Zara
G.O.A.T.
You will need to get the ouija board out in less than 3 weeks.
What was the last movie you watched?
- Thread starter jamesblakefan#1
- Start date
You will need to get the ouija board out in less than 3 weeks.
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
What?
Rafa.the.Magnificent
G.O.A.T.
Once Upon a Time in the West, the 1968 epic Spaghetti Western film. Notable, to me, for awesome music and a story told mostly by long stares and looks that could kill!
Zara
G.O.A.T.
What?
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
I will try with the Ouija board later. I expect the communication is clearer.
Zara
G.O.A.T.
Did you ever use the Ouija board for real?
One time when I was in college and was hanging out at a friend's place and the parents were out of town. So we decided to hang out there. It was around 10pm and was drizzling outside and we're just chilling as usual. Then suddenly the power went out and all of a sudden it was pitch dark. Very unusual but we had candles to light up the room enough. There were 5 of us (3 boys and 2 girls) and one of the boys - whose house it was - suggested that we get the Ouija board out and call a friend of ours who passed away the year before in a car accident. He had a board and the night seemed ideal.
So we sat down in the dining room - the 5 of us - and put our fingers on the planchette. And the friend who seemed like an expert starting calling the spirit aloud. At first, we just wanted to call out any spirit (just didn't want to get all emotional right away in case our diseased friend appeared. Also, it was supposed to be fun). There were some suggestions like 'oh let's call Einstein or Newton' etc. while I suggested Buddha (lol) or Socrates but I was also keen on Einstien. One of the guys even suggested Adolfe but we gave him the FFS look because we thought that would be like inviting evil or Satan himself (lmho).
Anyway, our friend started calling out the spirit and I say this with all the love in my heart but he had a funny voice and the moment he started saying, 'Dear Spirit, whoever you are, would you please come forward and let us know your presence?' - I just started giggling because the whole sight of my friend trying to call the spirit in oh so serious manner in that funny voice just threw me off. But anyway, he tried two more times but all in vain, because I just couldn't stop giggling and it was too infectious to the point it was affecting others. So someone got up and got the throw from the sofa chair and threw on my face but I still continued to giggle and my girl friend or BFF said, it was creeping her out because the giggle was coming out of my covered face so I had to take it off but needed to get serious.
After trying a few times, I was able to manage myself and got serious and paid attention to the planchette. Within a few minutes, it started moving and I remember we kept blaming each other, 'are you moving it?', 'No!', 'I thought you're moving it?' etc. This is when we got completely hooked because we couldn't tell if any one of us was moving it or if it was moving on its own. It then spelled a name that we couldn't make any sense of it. One of the guys was freaking out a bit much and kept saying if we should quit but the rest of us were braver so we thought we should continue. It was a male spirit and didn't seem very friendly as it wouldn't share much information; however, some of us were convinced it was one of us who was messing with us but the thing continued to move as we continue to ask questions. But the friend who freaked all of a sudden took his finger off and within a few seconds, one of the candles fell from the credenza and someone made this weird noise with their tongue and the friend that got all freaked out pushed his chair out in a such a manner we thought the spirit was dragging him out of his chair, because he took his finger off. My BFF who was right next to me got up and started screaming at the top of her lunge that would even freak the spirit out and then she ran out the door and went straight to the kitchen still screaming. Lmho! We were completely dumbfounded and one of my friends looked at me and said in this freaky voice, 'I think he's right behind you.' (till this day I think it was him who pulled the stunt on us) and I got up the chair right away and looked behind and there was nothing but the curtain behind me was slightly moving even though there was no air. The electricity was still out and it was almost midnight at that time. The friend who owned the Ouija board quick folded it but before he did he say, 'sorry to upset you. Please forgive us and kindly leave.' I started giggling again even though I too was creeped out. Anyway, we then all went to the kitchen to comfort our friend who was basically still shaking. Nothing happened that night even though some felt the spirit was still there and was hanging around but nothing unusual happened after that. I think by the time we finally went to sleep it was almost 4am. We later figured out that it spelled its name backward and went by the name 'Seth'.
borg number one
Legend
Coming to America with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
Cluny Brown (1946) - With Jennifer_Jones and Charles_Boyer.
Light comedy about a girl with a passion for plumbing, working as a parlour maid at a country house, falling in love with the boring local chemist, while a Czech resistance fighter who is a guest falls in love with her. LOL. Not bad, really
Light comedy about a girl with a passion for plumbing, working as a parlour maid at a country house, falling in love with the boring local chemist, while a Czech resistance fighter who is a guest falls in love with her. LOL. Not bad, really
borg number one
Legend
Wild ending to this one. I saw this in the theatre soon after it was released. it was entertaining. I enjoy a lot of movies set in the 60’s-70’s or made back then.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
All action, suspense, drama!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_22
Read on some forums that claim CIA former field agents that this was more true to life then “any” movie or TV take on what actually happens! Love this movie! I thinking about buying this movie!
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Sentinel
Bionic Poster
Punchline (1988) - Sally_Field and Tom_Hanks are two struggling standup comedians. She is new and he's good at his job but not making any money. They appear for a contest organized by some TV network.
Quite funny. I like both the actors so it was okay.
Quite funny. I like both the actors so it was okay.
Third Serve
Talk Tennis Guru
The Fugitive
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
Have u scene BlackKklansmen ?
Azure
G.O.A.T.
No, I haven't! And really, your spelling
!!
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
Criticism coming from someone who just poasted about kind souls !No, I haven't! And really, your spelling
Gary Duane
G.O.A.T.
The Girl in the
Spider's Web
Not worth a minute of the two hours or so I'll never get back.
Spider's Web
Not worth a minute of the two hours or so I'll never get back.
Azure
G.O.A.T.
Haha I assumed this was not on purpose since you inadvertently do switch to alternate spellings once in a while
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
The Major and the Minor (1942) - Ginger_Rogers and Ray_Milland. Directed by Billy_Wilder.
Started off quite well with Robert_Benchley playing a sureshesque middle aged man who cracks lame jokes and hits on younger women. But then they removed him, and it went on to Ginger playing a 12 yo girl which became a little annoying after a while.
As often happens in these old movies, a very convenient end all of a sudden.
Started off quite well with Robert_Benchley playing a sureshesque middle aged man who cracks lame jokes and hits on younger women. But then they removed him, and it went on to Ginger playing a 12 yo girl which became a little annoying after a while.
As often happens in these old movies, a very convenient end all of a sudden.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
Best of the decade lists are starting to come out https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/the-best-films-of-the-2010s
Not a bad list, but too Americacentric. Not surprised to see Tree of Life at #1
Not a bad list, but too Americacentric. Not surprised to see Tree of Life at #1
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
"Ex Machina"
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Sentinel
Bionic Poster
I watched it just before the Pulwama attack and was shocked at how the events transpired as in the movie.
Azure
G.O.A.T.
Wasn't this around Clinton's time? Sex scandal cover-up kind?
That's why I like these kind of movies. They are relevant after all these years
Azure
G.O.A.T.
Yes a bit too much emphasis on Hollywood I think.
Sysyphus
Talk Tennis Guru
“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
– Sigmund Freud
Dolor y gloria, or Pain and Glory, is a film by the by the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar about a Spanish filmmaker who seems to have conspicuously much in common with Pedro Almodóvar, although he's called Salvador instead. Early on in the movie, Salvador seeks out an estranged actor friend who starred in his earliest hits. In a delicious touch of irony, Salvador is played by Antonio Banderas who played in Almodóvar's early hits but had a long-lasting falling-out with the director. At one point Banderas wears Almodóvar's shoes, not just figuratively but literally. So quite obviously we are dealing with a personal piece of filmmaking, about an artist who has come to a point where he is looking back across a life that's had a lot of breakage, reminiscing about his childhood with his mother, portrayed by Almodóvar-regular Penélope Cruz.
The story isn't the most tightly knit, more of a series of vignettes and episodes, trailing back and forth between the present day and the childhood recollections. This fixation on the nature of memory and non-linear representation is a familiar device in modernist cinema. But unlike something like Alain Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour, Almodóvar doesn't seem to as interested in the distortions and fallibility of memory but rather in memories as the aesthetic objects of a director. The recollections are tender and beautified, as if shrouded in a dreamlike haze; Cruz, clad in bright floral dresses, practically glistens as she drapes wet laundry by the riverside. If the story itself is of the more modest, quiet kind, as a piece of visual filmmaking it is certainly a ravishing thing to look at on the big screen. Almodóvar's eye for color coordination imbues most scenes with splendor. At times the film drifts quite far into melancholy, but the humor and absurdity is there to balance the scales.
– Sigmund Freud
Dolor y gloria, or Pain and Glory, is a film by the by the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar about a Spanish filmmaker who seems to have conspicuously much in common with Pedro Almodóvar, although he's called Salvador instead. Early on in the movie, Salvador seeks out an estranged actor friend who starred in his earliest hits. In a delicious touch of irony, Salvador is played by Antonio Banderas who played in Almodóvar's early hits but had a long-lasting falling-out with the director. At one point Banderas wears Almodóvar's shoes, not just figuratively but literally. So quite obviously we are dealing with a personal piece of filmmaking, about an artist who has come to a point where he is looking back across a life that's had a lot of breakage, reminiscing about his childhood with his mother, portrayed by Almodóvar-regular Penélope Cruz.
The story isn't the most tightly knit, more of a series of vignettes and episodes, trailing back and forth between the present day and the childhood recollections. This fixation on the nature of memory and non-linear representation is a familiar device in modernist cinema. But unlike something like Alain Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour, Almodóvar doesn't seem to as interested in the distortions and fallibility of memory but rather in memories as the aesthetic objects of a director. The recollections are tender and beautified, as if shrouded in a dreamlike haze; Cruz, clad in bright floral dresses, practically glistens as she drapes wet laundry by the riverside. If the story itself is of the more modest, quiet kind, as a piece of visual filmmaking it is certainly a ravishing thing to look at on the big screen. Almodóvar's eye for color coordination imbues most scenes with splendor. At times the film drifts quite far into melancholy, but the humor and absurdity is there to balance the scales.
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Sentinel
Bionic Poster
The Secret Garden (1993) - simple charming movie about children.
A girl, orphaned in India, returns to Britain to a 100-room country house owned by her mysterious uncle and run by a stern, unfriendly housekeeper (good old Maggie_Smith). She hears strange noises at night. Slowly she makes friends with everyone and explores the moor discovering the secret garden.
Directed by Agnieska_Holland (director of Europa Europa)
en.wikipedia.org
A girl, orphaned in India, returns to Britain to a 100-room country house owned by her mysterious uncle and run by a stern, unfriendly housekeeper (good old Maggie_Smith). She hears strange noises at night. Slowly she makes friends with everyone and explores the moor discovering the secret garden.
Directed by Agnieska_Holland (director of Europa Europa)
The Secret Garden (1993 film) - Wikipedia
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Azure
G.O.A.T.
I somehow couldn't even finish the movie. It started of with great promise. The premise of the story is wonderful. I didn't think it was Almodovar at his best. I was quite disappointed.“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
– Sigmund Freud
Dolor y gloria, or Pain and Glory, is a film by the by the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar about a Spanish filmmaker who seems to have conspicuously much in common with Pedro Almodóvar, although he's called Salvador instead. Early on in the movie, Salvador seeks out an estranged actor friend who starred in his earliest hits. In a delicious touch of irony, Salvador is played by Antonio Banderas who played in Almodóvar's early hits but had a long-lasting falling-out with the director. At one point Banderas wears Almodóvar's shoes, not just figuratively but literally. So quite obviously we are dealing with a personal piece of filmmaking, about an artist who has come to a point where he is looking back across a life that's had a lot of breakage, reminiscing about his childhood with his mother, portrayed by Almodóvar-regular Penélope Cruz.
The story isn't the most tightly knit, more of a series of vignettes and episodes, trailing back and forth between the present day and the childhood recollections. This fixation on the nature of memory and non-linear representation is a familiar device in modernist cinema. But unlike something like Alain Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour, Almodóvar doesn't seem to as interested in the distortions and fallibility of memory but rather in memories as the aesthetic objects of a director. The recollections are tender and beautified, as if shrouded in a dreamlike haze; Cruz, clad in bright floral dresses, practically glistens as she drapes wet laundry by the riverside. If the story itself is of the more modest, quiet kind, as a piece of visual filmmaking it is certainly a ravishing thing to look at on the big screen. Almodóvar's eye for color coordination imbues most scenes with splendor. At times the film drifts quite far into melancholy, but the humor and absurdity is there to balance the scales.
This looks like a film I would enjoy watching.The Secret Garden (1993) - simple charming movie about children.
A girl, orphaned in India, returns to Britain to a 100-room country house owned by her mysterious uncle and run by a stern, unfriendly housekeeper (good old Maggie_Smith). She hears strange noises at night. Slowly she makes friends with everyone and explores the moor discovering the secret garden.
Directed by Agnieska_Holland (director of Europa Europa)
The Secret Garden (1993 film) - Wikipedia
I watched The Firm (1993), Sydney Pollack
Decent watch, gave me the thrills, I like John Grisham's knowledge of the law and have read a lot of his works in another life so this was quite a nice casual watch on a lazy afternoon for me.
acintya
Legend
Sysyphus
Talk Tennis Guru
interesting. What put you off to the point where you couldn't even be bothered to finish it?
Mike Bulgakov
G.O.A.T.
ollinger
G.O.A.T.
"Motherless Brooklyn"
Edward Norton wrote, directed, and stars in this mildly engaging sleuth drama revolving around a character based on master builder Robert Moses. Made more interesting when you recall that Norton's grandfather was master builder James Rouse. A bit long but worth a try.
Edward Norton wrote, directed, and stars in this mildly engaging sleuth drama revolving around a character based on master builder Robert Moses. Made more interesting when you recall that Norton's grandfather was master builder James Rouse. A bit long but worth a try.
Azure
G.O.A.T.
I think I watched it until the point wherein the director was being called on stage to receive an award. He chooses not to go and has a brawl with his friend again after speaking on telephone to the audience. I couldn't watch it beyond that point because the director was showing me what was happening rather than why it was happening so. The flashbacks to childhood were not giving me any clues either as to why the character was shaped that way. I couldn't get into the skin of Banderas' character. Without that it's hard for me to go on, especially in a supposedly heavy film
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Joker
NonP
Legend
Since I was talking to Moose about it earlier let's start with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the sequel to the sans-subtitle 2014 film starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning (both of whom reprise their roles here) which per the aggregated scores was at least superior to the villainess-cum-antiheroine-cum-Disney heroine par excellence's latest outing. I'm not sure what the reviewers think they saw, but what I saw was a marked improvement over the bland original across the board, due in no small part to the introduction of Queen Ingrith (played to perfection by Michelle Pfeiffer) who's every bit Maleficent's equal in every scene they share or she claims by herself. It's a rare treat to see such luminous beauties face off in a battle of wits that does not call upon their physical assets - once you get past Jolie's suitably freaky fangs and cheekbones, that is - and I say the showdown between the two at the pre-wedding dinner reception alone is worth the price of admission (a brief snippet in this trailer):
Still I can't say that I enjoyed this more than The Huntsman: Winter's War, its maligned blockbuster sibling from 2016 which was labeled a bust for the cardinal sin of underperforming at the box office. No major character save maybe one dies here (talk about a big spoiler, eh?), and more importantly there's no complex relationship between love and fate to speak of. Also while Fanning as Princess Aurora and the rest of the cast do an admirable job this is decidedly Maleficent/Jolie and Ingrith/Pfeiffer's show, so when the two are absent the movie tends to drag, especially in the climactic battle sequence which could've been shorter. When the stars do show up, though, it's glorious, especially on the big screen. You know what to do.
Got one more (if less wholehearted) thumbs-up: Cyrano, My Love or Edmond (depending on your region), an adaptation of Alexis Michalik's 2016 play of the same (latter) name in his feature directorial debut. Much comparison has been made with Shakespeare in Love with which it presumably shares the conceit of an in-real-life play begetting a real play, and it's been so long since I've seen the latter (basically when it came out) that I can't make much of the comparison itself, but I highly doubt that this welcome effort from the Franco-British director will prove as forgettable as the earlier fluff whose raison d'etre was not to challenge the audience but to flatter their sense of sophistication for having engaged with the Bard via a two-hour arthouse film. I don't mean to overplay this distinction - the play-in-play conceit has been invoked too many time to count - and we should also keep in mind that this film is about Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, whose subjects - both its creation and the man himself who was a distinguished writer in his own right - are less familiar to most of us English speakers including yours truly. All that said I cannot second the seeming consensus that this new film is less fun and more derivative than the 1998 Best Picture Oscar winner, especially when it rightly directs its focus less on the great man (Edmond) than on the creative process itself - in typical French fashion, less a series of sparks of individual genius than one of serendipitous collaboration - while offering familiar but heartfelt meditations on love that do not feel for one moment misplaced.
Wish I'd posted this at least a week sooner (the film's no longer playing in my area), but hope you can still catch it in your own hood:
Now we come to Jojo Rabbit, one of the year's surefire Oscar nominees. I've before named Taika Waititi as an emerging talent to keep an eye on and my guarded enthusiasm remains, and I was glad to see that he tries to treat the Holocaust with the seriousness it deserves (this is a clearly superior effort to Life Is Beautiful, or its unctuous second half at any rate). But I must say I'm still not sure any Holocaust comedy can avoid calling to mind Adorno's famous pronouncement that "to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." I suppose I should add at this point that the whole cast (including Waititi himself as Adolf, the protagonist's imaginary incarnation of the Führer) could hardly be bettered and the director's way with the child/teen actors deserves special praise, but as you can see I'm still trying to digest this one:
On to housekeeping:
I've never cared for the RB gang but they've really exposed themselves as industry stooges now. Most of their picks are precisely the very award favorites I'd say have been overrated even among American candidates, and their inclusion of the two Joshua Oppenheimer documentaries shows where their politics truly lies. Of course the latter isn't exactly a minority position, but if they're going to keep insisting that the sensory shocks and proven tropes of genre films - including not just the Oppenheimer docs but also such recent examples as Us, The Realm, Ready or Not and Parasite - are the most illuminating ways we can understand the world via cinema then they should make no bones about it, rather than pretend they care just as much about the victims portrayed (if they're portrayed at all) or the audience's self-critique and -contemplation which said films are decidedly less interested in if not outright silent on.
And speaking of superior candidates....
Here's one. Among my top five picks of 2015 (though I'd need to go back and see if I've come across other worthy titles since then) and one I'd clearly put above most of the RE gang's picks.
All things considered, probably Bergman's best feature. But his trademark misanthropy and misogyny were already creeping in, which (largely) can't be said of my fave Bergman, the achingly ravishing Summer Interlude:
I was actually intrigued by this one 'cause Norton is a thoughtful actor and seems to have somewhat intimate knowledge of Robert Caro's magnum opus The Power Broker, and while his first directorial feature Keeping the Faith was a barely passable romcom this was going to be his first one which he both wrote and directed. But then I came across another interview where he said this: "Too much power truly does warp a person, even a very brilliant person who was once an authentic idealist." In other words, the old chestnut that power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I hate to break it to you, Ed, but you missed Caro's central insight: power reveals, and whatever corruption stems from the erstwhile "authentic idealist" is in fact an authentic map of where his priorities lie. And something tells me the great biographer would dispute your characterization of Moses as "once an authentic idealist."
It's still a fine thriller and despite its length I can't say I was bored for one second (Alec Baldwin gives one of his very best performances here), but given all the talents involved the film could've been much better. Norton seems to have consulted the novelist Jonathan Lethem but not Robert Caro himself, and that potentially fatal mistake indeed doomed this venture which toes the familiar Hollywood line that corruption in America is inevitable and can be avoided only by individuals through cunning and gaming of the system (Norton plays a savant with Tourette syndrome, go figure):
P.S. Forgot a couple of links which now have been included.
Still I can't say that I enjoyed this more than The Huntsman: Winter's War, its maligned blockbuster sibling from 2016 which was labeled a bust for the cardinal sin of underperforming at the box office. No major character save maybe one dies here (talk about a big spoiler, eh?), and more importantly there's no complex relationship between love and fate to speak of. Also while Fanning as Princess Aurora and the rest of the cast do an admirable job this is decidedly Maleficent/Jolie and Ingrith/Pfeiffer's show, so when the two are absent the movie tends to drag, especially in the climactic battle sequence which could've been shorter. When the stars do show up, though, it's glorious, especially on the big screen. You know what to do.
Got one more (if less wholehearted) thumbs-up: Cyrano, My Love or Edmond (depending on your region), an adaptation of Alexis Michalik's 2016 play of the same (latter) name in his feature directorial debut. Much comparison has been made with Shakespeare in Love with which it presumably shares the conceit of an in-real-life play begetting a real play, and it's been so long since I've seen the latter (basically when it came out) that I can't make much of the comparison itself, but I highly doubt that this welcome effort from the Franco-British director will prove as forgettable as the earlier fluff whose raison d'etre was not to challenge the audience but to flatter their sense of sophistication for having engaged with the Bard via a two-hour arthouse film. I don't mean to overplay this distinction - the play-in-play conceit has been invoked too many time to count - and we should also keep in mind that this film is about Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, whose subjects - both its creation and the man himself who was a distinguished writer in his own right - are less familiar to most of us English speakers including yours truly. All that said I cannot second the seeming consensus that this new film is less fun and more derivative than the 1998 Best Picture Oscar winner, especially when it rightly directs its focus less on the great man (Edmond) than on the creative process itself - in typical French fashion, less a series of sparks of individual genius than one of serendipitous collaboration - while offering familiar but heartfelt meditations on love that do not feel for one moment misplaced.
Wish I'd posted this at least a week sooner (the film's no longer playing in my area), but hope you can still catch it in your own hood:
Now we come to Jojo Rabbit, one of the year's surefire Oscar nominees. I've before named Taika Waititi as an emerging talent to keep an eye on and my guarded enthusiasm remains, and I was glad to see that he tries to treat the Holocaust with the seriousness it deserves (this is a clearly superior effort to Life Is Beautiful, or its unctuous second half at any rate). But I must say I'm still not sure any Holocaust comedy can avoid calling to mind Adorno's famous pronouncement that "to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." I suppose I should add at this point that the whole cast (including Waititi himself as Adolf, the protagonist's imaginary incarnation of the Führer) could hardly be bettered and the director's way with the child/teen actors deserves special praise, but as you can see I'm still trying to digest this one:
On to housekeeping:
I've never cared for the RB gang but they've really exposed themselves as industry stooges now. Most of their picks are precisely the very award favorites I'd say have been overrated even among American candidates, and their inclusion of the two Joshua Oppenheimer documentaries shows where their politics truly lies. Of course the latter isn't exactly a minority position, but if they're going to keep insisting that the sensory shocks and proven tropes of genre films - including not just the Oppenheimer docs but also such recent examples as Us, The Realm, Ready or Not and Parasite - are the most illuminating ways we can understand the world via cinema then they should make no bones about it, rather than pretend they care just as much about the victims portrayed (if they're portrayed at all) or the audience's self-critique and -contemplation which said films are decidedly less interested in if not outright silent on.
And speaking of superior candidates....
"Ex Machina"
Here's one. Among my top five picks of 2015 (though I'd need to go back and see if I've come across other worthy titles since then) and one I'd clearly put above most of the RE gang's picks.
All things considered, probably Bergman's best feature. But his trademark misanthropy and misogyny were already creeping in, which (largely) can't be said of my fave Bergman, the achingly ravishing Summer Interlude:
I was actually intrigued by this one 'cause Norton is a thoughtful actor and seems to have somewhat intimate knowledge of Robert Caro's magnum opus The Power Broker, and while his first directorial feature Keeping the Faith was a barely passable romcom this was going to be his first one which he both wrote and directed. But then I came across another interview where he said this: "Too much power truly does warp a person, even a very brilliant person who was once an authentic idealist." In other words, the old chestnut that power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I hate to break it to you, Ed, but you missed Caro's central insight: power reveals, and whatever corruption stems from the erstwhile "authentic idealist" is in fact an authentic map of where his priorities lie. And something tells me the great biographer would dispute your characterization of Moses as "once an authentic idealist."
It's still a fine thriller and despite its length I can't say I was bored for one second (Alec Baldwin gives one of his very best performances here), but given all the talents involved the film could've been much better. Norton seems to have consulted the novelist Jonathan Lethem but not Robert Caro himself, and that potentially fatal mistake indeed doomed this venture which toes the familiar Hollywood line that corruption in America is inevitable and can be avoided only by individuals through cunning and gaming of the system (Norton plays a savant with Tourette syndrome, go figure):
P.S. Forgot a couple of links which now have been included.
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Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
^ex machina is in the roger ebert list. It's under 'honorable mention.'
gn
G.O.A.T.
Doctor Sleep(2019) - This movie is the direct sequel to The Shining(1980).
Plot: Dan Torrance becomes an alcoholic, trying to overcome the trauma he experienced due to the events that happened at the Overlook Hotel when he was a child.
Just when he gets clean and leads a peaceful life, he meets Abra, a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the "shine." He then helps the girl to battle the True Knot,
a cult whose members try to feed off the shine of innocent kids to live longer.
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran
Great performance from the cast. I would give the movie a 7.5/10. Since I did not see the original film, I could not understand all the references or feel nostalgic.
Plot: Dan Torrance becomes an alcoholic, trying to overcome the trauma he experienced due to the events that happened at the Overlook Hotel when he was a child.
Just when he gets clean and leads a peaceful life, he meets Abra, a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the "shine." He then helps the girl to battle the True Knot,
a cult whose members try to feed off the shine of innocent kids to live longer.
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran
Great performance from the cast. I would give the movie a 7.5/10. Since I did not see the original film, I could not understand all the references or feel nostalgic.
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NonP
Legend
Actually thought that was a list of the contributors, LOL. My overall argument still stands but thanks anyway. I'd actually have swapped the honorables with the current top 25, which would've made the ranking considerably better. Out of the actual 25 only This Is Not a Film and Roma would probably crack my own top 75-ish. (Have yet to see Cameraperson and Under the Skin.) From the honorables: Dawson City: Frozen Time, Ex Machina, First Reformed, Goodbye to Language, La La Land, Paterson.
That leaves about 65 to go, or 90 if we're looking at 100. I'm still catching up on this year's stuff so expect me to get to this around Oscar time.
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
Dick Tracy 1937 - Stars Ralph Byrd, The Full 15 Chapter Serial
(1)4h 51min1937ALL
Action in this full 15 Chapter serial includes the evil Spider using his flying wing & sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco & stealing an experimental "speed plane". He captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy turning him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring, turning brother against brother.
GenresAction, Drama, Science FictionDirectorAlan JamesStarringRalph Byrd, Kay Hughes, Smiley Burnette
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy_(serial)
" Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and masked mystery villain The Spider/The Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring. In the process of various crimes, including using his flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "speed plane", The Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother.
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Dick Tracy was budgeted at $112,334 although the final negative cost was $127,640 (a $15,306, or 13.6%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial until S O S Coast Guard was released later in the year.[1]
It was filmed between 30 November and 24 December 1936 under the working titles Adventures of Dick Tracy and The Spider Ring.[1] The serial's production number was 420.[1]
In this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man (FBI) in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, original characters used instead. Dick Tracy creator Chester Gould approved the script despite these changes.
There were three sequels to this serial: Dick Tracy Returns (1938), Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939), and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941). They were all permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a "series or serial". That meant that Dick Tracy's creator, Chester Gould, was only paid for the rights to produce this serial but not for any of the sequels.[2]
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Dick Tracy's official release date is 20 February 1937....
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Cline states that the Dick Tracy serials were "unexcelled in the action field," adding that "in any listing of serials released after 1930, the four Dick Tracy adventures from Republic must stand out as classics of the suspense detective thrillers, and the models for many others to follow."[3] He goes on to write that Ralph Byrd "played the part [of Dick Tracy] to the hilt, giving his portrayal such unbridled, exuberant enthusiasm that the resulting excitement was contagious." Byrd become identified with the character following the release of this serial.[4] The final chapter reunion between Dick and Gordon Tracy, as Gordon lies dying and his memory returns, is "one of the few moments of real emotional drama ever attempted in serials". This added to the human quality of Dick Tracy, which was present in both this serial and Chester Gould's original strip.[3]
"
Excellent!
No walkie talkie wristwatch, however!
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donquijote
G.O.A.T.
I just watched 'I am mother', a movie inspired by Serena's rant at last year's US Open final, just kidding it's a robot vs human thing. If you liked ex-machina, you will definitely like this one too. It's worth watching for Hillary Swank alone. Highly recommended.
donquijote
G.O.A.T.
I love this series. This one is obviously not as good as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but pretty good still. Maybe not your cup of tea though.
Mr.Lob
G.O.A.T.
Watched "Doctor Sleep" the other day. A sequel to "The Shining". Disappointed pretty much sums it up. The movie was long (2 1/2 hours) and scattered. Old scenes stolen from the original movie were initially exciting, but quickly led to disappointment, as they could not come close to the power of the original, and were mostly just thrown in for nostalgic reasons. The plot and how the characters reacted to events around them... far fetched. How the movie got high review scores on Rotten Tomatoes is beyond me. I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars.
Sentinel
Bionic Poster
To Sir, with Love (1967) - Sidney_Poitier and others.
Poitier is an engineer who accepts a teaching assignment at a school where children rejected from other schools land up. He has to tame these rowdy unruly kids including some tough ones.
en.wikipedia.org
Poitier is an engineer who accepts a teaching assignment at a school where children rejected from other schools land up. He has to tame these rowdy unruly kids including some tough ones.
To Sir, with Love - Wikipedia
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
S.W.A.T.: Under Siege
Co-stars The Orville TV Series Adrianne Palicki as Ellen Dwyer
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.W.A.T.:_Under_Siege
To those who want crazy plot, lots of firepower action movie, this is a must to see!
“DEA enlists the help of the Seattle S.W.A.T. to storm a drug cartel's waterfront warehouse to capture cartel people and seize a shipment of drugs. A firefight ensues and when it is over, several DEA agents and one S.W.A.T. team member are dead. When the container holding the suspected drug shipment is found and opened, everyone is surprised by they find inside -- a man who is chained to the inside. After taking him back to S.W.A.T. headquarters, the HQ comes under attack by a terrorist who wants the man from the container who, apparently, is the terrorist's partner. He calls himself the Scorpion. S.W.A.T team believe him to be a fugitive. The S.W.A.T building is attacked and in order to be safe are bargained to give up the Scorpion. They try to move him but realise someone from inside is working with the Dark Ops. The leader of the team , Hall asks Scorpion what he has that they want. He reveals himself to be a spy. The buildings lockdown codes are hacked and the bad guys come in to kill them . Two S.W.A.T members die and they realise Ward a member was working with them. Scorpion and Hall kill the two Dark Ops and wait for backup to come. The S.W.A.T head Dwyer,and Hall talk and Scorpion hands them a microchip, says he's tired of running. Hall realises that Dwyer was the one from the inside and a fight ensues. She shoots Scorpion and runs and Hall follows. He gets her arrested and is asked to identify the Scorpions body. The body is replaced by the actual Scorpion by a dead inmate but Hall still identifies him as Scorpion to let the actual Scorpion go free finally. He returns home to enjoy the fireworks with his family.”
