Rate the Last Film You Watched

RadFemHedonist said:
I've seen it as well, my reason for watching it was because it's a noteworthy animated film, and I thought it was decent enough to be worth watching once, but agree with a lot of your criticisms, Ralph Bakshi is an interesting animator but his films tend to be lacking something or another, thought I've not seen many of them. Have you seen American Pop? I quite liked that one.
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Ah, I know the one you mean, but I've not actually seen it - all I really know about it is that they based the look of one character on Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane. I'll certainly look out for it, but Bakshi's films don't seem to come up on VOD very often. The only other one I've seen was Fire and Ice, which was interesting for the heavy use of rotoscoping, but it was kind of forgettable otherwise.
 
Professor Irony said:
Ah, I know the one you mean, but I've not actually seen it - all I really know about it is that they based the look of one character on Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane. I'll certainly look out for it, but Bakshi's films don't seem to come up on VOD very often. The only other one I've seen was Fire and Ice, which was interesting for the heavy use of rotoscoping, but it was kind of forgettable otherwise.
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Bakshi's movies tend to be more interesting to look at than they are to watch. Fire and Ice feels a lot longer than it is, on account of how little happens. I'd convinced myself that the masked barbarian who randomly shows up halfway was the villain's father, but was surprised on a re-watch to find no mention of it. I'd ended up unconsciously inventing plot points to fill in the paper-thin story.
 
The Squeeze - an underrated British gangster film from 1977
The Fury - saw DePalmas horror again and though nowhere as good as Carrie it has its moments
Gold - 1974 film with Roger Moore and its a classic with greedy business men wanting to flood the mine in order to raise the money values of gold
A Million Ways To Die - Seth MacFarlane is hilarious as the
sheep farmer against the nasty Liam Neeson - a very funny extended version on blu ray - ever get tired of seeing my favourites
 
The Secret Garden-I bought this on a whim yesterday and watched it last night. Not bad-one could do much worse for a family friendly movie.
 
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zrdb said:
The Secret Garden-I bought this on a whim yesterday and watched it last night. Not bad-one could do much worse for a family friendly movie
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Which one? There's at least three versions I think XP the one I've seen is from 1993 directed by Agnieszka Holland The Secret Garden (1993) - IMDb I think that's a very good version. I was curious about the new version and the trailer at least made it look like they'd added some racial diversity in casting which I think is good, but I dunno how good a film it actually is, looks like audience and critical reception was fairly middling. I think there's an older version that was on TV or in cinemas years before the 1993 one as well.
 
The Devils Advocate - liked everything about this horror even the twist
Night Moves - Gene Hackman is in excellent form as usual
Cross Of Iron - Sam Peckinpahs brilliant anti war film
Delirium- Lamberts Bavas 80’s giallo - although I really enjoyed it especially with the sexy Sabrina - Dario Argento was to have directed this and would of definitely made it more better with the violence etc
 
Gone With The Wind-it might be a classic movie but it's so full of racism, misogyny and other nasty stuff I found it very difficult to enjoy.
 
The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Perhaps mainly known now as a key influence on Star Wars, Akira Kurosawa’s period adventure about a pair of bickering thieves roped into helping escort a missing princess to safety, is a lively, fresh and surprisingly funny experience. The stunningly sweeping cinematography gives the film a tremendous sense of scale and place, always helping underscore how vulnerable the misfit band is, as they sneak, cajole and blunder their way through hostile territory, but the film is also hugely successful in its more intimate moments, with such strong visual narrative in the actors body language and delivery, that it barely even seems to need subtitles. Most impressive is how the film hardly seems to have aged. A more modern take would likely make the two peasants less objectionable, but otherwise there is little to date this as a 63 year old film.
 
The Handmaiden
Didn't know anything about this before watching it, and wow what an experience! Stunning to look at, utterly gripping, surprising, touching, more than a little raunchy, and very very weird. 9/10!

The Chungking Express

Watched this a few months ago actually, but just want to say that this film is my everything. The coolest, sweetest, quirkiest film in the world. This film must fill every lonely romantic in the world with the longing to brush with and connect to someone, no matter how fleeting it may be. The pangs were even more poignant watching it in lockdown.
10/10

Fallen Angles

Basically Chungking part 2, so this is also my everything and pretty much all the same words apply, except it's a bit darker. 10/10
 
Faye Wong can have my last Rolo anytime.

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The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad-the 2nd of Ray Harryhausen's stop motion forays into the world of Sinbad featuring John Phillip Law as Sinbad, Caroline Munro as Margiana the slave girl and Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor Who) hams it up as the evil Prince Koura. This has all of Harryhausen's trade mark stop motion creatures. It's a great matinee movie, gotta say I really enjoyed it.
 
Even ignoring its pro-Confederate stance, racism and misogyny, Gone with the Wind is not a very good movie and thankfully critical opion turned against it over half a century ago. I last saw it a number of years ago when I was suffering from the worst hangover of my life and the film only made it a hundred times worse. It's a producer's film - David O. Selznick's to be exact - and it shows.

The very next film Selznick made was Rebecca with Hitchcock, so he reedemed himself.
 
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Seven Samurai (七人の侍) - 1954, Japan, dir. Akira Kurosawa

I watched Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai for the first time today. With a runtime of 3 hours 20 mins (without intermission), it came as a surprise to me that the pacing was very good and what was shown felt warranted. The journey from beginning to end was great and I loved the samurai cast as well as the battle scenes. I can definitely see why this film is considered a classic by many reviewers and the like.

My only issue is actually with the BFI Blu-ray release, because about 5-10% of the dialogue isn't actually translated which is a shame because it feels streamlined and so there's various parts throughout that I wish I knew what was being said. Some may argue it ain't necessary but I disagree, because I think it's just as important to know what some characters are saying even if its not part of the main script especially during fight scenes.

Rating: 5/5

Film (Localised Name):Director:Country:
A Mother Should Be LovedYasujirō OzuJapan
An Actor's RevengeKon IchikawaJapan
Branded to KillSeijun SuzukiJapan
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda FamilyYasujirō OzuJapan
Dragon LordJackie ChanHong Kong
Eastern CondorsSammo HungHong Kong
The Fearless HyenaJackie ChanHong Kong
The Flavour of Green Tea Over RiceYasujirō OzuJapan
Funeral Parade of RosesToshio MatsumotoJapan
GeminiShinya TsukamotoJapan
Guilty of RomanceSion SonoJapan
HanagatamiNobuhiko ObayashiJapan
Hand of DeathJohn WooHong Kong
The Hidden FortressAkira KurosawaJapan
HimizuSion SonoJapan
IchiFumihiko SoriJapan
Infernal Affairs IIIAndrew Lau, Alan MakHong Kong
The Iron-Fisted MonkSammo HungHong Kong
Last Hurrah for ChivalryJohn WooHong Kong
Late AutumnYasujirō OzuJapan
The Magnificent ButcherSammo HungHong Kong
New Fist of FuryLo WeiHong Kong
One Missed CallTakashi MiikeJapan
One Missed Call 2Renpei TsukamotoJapan
One Missed Call FinalManabu AsoJapan
RanAkira KurosawaJapan
RashōmonAkira KurosawaJapan
Ruined Heart! Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a WhoreKhavnPhilippines
SanjuroAkira KurosawaJapan
Shaolin Wooden MenChen Chi-HwaHong Kong
Snake in the Eagle's ShadowYuen Woo-pingHong Kong
Spiritual Kung FuLo WeiHong Kong
Throne of BloodAkira KurosawaJapan
Tokyo StoryYasujirō OzuJapan
YojimboAkira KurosawaJapan
The Young MasterJackie ChanHong Kong
ZatoichiTakeshi KitanoJapan
 
NormanicGrav said:
E18fkrMXsAElsGa


Seven Samurai (七人の侍) - 1954, Japan, dir. Akira Kurosawa

I watched Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai for the first time today. With a runtime of 3 hours 20 mins (without intermission), it came as a surprise to me that the pacing was very good and what was shown felt warranted. The journey from beginning to end was great and I loved the samurai cast as well as the battle scenes. I can definitely see why this film is considered a classic by many reviewers and the like.

My only issue is actually with the BFI Blu-ray release, because about 5-10% of the dialogue isn't actually translated which is a shame because it feels streamlined and so there's various parts throughout that I wish I knew what was being said. Some may argue it ain't necessary but I disagree, because I think it's just as important to know what some characters are saying even if its not part of the main script especially during fight scenes.

Rating: 5/5
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This is probably heresy, but I find a lot of Kurosawa movies dull. They often have a loose, meandering structure that bores me (I'm looking at you, Redbeard). Seven Samurai isn't one of those though. Despite its length, it's more focused and tightly plotted than many of his shorter films, and is engaging from start to finish. Throne of Blood is my favourite of his films, but Seven Samurai is a close second.

BFI always leave a lot untranslated, which is a consistent annoyance. It's not too bad in something like Godzilla (1954) where they mostly just omit people saying each other's names, but in Throne of Blood they don't translate a prophetic song that's pivotal to the story. Their house style is far too rigid.
 
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Sorcerer (1977)

Cruelly ignored on its release due to coinciding with some or other film about wars in space, William Friedkin‘s terse, nihilistic thriller about four fugitives seeking escape from a hellish failed state in Latin America is an astonishing piece of cinema, famously following a nerve-shredding journey through the jungle as the characters drive a shipment of unstable nitro glycerin over the worst terrain imaginable. It hardly feels like its considerable running time, with nearly half the film going past before the trucks even turn a wheel, but barely a frame wasted as each character’s backstory plays out like a complete mini-movie in its own right. My only regret is not being able to see it during its cinema rerelease a few years ago - ironically, the nearest cinema showing it was just too far away travel to...
 
Yami said:
Even ignoring its pro-Confederate stance, racism and misogyny, Gone with the Wind is not a very good movie and thankfully critical opion turned against it over half a century ago. I last saw it a number of years ago when I was suffering from the worst hangover of my life and the film only made it a hundred times worse. It's a producer's film - David O. Selznick's to be exact - and it shows.

The very next film Selznick made was Rebecca with Hitchcock, so he reedemed himself.
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Gone With The Wind was my mums favourite film - she saw it 10 times as it was released so many times over the years
 
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