The Last Movie You Watched?

The Saloon
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[quote=“scherpschutter, post:8239, topic:1923”]Yes, but starting a discussion is one thing, starting a discussion about things that really matter, and make a difference in that discussion, is another thing.
It’s like being ‘controversial’ - it’s not difficult to be controversial (just say, for instance, that Darwin was wrong or Jesus was an idiot and you got yourself a controversy), it’s important to make a difference in a discussion on a controversial subject, and few people are able to do such a thing

Anyway, I watched a couple of minutes of this 45 minutes movie called wavelength - not my wavelength
I haven’t seen this Portuguese Snow White, but I don’t think it would have been my kind of discussion[/quote]

Yes its true discussion should be about things that matter, or not, I can discuss about football all day, does it really matter, does any art discussion in style or aesthetics matters to the most common citizen, a discussion about taxes should matter to anyone, it depends on the universe of people, I guess a discussion about Spock matterrs a lot to trekkies, to me…

I don’t know the other directors We been talking about, but I know Monteiro story and cinematography very well, since is first works (I think Stanton also does). He always was a provocative director even when he made no budgets films before 74, hiding is work from the political police (wasn’t easy), so I think I have an ideia of what he wanted to do with snow white, it was one of his last films, and he wanted to provoque some type of high profile intelectuals of the time, with whom he had public confrontations, was the film any good , maybe for a radio show, but Monteiro was a true anarchist.

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The Crooked Road, 1965… I loved it. Stewart Granger as a villain for-a-change; a Balkan hierarch, ‘running for re-election’ to continue funneling UN aid-money to his private coffers. Robert Ryan is either an investigative-reporter or a Western-agent, attempting to quaff the scam. I’m glad the screenwriters left it ambiguous for this political-noir thriller. -Makes the previous affair between Ryan and Granger’s wife more believable. This film’s title also refers-to the winding Yugoslavian coastline, where a corpse gets flung into the path of Ryan’s car. Interior-shots are minimal. The performances are splendid. Too bad the Bond-films overwhelmed espionage-fims like this during the 60’s.

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If something is entertaining it can’t be bad. I would never call entertaining stuff bad. Question is only how good (
= fascinating) it is.

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Le deuxieme souffle (1966) by Jean Pierre Melville.

Actually I was surprised by this one. This was the last movie by Melville shot in black and white. Having seen Le Doulos, which was absolutely gorgeous, I decided to view this flick as well. And it’s one of his best achievements. The whole story doesn’t contain anything profound, just like in case of Le Samourai or Le Cercle Rouge, but it is superbly executed crime thriller. At the beginning it’s nothing special, but one has to wait about 20 minutes. Then it starts to explode. The eruption of violence is splendidly shown. Owing to absolutely sublime editing (it was particularly fascinating during the robbery scene), impressive camerawork, some unforgettable performances and phenomenal ending, this is an unforgettable experience. Lino Ventura is by far the best though. It’s the first time I’ve seen Raimond Pellegrin outside of spaghetti western territory and he’s certainly a marvelous actor.

Only one thing baffles me. Why was the inspector so sure that those two guys were killed on the road while Gu was driving? Couldn’t they been killed with guns with silencer in the forest where they were found? Don’t know. Maybe there is a possibility to prove that a bullet wasn’t shot from a gun without using a silencer. Not a big flaw by any means.

Nonetheless superb stuff. Breathtaking Melville. 9/10

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[url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/338/13297523zps2506685b1.jpg/[/url] [size=12pt]NIGHT WATCH [/size] (1973, Brian G. Hutton)

This was my Halloween movie, a remarkable (and remarkably bloody) suspense thriller starring Elizabeth Taylor. It was neglected upon its initial release and almost completely forgotten (it was one of those hard-to-find movies many fans of the star were looking for), but a couple of recent DVD releases have drawn some attention to it. Today some think it’s one of Liz’ better efforts. A little overweight, she’s still looking good at the age of 41. She also gets good support by a first rate cast including Robert Lang and Billie Whitelaw (excellent as the woman nursing her).

Taylor plays a widow recovering from a nervous breakdown who thinks she has witnessed a murder. Of course nobody believes her and when the police finally arrives, all possible traces of a crime have disappeared. Sounds familiar? Of course it does. It’s based on a play by Lucille Fletcher, who once was Bernard Herrmann’s spouse. If that’s not enough to make you think of Hitchcock, the movie will bring several of his best-known movies to mind. Rear Window, no doubt, but also Rebecca, Suspicion, even Psycho. But it ends like none of them.

You can say a lot about this movie. No, it’s no high art, it sure is derivative and some of the plot elements aren’t meant to be scrutinized (notably in relation to this twist-double-twist ending). But it’ll hold your attention, is often genuinely creepy and the finale is Grand Guignol at its best.

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Viewed recently. Like the way Taylor gets on the police nerves. Did not find it very bloody. Laurence Harvey made another interesting film around this period, ‘Welcome To Arrow Beach’. This is a bloody film, well at least in its uncut version.

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I was pleasantly surprised how good Night Watch was. The ending was surprisingly brutal.

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[size=12pt]Alien: Resurrection[/size] (1997) Jen-Pierre Jeunet

Yes here I go again, in the wrong temporal side of the series, because it was the last one I saw and the only I actually seen it in the cinema.
Jeunet is one of those directors with a very particular view, he made a real impression with his amazing first Long run film Delicatessen, the one that followed wasn’t bad either , by the time he directed Alien 4, he had create his own cinematographic mark in just two films. I do confess that I’m not a big fan of his last works with Andrey Tautou
But Tautou was still far, so he brought many of his visual universes along for Alien 4, and it works very well. Jeunet makes films much like comic books, and I like that.
The Alien world created by Jeunet is very different from the one of other three films, like been said before, all are different films but with all obvious connection points, but here we almost forget there’s a story behind. The story here got plenty holes, but its all direct action to the screen, and that way it works fine
I also liked this Nietzsche superman or superwoman version of Ripley, sarcastic and not in constant pain, the rest of the cast withsome of Jeunet habitués was also competent enough , my only complain goes to Winoma Ryder, she doesn’t belong in this adrenalin world, she clearly isn’t Milla Jovovich.
Some scenes are great the thematic also very good with cloning issues that we will be dealing with in a near future, so I enjoy it like the first in the cinema.
Not the best or the second best of the serie but in a league of its own among the series, and made me wanna watch Delicatessen again

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Maybe brutal is a better word than bloody, I didn’t expect it, and I guess it came as a surprise to most people
(Let’s not spoil any fun)

Taylor is also surprisingly good in this one

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[quote=“El Topo, post:8248, topic:1923”][size=12pt]Alien: Resurrection[/size] (1997) Jen-Pierre Jeunet

Yes here I go again, in the wrong temporal side of the series, because it was the last one I saw and the only I actually seen it in the cinema.[/quote]

same with me

i often wonder how Jeunet and Caro influenced each other, but since Jeunet’s movies are better than Caro’s efforts (i’ve seen Dante 01) Jeunet was probably main creative power
Darius Khondhi’s cinematography is also big plus

i agree, she has no proper face for Alien movie, she is too sweet :slight_smile: , but i’m not sure about Milla either

i actually did a revisitation few days ago - somehow i focused only on scenes with Karin Viard …

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[quote=“Stanton, post:8243, topic:1923”]If something is entertaining it can’t be bad. I would never call entertaining stuff bad. Question is only how good (
= fascinating) it is.[/quote]
I don’t know, I’ve seen some fairly entretaining movies which were pretty goddamn bad. We were talking about Mattei a while ago, he has a movie called Strike Commando that I don’t think it can be considered good under any perspective but it’s such a fun and entretaining movie.

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Shouldn’t come as such a surprise. Taylor was a magnificent screen actress whose talent was often obscured by her beauty and her overblown private life. Watch her in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff, Taming of the Shrew, Butterfield 8, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof etc etc. She was terrific.

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I know, but this was relatively late in her career, she was only 41, but it’s often said that her best work is all from the sixties. And this movie is a fullblood horror movie, not a genre I’d think of when her name is mentioned.

But you are right, her private life and beauty seemed more interesting to most people than her thespian talents. Well, if I were that good-looking I wouldn’t mind people writing about it …

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[size=14pt]La mansión de la niebla/Murder Mansion [/size] - b Francisco Lara Polop, Pedro Lazaga[/b]

This Spanish cool giallo was my Halloween trip, not a big fan of this Halloween stuff or gore horror flicks for that matter, do like classic horror (Hammer style) in a eerie kind of way like this one promised to be.
It’s a revision actually, I’ve seen it before in Spanish TV a few (long) years ago when I was stationed in a Spanish base during some OTAN drills, but didn’t remember it that well.

Story
Nothing spectacular or innovative almost like a Scooby doo episode, a bunch of people got lost in the fog while traveling to a particular, and all end up in a semi abandoned house lost in the mountains with a graveyard has a backyard. Some of the people got lost by chance, others where on propose driven there.
There’s a subplot that is connected with the final twist, I confess I wasn’t expecting that twist, the characters are well build and there’s a reason for everything in the movie even if we don’t buy it.
Thereisn’t much nudity (still 72 in Spain), and not any gore at all, but the created atmosphere is above any complains from my part, creepy and gothic in a classic old school way. There’s a lot of drama but well mixed with the horror elements all merging together and the final twist. The flashbacks slow the story a bit, but in a way there essential to understand the all affair

Director
It’s co directed by Spanish directors Lara Polop and Pedro Langaza, none did any extraordinary works and the first is best known for is sleazy flicks of the desnudo days, Lazaga was more a man of comedies, with of course some skin.
But even if some skin (from the back only) is shown, those sleazy days were still to come, so they had to work more the characters and the narrative flow of the film, something both managed pretty well, the transformation of Laura (a lovely Analia Gadé) is vey well handled, from a frigid woman with a father complex to totally madness, very subtle but well made.
The use of the mansion and the fog is also well handled, the tension is well build and the final climax even if not in the end, doesn’t happen too early in the film, to spoil things up.
Also the photography is excellent a real must, every frame in the mansion or outside is a work of art, the way the photography director uses light did surprised me, wasn’t expecting such quality. No doubt its one of the aspects of the film.

Actors
The female cast is very strong, Gadé is a favourite of mine she was lovely and a good actress, perfect in her part, Ida Galli also steals the show, an underrated actress in my view, the other les known Italian actress is pretty efctive. The male cast is full of SW habitués Rigaud, Fajardo, Fantasia so no complains. But the female cast UAU very effective

Conclusion
So if you like those mild horror films working more on the atmosphere and build up tension than in gore, this one is for you. The story belongs more to the Giailo side than to horror, but you won’t be disappointed, a good film for a rainy night.
The soundtrack is very classic but works well with the film, and watch any Spanish edition I think those are not cut, in any case its always nicer to hear the Spanish actors saying those English names,- donde esta la Senorita Clinton

3.5 stars
5 for the photography work

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The Ambassador - Pretty good, not a great film but entertaining enough. Mitchum plays the U.S. Ambassador to Israel where he tries to bring peace between the Arabs and the Jews. It was quite a surprise to see Ellen Burstyn disrobe and see Fabio Testi sucking her tits! I was going to buy the recent U.S. MGM Archive disc of this but never got around to it. Glad I didn’t as it came out on Blu in Germany.

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Can you upload an image of that? :smiley:

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[quote=“chameleon, post:8256, topic:1923”]Can you upload an image of that? :D[/quote]I would if it was DVD but can’t capture Blu Ray images I’m afraid.

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By request

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Excellent point here… football is less important/entertaining/interesting/etc than any experimental art film I’ve seen, and I’d much rather witness the scene described by outraged viewers than listen to people talk about sports, which seems an utter waste of time to me

I don’t know, I can find things to be both boring and entertaining, interesting and dull. A lot of experimental film seems to lead to more mainstream directors popularizing these techniques- without the predecessors, maybe these popular directors would never have made something interesting in the same way

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I was only kidding, mate! ;)[quote=“El Topo, post:8258, topic:1923”]By request

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Thanks Topo!,

Anyways Ellen Burstyn was never my cup of tea. Now, If that was Claudia Cardinale, it woul be a differnt story, :wink: