Last movie seen — Page 143

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

greenpenguino said:

Caligula (1979)

 

O_o

 

Errrr..... ummmmm..... It was pretty cool....

What's with the infamy behind this movie, anyway? I'm too lazy to find out the reason why for myself, so could someone please tell me?

 

It has hardcore sex in it.

It's a bit... simpler than most dramatic Miyazaki films.  It has a clear villain which is unusual for him.

Also, the dub does have a number of changes that some don't like.  But Disney went back to the Japanese score on their most recent release... I'm not sure how I feel about that actually, because Joe Hisashi DID in fact score Disney's requested revisions himself.  I always figure a little more background music isn't always bad.

Not a Miyazaki film, but Grave of the Fireflies is maybe the best animated film I've ever seen, and one of the most powerful films in general. It's a movie I think about often. The music and images just stay with you.

Has anyone else seen Grave of the Fireflies?

That's a film I point people to. Not only does it stay with you, you freaking weep. Not cry. WEEP.  I remember thinking to myself: an animated film about kids? in war? in WWII? How the heck is this going to work? It feels less like Miyazaki or something similar and more like poetry. Haunting, damning, unforgettable.

A truly great film in any regard, animated or not.

Last seen:

Richard III  (1995)

I get the idea behind modernizing Shakespeare to the setting of a totalitarian fiction England in the 30's. Ian McKellen is beyond superb. Other than this the film continually falls on its face with pacing, some stilted performances and an overall lack of energy. The ending is beyond cheesy.

Watched on Laser. 2.5 balls out of 4 stupid boar masks.

Life of Brian.

Simply put, the greatest comedy ever made. (Dr. Strangelove is not an out and out comedy film and doesn't try to be one so I don't count it as strictly comedy.) With Strangelove, this is the only film that can make me pee my pants laughing. But not all the laughs are this way. Only the great comedies have laughs for your mind as well as the tired funnybone. Endlessly quotable, inventive and absolutely hysterical. A comedy ride that also meditates on our stupidity as a race. The Python's masterwork, and yes for the last time this definitively kicks the crap out of Holy Grail.

4 balls out of 4 blessed cheesemakers.

captainsolo said: 

For a Few Dollars More. Possibly the best of all three Dollars films, and possibly the best Western ever made. Here Leone gets his rhythm down and eases into the style he is known for. Perfect balance between entertainment and art, between action and drama. The grand operatic sweep of his later films is hinted at, but FAFDM retains the almost serial like atmosphere of A Fistful of Dollars, which still keeps us coming back for more. A vast improvement on the first film and completely flawless. Everything is amped up here; the performances, the style, the cinematography, the sets, dialogue...and dear god the score! There are moments that will send chills down your spine (Hearing that organ for the first time in the church duel blew me away. Still does.) and tons of quirky little boings, springs, and whistles.

And you'll never look at a pocket watch the same way again.

Sadly, though the video presentations are much better now after a new master being struck from the Techniscope original, the original elements are not in the best of shape. The best available materials MGM had a few years ago was a degraded print that even went pink in one shot.

4 balls of infinity out of 4.

God, I could watch it again for the 500th time.

Have wanted to re-watch this classic lately but I only own the old crappy NTSC MGM DVD. :( Seems to be some serious trouble making a properly done release of this one, some good info on the various video release problems here:  http://www.forafewdollarsmore.net/ The German DVD came close. Wasn't there someone on this board a few years ago who made a DVD of the uncut version with the original english audio?

The trouble is that most of the sources with the uncut and alternate footage are usually in PAL and only in Italian or Spanish.

Are any of LeoneNut's edits available anymore? I'd love to see his Duck, You Sucker for the correct audio.

Great link for FAFDM. After digging around in the Leone forums, I found a thread that talks about the old US LD having the scenes intact but missing the scene with the official and Mortimer "naming" Manco.

http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=7269.30

It's really revealing to look at those old MGM DVDs nowadays, to see what we've lived with for so long. Fistful has a giant bright white line running along the side of the frame for the entire film, FAFDM has the cuts and a audio sync issue and both are non-anamorphic letterbox. The newer DVDs are better but I still have my old ones. The Blus all have issues and you're best off it seems to go for all foreign editions. At least GBU still has a fantastic first DVD.

For the first two I'd recommend the 2 disc DVDs, as they have great commentaries, anamorphic video, mono audio and are quite cheap.

No version has yet to compare to the theatrical experience though. I saw the Dollars films and Duck, You Sucker! a few years ago and all were stunning to behold...except that GBU was the bastard extended cut, DYS had the improper 5.1 remix, and FAFDM was in really bad shape. In fact it was so much that the theater had a sign posted for refunds if you couldn't live with the print.

There was a scene entirely pink, the mono was too low for the first reels and way too loud on the last ones, but it looked phenomenal despite the print's condition. The Monco scenes were there proving that this was a pre-United Artists re-cut. But the laugh was cut and the fight may have been a little longer. I'm thinking that although these were dubbed in English that they were dropped somewhere around the time of the dub being finished for whatever reason.

No one is ever able to replicate that Techniscope look on home video. For the Leone films it's usually the color which isn't as deep. This may be due to the MGM produced new prints. With an outside company they struck new standard 35mm prints from Techniscope originals.

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

Davnes007 said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

greenpenguino said:

Caligula (1979)

 

O_o

 

Errrr..... ummmmm..... It was pretty cool....

What's with the infamy behind this movie, anyway? I'm too lazy to find out the reason why for myself, so could someone please tell me?



 

It has hardcore sex in it.

You mean you see the thingy go in the hoohah, with all the moving and the wetness and the hey, hey, hey, it blinds me?

 

That.

And more....

Tobar said:

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

='(

Yes, it's quite powerful. When I first watched that movie about a year ago I was teary eyed 15 minutes in and pretty much weeping for the last 30 minutes and quite awhile after the credits finished. I was depressed some days afterward, too, and I often have the beautifully melancholy score in my head.

Just like captainsolo said, GOTF is haunting and utterly unforgettable... in a good way. It's a movie that I feel more people need to see when they are old enough or mature enough to really be affected by it. To be devastated by the movie but also invigorated by it's anti-war message. The movie is not political. It shows that the greatest tragedy of war is the loss of innocence and the irreparable damage to the framework of our society.

War is a result of the inability to resolve political or ideological differences without violence. It represents the complete and utter failure of society to protect the innocent, represented mostly by children.

On a side note the movie is semi-biographical, based on the memoirs of a Japanese man who had a similar experience as Seita during WW2.

T_T