Movie Thread

[Tricycle Rider]

Getting Gotti (1994) - Another cheesy made-for-TV movie, this time with Lorraine Bracco. Why does she talk so slooooooooow? I think she was bearable in The Sopranos because she had a fairly small role, but as a lead who does all the talking it's terribly annoying.

Anyhoo, the subject matter of the mob itself is interesting, I watched those trashy reality TV shows Mob Wives and Growing Up Gotti as well way back when. Getting Gotti is on the same level as far as quality is concerned, but if the mob interests you it's worth the suffering.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The Untouchables (1987) - Wow, it's as bad as I remember first seeing it back in the late 80s.

Most of the time it's very Disney, but then they throw in a bit of violence and some bad words.

No Godfather of Godfather II this one is!

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

The Untouchables (1987) - Wow, it's as bad as I remember first seeing it back in the late 80s.

Most of the time it's very Disney, but then they throw in a bit of violence and some bad words.

No Godfather of Godfather II this one is!

Typical De Palma. Style over substance. I thought it was okay. One or two good scenes and the rest was blah.

 

[Echoes]

Glad to see other people disliked it. I watched it when about 23 or so, I thought it was so Manichean, good vs evil. Only the Sean Connery character was interesting. A racist on the good side. And then there's the final scene with the pram, just over the top ... Hollywoodian entertainment business. But when I've discussed it with some French left-wingers, I was just ridiculed for hating it.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

And then there's the final scene with the pram, just over the top ... Hollywoodian entertainment business. But when I've discussed it with some French left-wingers, I was just ridiculed for hating it.

Oh yes. That scene was just so cringe-worthy I actually wanted to push the damn woman and her stroller off (or up) the stairs myself!

Ok, on to the next flick...

A Murder of Crows (1998) - With Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Tom Berenger I went into it thinking it had potential to be a great murder mystery, instead it just ended up being kinda cheesy. But they had great shots of New Orleans and Key West, so there's that.

(A great bonus also was that I had learned that a flock of crows would actually be called a "murder" of crows, so there's that as well.)

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Raging Bull (1980) - Nothing more needs to be said.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Raging Bull (1980) - Nothing more needs to be said.

One of De Niro's best and also Scorsese's. I met Jake LaMotta once back in the nineties at a speaking engagement. Still had an iron grip and was still lucid after a long boxing career. Amazingly he is still alive at the age of 96.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

One of De Niro's best and also Scorsese's. I met Jake LaMotta once back in the nineties at a speaking engagement. Still had an iron grip and was still lucid after a long boxing career. Amazingly he is still alive at the age of 96.

This is only the second time I've tackled Raging Bull, it's an excellent film, but just a bit too dark for me.

Ordinary People beat out Raging Bull for the Oscar way back when... Ordinary People is also excellent and rather dark, but at least I am able to re-watch. (Would actually watch it again if Amazon Prime had it for free. )

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

One of De Niro's best and also Scorsese's. I met Jake LaMotta once back in the nineties at a speaking engagement. Still had an iron grip and was still lucid after a long boxing career. Amazingly he is still alive at the age of 96.

This is only the second time I've tackled Raging Bull, it's an excellent film, but just a bit too dark for me.

Ordinary People beat out Raging Bull for the Oscar way back when... Ordinary People is also excellent and rather dark, but at least I am able to re-watch. (Would actually watch it again if Amazon Prime had it for free. )

Ordinary People got slagged off for getting the Oscar instead of Raging Bull but I thought it was very good just a totally different movie. Acting was superb.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Anyone see Alien: Covenant? I know almost nothing about it, and found Prometheus somewhat disappointing. But I'm a big Ridley Scott fan, I love how visual his films are, and how well he tells the story with the camera. So I'm thinking of renting it.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Anyone see Alien: Covenant? I know almost nothing about it, and found Prometheus somewhat disappointing. But I'm a big Ridley Scott fan, I love how visual his films are, and how well he tells the story with the camera. So I'm thinking of renting it.

It was not too bad. Better than Prometheus but the Alien films seem to fit a formula now so not many surprises. Some good set pieces. Some of the visuals were very good. Worth seeing if you like the franchise.

 

[Echoes]

Actually, Inglorious was the first film Tarantino made for the Weinstein's, the most disgusting people in all Hollywood. One of the signataries of the Hollywood Support for Israel against Palestine and who urged the Jews to be "organized as a mafia" http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/217493/harvey-weinstein-urges-jews-to-be-organized-as

Correcting my own post, Tarantino had worked with Weinstein ever since Pulp Fiction. My bad.

A great find by Olivier Berruyer. The moment Weinstein bought the rights of Bernard-Henri Levy's "The Oath of Tobruk" (a documentary film by BHL about how he destroyed Libya). BHL's comment:

"This wonderful film", says Weinstein, "shows BHL's incredible courage" and "former French President Sarkozy's determination." He says it also shows "President Obama's and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's leadership.

Interviewed last night by AFP about the meaning he gives to this news, Bernard-Henri Levy has highlighted the fact that Harvey Weinstein was one of the few Americans was on the right side of the barrier when Roman Polanski was lynched and fiercely opposed to the Modern Salem witches. About the effect that it makes to have his film bought by the one that is considered across the Atlantic and generally speaking in the global cinema market as the World's leading Oscar maker, he replied that his thoughts were first for the massacred Syrians. He concludes: "May this film with its new American career contribute to make the bloodshed stop,
even in a humble way."

A Weinstein-Levy axis against Assad? Yes. A film can also change the World.

Gérard Depardieu said that around 1996, he produced a few films by Nick Cassavetes ("Unhook the Stars" and "She'so so lovely" among others, the last film written by John Cassavetes) and Nick wanted them produced by Miramax (owned by Weinstein at that time). Depardieu claimed that Weinstein tried to hook him on the deal they had made, went to his office, dragged him by the hair and threatened to put out his eyes.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Anyone see Alien: Covenant? I know almost nothing about it, and found Prometheus somewhat disappointing. But I'm a big Ridley Scott fan, I love how visual his films are, and how well he tells the story with the camera. So I'm thinking of renting it.

It was not too bad. Better than Prometheus but the Alien films seem to fit a formula now so not many surprises. Some good set pieces. Some of the visuals were very good. Worth seeing if you like the franchise.

For me it was much worse that Prometheus, a bit too ambitious, tries too hard to be really deep and at the same time some characters act totally braindead, I couldn't enjoy the movie.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Anyone see Alien: Covenant? I know almost nothing about it, and found Prometheus somewhat disappointing. But I'm a big Ridley Scott fan, I love how visual his films are, and how well he tells the story with the camera. So I'm thinking of renting it.

It was not too bad. Better than Prometheus but the Alien films seem to fit a formula now so not many surprises. Some good set pieces. Some of the visuals were very good. Worth seeing if you like the franchise.

For me it was much worse that Prometheus, a bit too ambitious, tries too hard to be really deep and at the same time some characters act totally braindead, I couldn't enjoy the movie.

I have to admit. The best of the recent films are the visuals. The scripts for the last few Alien movies and some of the dialogue has been ordinary. I expected better from Ridley Scott.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The House on Sorority Row (1983) - in the spirit of Halloween I've decided to watch this, for an 80s slasher flick it's actually not too bad. It has a creepy clown, plus, who doesn't enjoy seeing a bunch of spoiled sorority girls get murdered?

It also features a young Eileen Davidson, I was like, where do I know her from? Oh yeah, for a brief while I watched the Young and the Restless! That woman just doesn't age, even today she is still gorgeous.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Watched Gone Girl the other day. Great movie

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Watched Gone Girl the other day. Great movie

Yep, I agree.

This movie totally changed my poor opinion of Ben Affleck. He's a pretty good actor after all...

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

Watched Gone Girl the other day. Great movie

Yep, I agree.

This movie totally changed my poor opinion of Ben Affleck. He's a pretty good actor after all...

Yeah he is a really good actor and it took me awhile to realise it as well. Gone Girl and The Town are definitely my favourite movies of his.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Re: Re:

Watched Gone Girl the other day. Great movie

Yep, I agree.

This movie totally changed my poor opinion of Ben Affleck. He's a pretty good actor after all...

Yeah he is a really good actor and it took me awhile to realise it as well. Gone Girl and The Town are definitely my favourite movies of his.

He was amazing in Argo.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

Watched Gone Girl the other day. Great movie

Yep, I agree.

This movie totally changed my poor opinion of Ben Affleck. He's a pretty good actor after all...

Yeah he is a really good actor and it took me awhile to realise it as well. Gone Girl and The Town are definitely my favourite movies of his.

He was amazing in Argo.

I agree with that.

He's come a long way since "Pearl Harbor", "Jersey Girl" and "Gigli".

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Watched Gone Girl the other day. Great movie

Yep, I agree.

This movie totally changed my poor opinion of Ben Affleck. He's a pretty good actor after all...

Yeah he is a really good actor and it took me awhile to realise it as well. Gone Girl and The Town are definitely my favourite movies of his.

He was amazing in Argo.

He also directed Argo, he's probably even better as a director, he also directed Gone Baby Gone and The Town, two great movies, for years people have looked at me in disbelief when I told them that he has directed a few great movies.
He also co-wrote the screenplay of Good Will Hunting.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Prom Night (1980) - Not quite as good as the original Halloween, but it's still so bad it's good!

Happy Halloween, ya'll!

 

[Echoes]

I think Chavez once banned Halloween in Venezuela. I don't agree with everything Chavez did but on this aspect, he was right.

 

[movingtarget]

Funny how time changes your views on movies. I just rewatched Event Horizon which I thought was pretty good in 1997 but it hasn't aged well at all. As for Halloween and John Carpenter movies I think he made his fair share of dreck but Halloween and The Thing were way above any of his other movies including Escape From New York which I thought was not very good even though it had a decent cast. The Fog was okay.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

Funny how time changes your views on movies. I just rewatched Event Horizon which I thought was pretty good in 1997 but it hasn't aged well at all. As for Halloween and John Carpenter movies I think he made his fair share of dreck but Halloween and The Thing were way above any of his other movies including Escape From New York which I thought was not very good even though it had a decent cast. The Fog was okay.

I watched Halloween again last night (just to annoy Echoes ), I think the sequel was okay. I think it all went downhill after that, though, the later Halloween flicks I didn't even bother with.

It's amazing how the original Halloween was made on a shoestring budget, at times they had to seriously improvise. Here are some factoids about the making of the flick for those interested. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

Agree on The Thing and The Fog, the latter especially gave me the heebie-jeebies way back when.