Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?

[mscriv]

Have you guys seen Lincoln by any chance? I wouldn't be interested if it wasn't for Daniel Day-Lewis, received mixed reviews as well as far as I know.

I thought Lincoln was good and that Lewis did well with the role.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Went to see Percy Jackson - Sea of Monsters with my daughter. In a word don't bother. Not very good.

Of to see Elysium with a friend tonight. Hopefully it will be a bit better!

 

[kazmac]

...

My last horror hurrah from Michele Soavi: Dellamorte Dellamore. If you have a region free player and love this movie, the Shameless Films U.K. dvd is great. As a Soavi fan it was nice to hear his commentary on the film ("Some of the effects are outrageous!" LOL - Silly Michele you worked with Argento and Fulci )

As far as the film, I still laugh in certain parts but I'm no longer as in love with this as I was back in the 1990s. It's fun, weird and delightfully over-the-top. Not my favorite though. I wish Shameless would do the same kind of special edition for La Setta.

I saw a few clips of Soavi's crime-centric work for Italian TV on youtube; they look great, if there are English subs I may order some because he hasn't lost any of his great visual style by shifting genres/budgets.

>>

Kind of gutted I sold my old Anchor Bay set of the Devil Rides Out/Rasputing the Mad Monk as I just bought the U.K. Rasputin blu and the audio sucks. That'll teach me NOT to research a dvd before I buy from a place I can't return the disc to. Hopefully Hammer will initiate a recall again.

 

[twietee]

I thought Lincoln was good and that Lewis did well with the role.

Thanks for the reply, mscriv. Not sure if this is as enthusiastic as it needed to be to convince me buying the movie, though. As much as I love Day-Lewis, I dislike Spielberg...maybe later on when it's an Amazon bargain.

My last horror hurrah from Michele Soavi: Dellamorte Dellamore.

[...]

I saw a few clips of Soavi's crime-centric work for Italian TV on youtube; they look great, if there are English subs I may order some because he hasn't lost any of his great visual style by shifting genres/budgets.

If you ever wondered who silently upvotes all your movie-posts...I'm a stalker fan.
No, seriously, it's very interesting, especially with someone so focused on this genre (you even read books about it > see stalker)

I can't contribute/discuss since I haven't had time to get even the main Argento movies until now but will definitely do so. Although all this Arrow/AnchorBay stuff makes it a wee bit more difficult. This fall/winter will be a good time for that I guess

 

[Huntn]

Is there anyone who liked the Leonard DiCaprio 2013 The Great Gatsby? Don't worry, I won't beat you up if you did. We streamed it last night. I thought it was horrendous because it takes this story about a rich guy and his love, from the roaring twenties and dunks it in oppressive CGI, multiple long visual zooms, and music, so oppressive that it wants to be a musical which overwhelms the story and it's characters. The colors are so rich, my wife commented it was like watching Roger Rabbit, no slight against Roger Rabbit.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I just started watching Star Trek: Into the Darkness. I'm about 5 minutes into it and its looking good already.

The computer went off quite quickly after that post.

What a great flick that was! Start to finish was fantastic. The acting was good, the plot good and the visual effects good.

I was impressed with Star Trek (2009) with the actors for Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty and how they were able to really capture the likeness in mannerism of the original actors. They did a remarkable job and it continued with Into the Darkness.

I also enjoyed the sort of role reversal between Kirk and Spock regarding the flash-forward from the early Star Trek films and TV series. The radiation scene, Kahn and his crew being rescued from cryo-sleep and turing on the Federation, just like in TOS.

..........
Early in the film, they encounter the Klingon's and their D-Class ships. One thing I noticed was they had a sound reminiscent of the Tie Fighter from Star Wars. I thought that was strange, but interesting.

Then the head of Star Fleet was played by Peter Weller who played Officer Murphy, RoboCop, in 1987. That was cool seeing him again since I don't think I've seen anything he's done since then.

JJ Abrams did a great job in bringing in new technology, a new story intertwined with bits and pieces from the early movies and TV series. I loved it all.

I have read and followed closely all of the posts (both yours and Huntn's) on this topic. Although I'm a Star Trek fan (loved both the original series, and, above all, TNG - my favourite - along with some of DSN; not a huge fan of the movies - some of the two part episodes on both DSN and TNG were a lot better than the movies), in general, I have not really been bowled over by the movies.

The 2009 'Star Trek' impressed me a lot, an excellent movie, credible - and intelligent - interpretation of iconic characters, and a good story (often a shortcoming of the movies as they over emphasise special effects, and CGI, at the expense of plot and narrative arc - at the end of the day, a movie is a story, and you want to be told a tale....); now, both of you have made me actually want to see this movie. So, thank you both for that; I shall see it - and make a point of seeing it - whenever opportunity presents itself......

 

[Huntn]

The 2009 'Star Trek' impressed me a lot, an excellent movie, credible - and intelligent - interpretation of iconic characters, and a good story (often a shortcoming of the movies as they over emphasise special effects, and CGI, at the expense of plot and narrative arc - at the end of the day, a movie is a story, and you want to be told a tale....); now, both of you have made me actually want to see this movie. So, thank you both for that; I shall see it - and make a point of seeing it - whenever opportunity presents itself......

I have always maintained there is no sure thing. If I was to compare Into Darkness with the original (of this series), I'd say the original is a better movie. However both of these movies are better than any of the ST movies that have come before.

 

[kazmac]

Stalk away

If you ever wondered who silently upvotes all your movie-posts...I'm a stalker fan.
No, seriously, it's very interesting, especially with someone so focused on this genre (you even read books about it > see stalker)

I can't contribute/discuss since I haven't had time to get even the main Argento movies until now but will definitely do so. Although all this Arrow/AnchorBay stuff makes it a wee bit more difficult. This fall/winter will be a good time for that I guess

Yay! My own stalker in a good way. twietee, I look forward to when you can contribute.

I've been into Italian genre films since tripping over Eastwood's Leone films in 1982 > then the god awful Italian cannibal films and some zombie stuff in the late 80s along with Mario Bava. Actually saw Dellmorte (as Cemetery Man) for the two weeks it was released here in the States. Then Anchor Bay released the flood gates on dvd and I've been in love ever since. Blue Underground has released a considerable amount of Argento/Fulci/Castellari/Soavi and a few spaghetti westerns, the majority of these are still available rather cheaply.

Synapse has the rights to Argento's Tenebre and Phenomena and will probably release those in 2014. They will be killer versions I'm sure. If I liked Demons I'd pick up the limited edition they're doing this October, but I'd rather save that $48 on something I love. And I have books on Argento too. The man is influencing my storytelling and the way I look at movies in general. Next step, learn Italian.

Sonic ramble cannon shutting off...

 

[twietee]

Synapse has the rights to Argento's Tenebre and Phenomena and will probably release those in 2014. They will be killer versions I'm sure. If I liked Demons I'd pick up the limited edition they're doing this October, but I'd rather save that $48 on something I love. And I have books on Argento too. The man is influencing my storytelling and the way I look at movies in general. Next step, learn Italian.

Do it! Italian is such a beautiful language, and I found it not hard to learn as well, (but I had Latin and French in school so...) Lots of irregular verbs, though, which you just have to accept / not to question and then you're good.

Do you know Argento's take on Dracula? I've read rather bad reviews but it features Rutger Hauer...heh, tempted to get it. Quite a big fan of vampire flicks, too.
If you haven't seen it, I may recommend Blood for Dracula to you. And if you have, I'd like to know what you think of it. One of my favorite movies, shot in Italy by Paul Morrisey (and Antonio Margheriti) featuring Udo Kier among others, I think it's quite a sophisticated movie with lots of beautiful images and black humor.

 

[S.B.G]

I have read and followed closely all of the posts (both yours and Huntn's) on this topic. Although I'm a Star Trek fan (loved both the original series, and, above all, TNG - my favourite - along with some of DSN; not a huge fan of the movies - some of the two part episodes on both DSN and TNG were a lot better than the movies), in general, I have not really been bowled over by the movies.

The 2009 'Star Trek' impressed me a lot, an excellent movie, credible - and intelligent - interpretation of iconic characters, and a good story (often a shortcoming of the movies as they over emphasise special effects, and CGI, at the expense of plot and narrative arc - at the end of the day, a movie is a story, and you want to be told a tale....); now, both of you have made me actually want to see this movie. So, thank you both for that; I shall see it - and make a point of seeing it - whenever opportunity presents itself......

I'll be curious to read your thoughts after you get to watch it.

For me, TOS and TNG are the only series I care to watch. I tried to get into DSN, but couldn't.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I saw Star Trek, too. Guys....put a spoiler alert at the beginning of your posts for those who didn't see if you're gonna give away something like that (you know what I mean).

Saw Elysium last night. It was good, but not a great, groundbreaking, whatanoriginalmessage!, film some are making it out to be. A fun action flick, that's all.

 

[Huntn]

Watched the original Red (2010) last night. Not a bad spy action spoof, able to maintain my suspension of disbelief. This might be the first movie I have really enjoyed John Malkovich in. As someone else said, she may be old but Helen Mirren is hot.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

Watched the original Red (2010) last night. Not a bad spy action spoof, able to maintain my suspension of disbelief. This might be the first movie I have really enjoyed John Malkovich in. As someone else said, she may be old but Helen Mirren is hot.

Image

I saw that at the drive-in when it came out. It was pretty good, now I want to watch RED 2.

 

[Huntn]

Tonight watched Life of Pi. Wow, the movie has a great vibe... recommended. Real and CGI tigers were used. The bar was set high for CGI and they came through. I'll probably read the book.

Short spoiler making of clip:

 

[ritmomundo]

Watched the original Red (2010) last night. Not a bad spy action spoof, able to maintain my suspension of disbelief. This might be the first movie I have really enjoyed John Malkovich in. As someone else said, she may be old but Helen Mirren is hot.

Image

I have Red queued on my DVR. I think it was on FX or TNT or one of those channels a week or so ago, but haven't had the chance to watch it again (saw it back when it was in the theater). Completely agree with you about Helen Mirren.

I rewatched Cloverfield earlier this week. I normally really hate the handheld camera type of movies (Blair Witch style), but I enjoyed this one.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I got halfway through this before I finally changed the channel. How I even made it that far is a mystery...

 

[Huntn]

I have Red queued on my DVR. I think it was on FX or TNT or one of those channels a week or so ago, but haven't had the chance to watch it again (saw it back when it was in the theater). Completely agree with you about Helen Mirren.

I rewatched Cloverfield earlier this week. I normally really hate the handheld camera type of movies (Blair Witch style), but I enjoyed this one.

I'm not sure if I have the terminology right, but I think it was filmed in documentary style. My point has always been this can be done with a steady camera while thinking of the opening of Saving Private Ryan. I see no excuse for the jerky home movie effect, because it is too detrimental. The other aspect of this type of filming is that it boxes in the audience into only seeing what the characters see. It's a trade off between a dramatization and projecting the feeling the audience is watching something real. I'd also make a comparison with the flight scenes in War of the Worlds which was not documentary style, but it still gives an excellent "human masses trying to escape" vibe as I think of the van scene followed shortly by the ferry scene. Despite this, Cloverfield is a good movie if it does not give you motion sickness. However in this regard, it's much better than Blair Witch. If I remember correctly, Cloverfield previews went out of their way to minimize how it was filmed .

 

[kazmac]

Do it! Italian is such a beautiful language, and I found it not hard to learn as well, (but I had Latin and French in school so...) Lots of irregular verbs, though, which you just have to accept / not to question and then you're good.

Do you know Argento's take on Dracula? I've read rather bad reviews but it features Rutger Hauer...heh, tempted to get it. Quite a big fan of vampire flicks, too.
If you haven't seen it, I may recommend Blood for Dracula to you. And if you have, I'd like to know what you think of it. One of my favorite movies, shot in Italy by Paul Morrisey (and Antonio Margheriti) featuring Udo Kier among others, I think it's quite a sophisticated movie with lots of beautiful images and black humor.

I think I've seen BfD but I honestly do not remember if I did. I went on a Joe Dellasandro kick some years ago...I like Udo I will see if someone has posted it on YouTube since $ has become tight again.

Dario's Dracula: that's one I'm going to skip despite Rutger, I'm not a fan of Asia Argento (she just does not convince me of the characters she plays.) That said, IFC will be releasing Dario's Dracula V.O.D. and possibly theatrically this October here in the States. You probably know this, but many of the films I am mentioning are up on youtube now (I will search for Blood for Dracula that way.)

Italian, I've picked up a few words watching these films. I haven't bought the great Fluenz software because it's not compatible with current Mac OS. Once they upgrade that I might. Thanks for the tips on learning.

Watched the original Red (2010) last night. Not a bad spy action spoof, able to maintain my suspension of disbelief. This might be the first movie I have really enjoyed John Malkovich in. As someone else said, she may be old but Helen Mirren is hot.

Red was a lot of fun. Mirren was a hoot to see as an expert markswoman and provocateur.

 

[S.B.G]

So I watched part of the recent A-Team movie.

It was so awful that I turned it off after about 45-60 minutes. My pickiness of being a purest in tradition of shows, this movie was so far off the beaten path of the original TV series, it was pathetic.

It was corny, yet trying to play off being serious and believable (as far as the original goes), but failed miserably. The actors didn't even come close to portraying the characters as the original actors played them.

The storyline of how they all met was all wrong too.

It was just terrible; awful, putrid and horrible.

 

[Shrink]

So I watched part of the recent A-Team movie.

It was so awful that I turned it off after about 45-60 minutes. My pickiness of being a purest in tradition of shows, this movie was so far off the beaten path of the original TV series, it was pathetic.

It was corny, yet trying to play off being serious and believable (as far as the original goes), but failed miserably. The actors didn't even come close to portraying the characters as the original actors played them.

The storyline of how they all met was all wrong too.

It was just terrible; awful, putrid and horrible.

So much circumlocution...what did you REALLY think of the movie!?

 

[S.B.G]

So much circumlocution...

If you'd like me to sum it up in fewer words, I will. "Crap."

 

[krazykleo]

Tonight watched Life of Pi. Wow, the movie has a great vibe... recommended. Real and CGI tigers were used. The bar was set high for CGI and they came through. I'll probably read the book.

Image

Short spoiler making of clip:
YouTube: video

I personally prefer the book over the movie. Watched the movie for a bit and got bored with it, lol...book on the other hand...extremely boring to start but awesome to finish

 

[kazmac]

...

Angel Heart. Glad I watched it. Loved De Niro (who has usurped Viggo Mortensen as my favorite cinematic Satan) and the story was very good. I can't wrap my brain around straight noir, but I enjoyed this because of the supernatural elements and the dread these elements brought to the table. All the religious stuff was fun too.

Looking forward to getting the novel now.

 

[twietee]

...

So, finally found time to watch Profondo Rosso. To be honest, I didn't really know what expected me, but what a great director!
Generally, this is not the kind of genre (horror) that I'm looking forward to discover in depth at all, but this is just rich. Especially visually. Which I have to admit being a bit of a sucker for - every frame tells a story on its own. Loved the stylised 'city' scenes where everything was frozen exept the main protagonists..love that Italian flair it has all over it. Could go on for pages. I also liked that the plot made kind of sense.

Two things: Hemmings was quite brilliant, I have yet to remember how I even got to know about Argento, but could be very well that it was because of Hemmings. Blow Up being one of my all time favorites (strangely, his role in both movies are quite the same).
Second, do you know Don't Look Now? I guess so. I can't say precicely why, but there is some strong resemblance imho. Have to think more about it.

So where should I go next? Suspiria?

Addendum: I for one literally loved the soundtrack. Right from the start. So after finishing the movie (director's cut /Italian version btw, read that the 105min international version is said to be the best), I saw an interview/bonus feature with Claudio Simmonetti from the band Goblin. Seems like it was a real success back in the days. Did you like it? Could imagine some are rather distracted than pleased with it. Glad Argento used it though!

 

[kazmac]

So, finally found time to watch Profondo Rosso. To be honest, I didn't really know what expected me, but what a great director!
Generally, this is not the kind of genre (horror) that I'm looking forward to discover in depth at all, but this is just rich. Especially visually. Which I have to admit being a bit of a sucker for - every frame tells a story on its own. Loved the stylised 'city' scenes where everything was frozen exept the main protagonists..love that Italian flair it has all over it. Could go on for pages. I also liked that the plot made kind of sense.

Two things: Hemmings was quite brilliant, I have yet to remember how I even got to know about Argento, but could be very well that it was because of Hemmings. Blow Up being one of my all time favorites (strangely, his role in both movies are quite the same).
Second, do you know Don't Look Now? I guess so. I can't say precicely why, but there is some strong resemblance imho. Have to think more about it.

So where should I go next? Suspiria?

Addendum: I for one literally loved the soundtrack. Right from the start. So after finishing the movie (director's cut /Italian version btw, read that the 105min international version is said to be the best), I saw an interview/bonus feature with Claudio Simmonetti from the band Goblin. Seems like it was a real success back in the days. Did you like it? Could imagine some are rather distracted than pleased with it. Glad Argento used it though!

If you want even more lush and color-centric visuals, Suspiria is a great follow up. It's an adult dark fantasy with a few horror elements.

David Hemmings was my gate way into Argento.

Dario awakened me to cinematography and I love how every frame could very well be a painting in Profondo Rosso. Dario pays a lot of attention to art, color and sound which were what drew me in after Hemmings. Like you said, visually, wow. Dario's characters start to lose their distinctiveness after Tenebre.

Don't Look Now, haven't seen that in a while, but now that you mention it you're right about the similiarities.

Goblin, yes, love this and many other soundtracks (confession: I have a Goblin mix cd-r here at work.) The bass and keyboards are killer.

Glad you enjoyed.

P.S. Another Italian genre film Hemmings Recommendation: The Heroin Busters. A very O.T.T. undercover narc film with Hemmings as a wonderfully funny/cranky Interpol agent. Sadly, no italian dub on the U.S. dvd though.

 

[DowdyFick]

Watched Django the other night, pleasantly surprised.