wineart 2 posted:The Ipcress File
Fan of Len Deighton (who's still alive at 91) in general and I also liked all three of the adaptations of the Harry Palmer stories though they do get worse as they go along. The second one Funeral in Berlin was directed by Guy Hamilton--the best James Bond director. He was also the assistant director on The Third Man and later cast Bernard Lee from that film as Bond's boss M. The third one, Billion Dollar Brain, was directed by Ken Russell (!)
The Old Man posted:Firesign Theatre
Ford vs Ferrari
I think bale is a fantastic actor if for nothing more than how completely assumes his character. While he's no longer young, he does remind me of a younger, lesser Daniel Day Lewis.
The movie was good, though anyone who has raced cars, especially vintage ones will have more than a few eye roll moments.
Parasite
Festival Express
The Man Who Would Be King
wineart 2 posted:The Man Who Would Be King
One of my all-time favourites.
jcocktosten posted:Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
If you watched it on FXM, they are showing it in the wrong aspect ratio and you missed about a sixth of the movie.
"Blinded by the Light"
Rothko posted:"Blinded by the Light"
Saw it on a plane - good airplane movie
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx -- 89pts. This is the second, and usually considered best, of the six film series, from the 70s, based on the manga books of Lone Wolf and Cub. Lone Wolf is a disgraced executioner who travels the roads picking up assassination jobs. Cub is his three year old son who Lone Wolf pushes in a baby cart. A tricked out baby cart that has more gadgets than the Aston Martin in Goldfinger. When these two come around you know there's going to be blood gushing out of various cuts and detached arms, fingers, legs and noses will be flying.
These films obviously had a big influence on Tarantino as is clear from his directly quoting from them in the Kill Bill movies. Also if you are a Star Wars fan (I'm not) you will recognize some themes in Mandalorian with Baby Yoda (wasn't adult Yoda enough?) were also taken from these samurai films.
robsutherland posted:Ford vs Ferrari
I think bale is a fantastic actor if for nothing more than how completely assumes his character. While he's no longer young, he does remind me of a younger, lesser Daniel Day Lewis.
The movie was good, though anyone who has raced cars, especially vintage ones will have more than a few eye roll moments.
Watched this last night, loved it! My heart was seriously beating faster during the race scenes. I tried to catch what you were referring to, and the only thing I could come up with, was that I doubt the drivers could talk to each other over the roar of the engines.
David Lynch's 17 minute short What Did Jack Do? is his best film since Blue Velvet. Really an art museum piece--you can imagine it being on a loop in a darkened room with a large screen and cushioned benches--it really doesn't matter when you enter or leave. It is also amazingly stupid. On Netflix.
Deadpool
Double feature:
Yojimbo -- 94pts. and its unofficial sequel Fistful of Dollars -- 89pts.
I am a huge Akira Kurosawa fan. I have even seen all of films including his WWII anti-American propaganda film Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two. One of Kurosawa's biggest influences was the American Western with samurai filling in for cowboys. But then a interesting thing happened, the American film industry started making cowboy movies based on Kurosawa's samurai films. The most famous of course was the Seven Samurai which Hollywood remade as The Magnificent Seven. Less known is the remake of Rashomon which was remade as the not terrible The Outrage with William Shatner (as the priest!) and Paul Newman as the Mexican bandito Juan Carrasco (!)
Yojimbo, 1961, is perhaps the film that shows best Kurosawa's Western influences. His "cowboy" anti-hero samurai, as played by Toshiro Mufune is poorly shaved, shabbily-dressed, itch-scratching wandering ronan who wields a mean "gun" (katana.) I hadn't seen this film in decades and never thought of it at the top of Kurosawa's output, but on rewatching it is quite an amazing film. Full of unique shots, scenes and ideas. The basic story is simple, a stranger comes to town, discoverers that two factions have been locked in a forever war, and he figures out a way to make money from the situation.
In Italy a man who had worked on "sword and sandal" films was looking for his breakthrough project. His idea? To take the Western films that had been adapted by a Japanese director into a samurai picture and turn it back into a Western shot in Europe. I had always known that Fistful of Dollars was based Yojimbo but until I watched them back to back I didn't realize how much. Not only is about 60% of the movie similar but whole lines were lifted directly out of Kurosawa's film. The result was the introduction of a new major film star, Clint Eastwood, and a major new director in Sergio Leone. The film has many hints of the talents of Leone which would culminate in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and his masterpiece, On Upon a Time in the West.
Unfortunately Leone never contacted Kurosawa about the rights to his story. Leone was sued and eventually agreed to a percentage deal for Kurosawa on the grosses of the film. As an interesting note this amount would be greater than any of Kurosawa's own films.
If you have the DVD you can watch a full copy of the rare prologue that was created by ABC for their first network showing of the film. It's about 10 minutes and was made without Eastwood nor Leone. It stars Harry Dean Stanton as a prison warden who offers an unnamed man (whose back is to the camera and is dressed to resemble Eastwood's character) a pardon if he'll go to San Miguel and clean up the town. It was made to create a moral rational for Eastwood's character.
While so-called "Spaghetti Westerns" were already being made in Italy and Spain it wasn't until Fistful of Dollars that they became an international phenomenon. It's also kind of funny since almost the entire film was shot in Spain.
Thunderball
winetarelli posted:Thunderball
"Any woman he wants he'll get." I know just how it feels. 
When I was young it always seemed to me it would be very good to be an international spy with a license to kill. I just never applied myself.
Hidden Figures
Watching a Season "Altered carbon" and "The Witch Hunter"
Saw "We Own the Night" over the weekend.
Watching both "Mississippi Burning" and "The 13th Warrior" now....
Charlie Wilson's War - not high art but thoroughly entertaining and educational.
How can you not like the performance of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Tom Hanks is always enjoyable and Julia Roberts - what can you say?
Wedding Crashers.
Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
winetarelli posted:Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
The worst of the title songs?
The Best
Another coincidence? They all star the best, and only Bond, Sean Connery.
April 12, 2020 9:20 am
Once Were Brothers: The Band
Robbie Robertson's version. Not bad if you're a fan.
Contagion
Decided to watch it again given the current situation. Some of it makes more of an impact now than it did 10 years ago, especially the trench digging for the dead which I just saw in the NYC news a couple of days ago. Paltrow having her scalp peeled back is still an enjoyable scene.
"The Darjeeling Limited"
steve8 posted:April 12, 2020 9:20 am
Once Were Brothers: The Band
Robbie Robertson's version. Not bad if you're a fan.
Contagion
Decided to watch it again given the current situation. Some of it makes more of an impact now than it did 10 years ago, especially the trench digging for the dead which I just saw in the NYC news a couple of days ago. Paltrow having her scalp peeled back is still an enjoyable scene.
Once Were Brothers: The Band -
How was this? Families of other members peeved again at Robertson's claiming credit for everything, self-mythologization, finger pointing and general narrative control - just curious
JC, it was OK. Some clips come from The Last Waltz, which many have seen before. It is a very biased doc for sure and Robertson essentially blames the heroin problems of Danko, Manuel and Helm for the dissolution of the brotherhood. The early part of the story is the most interesting and new (to me) part of the doc.
Judy
steve8 posted:JC, it was OK. Some clips come from The Last Waltz, which many have seen before. It is a very biased doc for sure and Robertson essentially blames the heroin problems of Danko, Manuel and Helm for the dissolution of the brotherhood. The early part of the story is the most interesting and new (to me) part of the doc.
Thanks. Makes sense. Always loved The Band
The Old Man posted:winetarelli posted:Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
The worst of the title songs?
The Best
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
Another coincidence? They all star the best, and only Bond, Sean Connery.
I agree on Thunderball and You Only Live Twice but I've never been a much of a fan of Goldfinger due to problems I have with the plot. (Odd, I know, to have plot-based problems with a Bond film, but it is the case.) I also think Dr. No is great and From Russia with Love is very good.
All of that said, while very different, I also think Daniel Craig has been a great Bond and, in particular, his first outing in Casino Royale I thought was exceptional.
Now, judging the films by their other merits, it is hard to argue with 29yo Diana Rigg or 23yo Jane Seymour.
Now, judging the films by their other merits, it is hard to argue with 29yo Diana Rigg or 23yo Jane Seymour.
Yes. But Barbara Bach.....
Thought Casino Royale with Craig was excellent. Subsequent films less so
jcocktosten posted:Thought Casino Royale with Craig was excellent. Subsequent films less so
I would tend to agree with this sentiment, though I think overall Craig has been great in the role compared to all but one of his predecessors.
winetarelli posted:The Old Man posted:winetarelli posted:Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
The worst of the title songs?
The Best
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
Another coincidence? They all star the best, and only Bond, Sean Connery.
I agree on Thunderball and You Only Live Twice but I've never been a much of a fan of Goldfinger due to problems I have with the plot. (Odd, I know, to have plot-based problems with a Bond film, but it is the case.) I also think Dr. No is great and From Russia with Love is very good.
All of that said, while very different, I also think Daniel Craig has been a great Bond and, in particular, his first outing in Casino Royale I thought was exceptional.
Now, judging the films by their other merits, it is hard to argue with 29yo Diana Rigg or 23yo Jane Seymour.
I'm sorry, I wasn't clear I was listing the best title songs. The best Bond is Goldfinger even if it makes no sense that he shows the mob men the plan and then kills them all.
The Kremlin Letter
First time watching No Country for Old Men. Excellent movie.
The Old Man posted:winetarelli posted:The Old Man posted:winetarelli posted:Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
The worst of the title songs?
The Best
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
Another coincidence? They all star the best, and only Bond, Sean Connery.
I agree on Thunderball and You Only Live Twice but I've never been a much of a fan of Goldfinger due to problems I have with the plot. (Odd, I know, to have plot-based problems with a Bond film, but it is the case.) I also think Dr. No is great and From Russia with Love is very good.
All of that said, while very different, I also think Daniel Craig has been a great Bond and, in particular, his first outing in Casino Royale I thought was exceptional.
Now, judging the films by their other merits, it is hard to argue with 29yo Diana Rigg or 23yo Jane Seymour.
I'm sorry, I wasn't clear I was listing the best title songs. The best Bond is Goldfinger even if it makes no sense that he shows the mob men the plan and then kills them all.
Ah.
I have a controversial favorite Bond sond. "Skyfall".
The Old Man posted:winetarelli posted:Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
The worst of the title songs?
The Best
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
Another coincidence? They all star the best, and only Bond, Sean Connery.
Worst Bond title song for me was Moonraker. Even Shirley Bassey couldn't save that one. Film wasn't so good, either, except for maybe the impetus for Trump's vision of the Space Force.
mneeley490 posted:The Old Man posted:winetarelli posted:Live and Let Die
(The best of the Moore films)
The worst of the title songs?
The Best
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
Another coincidence? They all star the best, and only Bond, Sean Connery.
Worst Bond title song for me was Moonraker. Even Shirley Bassey couldn't save that one. Film wasn't so good, either, except for maybe the impetus for Trump's vision of the Space Force.
I always marvel that it's Nancy Sinatra that sings You Only Live Twice.
Road to Perdition on Netflix. I like it.
