get their clothes off quickly and just do it in an un-titillating fashion) and that is comparatively common in European films and television. 

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I really liked part 1, and part 2 was okay (it went a little further than I've gotten in the book and seems to have been less faithful in its interpretation there).  If you feel part 3 is good, I'll go ahead and watch it.

I'm just joking about the European nudity thing.  It's true, those Euro-folks aren't quite so shy about their naked bods.  My family spent some time in Germany from before I was born up till I was 2.  My dad jokes that every time Germans saw a puddle they'd strip down to bare flesh and splash in the water.  It all reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons where Lisa goes to Stockholm to accept a Nobel Prize (if I'm remembering correctly), and the opening shot establishing the location shows the backside of a nude female police officer directing traffic.  Made me laugh.  Makes me chuckle even now.  I think you are right that movie companies think that nudity enhances the experience, and the public is becoming more and more convinced of the same.  How many movies that are otherwise worthless all of the sudden become "artistic" because it shows some very sexually provocative imagery?

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The wife and I watched Unstoppable a few days ago. 

2 things:

1. It made me think of the previous discussions at to whether "knowing the end or knowing who lives/who dies" is enough to wreck the drama of a story/film.

This movie is basically completely understood from the poster.  There's a runaway train.  It's Unstoppable.  Kirk and John Creasy are going to stop it, because they ARE EVEN MORE UNSTOBBABLE!  (X-TREME!!!!)  Tony Scott, however, is able to bring plenty of tension to the action regardless of there never being any doubt in the audience's mind how it's going to end.

2. As I have mentioned before, I have a "motion simulator" chair that moves with some of the movies out there.  Unstoppable supported this feature and frankly I'm not sure I would have bothered with this movie except that I heard it was awesome "in the chair".

And it was.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

Author
Time

Super 8. Got the feeling this was a movie about kids in the 70's that was deemed too noncommercial...so they added government conspiracy...and a mysterious thing causing havoc in order to have action.

2 balls out of 4.

Kane. The Blu-ray is due out in a few days...with a new 4K transfer with NO LOWRY DIGITAL INVOLVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! And on Amazon there's an added bonus: an official DVD release of Ambersons.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader

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Bingowings said:

I watched it partly because I had recently dug out an old favourite of mine, The Legend Of Hell House (1973) and I was trying to find another good creepy haunted house film which isn't The Haunting (1963).

Any recommendations out there? 

The Changeling
The Others
The Innocents
Woman In Black
The Orphanage
Suspiria

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"Dracula: Dead and Loving It"

Not very funny.  One of four balls.

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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khaaaaan

“First feel fear, then get angry. Then go with your life into the fight.” - Bill Mollison

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Cowboys and Aliens. Great. 3 1/2 out of 4 blue eyes.