What have you watched recently?

The Black Oil

Had the misfortune to watch Righteous Kill last night. Fairly rubbish, as if there was barely direction involved. Then near the end it just seem to drag on and on and on.

Tony EH

'Return of the Jedi'

*Contains Spoilers*



1983’s ‘Return of the Jedi’ is considered by most to be the weakest of the original trilogy. The main reason for this is obvious. It begins with an E and ends in K, with a W and an O in between. Lucas’ marketing savvy kicked in early this time and he took out the original woodland creatures, the “Wookies” and replaced them with the teddy-bear-like “Ewoks” and the rest is history. The Ewoks may appeal to some people…notably mothers, very small children and the mentally challenged, but to most ‘Star Wars’ fans, it remains but a wonder at how much cooler “ROTJ” would have been if the Wookies had been kept in.

The Ewoks aren’t the only problem ‘ROTJ’ has. The story, again, isn’t that full (once the characters are banded together, it becomes essentially a re-run of the fist film), the acting isn’t terribly good (with Ford, especially, going through the motions) and the direction is a little lacklustre (this time handled by Richard Marqand). But, despite these drawbacks, here is actually a lot to enjoy here. The opening “Jabba’s Palace / Scarlacc” sequence, again, is fantastic and handled brilliantly. In spite of being marred somewhat by an absolutely awful and completely unnecessary musical number. Rendered even MORE unbearable by the inclusion of an “improved” musical number in the 1997 Special Edition. Ugh. Thankfully, Jabba himself was left untouched and is all the better for it. The giant puppet is a thousand times more lifelike than the pathetic CGI attempt in the ‘Star Wars’ Special Edition and he’s lost none of his disgusting fascination. Likewise, the “Arrival of the Emperor” scene is done very well too, with a thumping “Empire March” music piece from John Williams and Ian McDiarmid standing out as Darth Vader’s handler. The brilliant “speeder-bike” chase sequence too is worth of note, although the effects for that are starting to show their age, but the epic space battle at the end is still incredible.

However, shortly after the "speeder-bikes" we get to the teddy bears and the film goes rapidly downhill from there. The problem with the Ewoks, is that it’s impossible not to be cynical about them. They’re money generator and the focus of cheap emotion, “aww…the teddy’s cute”, “aww…the teddy’s dead”. Even as a child, I wanted the Empire to massacre them. Strangely enough, the word "Ewok" isn't mentioned in the entire film, but it became a household name.

Also, the final defeat of the Empire forces at the hands of the teddy bears is absolutely absurd! It’s impossible to believe, in even the realms of a fantasy Universe that the Emperor’s “crack troops” would succumb to a bunch of children’s toys. It totally takes the viewer out of the piece. Not only that, but with the Special Edition’s, Lucas saw fit to take out the “Nub Yub” celebration song at the end of the film and replace it with a montage of victory celebrations across multiple worlds throughout the Galaxy! This destroys the impression that the “Battle of Endor” was a significant, but local victory and turns it into a Galaxy-wide collapse of the Empire! Just because they lost their second unfinished Death Star and the First and Second in command were killed, it hardly makes sense that the whole of the Empire would disintegrate immediately afterwards.

Either way, ‘ROTJ’ is still a very enjoyable chapter in the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy and a fitting entry in its own right. But its shortcomings display, all too clearly, George Lucas’ extreme limitations. Lucas may have fantastic ideas, but without a steadying hand (Gary Kurtz?), his unhindered execution of those ideas can be detrimental to the whole project. When viewing ‘Return of the Jedi’, in which Lucas had more direct control over than the previous two films, it becomes easy to see the oncoming train wreck that the prequels turned out to be. Perhaps the elimination of Gary Kurtz from the production crew, after he voiced his displeasure over some of Lucas’ decisions, was tipping point for George Lucas and his ‘Star Wars’ saga. Because, as we have seen with the prequels, George Lucas (and his appalling little sycophant Rick McCallum) have well and truly gone over to the “Dark Side”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKh2MENj7ug

Nolanger

Cloak and dagger - WW2 spy movie.

Im Only 71Kg

Unstoppable. They dont come much worse than this. one to avoid. 2/10

JohnK

I watched Up In The Air; it was grand and killed a few hours but not something that I'll be watching again. The ending seems a bit odd

so he was right all along to not get involved with people? And theres no blow back from that woman who said she'd jump off the bridge yet he adamantly denys ever hearing anything to indicate someone might kill themselves?

WesternNight

Finally got around to watching Temple Grandin earlier. Heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time.

rednik

Received this on Weds and watched it last night. A great transfer of a great film. I first saw it in the cinema around 1980 and have owned it on VHS, DVD and now the blu ray. I bought the US version and the special features are excellent. A must for any fan of this movie.

Sea Devils

WesternNight wrote: »

Finally got around to watching Temple Grandin earlier. Heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time.

Agreed. Absolutely superb film from start to finish. Claire Danes performance was brilliant.:)

dr.bollocko

Must check Temple Grandin out.
Watched the green hornet last night.
Well. About the first 45 minutes. Started out promising enough but disappeared up itself with overdone fight scenes and lame CGI and I just wasn't willing to see it through.
Also Cameron Diaz is pretty off-puttingly woeful in it.

dr.bollocko

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Must check Temple Grandin out.
Watched the green hornet last night.
Well. About the first 45 minutes. Started out promising enough but disappeared up itself with overdone fight scenes and lame CGI and I just wasn't willing to see it through.
Also Cameron Diaz is pretty off-puttingly woeful in it.

watched it last week and found it to be truly dreadful, the single laugh came not from the film but rather when my 3-year-old brother wandered in and began to laugh at the scene in which Kato and the Hornet kick the crap out of one another. Cameron Diaz was truly abysmal in it, a poor, poor performance and she's got really old-looking.

The only person who comes out of the film with any dignity left is Edward James Olmos who is there for a paycheck and nothing else, he looks bored out of his mind all the way through and you get the impression that he wasnt so much phoning it in as having his assistant fax it in for him.

The is literally nothing I liked about the film, the story was poor, the dialogue was dreadful, Waltz's character is one of the worst ever put on-screen, Rogan was beyond bad but the single worst thing about it was that they turned the Green Hornet into a nasty, spiteful asshole with no redeeming qualities.

Renn

rednik wrote: »

Received this on Weds and watched it last night. A great transfer of a great film. I first saw it in the cinema around 1980 and have owned it on VHS, DVD and now the blu ray. I bought the US version and the special features are excellent. A must for any fan of this movie.

Nice. They're going for a different cover for the release over here afaik.

Ahoy hoy

Saw "Duck Soup" by the Marx Brothers there recently. It is probably the funniest film that I have seen in a very long time. Some great moments in the film, but my personal favourite has to be the mirror scene within it. By the standard of some "comedy" movies that are poured out of Hollywood these days, there is no doubting that they have no patch on one of the best comedy's ever from the 1933.

rob230te

Just watched David Lynch's Straight Story. Normally a fan of his let's say madder stuff, but this is my new favourite. A really beautiful and emotional film. Herself is in bits after it and I have to admit to welling more than once myself.

dr.bollocko

Deleted User wrote: »

watched it last week and found it to be truly dreadful, the single laugh came not from the film but rather when my 3-year-old brother wandered in and began to laugh at the scene in which Kato and the Hornet kick the crap out of one another. Cameron Diaz was truly abysmal in it, a poor, poor performance and she's got really old-looking.

The only person who comes out of the film with any dignity left is Edward James Olmos who is there for a paycheck and nothing else, he looks bored out of his mind all the way through and you get the impression that he wasnt so much phoning it in as having his assistant fax it in for him.

The is literally nothing I liked about the film, the story was poor, the dialogue was dreadful, Waltz's character is one of the worst ever put on-screen, Rogan was beyond bad but the single worst thing about it was that they turned the Green Hornet into a nasty, spiteful asshole with no redeeming qualities.

They wasted the possibilites of Christopher Waltz in that film.
As well as the dialogue which was mostly poor, everything started off at a nice but derivative pace then just shunted around trying to get into 2nd gear and never quite making it. And the SFX used in the fight scenes were terribly OTT. I've enjoyed my fair share of terrible movies but I just literally could not sit through this one till the end.

filthymcnasty

The Back to the Future trilogy.. the first is savage, entertainment at its finest (seriously!) II and III are so-so.

dr.bollocko

dr.bollocko wrote: »

They wasted the possibilites of Christopher Waltz in that film.
As well as the dialogue which was mostly poor, everything started off at a nice but derivative pace then just shunted around trying to get into 2nd gear and never quite making it. And the SFX used in the fight scenes were terribly OTT. I've enjoyed my fair share of terrible movies but I just literally could not sit through this one till the end.

Waltz just seemed lost, it was a truly terribly written part. I spent the entire film feeling sorry for him, in my mind I had images of Waltz flushing his career down the toilet and returning to playing the bad guys in low budget Gary Daniel's films again but realised that films such as Queens Messenger are far superior to the Green Hornet.

Its hard to decide what the worst thing about the film is but I'm leaning toward the James Wanko cameo. It just felt like another of his artsy stunts, never was I so happy to see a character so quickly killed off. Shame that they didn't off Diaz and Rogan as fast. Had they kept Kato, the car and hired actual writers there was a chance that it could have been a decent film but instead it seems to exist solely to massage the ego of Rogan who seems to see himself as something like the new George Clooney only minus the looks and talent.

Renn

Who the hell is James Wanko?

Basq

Renn wrote: »

Who the hell is James Wanko?

An affectionate name for James Franco I believe..

bnt

Watched two films on TV last night:

• Transporter 3. Completely mental. Who the heck thought up some of those stunts? There's a good bit of CGI fakery, but sufficient real stunts to keep the interest e.g. the 2-wheel driving bit that was used to advertise it.
• Hope Springs. Utter tosh despite a good cast. Colin Firth & Minnie Driver were wasted, though Heather Graham was good value and gets her kit off as usual. (I can't see her without thinking "what a huge forehead she has!")

SarahBM

Have seen it in years and picked it up for €7 in golden discs the other day. threw it on this evening and really laughed out loud. classic.

I wouldnt bother with the rest

nacho libre

Snow Walker
Never Cry Wolf
Straight Story
Stone
The Trip to Bountiful
Red White and Blue
Sunset Limited
The Necessities of Life
Off the Map

Straight Story, The Trip to Bountiful, Snow Walker and Never Cry Wolf have left a lasting impression on me. Truly captivating films in my opinion.
The Other films, while good, just didn't have as a profound effect on me.

Although Noah Taylor's performance in Red White and Blue deserves a special mention.

johnny_ultimate

Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King.

First time watching the extended edition (and last for a while - won't be devoting another 12 hours to the trilogy for another half a decade or so :pac:). I still take issue with the multiple endings -

the coronation scene, the map voiceover or even the pub sequence

would have been much more satisfying places to cut to black once and for all IMO!

Otherwise though, it still stands up, although at four hours it does feel a bit repetitive at times. The battle is still great, and there's a sense of intensity and genuine threat for the first half at least. The performances really come alive in this one, even if for the most part it lacks the truly iconic scenes of the first two. But the effect work is still top notch, showing Weta are at the top of their game in that regard: the design of the 'dead' (Frighteners inspired), Gollum (almost ten years later and some of the facial close ups are still astonishing) and the as yet unequaled mesh of models, CGI and makeup makes LotR still the modern blockbuster with most character and timelessness.

Just a stray thought regarding the trilogy. The Frodo and Sam plot seems extremely stretched from the start of Two Towers to around the RotK midpoint - tbh, very little happens with lots of repetition and condensed you probably only have around fifteen minutes of true 'incidence' until they get to Shelob. The Gondor and Rohan scenes ultimately feel much more urgent and compelling. That was the only persistent annoyance throughout: otherwise, you're left with a damn fine trio of blockbusters. Flawed for sure, but the most ambitious and successful Hollywood blockbusters of a generation.

amiable

Otis Driftwood wrote: »

Id imagine this thread will be locked but Ive watched a pretty eclectic mix of stuff the last week or so.

Dans Ma Peau - interesting French movie.Its been described as a body horror and thats a pretty good description.Kinda Cronenbergesque.

Inside - Gloriously nasty French horror with some genuine wince inducing scenes.Dont think its available uncut this side of the pond though.Can be bought on cdwow or ebay handily enough.

Clean,Shaven - Drama with Peter Green (Zed from Pulp Fiction) about a mentally damaged drifter searching for his daughter.Very good movie.

Flags of Our Fathers - Eastwoods WW2 drama.Great movie,nuff said.

The Killing Machine - Sonny Chiba kung fu movie.Great fun.

Dog Bite Dog - Korean (I think) gangster movie.Very,very good.

Hard Boiled - John Woo's action masterpiece.Arguably the greatest action movie ever committed to celluloid.Flawless IMHO.

Good call there

amiable

filthymcnasty wrote: »

The Back to the Future trilogy.. the first is savage, entertainment at its finest (seriously!) II and III are so-so.

So so is very generous imo:)
Absolute sh1te would be my opinion.
But each to their own

Cantona's Collars

Watched Tommorow When The War Began over the weekend,not a bad movie.In the vein of Red Dawn where teenagers fight an invading force by guerilla tactics,it's based on a series of books so 2 more movies on the way.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1456941/

krudler

District 9, hadnt watched it since I first bought the blu-ray, still great. "Fookin prawns!"

KingEnda

amiable wrote: »

So so is very generous imo:)
Absolute sh1te would be my opinion.
But each to their own

Watched Back to the Future for the first time over the weekend and thought it was brilliant stuff

Was going to watch the others over the next few weeks but might do the hair now instead

Otis Driftwood

amiable wrote: »

Good call there

:rolleyes:

Watched Brokeback Mountain last night.It still annoys me that Ledger didnt get an oscar for this,an exceptional performance.

Sad Professor

I just finished watching the extended cut of The New World. First time to see the longer version and I was blown away. Such a beautiful film. You kinda of have to be in the mood for Malick though, which I have been lately.

krudler

KingEnda wrote: »

Watched Back to the Future for the first time over the weekend and thought it was brilliant stuff

Was going to watch the others over the next few weeks but might do the hair now instead

Ever?! :eek: