Thanks for that. No idea what I was thinking.
I’m just here because I’m driving tonight.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) - 8/10
Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood (1988) - 6/10
Masked and Anonymous (2003) - 8/10
WarGames (1983) - 8/10
The Frisco Kid (1979) - 10/10
Krull (1983) - 7/10
Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) - 5.5/10
The Exorcist (1973) - 6.5/10
The Wizard of Oz (1939) - 8/10
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992) 8.5/10
FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) - 7/10
Jason X (2001) - 4/10
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) - 5.5/10
Scrooged (1988) - 7/10
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - 7/10
The 6th Day (2000) - 7/10
Freddy vs. Jason (2003) - 3/10
The Exorcist III (1990) - 6.5/10
Gremlins (1984) - 7/10
Why in the name of God did you watch FernGully?!
I’m just here because I’m driving tonight.
I have a goal to rewatch and reevaluate all the movies I can remember watching from my childhood/early twenties. FernGully was on the list, so I watched it.
It's A Wonderful Life
Nobody could make pictures like Capra. Nobody. The Criterion CAV is a fine grain archive print and gorgeous.
A film that only gains in significance over time as you grow older. Jimmy gives his tour de force amidst a supporting cast so fully realized that Bedford Falls becomes not merely a setting but a microcosm of the America we lost.
This is the blending of cinema's artificiality with the romance of times past.
And of one the most beautiful things to ever come out of the Dream factory.
4 balls out of 4. One of the greatest films ever made.
The Black Cauldron
What the hell did I just see? I loved the tone, the backgrounds, the art and the story's potential. But it is so cut down, the characters are so one note and completely undeveloped that you just wish the damn thing was over. Gorgeous scope animation designed for 70mm is wasted on a pitiful hodgepodge of story that is on so thin a plot that every single thing is dictated right down to the narrative 101 handbook. And to top that off the characters are drawn in the less refined style Disney practiced throughout the 70's.
This is a mess with an alarming number of great qualities. It should have worked, and probably would be somewhat better with the excised 12 minutes restored. The sound mix is very good, and the dark tone in a fantasy/swashbuckler type film is outstanding. Everything else STINKS.
I want to like this more but as it is the film just. does. not. work.
2.5 balls out of 4 egotistical dreamer young boys who can't even do anything of note and must leave it to the comic relief, obligatory unnecessary princess and magic sword to do everything for him.
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
TBC had a troubled history, and was scissored by the then new Eisner regime after it was finished. (I still want to see that footage.) It was also the first production entirely done by the new generation of animators who went on to make all the later classics.
The movie was buried by Disney for so long, (there was never a theatrical reissue, and a video release didn't happen until 1998) I got cels from it ridiculously cheap.
Gurgi is my favorite Disney sidekick, and I could listen to John Hurt being evil all day. It's the anti-Disney Disney film. ;)
I spent many hours trying to beat the early PC adventure game based on it.
Where were you in '77?
The only major problem I had with The Black Cauldron was that I couldn't help but to think of how it would work if it were a story set in the SW Universe; it really kept me from getting into the movie.
It was adapted from a series of children's fantasy novels written way before SW though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Prydain
Disney apparently still has the rights, which makes me wonder why they've not tried a live action version in the wake of the LOTR movies.
Where were you in '77?
The Hobbit Part 2.
So much bloat.
It's hard to judge on it's own merits being the middle part of the story but it really felt like it dragged. I'll definitely be interested in what fan-editors do with this.
I DID like the newly created character of Tauriel [sp?] not so much the rest of the new stuff..
The To Do List
Utterly forgettable - with a few laughs. - But that IS what I expected going in so I can't really complain.
Riddick - extended edition [Director's cut?]
Good fun. If not for the flashbacks and references I could happily pretend chronicles never happened and be content.
Die hard 5 -
What a pile of shit!
Midnight 35mm showing of Batman Returns. Near spotless print.
The darkness and color depth are insane. Take every video copy and dial down the brightness almost all the way, and then you begin to approach just how rich the print is. Words fail me. It is gorgeous. The color timing on top of this is very subtle, and not filled with the overall blues everywhere on video. Then there may have been Technicolor magic to boot.
The sound seemed to go between Dolby SR-D 5.1 and the analog Dolby Stereo. In patches things got very quiet, dialogue was cleaner and things were more discrete. And then it would jump up in volume, feel more confined and punchier, dialogue was noisier with sibilance. So I think it was maybe 30-40 minutes 5.1 and the rest analog Dolby Stereo SR (which is how it was mixed and designed, and honestly IMO a better track)
4 balls out of 4. The best ever live action comic book film. Burton's masterpiece.
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
captainsolo said:.
The darkness and color depth are insane. Take every video copy and dial down the brightness almost all the way, and then you begin to approach just how rich the print is. Words fail me. It is gorgeous. The color timing on top of this is very subtle, and not filled with the overall blues everywhere on video. Then there may have been Technicolor magic to boot.
Very interesting. Would be interested to see what could be done to the BD to make it more similar to the theatrical timing. Then muxing in a rip of the LD audio would probably make the perfect version.
Knowing your knowledge of such things, might I ask: is the LD most accurate but simply brighter? Andrea's technique, with some modifications, could then be used.
Smokey and the Bandit. Classic.
Fire in the Sky (1993) - 7/10
The Dunwich Horror (1970) - 6/10
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) - 7/10
Lord of Illusions (1995) - 7/10
Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - 7/10
The Tommyknockers (1993) - 7/10
Signs (2002) - 7/10
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) - 8/10
The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009) - 6/10
Hancock (2008) - 6/10
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - 6.5/10
Scrambled Aches (1957) - 6/10
Scrap Happy Daffy (1943) - 8/10
Snow Business (1953) - 6/10
Muzzle Tough (1954) - 6/10
Hot Cross Bunny (1948) - 8/10
From Beyond (1986) - 7/10
The Beguiled (1971) - 7.5/10
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) - 10/10
DuracellEnergizer said:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - 6.5/10
VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.
What can I say? I was mildy amused -- emphasis on mildly.
Seen a lot of movies this Christmas season:
Se7en (1995)- 9 out of 10 boxes
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)- 9.5 out of 10 shot-off nooses
Manhunter (1986)- 9 out of 10 flaming wheelchairs
Silence of the Lambs (1991)- 9 out of 10 night-vision goggles
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)- 6 out of 10 barrels filled with dwarfs
Hannibal (2001)- 4 out of 10 stabbed pickpockets
The Majestic (2001)- 7.5 out of 10 revived movie theaters
The Love Guru (2007)- 2 out of 10 nonsequitors
The Conjuring (2013)- 8 out of 10 nightmare-inducing dolls
Observe and Report (2009)- 5 out of 10 awkward sex scenes with Ray Liotta
The Mummy (1959)- 7.5 out of 10 scrolls
Night and the City (1950)- 8 out of 10 mink coats
Ryan McAvoy said:
DuracellEnergizer said:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - 6.5/10
You can't take anyone seriously who gives the same rating of 8/10 to Wizard of Oz, WarGames...and Wes Craven's New Nightmare!
'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' 2013
Idris Elba is predictably outstanding as Nelson Mandela. He's got the voice down perfectly without ever slipping into the parody that it could have been with a lesser actor. Naomie Harris (aka Miss Moneypenny) also puts in a strong, turbulant performance as Winnie Mandela. The rest of the cast are excellent unknown (To me at least) South African actors.
Best thing is the gorgeous 35mm cinematography which looks like an epic from the 70s, capturing every ray of light and shadow across the South African landscape. There is none of the digitally-graded harsh contrast and cartoonish blueish saturation that infects most modern films. Just rich autumnal browns, grey, reds and greens... why can't all films nowadays look as good as this?
Faults include; it sticking a bit too much to the over-familiar biopic formula minted by Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi' and the aging makeup isn't right in a couple of scenes in the middle but other than that it's a great film. It's probably fortunate that the movie was completed before Nelson's death, so it has a pleasing celebratory tone (Despite the grimness and violence of the story). Plus it never shys away from showing Nelson and Winnie's faults which the filmakers might now have been more reluctant to portray.
Soundtrack is fine too featuring the cream of political songwriting from the period(s) including Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy, Bob Marley and The Specials... but be warned it does have Bono singing over the credits! ;-)
VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.
TV's Frink said:
Ryan McAvoy said:
DuracellEnergizer said:
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - 6.5/10
You can't take anyone seriously who gives the same rating of 8/10 to Wizard of Oz, WarGames...and Wes Craven's New Nightmare!
===
Mr. Sardonicus (1961) - 7/10
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) - 6/10
V (1983) - 7.5/10
The Graduate (1976) - 8/10
The Incredibles (2004) - 8/10
Aliens (1986) - 6.5/10
Arabesque (1966) - 8/10
Nosferatu (1922) - 7/10
The Mummy Returns (2001) - 7/10
Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969) - 2/10
Mad Max (1979) - 7/10
Batman: Dead End (2003) - 9/10
Garfield (2004) - 6/10
DuracellEnergizer said:
Aliens (1986) - 6.5/10
VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.
That scene has bugged me since 1979. (Not to mention being totally freaky.) There has to be a easier way to dispatch Ripley than shove a magazine down her throat. And it sure isn't going to look like an accident, or the Alien. Was this supposed to emphasize Ash's major malfunction?
Where were you in '77?
Can of worms Hether.