Amph What was the last movie you saw?

The Russellsaince and Keatonssaince are two of the most welcome trends

 

Moana

That was pretty cool. I found the songs forgettable, but the animation and story were a lot of fun. Moana and Maui had good chemistry. The boats were realistic, and animators are finally getting better at making water look right.

 

The water in Moana is probably my favorite thing in it. I love the moments that it kind of acts as a character in the movie. But, yeah, the songs were weak and some bits just fell totally flat for me (that horrible crab thing). But, man, it looked amazing. I thought the villain was incredibly striking and scary.

 

Before Sunrise. Richard Linklater is the king of the hangout movie, and this has to be the purest a hangout movie can get: it's literally nothing but hanging out. There are two characters, and they hang out with each other for the entire film, conversing and wandering through lovely Vienna locations. There's something beautifully bold and simple in that idea, a very nineties-indie kind of experiment. Of course, the reason it's such a bold idea is because it's hard to pay off. And Linklater does struggle a bit. When you've got an hour and forty minutes of just people talking, it's going to be hard for the conversation to be "on" all the time. And especially at the beginning, the film struggles a bit with the believability of getting these two people so intrigued with each other that Hawke can get Delpy off that train and of these people having all these deep, personal conversations right off the bat. The getting-to-know-you phase of conversation is a little strained. But it's a film that deepens and settles in as it goes along, becoming more and more romantic and more and more atmospheric. It develops a truly lovely relationship, and much of the credit for that has to go to Hawke, utterly charming as a goofy, vulnerable young man, and Delpy, enrapturing as a thoughtful, romantic young woman. Their chemistry is just fantastic and their performances are outstanding. They have to carry the entire movie and they're more than up to the task. Delightful film.

 

I was seriously considering catching up with Close Encounters on the big screen, just because the things I did like about it would be absolutely stunning on the big screen and I kind of think it might be worth it just for that musical communication scene. But I was really negative on the bulk of the movie when I watched it back in college to the degree that I kind of just don't want to see most of it again. Probably would be a good idea to revisit it at some point to see if my opinion will change since it's been more than ten years now since I saw it and I only watched it once. I probably should have used the big screen experience to motivate myself to give it another chance but I guess not.

 

You just bashed the best sequence of the film, Jemain Clement, and David Bowe music all in the span of four words.

 

Yeah, even though I'm an 80s kid, I still didn't get around to watching it until maybe 7-8 years ago. My reaction was "This was the other big sci-fi "classic" of 1977?". A lot of it had to do w/finding Dreyfuss' character completely insufferable w/no redemption whatsoever. But this 40th anny has got me curious to revisit it, which I plan to do in the coming weeks; though not on the big screen.


Thief (1981) - Plot; A jewel thief's plans for a normal family life are disrupted when he strikes a deal with a powerful high end fence.

Michael Mann's signature style is already fully formed in his first feature film. All of the hallmarks are there, if not quite yet perfected. But it's all held together by an exceptional performance from James Caan. He rarely gets mentioned in the same breath as contemporaries like De Niro, Pacino and Hackman, but at his best he's absolutely their equal and perhaps their better. Well, maybe not Hackman. Dude's the G.O.A.T. in my book, for whatever that's worth. - 7/10

 

I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind when it was released and remember being all (it is not a movie for kids) - that actually hasn't changed with a recent viewing. And yet the ending is still wonderful. That communication sequence and what happens as a result is pretty amazing.

 

I really enjoyed CEotTK even though I was morbidly depressed and sobbing while watching because senior year of college and girl trouble. I was such a messed up individual three years ago.

 

the thing that strikes me about CE3K is the mess ! I mean everyone's house is just clutter and junk , its so 70's , and Jillian's house is littered with snot rags .

I kinda get bored with the scientist bits tho , I always thought the story shoulda stayed more with Neary's journey

 

Giant (1956)

Great performance from Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, awesome story to let us see the change of a typical western family and racism among Texas. However, James Dean's characters really could have got more development.

 

Giant (1956)

Great performance from Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, awesome story to let us see the change of a typical western family and racism among Texas. However, James Dean's characters really could have got more development.

 

I rewatched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 the other day for the millionth time. One word describes this film: Perfection. It's currently my favourite film of the year, and will most likely hold that position until The Last Jedi comes out. In fact, it knocked The Last Crusade out of my top five films of all time, coming in at third place, just behind The Force Awakens and The Winter Soldier. Vol. 2 took everyone that was amazing about the first film and did it again, and at times, did it even better. The characters were amazing. The visuals were amazing. The action was amazing. The music was amazing. The comedy was amazing. The first time I saw it in cinemas I had tears rolling down my face in laughter. It's easily the funniest film of the year. Before I start writing an essay saying how much of a masterpiece it is, I'll stop here. 10/10.

I also rewatched The Last Stand last night, because it was on TV. I love Arnold Schwarzenegger! He's one of my favourite actors. He really brought it back in this film, where he played the tough, no bull**** guy that we're used to seeing him play. The film was quite interesting, as it was both a western and a modern day crime film. The characters were great and the last act was a whole lot of fun. 8/10.

 

Double post.

 

Alien: Covenant. Boring and predictable.

 

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) Paul Newman as the title character. An outlaw who declares himself Judge of the Texas frontier west of the Pecos after murdering the local scumbags who tried to hang him. Typical, early 70s violent yet thoughtful John Milleus (spelling) script that ultimately meanders into snoozeville.

Another Perkins' cameo as a slightly creepy reverend was fun (creepy only in look and how easily he accepted Roy's vengeance.)

 

The Mummy 2017 .

I don't know what to make of this . it starts off like the Brendan Fraser movies , adventurer , some comedy , but the horror elements aren't much , then there's a zero G crashing airplane bit that literally feels like it was added so Tom could do his MI type stuff .
then it goes to London and we meet Jekyll , but his transformation is hardly anything at all , then I couldn't follow the last 20 minutes , people die , again , come back , I dunno .

.

 

Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Essentially vintage Spielberg, but I'd forgotten how much of a slow burn this is. Even the 30 minute climax feels like it's 30 hours long. Wondrous no doubt, but I found the India scene to be the most moving part.

 

The Big Sick (2017) – Michael Showalter

Let me give you some advice, Kumail. Love isn’t easy. That’s why they call it love.

…I don’t really get that.

I’ve been a fan of Kumail Nanjiani since I discovered his podcast work. It’s a real thrill to see him take the lead in a movie that’s getting good response and I hope it’s a signal of things to come. The story is, at first, a pretty typical boy-meets-girl story about how Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, his now wife, met and fell in love. But somewhere along the way, things take a strange turn and you start to see why the story is more than that. Nanjiani and Gordon co-wrote the screenplay and it has a wonderful voice, sharply comic, but sweet & sincere too. The cast is quite good. Nanjiani holds the movie together really well. Zoe Kazan is, as always, a force of pure charisma and delight as Emily; I really wish she’d act more in movies, but then she’s a writer too. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter are both brilliant (Romano is absolutely, no-question career best in a minimal, atypical performance) as Emily’s harried parents. Vella Lovell is wonderful, charming and naturalistic in a small supporting role. The characters never quite fall into the stereotypes they easily could in a lesser film. Romano & Hunter are close to the typical “henpecked husband” roles, but then the movie deepens both characters in interesting ways. Lovell has a charming presence, but then she gets a great scene, unfortunately her last in the film that changes the way we see her character completely. And Kazan isn’t your typical “manic pixie dreamgirl;” she’s prickly and, particularly in the third act, insulted when she feels that her role in Nanjiani’s life is mainly a redemptive one, where loving her teaches him to grow up and stand on his own; she’s really just not having any of that nonsense and you can feel Gordon’s influence in keeping her surrogate character honest and real. The film isn’t perfect. It’s too long for one thing and, while the scenes surrounding the business of stand-up comedy all ring true, it seems like they could be trimmed down to at least half, maybe a quarter, of what they are in the movie. Though that one-man-show bit is a comedic beast. Nanjiani & Gordon are a force to be reckoned with, if you ask me. But it’s mostly a delightful movie, often laugh out loud funny, filled with insightful observations that are treated lightly enough that they never feel pretentious, surprisingly interested in character and more real than any movie I’ve seen of its type in years. If you feel like you haven’t seen a romantic comedy that worked in a long, long time, The Big Sick will make you feel a lot better. 3 ½ stars.

tl;dr – witty, sweet movie balances comedy & drama beautifully thanks to a smartly written script & an invaluable ensemble; the best rom-com in years, even as it’s also much more than that. 3 ½ stars.

 

Just got back from seeing "Close Encounters". I saw it back in 1977 (at the late, lamented Menlo Park Twin, where I first saw all three of the OT), and I think the only other time I saw in a theater was when the SE was released, with the now disavowed "inside the spaceship" sequence. I thought it was very good, though, forty years later, the scenes of the Neary family's dissolution are a bit upsetting to me. I saw it in a RPX theater, and when the low rumble of the ships started I got a hint of what Sensurround must've felt like.

In addition to the special intro, the trailers were for TLJ (first time I saw it on a big screen, and I'm still getting a TESB vibe about it), the new "Jumanji" movie (didn't do much for me), "Mark Felt" (I'd be interested in seeing how far it strays from what really happened), "Geostorm" (also didn't do much for me) and "Home Again" (I'm not part of the target audience).

Oh, and speaking of trailers, I remember when my Dad took me to see "Star Wars" in November, 1977, we were in time to see this before the movie:

 

Assassin's Creed: A lot is strange about this film. The underlying message, for instance, seems pretty deeply libertarian. Really, they believe in no morals at all? Makes it very hard to then establish a side to root for, and there were also a lot of oddities about the plot (eg, Why has no one ever just destroyed this sacred object so the Templars can't use it? That seems a lot simpler than murdering hundreds of people over the centuries). Anyway, though, the most bizarre moment was towards the climax.

I was on the verge of laughing because, in the historical simulator thing, the protagonist jumps off a big building. The machine breaks, he triggers some magical vision, and the chief scientists gasps and says under her breath "The Leap of Faith" while heroic music plays. What? I remember these moments being on the trailer for the video game, but there was no attempt to establish what this meant in-world or why it was important. Why did she have a name for it before it happened? Was it something particular to that event or just his general progression that started making him have visions? This single sequence was pretty representative of the incoherence of this film overall.

 

Assassin's Creed: A lot is strange about this film. The underlying message, for instance, seems pretty deeply libertarian. Really, they believe in no morals at all? Makes it very hard to then establish a side to root for, and there were also a lot of oddities about the plot (eg, Why has no one ever just destroyed this sacred object so the Templars can't use it? That seems a lot simpler than murdering hundreds of people over the centuries). Anyway, though, the most bizarre moment was towards the climax.

I was on the verge of laughing because, in the historical simulator thing, the protagonist jumps off a big building. The machine breaks, he triggers some magical vision, and the chief scientists gasps and says under her breath "The Leap of Faith" while heroic music plays. What? I remember these moments being on the trailer for the video game, but there was no attempt to establish what this meant in-world or why it was important. Why did she have a name for it before it happened? Was it something particular to that event or just his general progression that started making him have visions? This single sequence was pretty representative of the incoherence of this film overall.

 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
The way Leone takes his time with scenes, like the scruffy Tuco slowly disassembling then reassembling a pistol with great care and expert attention, really help build the atmosphere here, something which is more important than the plot in a movie like this; it also helps illustrate character, in this case showing the audience that despite his appearance, when it comes to his craft Tuco is a consummate professional with an expert's eye for detail and no common thug - he can be as slobby as he likes in other areas, but when it comes to guns they are his life. Another great scene is Angel Eyes sitting at a table with a man he's obviously going to kill - the tension mounts up slowly as his victim tries to ward off the inevitable, a scene which reminds me of Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards opening act with Landa sitting down to interrogate the farmer. You take a little time and you can really build atmosphere. Most modern movies are too worried about runtime and audiences fidgeting to do this, unfortunately.

Obviously I also have to mention Leone's artful camera work (lots of what I believe is called "deep staging") and that fantastic score by Morricone which, when you combine it with everything else, you've got a masterpiece despite the rather obvious dubbing. Brilliant movie, one that is much easier to appreciate with today's widescreen TV's than when I first watched it on a 4:3 set in pan-and-scan.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2