The "I'm watching/just watched *movie title* thread....

[The Alcoholic]

Just watched two back to back.


Die (2010)
Black Christmas (2006)

[21st Century Man]

did you ever see Ed Wood? If so I would like to read you're review.

Yes but its been 20 years since I last watched it.  I enjoyed it immensely and Landau really nailed Lugosi and his mannerisms.  I do have the film so I'll watch it again and give it a proper review.  It may be my favorite Tim Burton film.  If my memory serves me , it is at least a 4 star film.  Anyway, thanks for the complement.

[akwilly]

Yes but its been 20 years since I last watched it.  I enjoyed it immensely and Landau really nailed Lugosi and his mannerisms.  I do have the film so I'll watch it again and give it a proper review.  It may be my favorite Tim Burton film.  If my memory serves me , it is at least a 4 star film.  Anyway, thanks for the complement.

awesome, I thought it was a great film as well. I look forward to a future review

[ItsOver]

Haha, like me with Interstellar.   

Don't make me mention "Prometheus."  Damn.

[21st Century Man]

THE OMEN MEETS 9/11 and RICHARD BURTON DOES THE LUGOSI THING WITH HIS EYES

in the paranormal thriller, The Medusa Touch (1978) with Burton, Lee Remick and  Lino Ventura.  Able support  from Harry Andrews, Jeremy Brett and Derek Jacobi among others. Many people are under the misconception that Burton only made crap during the latter part of his career.  True, he made his share of crap like The Klansman but this is not one of those films.

    I'll detail the plot and it is rather simple.  In London, Author Morlar (Burton) is attacked by an unknown assailant while he is watching an American space mission going awry on the TV.  All of the astronauts are killed while Burton is bludgeoned many many times and left for dead.   A French detective, Brunel, (Ventura) on exchange with Scotland Yard is assigned the case and they are amazed that Burton is still alive as the blows he received should have killed him.  Expected to die, they take him to the hospital and he is put on life support and in particular, an EEG is hooked up to him and it shows unusual brain activity when Burton should be nothing more than a vegetable.

    Brunel finds out that Burton was seeing a psychologist, Zonfeld (Remick), and instigates several conversations with her.  She details that Morlar was seeing her as he is very disturbed by certain events in his life and these are detailed in the movie via flashbacks.  This is where the film takes an Omen like turn.  We find out that Morlar as a child was present when his nurse and later his parents die.  They had offended Morlar in some way causing him to become enraged.  The parents are killed, on holiday, as they are looking over a cliff into the sea.  Morlar is off in a distant castle ruin overlooking his parents. Their car is parked right behind the parents at a distance of about 20 feet.  The car's parking brake is disengaged and the car totters over to his parents and knocks them into the sea below.

  More deaths ensue but Burton does not suspect that he is responsible until he reaches middle age when the coincidences become too overwhelming for him to dismiss his participation.   Over this period, he becomes disillusioned with the Establishment and envisions society crumbling.

    He realizes that he has a problem and seeks Zonfeld's help.  She is skeptical at first but eventually becomes convinced that Morlar is responsible for many deaths.  And the deaths are multiplying and the disasters are greater in scope.  He is responsible for a jet airliner crashing into a London skyscraper and has an ambition to destroy another symbol of the Establishment, a great English cathedral where the Queen will be in attendance.  He doesn't want to stop there as he also envisions a nuclear disaster. He literally can't help himself and he acts like a man possessed even in his semi catatonic state.  Can he be stopped?  The answer might surprise you.

     Anyway, I don't want to give too much more away.  The camera is always focusing on Burton's eyes when he is in the grips of his visions.  It reminded me a lot of how Lugosi was filmed in Dracula and White Zombie.  Remick was undoubtedly chosen for her role because of her appearance in The Omen.  This movie was obviously made to cash in on that film but the British production was top notch and it holds up quite well on its own.  Burton and the rest of the cast were quite good. Remick in particular was impressive. I'm not familiar with Ventura but he made a fine detective. The special effects were very good for 1978.  The scene where the plane crashes into the skyscraper was particularly well-done and left me very disturbed due in part to the later tragedy.  No doubt, disaster films like The Poseidon Adventure, Airport, and The Towering Inferno were also influences. Suspense and tension build as the movie goes along so if you don't like the first 10 minutes, give it a bit of time.  One of the best paranormal thrillers of the 1970's and probably the best film Burton made late in his career. 4 stars out of 5.

[VtaGeezer]

Not a movie, but there's nowhere else on BG appropriate to vent. Sunday, I watched half of the final Game of Thrones episode from Season 5.  Turned it off. I'm done with GOT. I've accepted the gross violence and some perverted themes because of the complex story, but fantasy be damned; portraying the sacrifice of a child character burned alive, complete with several minutes of her hideous shrieking, crossed a line for me.  We get the std bullshit about artistic freedom, but I'm convinced this cinematic pus is conceived in corporate board rooms and the details to be featured are shopped with writers and film makers.  We're being fed increasing doses of the truly monstrous to normalize depravity.  Object at peril of being declared uncool and an anti-free speech fascist.

[albrecht]

Not a movie, but there's nowhere else on BG appropriate to vent. Sunday, I watched half of the final Game of Thrones episode from Season 5.  Turned it off. I'm done with GOT. I've accepted the gross violence and some perverted themes because of the complex story, but fantasy be damned; portraying the sacrifice of a child character burned alive, complete with several minutes of her hideous shrieking, crossed a line for me.  We get the std bullshit about artistic freedom, but I'm convinced this cinematic pus is conceived in corporate board rooms and the details to be featured are shopped with writers and film makers.  We're being fed increasing doses of the truly monstrous to normalize depravity.  Object at peril of being declared uncool and an anti-free speech fascist.

Obama loved it and has demanded to get the next season before the release to the public.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/13/this-outrage-will-not-stand-president-obama-got-advanced-copies-of-the-new-season-of-game-of-thrones/

I never watched the show but heard it is typical of the modern Hollywood which is either to remake old movies/shows or simply to see who can seek the most base, shocking, violent, or lowest common-denominator. Admittedly, ancient stories, myths, and legends had lots of violence and depravity but at least you needed to know how to read (or even learn other languages) and, for the most part, the descriptions were brief and not dwelt upon as sole purpose and usually had a moral message (the hubris or debauchery etc causes the downfall of the person.) 

[analog kid]

Obama loved it and has demanded to get the next season before the release to the public.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/13/this-outrage-will-not-stand-president-obama-got-advanced-copies-of-the-new-season-of-game-of-thrones/

I never watched the show but heard it is typical of the modern Hollywood which is either to remake old movies/shows or simply to see who can seek the most base, shocking, violent, or lowest common-denominator. Admittedly, ancient stories, myths, and legends had lots of violence and depravity but at least you needed to know how to read (or even learn other languages) and, for the most part, the descriptions were brief and not dwelt upon as sole purpose and usually had a moral message (the hubris or debauchery etc causes the downfall of the person.)

First he eats a cheeseburger and now he's watching TV? When will this national nightmare be over.

[albrecht]

First he eats a cheeseburger and now he's watching TV? When will this national nightmare be over.

"The One" is above watching tv, he demands he gets the program before the "little people."

But back to subject, rewatched "My Blue Heaven" last night. Not Steve Martin's best stuff but he did a good job and a solid supporting cast and pretty funny.

[analog kid]

"The One" is above watching tv, he demands he gets the program before the "little people."

But back to subject, rewatched "My Blue Heaven" last night. Not Steve Martin's best stuff but he did a good job and a solid supporting cast and pretty funny.

He did the same thing with the first season of True Detective, prompting this tweet from one of the actresses..

https://twitter.com/aadaddario/status/435672641966313472

Okay, done with the off subject stuff.

[21st Century Man]

Not a movie, but there's nowhere else on BG appropriate to vent. Sunday, I watched half of the final Game of Thrones episode from Season 5.  Turned it off. I'm done with GOT. I've accepted the gross violence and some perverted themes because of the complex story, but fantasy be damned; portraying the sacrifice of a child character burned alive, complete with several minutes of her hideous shrieking, crossed a line for me.  We get the std bullshit about artistic freedom, but I'm convinced this cinematic pus is conceived in corporate board rooms and the details to be featured are shopped with writers and film makers.  We're being fed increasing doses of the truly monstrous to normalize depravity.  Object at peril of being declared uncool and an anti-free speech fascist.

Oh do I have a movie for you.  I can't help being fascinated about how low can Hollywood go.  I just watched the second modern installment of I Spit On Your Grave (2013) on cable.   The lead actress was beautiful but after excruciating amounts of rape, torture and a premature burial, she exacts revenge in unique ways which I won't go into other than tell you shit and piss was heavily involved and a vice was used in an unusual way.  It was the most disgusting thing that I've ever seen at the movies and I've seen The Human Centipede. It had fairly high production values too.  I guess this movie gets a pass for being a sort of proto-feminist piece but it simply went waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy too far.  Not to mention the fact that for every time the anti-heroine screamed, I wanted to shoot the TV. 0 out of 5 stars for I Spit On Your Grave 2.

[albrecht]

Just watched two back to back.


Die (2010)
Black Christmas (2006)

Have you seen the original Black Christmas (1974) with Margot Kidder and the great John Saxon? One of my favorites and really good and funny also. One of the first "slasher" films but also had some funny scenes in addition to the thrills. Worth checking out, especially around Christmas time. Makes a good paring with "Its A Wonderful Life" (kidding there.)

[21st Century Man]

I should add that I've never walked out of a movie ever nor have I turned one off after I had committed myself to watching it from the beginning.  I was sorely tempted with this one.

[zeebo]

Don't make me mention "Prometheus."  Damn.

Oh damn now you just made me think about it too.   

[coaster]

I'm watching London Has Fallen. The cgi is laughable. Just pure shit. I won't be finishing this one.
edit- I got half way through the movie. When their helicopter crashed, I was hoping they were all dead. They survived, so I shut it off. Horrible movie. Two thumbs down.

[21st Century Man]

   I finally watched There Will Be Blood (2008)and I'm of two minds on that film.  There was brilliance in the movie but there was a lot of pretentious bullshit too.  It was powerful but unrelentingly slow with screechy, discordant  classical music that really didn't suit the film. I don't know what Paul Thomas Anderson was thinking.  It is based on a book by Upton Sinclair, the mudracking journalist. I won't dwell on the plot as I frankly don't want to bother spending much time on it. I will just say that Lewis plays a character whose driven by greed and lust for money and he makes his living digging for oil, swindling people on the way up. By the end of the movie, you hate every character other than the young man who plays his "son".  The bowling pin scene was brutal.

    Daniel Day Lewis is brilliant as Daniel Plainview but Paul Dano is extremely annoying as Eli Sunday, an Elmer Gantry-like preacher. He just does not come across as genuine and I have a hard time believing that he could ever build a church congregation. Yeah, I know, Plainview is as much a fake as Eli Sunday. I guess I' m supposed to believe the two characters are distorted mirror images of the other.   Robert Altman's influence is profound in this movie which for me is not necessarily a good thing.  I'm really not a big fan of his work though I've liked a film of his every now and then.  I want to give this film 1 and a half stars.  I was ready for it to be over at the 2 hour mark for the music and Dano drove me batty.  However, Lewis really was extremely good in his role and there are moments that are classic and the cinematography is first rate.  For that, I will raise the film to 3.25 stars out of 5. I will probably never watch this film again though.  A disappointment for me overall, but I do recommend it for a one time viewing.  I hope you like it better than I did.  My wife didn't care for it at all.

  Next I will review some old movies from the Forbidden Hollywood Warner Archive set, volume 7 but I still have to watch 1 more from that set.  It always comforts me to watch old movies especially after watching dreck like I Spit On Your Grave 2.

[zeebo]

   I finally watched There Will Be Blood (2008)and I'm of two minds on that film.  There was brilliance in the movie but there was a lot of pretentious bullshit too....

I just quoted that part since it perfectly sums up my opinion as well.

[21st Century Man]

I just quoted that part since it perfectly sums up my opinion as well.

LOL.

[Brody]

Wizard of OZ

https://wwesplendora.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/dorothys-abuse-the-horrors-of-the-oz-set/

The story of Judy Garland being starved, drugged and molested while making the Hollywood classic. Pretty sad stuff.

[coaster]

I watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels last night. It was one of those movies that everyone has seen, but for one reason or another flew under my radar. I thought it was a funny little movie for what it was, just a movie that wasn't trying to take itself seriously. Steve Martin was classic Steve Martin, playing the goofball to Michael Caine's straight man, and the two main characters played off of each other very well. There were some very funny scenes in the movie and I thought Martin's "Ruprecht" character was hilarious. The twist ending was obvious, even from when they first introduced Gleene Headley's character, but I didn't care because it meant taking no effort on my part to enjoy. Sometimes that is fun, just turning off your brain and enjoying a goofy comedy. I think it's a perfect weekend movie.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF8QAeQm3ZM

[coaster]

   I finally watched There Will Be Blood (2008)and I'm of two minds on that film.

Paul Dano is extremely annoying as Eli Sunday, an Elmer Gantry-like preacher.

Paul Dano is the epitome of over-actor. I can not stand him. Lewis is obviously one of the greatest actors ever, and I think Dano fed off that, but it came out horribly. Daniel Day Lewis he is not.
If you enjoy Lewis, watch My Left Foot, one of his best performances.

[21st Century Man]

I watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels last night. It was one of those movies that everyone has seen, but for one reason or another flew under my radar. I thought it was a funny little movie for what it was, just a movie that wasn't trying to take itself seriously. Steve Martin was classic Steve Martin, playing the goofball to Michael Caine's straight man, and the two main characters played off of each other very well. There were some very funny scenes in the movie and I thought Martin's "Ruprecht" character was hilarious. The twist ending was obvious, even from when they first introduced Gleene Headley's character, but I didn't care because it meant taking no effort on my part to enjoy. Sometimes that is fun, just turning off your brain and enjoying a goofy comedy. I think it's a perfect weekend movie.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF8QAeQm3ZM

Everyone in my family loves it.  I haven't seen it since the 80's though.

[21st Century Man]

Paul Dano is the epitome of over-actor. I can not stand him. Lewis is obviously one of the greatest actors ever, and I think Dano fed off that, but it came out horribly. Daniel Day Lewis he is not.
If you enjoy Lewis, watch My Left Foot, one of his best performances.

I'll do that.  I bought it a few years back on dvd but have yet to watch it.  You hit the nail on the head about Dano in There Will Be Blood.  However, Dano was pretty good as Brian Wilson in Love And Mercy so maybe there is hope for him.  It was initially weird hearing a rather gruff voice coming out of Lewis in There Will Be Blood but I got used to it in about 5 minutes. Only a great actor can  pull that off.

[coaster]

Only a great actor can  pull that off.

Lewis is one of my favorite actors. The guy really sets the bar. I love reading stories about his antics during productions. He stays in character while off set and acts insane. That has to be fun and frustrating at the same time.

[Étouffée]

Lewis is one of my favorite actors. The guy really sets the bar. I love reading stories about his antics during productions. He stays in character while off set and acts insane. That has to be fun and frustrating at the same time.

Can you imagine hanging around him during the filming of "Gangs of New York"?  I swear I sat through that entire ordeal of antique urban mayhem and weirdness not realizing that Bill the Butcher was Daniel Day Lewis.  I kept saying: "who is this guy, he's brilliant?!"

Can I request a review of that, too, 21stCM? 
ps:  I loved everything about "Ed Wood".  The depiction of the unlikely friendship between Wood and Legosi was downright touching.

[21st Century Man]

Can you imagine hanging around him during the filming of "Gangs of New York"?  I swear I sat through that entire ordeal of antique urban mayhem and weirdness not realizing that Bill the Butcher was Daniel Day Lewis.  I kept saying: "who is this guy, he's brilliant?!"

Can I request a review of that, too, 21stCM? 
ps:  I loved everything about "Ed Wood".  The depiction of the unlikely friendship between Wood and Legosi was downright touching.

Sure, I have it around here and I'll pop it back in one of these days.  That was an excellent film.

[Étouffée]

Sure, I have it around here and I'll pop it back in one of these days.  That was an excellent film.

Thanks very much! It was an eyeful of a film (and an earful. I saw it in a packed theater on Christmas Day with 4 visitors from Dublin. They kept laughing at Cameron Diaz and L. diCaprio's fecked-up brogues). 

I really like your reviews; they're well-written and cover an interesting breadth of genres.  I especially enjoy learning about the pre-code films.

[coaster]

Can you imagine hanging around him during the filming of "Gangs of New York"?  I swear I sat through that entire ordeal of antique urban mayhem and weirdness not realizing that Bill the Butcher was Daniel Day Lewis.  I kept saying: "who is this guy, he's brilliant?!"

Hes incredible. I would absolutely love to watch him work.

Can I request a review of that, too, 21stCM? 

ok, I have to say this. I am a cinephile, I love movies. I am a dolt. 21st Century Man rocks. And he is the reason I read this thread. Your reviews obviously do not go unappreciated bud.

[21st Century Man]

Hes incredible. I would absolutely love to watch him work.
ok, I have to say this. I am a cinephile, I love movies. I am a dolt. 21st Century Man rocks. And he is the reason I read this thread. Your reviews obviously do not go unappreciated bud.

Now you have me blushing.   You really are too kind, coaster.  I will be posting some movie reviews shortly for some older films next.  One of my aims with the reviews to older movies is to provide an incentive to watch something that might be perceived as antiquated by some contemporary movie viewers.  Hopefully, I will rouse the curiosity and  people will want to go check them out.

Anyway, I watched quite a few pre-codes lately and a couple of silents, one by De Mille and the other by Griffith.  I'll post my reviews in the next couple of days.

[21st Century Man]

A movie that I will not be reviewing.

Ambiancé: The world's longest ever film gets a seven hour trailer
Well, seven hours and 20 minutes to be precise

We're not entirely sure why you'd need to watch a seven-hour trailer in order to work out whether you fancy seeing a film that lasts for 30 days, but cancel your plans - one has arrived.

Swedish director Anders Weberg has released a second full-length trailer for his upcoming experimental film Ambiancé and it runs for a total of 439 minutes.

Weberg, who is also an artist, released a 72-minute long teaser trailer last year. He reportedly has an even bigger one due for release in 2018 (mark your calendars now) that will run for 72 hours.



The abstract non-linear film features two performance artists on a beach in southern Sweden - and that's about it. There are no cuts.

Described as a tale where “space and time is intertwined into a surreal dream-like journey beyond places," this film seems purely to exist for the most dedicated film enthusiasts. Will you sit through the finished product?

Ambiancé  is released on December 31, 2020. 


   

More at

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/ambianc-the-worlds-longest-ever-film-gets-a-seven-hour-trailer-a6989561.html

Life is way too short to watch two people on a beach do little for 30 days.  Good luck finding a theater.