What Movies Have You Watched Recently? - Page 55

fyodor · #**541** 06-08-2007, 04:20 PM

Wasn't going to bother mentioning the following movie but then I was just on my to the gas station and some girl pulled in front of me in a chocolate brown Morgan. I assume everyone knows what a Morgan is but if not it's the car Michael Douglas buys in The War of the Roses (1989) and then Kathleen Turner runs it over with her 4x4. Anyhow that's not the movie.

What I watched was The Trip (1967) with Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper and Susan Strasberg. Written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman. Supposed to be a visual representation of an LSD trip. Not like any of my experiences, but there were moments of the movie I really enjoyed.

The best cinematic representation of an LSD hullucination I have seen is the Las Vegas hotel check in scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) when the pattern from the carpet starts to creep up the walls.

That aside there was some good music, some good editing in some spots and it was worth watching for the historical interest alone.

At the time it was released it was pretty controversial as it was portrayed by some authorities as a how to manual for taking an LSD trip. Bruce Dern plays the guide for Peter Fonda. I never required a guide for any of my trips and if I did have one I certainly wouldn't want the character portrayed by Bruce Dern as my guide. He would have had me in panic mode before I even started to trip.

Anyhow, the Morgan thing. I forget who was driving, Fonda or Dern, but one of them had a Morgan that they drove from Hopper's place where they scored the acid, back to Dern's place where Fonda drops it. It was Roger Corman's idea to use a Morgan because it was his favourite car.

You can also see cameos from some Corman regulars inclucing Dick Miller as a bartender. He had the lead in A Bucket of Blood (1959)

diebitter · #**542** 06-09-2007, 03:18 PM

Cronos

A very classy horror film with dialogue in Mexican/English, with none of the feel of 'this is just a great director slumming it' thing you sometimes get with higher-end horrors. Del Toro (director of Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth) really knows what he's doing, and some reviewers have actually called this a masterpiece. It's not quite that, but it's pretty good. I was very surprised to find out it was over 10 years' old too, I thought it was much more recently made.

It's a variant of the vampire story, but also broaches issues of addiction, lust for eternal life, and how the ties of family, tradition and morality clash with these things.

There' some striking scenes: the old man delicately licking blood off of a bathroom floor; a granddaughter finding a box to ut her grandfather in to sleep to protect him from the light, and tucking up her doll with him.

It's a slow, thoughtful piece, but definitely worth the time and effort to watch. Now I've seen it, I put this and Candyman as the exemplary horror movies of the 90s.

pryor15 · #**543** 06-09-2007, 03:49 PM

Conversations With Other Women

Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter as former lovers who reunite at a wedding.

The whole film is shot in a split screen (if you look closely at the image above, you'll see it). this is sometimes annoying, but for the most part it works pretty well. At very least it's interesting. The director describes it as a representation of two people attempting to become one.

Either way, the performances are quite good, and the story is largely compelling. The nice part is that the gimmick doesn't dictate the story. The film could have just as easily existed without it.

Definitely worth seeing.

Blarg · #**544** 06-09-2007, 03:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Cronos

A very classy horror film with dialogue in Mexican/English, with none of the feel of 'this is just a great director slumming it' thing you sometimes get with higher-end horrors. Del Toro (director of Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth) really knows what he's doing, and some reviewers have actually called this a masterpiece. It's not quite that, but it's pretty good. I was very surprised to find out it was over 10 years' old too, I thought it was much more recently made.

It's a variant of the vampire story, but also broaches issues of addiction, lust for eternal life, and how the ties of family, tradition and morality clash with these things.

There' some striking scenes: the old man delicately licking blood off of a bathroom floor; a granddaughter finding a box to ut her grandfather in to sleep to protect him from the light, and tucking up her doll with him.

It's a slow, thoughtful piece, but definitely worth the time and effort to watch. Now I've seen it, I put this and Candyman as the exemplary horror movies of the 90s.

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I found parts of it very cool, but was also disappointed with it. And I think I've seen enough of that old man's loose hairy skin to last me several lifetimes.

Bad Lobster · #**545** 06-09-2007, 11:46 PM

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Elizabeth (1998)

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Executive summary: what Queen Elizabeth did before she was a virgin.

Bad Lobster · #**546** 06-10-2007, 12:10 AM

Ocean's 13. The story's incomprehensible nonsense, but I recommend it anyway because the camera work is so beautiful. Just endless eye candy. And Matt Damon has a great ass.

The number one thing that I was thinking as I watched was "it must be really great to be a spoiled movie star." Technically, all the characters in the film are spoiled international super criminals, but they live just like spoiled movie stars. And boy, do they have great asses!

For gamblers, the key insight of this movie is that everyone in Las Vegas wins a ton of money from the casino.

Enrique · #**547** 06-11-2007, 01:05 AM

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I watched Deliver Us From Evil a couple of days ago. It is a great documentary about a notorious pedophile Catholic priest. I highly recommend it.

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That movie was great. It is hard to watch though because the events that happened are so sad. And to think that they could have been prevented. A movie like this really makes one dislike (to hold back on the word hate) organized religion.

Enrique · #**548** 06-11-2007, 01:15 AM

I thought Cronos was good but not greatb] I think Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth are much better.

I agree that the movie has memorable scenes and you can see how Del Toro keeps using children as pivotal characters. The little girl in Cronos, the little boys in Devil's Backbone and the little girl in Pan's Labyrinth. I guess using children as central characters allows him to explore fantasy with more freedom, the freedom a child has in his imagination.

entertainme · #**549** 06-11-2007, 01:39 AM

Larceny, Inc.

Good. Look for a young Anthony Quinn.

Dr. Zhivago

I'd never seen it and enjoyed it. Do they use this movie in film school as an example of what a score can do for a story? I was really struck by how they used music to convey Zhivago's inner life.

I'm not much of a film critic. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

fyodor · #**550** 06-11-2007, 04:17 AM

entertainme: your reviews are tl;dr. For an example of how to make your reviews more readable please see Dominic's review of the latest Pirates' movie. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]