Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?

[Scepticalscribe]

I thought Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol 1&2, and Inglorious Bastards were intriguing, PF actually was pretty good, I'm not that big on alternate history unless it's presented for intrigue, not just an excuse to tell a story, and I don't own any ot them, the true mark of worthiness.

Well, I used to teach 20th century European history - among other things - for a living and take history seriously. Re Inglorious Bastards - if you are going to do alternate history, do it properly, which wasn't done here.

Moreover, while it is perfectly possible to treat Nazi Germany as a subject for humour (Mel Brooks's hilarious song 'Springtime for Hitler' in The Producers was one of the funniest things I had ever seen done with the topic of Nazi Germany), again, - to my mind - Tarantino gets the tone wrong. In fact, I'd argue that the only saving grace of Inglorious Bastards was the very welcome discovery of the superb Christoph Waltz.

Imho, he peaked right out of the gate with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction - - both masterpieces.

None of his other work has come close to them, but even a mediocre Quentin Tarantino movie is better than 95% of the dross that passes for feature films these days.

I'd argue that Jackie Brown was brilliant, - a brilliant, black, female, badass, middle-aged lead - and, personally, I would class it with the other two, which I thought first rate. After that, granted, the films lose that 'je ne sais quoi'; rather, they become more self-indulgent and less disciplined.

 

[Huntn]

Imho, he peaked right out of the gate with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction - - both masterpieces.

None of his other work has come close to them, but even a mediocre Quentin Tarantino movie is better than 95% of the dross that passes for feature films these days.

Well, I used to teach 20th century European history - among other things - for a living and take history seriously. Re Inglorious Bastards - if you are going to do alternate history, do it properly, which wasn't done here.

Moreover, while it is perfectly possible to treat Nazi Germany as a subject for humour (Mel Brooks's song 'Springtime for Hitler' in The Producers was one of the funniest things I had ever seen done with the topic of Nazi Germany), again, - to my mind - Tarantino gets the tone wrong. In fact, I'd argue that the only saving grace of Inglorious Bastards was the very welcome discovery of the superb Christoph Waltz.



I'd argue that Jackie Brown was brilliant, - a brilliant, black, female, badass middle-aged lead - and, personally, I would class it with the other two, which I thought first rate. After that, granted, the films lose that 'je ne sais quoi'; rather, they become more self-indulgent and less disciplined.

I'll have to give Jackie Brown a chance, have not seen it.

 

[S.B.G]

I'll have to give Jackie Brown a chance, have not seen it.

It is a pretty good film, and actually a little different in feel than Tarintino's other films.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'll have to give Jackie Brown a chance, have not seen it.

Well, maybe it is because I am a middle-aged female, myself - and there are very few middle aged females depicted in movies at all, let alone depicted as being capable of being really 'badass' (one of the few American adjectives I love, up there with 'awesome') - but I really like this movie. A female lead, a black female lead, a black, middle-aged badass female lead - played by the - yes - awesome - Pam Grier - what is there not to like?

The cast is first rate (Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson, Robert de Niro, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert Forster), soundtrack superb, plot lovely and tight, - the end fitting - and the dialogue excellent and snappy and funny (as you'd expect from Tarantino). And furthermore, it features a lovely, beautifully played, bitter-sweet middle aged romance - also a something of a rarity in movies. Moreover, the violence - while Baroque (this is Tarantino, after all) is not excessive, and is very much subordinate to - and integral to - the wider plot, rather than a glorification of violence for its own sake.

Perhaps, precisely because it has a female lead, I suspect that it has not been considered as part of Quentin Tarantino's oeuvre of outstanding works. I'd place it there - I love this movie. If anything, it is the most elegant, and understated movie he has done, but really lovely. As @SandboxGeneral notes above, the 'feel' is a bit different, and none the worse for that.

Actually, it is my personal favourite from all of Tarantino's work.

 

[millerj123]

Star Wars 38. Turns out, matinee on Jan 1 means you don't really need to be there early. 3D just added to the experience, and I was happily not disappointed.

Family suggested Kingsman: The Secret Service. Good action, reasonable storyline. I didn't care at all for Samuel Jackson's acting. His lisp is strange and unreal.

 

[Apple fanboy]

A Good Day to Die Hard.
Not as good as the original, but an enjoyable enough boys film as my wife would call it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

'Grand Hotel Budapest', a thoroughly enjoyable, hilarious, bitter-sweet, take on an alternative historical Mitteleuropa; superb cast, too.

 

[kazmac]

New year, more kung fu:

Daggers 8 - Wilson Tong wrote, directed, choreographed and acted in this and it's a lot fun. He's the title character, a nasty assassin who kills the three masters of a particular student. It was fun seeing Lily Li Li bust out the crane style against Tong's baddie. I'd like to see a subtitled version one day as the English dub throws this into almost awful territory. Thankfully, the talents involved make it fun.

 

[mscriv]

Finally saw The Martian over the holidays. I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler

It's great to see a movie with a happy ending where everyone in the cast makes it to the end. My wife and I were guessing at who was going to die and were pleasantly surprised when everyone made it.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Wadjathink?

I ended up watching the whole trilogy. I enjoyed it. It's not up to Star Trek standards but it was enjoyable. I might watch the prequel trilogy.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'll have to give Jackie Brown a chance, have not seen it.

Okay.

As it happened, I just watched Jackie Brown again tonight - the credits are rolling as I write. Ironically, it just turned up on the TV schedules this evening, - to my delight I spotted it - and I felt it merited a bottle of wine and a further viewing.

This is not a movie for 20 year olds, or 18 or 16 year olds. (Good luck to them if they enjoy it, but this is not their fare). This is a movie for people who have lived a bit, and been battered a bit by life, with not many illusions left, but they are still there, doing what they have to do, if a bit bruised. And it is all the more lovely for that.

Seeing Robert de Niro play a criminal who is a complete cretin is hilarious. Bridget Fonda is brilliant, as are Robert de Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Keaton. But Pam Grier and Robert Forster steal the show. They are superb, especially in their scenes together. And the soundtrack is sublime. And defines - and is used to define - the respective characters of the various individuals in this story in a way the soundtrack does not do in any other Tarantino movie. (Actually, I have this movie to thank for introducing me to the wonderful music of The Delfonics).

However, it is a movie quite unlike anything else that Quentin Tarantino has made; the glory in gore is almost entirely absent; the killings, deaths and murders that do take place - and yes, this is a Tarantino movie, so they do take place - tend to take place off screen - one sees a bit of the spatter of the inevitable rubicund daubed hues of blood but not the full, self-indulgent operatic adoration of gore for the sake of gore that is his more usual fare.

This is a clever, intelligent, subtle, and yes, rather moving movie - one - among other things - about ageing, about a fear of old age, fear of unemployment, fear of being alone, fear that one's life may not have had much meaning, and fear of being two pay checks (cheques?) away from disaster - and is one that improves on viewing (and this is the third time I have seen it). This is human stuff (women's changing rooms, shopping malls, terror, crashed lives, bitter-sweet middle aged attraction and affection and possible romance - any woman - and many men, no doubt, will identify with that). Some of the insider jokes are very funny, and will easily be missed unless you are paying very close attention.

And the end - it gets me every time; Pam Grier (as Jackie Brown) driving away, mouthing the words to the song '110 Street' by Bobby Womack, as she drives, - in a car - a Mercedes coupé - that came to be hers enigmatically - brilliant, badass and bitter sweet heart break - this is - so exceptional and unexpected a note for Tarantino - understated class. Wonderful.

 

[Spencerdl]

 

[Spencerdl]

 

[aaronvan]

I'm looking forward to "The Revenent." I hope it lives up to the hype. I might give "H8ful Eight" a pass. 180 minutes is bloated even for QT.

 

[AlliFlowers]

I just finished watching the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Such a superb cast.

 

[bobob]

I just finished watching the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Such a superb cast.

Superb cast, lousy script - - it wasn't half as good as the original.

I'm looking forward to "The Revenent." I hope it lives up to the hype. I might give "H8ful Eight" a pass. 180 minutes is bloated even for QT.

I haven't seen The Revenant yet, but it's only 11 minutes shorter than The Hateful Eight.

I certainly hope The Revenant turns out to be good, but I am keeping my expectations very low after my disappointment with the director's previous films. Babel anyone? Birdman was certainly admirable from a technical standpoint, but I don't think I enjoyed a movie less last year. The guy is in love with artsiness for it's own sake, and let's it stomp all over storytelling. Let's hope The Revenant doesn't turn out to be three hours of violent boredom.

 

[lowendlinux]

I watched Star Wars yesterday with my daughter, it was fun.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Quartet.

Nice film.

 

[Huntn]

The Frightners (1996)- Horror, suspense, comedy. Ehh, stupid, the plot was weak IMO. All most like watching an older Marty McFly delving in the supernatural. Directed by... Peter Jackson. I was much more impressed with LOTR.

What did you think?

 

[Spencerdl]

The Frightners (1996)- Horror, suspense, comedy. Ehh, stupid, the plot was weak IMO. All most like watching an older Marty McFly delving in the supernatural. Directed by... Peter Jackson. I was much more impressed with LOTR.

What did you think?

It was just ok. Something to watch.

 

[AlliFlowers]

The Frightners (1996)- Horror, suspense, comedy. Ehh, stupid, the plot was weak IMO. All most like watching an older Marty McFly delving in the supernatural. Directed by... Peter Jackson. I was much more impressed with LOTR.

What did you think?​

The Frightners is one of my very favorite movies. I've watched it a bazillion times - it never gets old.​

 

[AngerDanger]

I was looking for a film about robots or A.I. that didn't rely on the evil robot cliché or fit into the action genre. Eva (2011) is a Spanish film, so the director, writer, and cast were comprised of people unknown to me, but it looked promising. I was surprised to find it on Netflix and with English subtitles.

The film's protagonist is a computer programmer who is called back to work after a decade to write the software for a robot he had designed. Although everything seemed set in a time in which robot's with emotions weren't new, so I was confused about what set this potential robot and its programmer apart from others. He needs to base the robot's mind on a human's for some reason, and they never discuss brain mapping or anything—rather, he asks people questions and then messes around with a holographic interface that looks like somebody watched Iron Man and thought the suit-bulding sequence needed more marbles and glassware.

The programmer bases his robot's mind on his niece's, and then a love-triangle between him, his niece's mother, and his brother takes up a large portion of the film. It ends on a note that sort of unravels the rest of the plot. It would be like watching Fight Club if there were scenes in which Tyler an the narrator talk to other people and are referred to independently by name.

I actually liked Eva quite a bit despite the focus on a romance and inconsistent standards for robots' emotional capacities.

 

[kazmac]

Twas a weekend of Shaws (YAY!)

Human Lanterns (Brutal, Amazing, nasty little morality tale. This is very close to being the most vicious film Sun Chung ever made, but he tops it with The Master Strikes Back.)

To Kill a Mastermind (The only Sun Chung film I do not like. A rare misfire due to miscasting, bad script and meh choreography.)

Avenging Eagle (Brilliant. Another wonderful and aggressive morality tale from Sun Chung)

Savage Five (Decent.)

Five Venoms (Love it.)

The first 8 minutes of The Spiritual Boxer (the rest of the film stinks to me, but I love the opening sequence.) I think I watched this 5x this weekend. So easy to do...

The Kung Fu Instructor (again. Neat tweak on Yojimbo from Sun Chung with a righteous moral character torn between two unpleasant clans. My gosh, Ti Lung is so good here, in his performance and martial ability. A movie I have grown to truly appreciate on every level.)

Swordsman and Enchantress - I love this movie. Another of the first films I saw with Ti Lung and while I'm not a romance movie kind of gal, when it works I'm good. It works here. I quite liked the novel this was based on, so I appreciate the tweaks the film took with the source material. Ti's performance as Xiao Shiyi Lang is very energetic both acting and in the martial arts department (almost wild as per his noble but constantly framed wolf-like bandit.) Not even the lame elevator music and Candy Wren can wreck this one. Like Five Venoms, I feel like I'm in a completely different world when I watch this. I enjoy how the film transports me.

I tried watching the other Shaws / Hammer collaboration They Call Him Mr. Shatter in Spanish, but Kung Fu just doesn't work for me in the Latin tongues. It doesn't look like I'm missing much, but I was hoping to hear Ti speak some English as I've only heard him do so in recent years, not during his Shaws heyday.

I'll probably drift off to sleep with the Magic Blade (can't believe I missed a theatrical screening of this last year..)

--

The rewatchability of most Shaw Brothers films makes them even more special to me. It's not just that I respect the many talents the actors had to possess, but the sets / costumes, stories and choreography are so often top notch, I'm utterly spoiled. It's no wonder I don't give a crap about the majority of product released now. So happily addicted. I need more weekends like this.

 

[twietee]

Assault on Precinct 13 - even better the second time.

 

[kazmac]

Stuck on the train into work, so I rewatched Four Riders (1972). While supposively set at the end of the Korean War, the early 70s fashions (Lily Li in her hot pants etc.) and environments screams Vietnam War allegory to me. As my Chinese history is non-existent, I couldn't say if that was the point. The usual Chang Cheh templates for Ti Lung (brawny, handsome, young kung fu master / troublemaker) and David Chiang (Brooding, cute and sly little killing machine) could also pass for preliminary P.T.S.D in both their characters. But I guess I'm thinking too hard (hey, I'm trying to prepare for my return to university. )

Anyway,

Ti's newly discharged soldier is framed for a murder he didn't commit by the film's villain and it's up to Ti's wartime buddies (Chiang, Chen Kuan Tai and Wang Chung) to clear Ti's name. It's more a drama than a kung fu film, but there is a little bit in there because that's how the Shaws roll.

I like this more each time I see it.