Does the film have voice over sections in it ?, or I may be getting confused with another film…
One of the kids is narrating some parts.
@ BIG RED ONE
Same here, never understood how people coumld call it a classic. Haven’t seen the reconstruction though (and don’t think I ever will)
@ Terminator/Source Code
The Terminator is a about time travel, as far as we know the course of time cannot be reversed; the multiple worlds theory is a completely different thing; it was developed by Hugh Everett, and first of all belongs to the field of quantum physics (it explains the so-called collapse of potentials); it’s not clear if it has any significance on other levels - but that’s the fictional aspect of the movie.
The Big Red One is a highly original war film. but i doubt that a fuller cut would have added all of these 40 min. Some of the added scenes do the film no favor.
The old theatrical version was already very good. 8/10
Source Code is entertaining stuff. 7/10
Inception is also good fun. And 7/10 is just allright for an ambitious film in which every 2nd dialogue only explains the story or describes what we see on the screen.
I have watched The Big Red One only once, don’t remember anything about versions or running-times, but like Ion I just couldn’t get into the movie, original or not.
This ‘explicatory dialogue’ is one of the problems of these type of films. Film makers fear that viewers don’t understand what’s it all about (which is, by the way, usually the case) and therefore start explaining everything.
well said, mister
Inception and Source Code are both entertaining pieces for me 8/10, although i’d say SC is better
The Big Red One is ok, nothing special though for me.
The Big Red One bored the hell out of me, don’t think I’ll ever watch it again.
Re The Big Red One:
I have seen the Reconstruction and was blown away by it; certainly one of the best war films made. Would all of the 40 minutes have gone back in if Samuel Fuller had been around to do his Director’s Cut? Maybe not, but it’s a tough call and I would rather have too much than too little.
As for Inception, I prefer it to Source Code: better direction, better acting. I don’t really think of them as science fiction though; Inception utalises only one sci-fi element (the dream suitcase) and just builds a thriller from there, whereas Source Code is basically Groundhog Day-serious. It’s good, but not a film to return to. Moon is a lot better I think.
The big red one is a hell of a great movie a 9out of 10 for me or a 4.5/5.
Not easy for a director to put in the screen his life experiences, The big Red One puts in a corner most of the epic war films named after the famous battles, (with the exception of A bridge too far).
I suspect this issue will only be solved in a duel ;D ;D
Serious now, Fuller was a very underrated director not a bad movie
Some differences of opinion here.
[size=36pt]BIG[/size] [size=14pt]one[/size], [size=10pt]small[/size] [size=8pt]one[/size] ?
(Talking about movies, right?)
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[size=12pt]Eva[/size] Joseph Losey 1962
For some time in my watch list, decided it was about time to take a look at this piece of 60 avant-garde, or at least I thought it as.
I must confess I’m a huge Jeanne Moreau admirer, she’s not the most obvious beauty, but she’s got a unique look (somewhere between Bette Davies and Bardot), that makes her…well…unique, and she could act and sing, one of a kind, a true cinema legend
So what we got here an American director with Italian and British actors and a French female main star with the action taking place in Italy.
The story isn’t much sophisticated, by the contrary quite simple, there’s not even great characters development, they just play what they are, so not a complex work, a simple story of a man in love with a woman that doesn’t want to be loved. Moreau character in a way reminded me of Mimsy Farmer in More, a woman capable of moving a man to destruction. And that’s what we have here a rather successful writer with some issues and living the Playboy live, with a magnificent beautiful fiancé (in the form of the stunning Virna Lisi), falls for an devilish woman who cares for no one but herself in the figure of Moreau.
Losey wasn’t a French or an Italian director, so in Eva he didn’t care or had any interest in the abstract and surrealism or with the glamour of life, the all affair is a very Shakespearean thing, with amazing lines and great actors work. Maybe the film isn’t that well structured, or at least had little structure, but I think that’s just a minor drawback,and in the its strongpoint. The way Losey films the background of the houses made me think, with bidonvilles and rural surroundings instead of the glamorous places that we are used to see, even Venice looked sad, I really couldn’t find any glamour in the film, and I think that what Losey really wanted.
My only complain was that the story from Staley Baker past, about his brother and who wrote the book that made him a flourishing writer, didn’t play a more important role in the film, but Losey kept things very self centered in the relation between Moreau and Baker.
So that leads us to the main actor’s. Baker part was suppose to be played by Richard Burton, it made more sense, but then the project was initially set to be directed by Godard, it would have been another film.
Baker is a bit out of his element, he does have a small fracas in the film, and he could play a believable playboy living the good live in Italy, but to be honest he´s not in his real element, he tries a bit too hard an goes over the top sometimes, but in a way he was playing himself, a little bit at least, a Welsh writer that worked in the mines, before reaching success.
Moreau is another thing, she’s not the femme fatale type, but she plays her part in a non obvious way, she does lures and humiliates man in a very convincing way. If a man doesn’t get warmed up with the initial scene where Moreau undresses and gets ready for a bath, he’s in serious problems. She acts in a sexual way, that only her can do, and that turns her in a femme fatale. She made several films playing strong female characters that drive man crazy, so she must had something. Fantastic scene of her when Virna Lisi character dies, a real diva,
So in the end not the film I was expecting, master Losey compress the all story leaving little to side plots or anything else, actually what could be considered the main weaknesses of the film are for me its strong point, I liked the way the story was presented and followed with interested the interaction of the two main characters, yes doesn’t leave much for most people to appreciate the movie, but that’s life.
Great Jazz soundtrack and perfect scenes with Moreau alone, those are not boring for me, if I was a director I also would a lot of those scenes,
A good film that worked for me, but I can understand that it may not appeal to others, not a masterpiece or even among Losey best works, like the Go-Between, but still very pleasant stuff.
I watched a 109m version with English dub, (I think Moreau dub herself, but not sure), like in many films there are stories of longer versions (a 165 minutes one), that never came to see daylight, but if the film was cut I didn’t notice that much, maybe the end comes a bit in an abrupt way,
^ I have yet to see this, but I’m not in a hurry though. I’ve never been a big fan of Moreau and she was no great beauty, but the lady could act for sure.
I know Virna Lisi and Stanley Baker is in this film, maybe some time down the road I’ll give it look see.
Pusher (1996) by Nicolas Winding Refn.
Immensely disturbing, quite vulgar and always incredibly realistic. The main character is a true bastard, but Refn somehow succeeds in making him a little sympathetic which is quite a feat. Hand-held camera and a generic script give it slightly cheap appearance, nevertheless the execution is very strong. Overall, it’s a gritty flick which was entertaining for sure, even though it was frequently hard to watch. 6/10
I love Fuller - his camera movements and films in general were incredibly dynamic (dynamite?). A director who never disappoints for me. It’s intriguing to note that he is also one of the few right-wing directors to be fully embraced by critics, in particular the normally left-leaning French film critics (this is an observation and not an endorsment of either political position).
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III for the first time; often said to be the worst of the trilogy, but I enjoyed it an enormous amount. It’s filmmaking as opera, wildly virtuosic and with a pleasingly restrained Al Pacino delivering an excellent performance as Michael Corleone. Sofia Coppola was criticised a lot at the time (and still is) for her performance as Michael’s daughter, but I thought, that while she wasn’t great, she wasn’t exactly terrible either. A solid 8/10 that will probably go higher on repeat viewings.
That’s exactly what I thought when watching it: An Opera!
Not terrible, but not really my kind of movie. Okay. 7/10 (quite solid)
Watched the first couple of episodes of Sherlock, I really enjoyed them. It’s Sherlock Holmes but set in modern day London, and Dr Watson was an Army doctor for the Army in the war in Afghanistan. Much better than I thought it was going to be, I was rather impressed. They are feature length also.
I liked this part - 7/10 or even 8/10 for me.
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:9417, topic:1923”]That’s exactly what I thought when watching it: An Opera!
Not terrible, but not really my kind of movie. Okay. 7/10 (quite solid)[/quote]
What did you think of the use of real-life Vatican politics in the film? I thought is was well-handled and refreshingly different from the previous two films.