• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Movies You've Seen Recently III: The Third Chapter

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yeah I made an account today with that beta code. Because thats exactly what I need a 4th movie tracking site to update. :me
 
Glengarry Glen Ross - Watched this the other day, thoroughly enjoyed it. Probably one of my favourite Pacino performances. Also Jack Lemmon confirmed for robbed of an Academy Award, he played the desperate salesman so well.
This is a great movie indeed. I think it's one of those near-perfect ones that succeeds at almost everything it sets out to accomplish. That said, rounded little stories can't much rounded big stories, and I'm willing to revisit this one once I've seen more of the classics.

Anyways, just watched Charade. I loved it. Surprisingly funny, dynamically shot (which always surprised me in older movies), graphically violent, and not dated at all. And it helped that my best friends grandfather directed it.
Dude. Your best friend knows a Donen relative. That's pretty cool. Charade's an excellent movie, like Hitchcock with water guns and the kind of Hollywood charm I keep hearing about yet infrequently see in a lot of older films.

Its kind of funny, the issues you had with the film are some of the things I love the most. The 'child like gaming' scenes you mentioned drag a bit are some of my favorites. I can't watch that section without a giant smile on my face.

Out of curiosity, what other Godard have you seen? I'd really be interested in hearing your thoughts again if/when you revisit the film.
I love that segment, actually. In regards to the rest of Breathless, though, I think it could have used tightening up and the other segments deserved a bit more runtime. The main idea of the editing in Breathless is to skip to the best moments, the ones people care for in a story like it. Around the 45-minute mark, I felt like the second act had about gone its course and could use a wrap-up.

As of now, I've only seen Breathless from Godard. It seems like it's the most accessible work he's done, given that he collaborated with others and didn't dominate the production as much. Time to view the others!
 
Just watched the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. Got all the Blu-Rays for xmas :)

I dont think any of the added material was that important or really "missing" in the theatrical, but I did love most if not all of the added scenes all the same. The extra Boromir and Gollum stuff was great and really helped flesh out both of the characters, particularly the former who never got much first time round. Enjoyed it though- roll on the next ones!
 
The additional Boromir material really strengthened his character and made him sympathetic. In the theatrical version he seemed more like a villain than anything, and while I understand the need to lower the runtime, I think his arc is possibly the most important in the film besides Frodo.
 
Doing some more research about Alex North, I had no idea that he did a score for 2001 that Kubrick discarded! Holy fuck I would give my left testicle to hear it.

It's available on CD.

3753e03ae7a0376050c6b110.L.jpg


Now please give me your testicle.
 
Chinese Zodiac - the opening chase scene alone makes this movie worth the watch. Jackie chan is amazing. I came along for the action and left satisfied.A-
 
Moonrise Kingdom

Fuck that was really good. Would have liked some more Murray but Norton and Willis were good and the two lead kids were great. Looked gorgeous as well. It did get a whole load more surreal as it went on and my dad wasn't really buying it, but I suppose with Anderson you either go with it or you don't. 9/10
 
I watched Zookeeper and 21 Jump Street last night On Demand. The first was for kicks, the second was because I heard it was decent.

I'll admit that I was "on something" when watching these.

Zookeeper was a joke of a movie but I laughed at the ridiculousness and horribleness of it. The talking animals were atrocious. 21 Jump Street was somewhat funny but not really my type of movie (I'm not into "high school movies" or Channing Tatum). I'm glad I wasn't somehow sucked into spending money at the theater for these movies back when they came out. Honestly, comedies always give me the least bang for my buck so watching them for free is nice, especially when doing it purely out of curiosity.
 
Zero Dark Thirty

Okay, I guess. Some weird comic relief, at least I hope that was the intent.
The IM chat scene. "I am the motherfucker...." Why.
The climax was definitely a crowd-pleaser, which sort of rubs me the wrong way. Felt like a different movie, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Chastain did a good job with what was given to her, the characterization left a lot to be desired.
 
Rewatched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey today, as I finally had some time off with my brothers to be able to trek down to Atlanta to catch it in HFR. My detailed impressions of the format were posted here.

I continue to quite like the film, despite my constant bellyaching during the pre-release with regards to Jackson making a third film. It's still a bit too exposition heavy in the first half, but I've loved the atmosphere that Jackson brought to Middle-earth since I first saw FotR, and he fills this film with some great actors and surprisingly leaves the lighter tone of the source material more intact that I was fearing. While I will still piss and moan about the certainty of the Battle of Five Armies being shoved into the third film just because, Jackson still has my attention and my money.
 
One last tug and it'll be on its way in the mail.

Alex North's score is really no good. Not even to listen to on its own. It's full of movie soundtrack clichés, even when he's trying his hardest to approximate Kubrick's "temp" tracks. What he came up with as an obvious replacement for Ligeti's eerie and powerful Lux Aeterna, for example, is just ludicrous. His score is entirely too cute and playful and it tries too hard to look for and play the drama in the picture.
 
Alex North's score is really no good. Not even to listen to on its own. It's full of movie soundtrack clichés, even when he's trying his hardest to approximate Kubrick's "temp" tracks. What he came up with as an obvious replacement for Ligeti's eerie and powerful Lux Aeterna, for example, is just ludicrous. His score is entirely too cute and playful and it tries too hard to look for and play the drama in the picture.

Yes, I realised this after I tracked it down. Completely out of place.

Just been on a big Alex North kick of late.
 
Dammit, I really wanted The Perks of Being a Wallflower to be tolerable. This is the kind of movie I'll give too many passes to. Far too much is wrong here, though. The dialogue is Degrassi-grade bullshit, the characters are wafer-thin impressions of high school stereotypes, and the film has freaking zero momentum. Things just happen. There's little sense of action-reaction. Pretty much everything is bad right from the page, and the visuals don't make it any better. I think Miller and Watson are good performers, but they can't do anything with these egg-for-brain moron characters. (doesn't help much that Watson's US accent is less than convincing, but whatever). I think even on top of all that I could give the film some leeway if it had even one interesting or more modern depiction of high school life. But there's nothing. After-school special bullying crap, insufferable college romantic rival cutouts. It even takes weird stances on stuff like taste. Like, music taste and literary taste certainly brings people together, but music taste was all that mattered for 95% of high schoolers in this film. That's simply weird. Only redeemable element of the film was the adequate depiction of how sexual abuse and depression can really fuck someone up. The way Charlie and Sam handle abuse and the darker paths the movie eventually takes earn it some points. However those paths aren't explored in any depth. They're hurried along so we can get to the big final blast of Heroes on a bridge, at which point you're so goddamn tired of the film you kind of want them to careen off the edge. Perks is what happens when an author turns every person around him and himself into a Manic Pixie Dream Girl/Gay/Guy and attempts to fashion it as meaningful.
 
Alex North's score is really no good. Not even to listen to on its own. It's full of movie soundtrack clichés, even when he's trying his hardest to approximate Kubrick's "temp" tracks. What he came up with as an obvious replacement for Ligeti's eerie and powerful Lux Aeterna, for example, is just ludicrous. His score is entirely too cute and playful and it tries too hard to look for and play the drama in the picture.

LOL
 
What the fuuuuuuck............?
It's a Coscarelli flick, so the end product's probably got some wacko stuff in it no matter what.

Speaking of weird shit, I watched Leo the Lion earlier. It's my first Boorman film, and now I know I've gotten the worst introduction. It doesn't seem like Point Blank, and bears a passing resemblance to Zardoz. Actually, he released it in 1970 and it's the only Boorman I could find on Netflix Instant.

Still, I like it. It's a flawed, deeply absurd film starring Marcello Mastroianni.
 
My wife rented a movie called Pitch Perfect the other day and has watched it about 4 times already. I watched it once and thought it was really fun. Rebel Wilson is worth the price of admission. Also some great mashups near the end of the movie.
 
Boorman's Excalibur is ridiculous and awesome at the same time.
Could be some nostalgia talking here (although i rewatched it recently on TV) but the absurd theatrical over-acting makes for some very weird and eerie 2 hours and a half.
 
Flawed and deeply absurd, yet likeable? Sounds like the perfect introduction to Boorman, on the contrary. :p

I'm really fond of his Excalibur, and Zardoz is kind of a must for any connoisseur of weird cinema. But they are both varying degrees of flawed and absurd. Interesting director, that one, because his films are all extremely distinctive and memorable but without too much of an obvious connecting thread other than being explorations of masculinity.
I got the impression that two of his more well-known films, Point Blank and Deliverance, showed more restraint or at least had less flaws to their name. Feel free to correct if I'm wrong, though. There's nothing wrong with interesting yet flawed films like Leo the Last. They give me more to talk about than normal.

We have Excalibur and Zardoz at the family house, so I'll give them a whirl when the time comes. His is a funky career; I think I'll look into Peter Hyams' movies as well, since both directors make excellent action stuffs.
 
Oh forgot to mention I saw Ratatouille during the holidays. Much better than I expected, I don't usually care for animated movies but this one was more original. Didn't feel like a story that had been tailored for the usual market.
 
Great post on Black Sunday.

My favourite Bava horror films would be:

The Whip and the Body
Lisa and the Devil
Blood and Black Lace
A Bay of Blood
Hatchet For the Honeymoon

Non- horror Bava worth watching:

Rabid Dogs
Danger: Diabolik

From Bava, you would want to watch Dario Argento.

I'm a huge sucker for Gialli and I've only seen one of Bava's films, though I'm the biggest Argento fan, so thanks for this.
 
Oh forgot to mention I saw Ratatouille during the holidays. Much better than I expected, I don't usually care for animated movies but this one was more original. Didn't feel like a story that had been tailored for the usual market.

Pixar's best film. First half of Wall-E is their best work but not their overall best film.
 
Pixar's best film. First half of Wall-E is their best work but not their overall best film.

The Incredibles > Ratatouille >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> everything else Pixar has done.

That Bird magic.
 
Oh forgot to mention I saw Ratatouille during the holidays. Much better than I expected, I don't usually care for animated movies but this one was more original. Didn't feel like a story that had been tailored for the usual market.

The ending is so goddamn satisfying.
 
So who all here has Letterboxd?

Here is mine if you want to follow me: Aggrotek

Just watched the live action Rurouni Kenshin movie. Was a lot better than I was expecting.
 
Saw The Hobbit on Thursday. Loved it.

Watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on Friday for the very first time. What a great movie.

Watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended cut) today. Also great. Didn't even mind the 4 hour run-time.

Not sure when I will get to see Return of the King. As I said, I never watched the trilogy before, but am eager to finish.

Also saw Les Miserables this week which was alright - Anne Hathaway did a good job but the constant singing was weird.

Bourne Legacy - Pretty decent, dunno why it got such bad reviews.

Total Recall - Same as Bourne - it was pretty good, and visually stunning.

50/50 - Joseph Gordon Levitt is really attractive, even when bald.
 
Django Unchained: Saw it two times, once on debut, another a few days ago. Favorite film experience of 2012. Can't get enough of it.

Iron Sky: What the hell did I just watch? When the invasion finally starts, it gets fun, but then it tapers off into bullshit again. I...I feel robbed. Back when it was announced, it seemed to be going in such a different direction than what we got.
 
Se7en

That was really frigging good, damn. I love it, The character also good, like Brad Pitt and Freeman's character banter in the whole movie, maybe that why the ending hit me really hard :(

That frigging ending man...

I think I like it more than Fight Club, gonna watch Zodiac next Btw I just love how Fincher shooting thing, its beautiful, some shot just too good.
 
Strange I was gonna recommend Zodiac when you said you liked Seven:)

I still get the feeling Seven was supposed to be the first of more movies. It feels like an origin story for Freeman's character. The guy is depressed and pretty much ready to kill himself until the events happen, and this turns around at the end after he finds a "purpose". But there never was a sequel.

Zodiac is good too, you should like it. You could watch Panic Room and The Game as well. Both good. Didn't like Benjamin Button (it's very well directed, but it's based on a book by the guy who wrote Forest Gump, and it really feels like self-plagiarism and aimless), and didn't see Social Network or dragon girl.

I'm wary of Fincher's idea of making 20,000 Leagues. Sounds like a bad idea, but better than all other movies he is currently planned to direct.
 
Se7en

That was really frigging good, damn. I love it, The character also good, like Brad Pitt and Freeman's character banter in the whole movie, maybe that why the ending hit me really hard :(

That frigging ending man...

I think I like it more than Fight Club, gonna watch Zodiac next Btw I just love how Fincher shooting thing, its beautiful, some shot just too good.

Love that movie. Tried to watch the commentary but Morgan Freeman's voice put me to sleep.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom