The Last Movie You Watched? ver.2.0

According to today’s online edition of The Guardian, Kurosawa’s Kumonosu-jō (Throne of Blood, 1957) is the “best Shakespeare film” ever made. Sadly but unsurprisingly, forum favorites such as Quella sporca storia nel West (1968), directed by Enzo G. Castellari, and Gianni Puccini’s Dove si spara di più (1967) are not ranked among the twenty best movie adaptations of the Bard of Avon’s works. :sunglasses:

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Throne of Blood is brilliant though, in fairness. My favourite Kurosawa film, my favourite movie from the fifties and my favourite Shakespeare adaptation (I won’t pretend to have seen too many Shakespeare movie adaptations in all honesty but, still, it’s the best of those I’ve seen).

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Yes, I love it.

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I liked Kurosawa, I haven’t seen Throne of Blood in a long long time, so long that I didn’t knew it was a Shakespeare adaptation at the time I watched.

Kurosawa films were the first ones I’ ve remember seeing from the Far East, I’m pretty sure the first one was Seven samurais, at the same period of time I watched the Leone Westerns, so those films in some way made me what I’m today, at least in cultural terms.

After Kurowasa I’ ve watched a lot of films from the far east and maybe Kobayashi with is trilogy are among my favourites from Japanese films, but I still prefer Kurosawa bulk of work as an all.

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I watched The Big Lebowski. I was curious about why this movie was so much liked and became a kind of cult movie.
A fun movie with some strange plot twists and ideas. Definitely a re-watch worth.

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I just watched that again on Sunday. I like it, but I dislike the annoying hipster fanbase and memes it spawned.

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I can not agree more

Last ones:

  1. Hallström: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? 8/10
  2. Scorsese: The Wolf of Wall Street 8/10
  3. Airaksinen: Juice (cinema) 5/10
  4. Weisenborn: Was ich bin sind meine Filme - Teil 2… nach 30 Jahren (Doc) 6/10
  5. Altman: Fool for Love 5/10
  6. Epstein: The Faithful Heart/Coeur Fidèle 9/10
  7. Sjöberg: Hets 7/10
  8. Sorrentino: Youth 7/10
  9. Altman: Kansas City 7/10
  10. Dreyer: Vampyr 9/10
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Last ten days or so:
Aquaman (Wan, 2018) :star::star::star:
The Thing (Carpenter, 1982) :star::star::star::star::star:
Game of Death (Clouse, 1978) :star::star:
Enter the Dragon (Clouse, 1973) :star::star::star::star:
Four Lions (Morris, 2010) :star::star::star::star:
The Way of the Dragon (Lee, 1972) :star::star::star:
The Warriors (Hill, 1979) :star::star::star::star:
The Belko Experiment (McLean, 2016) :star::star::star:
Fist of Fury (Lo, 1972) :star::star::star::star:
Climax (Noé, 2018) :star::star::star::star:

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Angels with Dirty Faces (Curtiz, 1938) - 4/5
City on Fire (Lam, 1987) - 4/5
The Inglorious Bastards (Castellari, 1978) - 4.5/5
Three Outlaw Samurai - (Goshi, 1964) - 4/5
Samurai Rebellion (Kobayashi, 1967) - 4.5/5
The Betrayal (Tanaka, 1966) - 4/5
They Shall Not Grow Old (Jackson, 2018) - 4.5/5
The Big Lebowski (Cohen, 1998) - 4/5
Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi, 1954) - 4.5/5
Notorious (Hitchcock, 1946) - 3.5/5
Kill Bill (Tarantino, 2003) - 3/5
Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Tarantino, 2004) - 2.5/5
Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) - 3.5/5
Inglorious Basterds (Tarantino 2009) - 4/5
Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) - 4.5/5

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Had yourself a Tarantinothon, Dean. :+1: Something on my own to-do list at some point this year (sooner rather than later, probably).

Crazy, right? I must be smoking something.

Am I going to get banned for giving Pulp Fiction less than 5 stars?

Some recent viewings:

Howling (2012, Yoo Ha)

:star::star::star:

A rather odd combination of thriller and horror from South-Korea, with some unfocused social comment thrown in for (not so) good measure. During a routine investigation, an experienced police officer (played by Song Kang-ho, if you don’t know his name you’ll recognize his face) discovers some bite marks on the corpse of a man who supposedly killed himself. His rookie partner (a young woman who is struggling to be accepted within the force) then finds out that there’s a rampant wolf dog at work and what’s more: that somebody has trained the animal to kill. For what reason?

With its convoluted story involving spontaneous combustion, child abuse, sexism and revenge Howling suffers from an overly busy script, but somehow the whole things remains entertaining throughout

Princess Aurora (2005, Bang Eun-jin)

:star::star::star:½

Again South-Korea. Released the same year as (and often compared to) Park Chan-wook’s far more successful Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. A young woman seeks revenge for her six years old daughter, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a man who was - due to the smart work of his defense attorney - transferred to a psychiatric hospital instead of jail. Initially it looks too much like a cruel, senseless vigilante movie, but eventually turns into a poignant and unsettling tale about rage, despair, justice and injustice. And yes, it’s hard not to sympathize with the young woman.

Princess Aurora is not as stylish and sophisticated as Lady Vengeance, but as a statement about Korea’s cold and clinical legal system, it’s probably even more powerful.

Babe (1995, Chris Noonan)

:star::star::star:½

A rewatch. It’s hard to resist this comedy-drama about the piglet that wants to be a dog, if only to escape from the inevitable fate of all piglets: one day they will be eaten by humans. Not as funny as I remembered, but beautifully done and heartwarming. Co-written and co-produced by George Miller, the man behind the Mad Max franchise

The Snowman (2017, Tomas Alfredson)

:star::star:

An adaptation of the successful crime novel by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø. It was almost unanimously panned by critics and I watched it because I wanted to know how they had managed to concoct a boring movie out of a very effective crime novel

The novel is not a masterpiece, but it’s a well-told and cleverly plotted thriller which also features several interesting, remarkably multi-layered characters, notably the female detective, an ambitious but headstrong woman who was recently transferred from Bergen to Oslo and seems to have some personal interest in the case. In the movie the character is almost completely stripped from importance and there’s hardly any interaction between her and her male colleague, played by Michael Fassbinder. It was exactly the character’s background and her interaction with her colleague which propelled the story in Nesbø 's book. What we’re left with, is a serial killer movie of sorts, well-shot on location in Norway, but devoid of any real suspense.

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I’m afraid so, yes. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Spent Valentine’s Day watching my favorite love story: A Matter of Life and Death (1946) with David Niven, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey, and Kim Hunter. A good Fantasy/Romance where the human spirit prevails is always a pleasure. (Don’t judge me too harshly for this one :blush: )

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Enter the Dragon - Theatrical Cut (Clouse, 1973) - 4.5/5
Pickpocket (Bresson, 1959) - 4/5
A Man Escaped (Bresson, 1956) - 4/5
Death by Metal - (Belalcazar, 2016) - 4/5
The Trial (Welles, 1962) - 4/5
Man with a Movie Camera - (Vertov, 1929) - 3.5/5
Dirty Harry (Siegel, 1971) - 4/5
Magnum Force (Post, 1973) - 3.5/5
The Godfather (Coppola, 1972) - 4/5
The Godfather Part II (Coppola, 1974) -3.5/5
Boogie Nights (1997, Anderson) - 4/5
The Great Dictator (Chaplin, 1940) - 4.5/5
The Kid (Chaplin, 1921) - 3.5/5
City Lights (Chaplin, 1931) - 4.5/5
Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936) - 3.5/5

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Had a nice double bill with Il Boia di Venezia and Roma Violenta. Roma Violenta is in need of the 2K scan it deserves.

I rewatched some postapo classics and my opinion about them has slightly changed. Here are the results:

Steel Frontier (1995) - A spaghetti western in a postapo setting with lot of gunplay, spectacular explosions (this movie contains one of the best explosions I saw in movies), well handled car chases and some great stunts. Letdowns? Weak soundtrack and sometimes people just stupidly stay open during shootouts. I liked the movie a bit more this time. 4/5

Cherry 2000 (1987) - a romantic though actionpacked postapo with Melanie Griffith. Lot of fun, although the scene with a magnetic crane is so fucking stupid that it almost kills the movie. Thankfully it is the only nonsensical scene and soundtrack and locations are great. Second viewing and I also increased rating to 4/5.

Radioactive Dreams (1985) - You never know what kind of a movie you get if it is made by Albert Pyun. This one superb though. Nonstop punkrock postnuke shuffle. 5/5

The Road Warrior (1981) - Nth viewing, this time on really big telly in really good quality. One of the best movies ever made. How cool is that movie without any CGI or even filters. 6/5

And a whole new watch of:

Land Of Doom (1986) - CRAAAP!!! 0/5 But if you wanna laugh, it’s great.

Urban Warriors - Metacrap. I already mentioned this one before, but it has to be done again. Because I noticed it was directed by Giuseppe Vari. WTF, Giuseppe?

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I guess it’s my turn then:

Storyville (1992) - Director: Mark Frost - 7/10 - Apparently the only full-length feature film directed Mark Frost. It’s too bad it’s his only directional effort because the work in question does possess a certain style and character that makes the whole endeavor kind of unusual and distinctive. Partly a whodunit, partly a political thriller, the film embraces multifarious topics and strives to combine ostensively different genres which results in a very quaint marriage of a thriller and a drama and makes for a very interesting watch. Frost doesn’t shy away from venturing into miscellaneous territories, which could potentially yield mixed results and an inchoate piece of work, and his resolute sense of style ensures a superior quality of filmmaking at hand.

Lock Up (1989) - Director: John Flynn - 5/10 - Very disappointing. I expected a gritty style of prison drama, but Flynn does not really go anywhere with the material. Instead of pandering to usual Stallone fans, he should’ve attempted to provide some insight into psychological distress experienced by those affected by the malfunctioning criminal justice system. Regrettably, the movie seems to revel in its bromides, framing them within the context of Stallone’s cult personality as well as infusing the entirety of the plot with a sizable dose of maudlinness probably intended to cloak the inherent vacuousness of the flick’s formula. That is not say that it is not entertaining; the problem lies in Flynn’s direction whose obstinacy and unwillingness to stray from the trodden path of mediocrity steers the pic in a not so interesting cinematic direction; despite being fairly diverting, all of this is still excessively familiar and obvious to constitute something more than a passable watch.

The Mind’s Eye (1990) - Director: Jan Nickman - 9/10 -> 8/10 - A re-watch.

Footprints on the Moon (1975) - Directors: Luigi Bazzoni - 9/10 = 9/10 - A re-watch. Definitely one of the most emotionally resonant as well as visually stunning movies I’ve ever seen. Storaro’s cinematography greatly amplifies the phenomenal atmosphere and varies the emotive intensity of the filmic imagery with extraordinary efficiency and clear artistic purpose embedded within every single frame. Storaro’s aesthetic artistry is even more bewildering within the context of the carefully structured and beautifully narrativized film whose main strength lies with its incredibly sensuous atmosphere and brooding, almost suffocating ambiance. The general aura is singularly dense and I haven’t seen many films which come close in terms of their atmospheric density so to speak, perhaps something like Black Moon (1975) and a couple of others, but that’s about it and other movies of this kind rarely live up to this level of emotional intensity. Piovani’s soundtrack is stunning and wonderfully subtle, perfectly synchronized and correspondent with the sensuous flow of the work. Yes, some aspects of the motion picture still have that slightly rough look and feel to them, nevertheless I can forgive most of its minor faults without a second thought. I can’t put my finger on what it is that makes it all so incredibly compelling every time I watch it, it’s probably the distinct combination of all aforementioned aspects. Apart from being emotively potent, it is likewise kind of disquieting in its own subtle way and it’s more perturbing than most horror films I’ve seen purely by virtue of how bizarre and outlandish it feels. Suffice to say, it’s definitely one of my all-time favs. If anybody knows a movie similar to this one in its tone, structure and aesthetics, please share it, I’m all ears.

Baby Driver (2017) - Director: Edgar Wright - 5/10 - Not sure what to think about this one. Apart from being one fucking cringy iPad commercial, it doesn’t really offer any new unique thematic concepts or any new takes on its main subject matter. While I do not mind more light-hearted efforts of this kind, the supposed originality this effort is purported to be brimming with proves to be more of a repackaging of well-known formulas and cliches rather than some radical reformulation of these ideas. Therewith, the motion picture has some serious issues with its hectic and exceedingly erratic narrative structure which alternately dashes forward or stagnates and ultimately transmogrifies into a frantic, amorphous jumble in the final 30 minutes of the film’s duration. While I do cherish the general idea of taking an assortment of genre truisms and redeveloping them in a slightly different fashion, the film’s lighthearted diegetic attitude is not bolstered by an equally inspired composition or some larger, overarching concept. Most of narrative jocular gimmicks and tongue-in-cheek schticks simply fall flat, being negated by the general lack of narrative cohesion.

Striking Distance (1993) - Director: Rowdy Herrington - 4/10 - A passably entertaining piece of shit actioner starring Bruce Willis. A large chunk of the movie slavishly follows the action genre tropes without injecting too much originality into its routine plot and endowing the formula with a sufficient dose of uniqueness for me to give a shit. The chemistry between Willis and the dudess is tolerable at best and the whole story leads to a rather predictable conclusion hinted at with a number of heavy-handed filmic foreshadowings. It does provide enough fun for a shit flick sitting, but it definitely ain’t no masterpiece.

The Star Chamber (1983) - Director: Peter Hyams - 6/10 - A fairly confused thriller which attempts to do something slightly different within the genre confines, yet fails to do so in a genuinely limpid and compelling fashion. The film’s biggest fault is that it desperately endeavors to make a case for the benevolence and righteousness of rehabilitative justice system and then oddly enough seems to go on to exhibit its very limitations, enduing the whole effort with a warped sense of purpose as well as venturing into some outlandish writing decisions by inadvertently making Douglas look a bit like a fool in the end and thereby, heavily distorting the principal dynamic of the plot itself. It is ruggedly directed, acted, executed and I truly enjoyed for the most part, but the work on the whole looks quite jumbled and some of its script really could’ve used a redraft or two prior to being filmed.

Target (1985) - Director: Arthur Penn - 7/10 - Despite its leisurely pacing, I found it to be extremely prepossessing mostly by virtue of its deftly portrayed father-son relationship enacted by Hackman and Dillon. It’s the family ties and the general character development of its two leads that endows the whole opus with an emotional resonance that fails to be implanted in many a work of this kind. The narrative is admittedly by and large out-of-focus and Penn fails to mold it into something more impressive, but it is definitely a sufficiently engaging piece of filmmaking with two truly strong performances at its core and I can definitely see myself revisiting it some time down the road.

Force 10 from Navarone (1978) - Director: Guy Hamilton - 6/10 - It doesn’t feel substantially different from other Hamilton movies, especially his James Bond endeavors. Some of his regulars make an appearance here and give it a distinctly James Bond vibe. The whole plot is basically a pretext to display some nice kabooms and fights. It is not terribly original, but it is entertaining enough.

The Presidio (1988) - Director: Peter Hyams - 5/10 - While the human element in this one makes for a relatively engaging watch, the rest of the story doesn’t hold up to scrutiny and it’s particularly its stagnant pacing and flaccid grip on the narrative that take a toll on film’s internal balance and after a while, it loses some of its impetus and virtually plunges into pure tedium. Fortunately, strong performances delivered by main actors as well as its adroitly written characters underpin the whole thing and prevent it from devolving into unwatchable mess.

Fourth Story (1991) - Director: Ivan Passer - 5/10 - The only reason why this is so highly valued by some viewers is on account of its romance ingredient that practically serves as the main focus of the story despite the flick technically being a whodunit in one way or another. The chemistry between the main duo is pretty impressive and their interactions do constitute a definite forte, yet the whole component is completely at odds with film’s other narrative forces and its underlying mystery, which is supposed to permeate the work at large, in that it excessively buoys up the general tone of the film. Some portions of the motion picture are so jovial and jubilant that they virtually undo most of putative tension and oppugn the legitimacy the story, working against the fundamental dynamics of the movie itself. The romance part is probably the primary reason why most people cherish it so much, yet it is the very element that undermines the essence of the plot, infusing the scenario with triviality, redundancy, incongruency and calling into question the authenticity of the portrayed action. It is an exceedingly outlandish motion picture in the sense that the very constituent stultifying it also happens to make it engaging and it’s not one of so-bad-it’s-good movies too, so it’s one very odd case indeed.

Death in Venice (1971) - Director: Luchino Visconti - 5/10 - A re-watch - Despite being visually alluring and exceedingly profuse in its copious use of costumes, set pieces and the likes, the entire work is largely stunted by Visconti old-fashioned, extremely heavy-handed narration which fails to evoke the buoyancy of the novel whose ephemeral qualities it strives to elicit so desperately remain beyond its reach. Most of the film’s appeal derives from its sumptuous cinematography as well as its intruiguing ruminations with regard to the nature of beauty and good art, the latter however being nothing but a remnant of its source material. Visconti wretched incapacity to successfully translate Mann’s prose into cinematic yarn results in something remarkably vacuous both in form and substance. The director fails to evoke the theme of evanescence through his visuals most of the time and what emerges usually amounts to the somewhat disturbing sexualization of a prepubescent boy being ogled at by a dirty old fart. Having taken into consideration comments made by the actor who performed the role of Tadzio with regard to the production’s background and the way he was perceived by the rest of the crew, yeah, the whole pic acquires a whole new dimension and not in a good way, pretty creepy to be honest. Anyway, it is hard to deny some of film’s more apparent merits, nevertheless, the motion picture in question is very lackluster for the most part in that it abstains from experimenting with more risky narrative devices, ultimately degenerating into the absurdly vapid exercise in style. Last but not least, the very criticisms which are leveled at Aschenbach’s art by his friend are equally relevant to this motion picture at large: Visconti’s failure stems from his very reluctance to transcend the limits of his own craft, his creative habits and ultimately old modes of filmmaking, refusing to venture into the unknown as embodied by formal experimentation, perhaps even remaining oblivious of its very existence, which results in the stillborn nature of his creation; nothing he does can really salvage his inherently crippled and insipid film.

D.O.A. (1988) - Directors: Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton - 7/10 - I haven’t seen the original, but I must say I’m quite fond of this version. There is a certain amount of wittiness and crispness to the whole package and with the kind of up-to-date, incisive dialogues, energizing montage and its tasteful, vigorous direction, there is not a whole lot not to like about the whole thing. The swift pacing and its deft storytelling keep the story afloat as well as maintain a great sense of flow, perfectly mimicking the perceptive disarray and dread experienced by its protagonist. Some parts of the storyline attest to its antediluvian source material, nevertheless, the motion picture recontextualizes the whole synopsis with remarkable efficiency and that coupled with the said excellent rendition ensures the superb quality of the filmmaking at hand.

RED (2010) - Director: Robert Schwentke - 5/10

RED 2 (2013) - Director: Dean Parisot - 5/10

The Hitcher (1986) - Director: Robert Harmon - 9/10 = 9/10 - A re-watch.

Miracle Mile (1988) - Director: Steve De Jarnatt - 9/10 = 9/10 - A re-watch.

Bloodsport (1988) - Director: Newt Arnold - 4/10 - You can tell there was somewhat more care put into this movie than in case of other Cannon productions purely by virtue of how much more balanced it is in terms of its pacing and storytelling. With that being said, the element that completely obliterates the whole endeavor is its script if you can even call it that. The pic feels almost like a music video at some points which is to say that there is virtually no underlying plot that could weave all consecutive scenes into a coherent whole or a continuous storytelling strand if you will. Fights come and go, juvenile jokes and gimmicks are thrown around, but there is no real character development, no narrative obstacles are ever erected for the protagonist to overcome and there is very little progression to the way the whole plot unravels. The storyline constitutes more of a coarse imitation of a real tale devised as a pretext to embark on a number of slow-mo fights for the braindead entertainment of juvenile audiences taking delight in the fervor of flexing muscles and clashing bodies. Despite its mind-numbing repetitiveness, I still somehow found it watchable purely on account of how decently paced it was vis-a-vis other Cannon treats.

Forbidden (1984) - Director: Anthony Page - 4/10 - Despite having some fairly impressive performers at its disposal, the movie fails to stir my blood purely owing to the fact that there is virtually no order or artistic purpose in the way it’s structured and narrated, being overly reliant on voice-over to clarify more abrupt time transitions as well as shed some light on protagonist’s thoughts and emotions which in turn results in something that feels like reading a book, except that we’re watching a movie. This suffocatingly literary dependence in the storytelling department practically strips the motion picture of its other merits in the sense that it fails to establish its own artistic identity and primarily functions as a cinematic transcription of another work more than anything else and never really stands on its own.

I Saw What You Did (1988) - Director: Fred Walton - 6/10 - A very fine remake of a decent little flick from the 1960s starring John Ireland. This one is considerably more suspense-driven and is primarily aimed at more mature audiences as opposed to the original which was more of a PG-oriented material. This one shares a number of tropes with other TV movies of its era, but it succeeds in creating a genuine sense of dread and tension and really nails the creepy atmosphere in its satisfyingly trashy format. It sure as hell isn’t one of the most prepossessing pics of its kind, but I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit and even if it is not a thriller of your wildest dreams and the middle section of the film feels slightly too stagnant and inert to my liking, it does possess a solid resolution. A very agreeable piece of trash.

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:+1: I didn’t quite get the hype for this one either.