What is the last movie you saw? and rate it.

The Keys to the Kingdom (1944)

This adaptation of A. J.Cronin's best selling novel about an English missionary's life in China is very well acted by Gregory Peck in the lead role and has solid support from Vincent Price and Edmund Gwenn among others. The American accents are too obvious in a film that concerns people from the Tyneside region of England where there is a very strong localised accent. The film is over two hours long but the story, which follows the book reasonably well, holds the interest and covers the internal politics of the Catholic religion that is a feature of the novel. There are some genuinely touching scenes which the director, John M. Stahl, handles well and if Alfred Newman's music score is over the top, the intelligent script by Joseph L Mankiewicz and Nunally Johnson holds the film together. 7/10

Barton Fink (1991; Coen Brothers) - 9.0/10

Probably my second favorite Coen film now behind only No Country for Old Men. It's impeccably directed with their typically detached cynical humor combined with a morbid curiosity. John Turturo is outstanding as the playwright suffering writer's block after coming to Hollywood, and John Goodman is his usual, amiable self, but with subtle, darker underpinnings. The film's nosedive into surreality was a real surprise; the Coen's have flirted with that kind of thing in many of their films (the dream that ends No Country, or the whirlwind in A Simple Man), but none of them have gone for it this fully. The ending on the beach is quite provocative, almost Blade Runner-esque in how mysterious and hypnotic it is. The unopened box seems like an allusion to a similar device in Bunuel's Belle de jour. Altogether a superb film.

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Originally Posted by Pierre Menard

I'm a little ashamed to say I've only seen Ikiru and Rashomon of Kurosawa's... Bergman and Kubrick are my dynamic duo, though.

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If that's all you've seen from Kurosawa then you've got a lot of masterpieces waiting for you: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Ran, Kagemusha, Dersu Uzala, Yojimbo, Red Beard... When I was in my teens I definitely would've included Kubrick, but over the years my enthusiasm has waned a bit. I still consider 2001, Dr. Strangelove, and Barry Lyndon transcendental masterpieces, but I'm more ambivalent about the rest of his work.

My daughter and I were reciting lines from Scary Movie 3 last night. Since we had some discrepancy about what the lines were exactly we decided to watch it again.

Score 10/10

Brandy for the Parson (1951).

The title comes from a poem by Rudyard Kipling about smuggling as this very English comedy details how a diverse group of people try smuggling barrels of French brandy across country by using ponies when their van breaks down. Although in B/W the English country side is shown to great advantage and the whimsicality of the story underlines the eccentricity of some of the characters that make their appearance along the way. Not a film that could be appreciated outside of the UK as its gentility would be unknown elsewhere but it's a pleasant enough tale and quite satisfying in its own way. 7/10

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Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman

If that's all you've seen from Kurosawa then you've got a lot of masterpieces waiting for you: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Ran, Kagemusha, Dersu Uzala, Yojimbo, Red Beard...

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I just started watching The Hidden Fortress last night, but was too tired to get more than about 20 minutes in.

I think the only other Kurosawa I've seen are Yojimbo and Seven Samurai. I watched Yojimbo a few years back as a prologue to a Sergio Leone marathon, since Fistful of Dollars was a remake. I enjoy doing original/remake double features (if they're both good), so what I want to do sometime is watch Seven Samurai again along with Magnificent Seven, which I've still never seen, Ran with King Lear, and Throne of Blood with Macbeth.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

The Keys to the Kingdom (1944)

This adaptation of A. J.Cronin's best selling novel about an English missionary's life in China is very well acted by Gregory Peck in the lead role and has solid support from Vincent Price and Edmund Gwenn among others. The American accents are too obvious in a film that concerns people from the Tyneside region of England where there is a very strong localised accent. The film is over two hours long but the story, which follows the book reasonably well, holds the interest and covers the internal politics of the Catholic religion that is a feature of the novel. There are some genuinely touching scenes which the director, John M. Stahl, handles well and if Alfred Newman's music score is over the top, the intelligent script by Joseph L Mankiewicz and Nunally Johnson holds the film together. 7/10

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That sounds kind of interesting, Emil, and I see it's from a book by A. J. Cronin.

You know, Morpheus, I've only seen "The Seven Samurai," myself, by Kurosawa. I see why it's a classic. I would like to see "Ran," too, but first, "Breaking the Waves" :)

I went to see "Flight" last night. Excellent movie, with another good performance by Denzel Washington. I had to venture out in the dark and the cold late at night no less, but it was worth it. 9/10

Dogtooth (2009; Yorgos Lanthimos) - 5/10

Perhaps the most radical, original film ever nominated for an Oscar, but I'm afraid I must disagree with vast majority of critics who have almost universally praised it. This is one of those films that feels provocative only for the sake of provocation. It's drawn a lot of comparisons to Lars von Trier and Michael Haneke, both of which I can see, however, Trier's and Haneke's provocations always have something else more to anchor them. In Trier it may be the poignant characterizations and performances, or in Haneke it may be the philosophical inquiries into violence in cinema. I don't see any such thing here. The film seems set in an almost alternate universe where families (at least, this one) are so insulated from the rest of reality they regress to a primitive state where they have to reshape the language (hence the aphoria), create their own mythology (the evilness of cats), invent their own games (a bizarre variation on Marco Polo), and naively discover sexuality.

Really, more than Trier or Haneke, the film reminds me of the cinema of Tsai Ming-liang. Like Tsai, Lanthimos primarily utilizes static frames and wide lenses with a one-scene, one-take rule (though Lanthimos does break this pattern more than Tsai). He then pairs these frames with an eerie minimalism that can then be used to shock, or even for surprising humor (I admit, I did laugh at the oldest sister performing the dance from Flashdance). However, the palpable loneliness and poignancy that pervades Tsai is nowhere to be found here, nor are the painterly, painstakingly composed frames. Lanthimos's approach is more like a ten year old boy who has stumbled onto his sister's Barbie dolls and is only interested in how much perverse fun he can have with them by pulling their heads off, stripping them, and making them have sex with each other.

I can't help but think this film's praise has been predicated more on the fact that it's one of those that's quite fun to discuss, because whether it provokes praise or disgust, there's something to chat with one's fellow critics/cinephiles with. That's fine and all, but I do wish the film itself was good enough to warrant it.

Swing Time! (1936; George Stevens) - 7/10

One of the middle and more middling films to come out of the Astaire/Rogers pairing. It's still quite effervescent and charming, but not at the level of Top Hat.

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Originally Posted by Calidore

I just started watching The Hidden Fortress last night, but was too tired to get more than about 20 minutes in.

I think the only other Kurosawa I've seen are Yojimbo and Seven Samurai. I watched Yojimbo a few years back as a prologue to a Sergio Leone marathon, since Fistful of Dollars was a remake. I enjoy doing original/remake double features (if they're both good), so what I want to do sometime is watch Seven Samurai again along with Magnificent Seven, which I've still never seen, Ran with King Lear, and Throne of Blood with Macbeth.

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I also like doing the whole original/remake double feature. I actually did that with Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. Both fine films, but the latter certainly isn't a masterpiece on the level as the former.

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Originally Posted by qimissung

You know, Morpheus, I've only seen "The Seven Samurai," myself, by Kurosawa. I see why it's a classic. I would like to see "Ran," too, but first, "Breaking the Waves" :)

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Sure thing. :)

I saw Lawless; it’s a good movie. I like the performances of Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce. 7/10

The Nameless (1999; Jaume Balagueró) - 4/10

A decent exercise in atmospheric horror, but that's about it. It's somewhat reminiscent of Fincher's vastly superior Se7en.

On a small side note has anyone seen Django? I saw it and loved it, but I would like to hear diverse opinions on it.

Les Miserables- Good take on the musical, but the musical's the thing here (8/10)

All the King's Men (1949; Robert Rossen) - 8.5/10

Probably the best film on politics ever that feels as relevant today as ever. The writing is razor sharp, with characters that distinctively evolve over the course of the film. As they evolve, so do our allegiances, eventually ending in something approaching chaos where we don't know what to think. A powerful depiction about how political ambition can ruin even the most decent and honest souls. Rossen's gritty direction is also a great boon for the film, as he brings the same kind of hard-nosed edge he did on the best of all the classic boxing films, Body and Soul.

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Originally Posted by Alexander III

On a small side note has anyone seen Django? I saw it and loved it, but I would like to hear diverse opinions on it.

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I almost never go to the theaters to watch films. Their prices are outrageous when I can rent movies for about $1 on Netflix. Saving up for a good home theater is a much better investment.

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Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman

All the King's Men (1949; Robert Rossen) - 8.5/10

Probably the best film on politics ever that feels as relevant today as ever. The writing is razor sharp, with characters that distinctively evolve over the course of the film. As they evolve, so do our allegiances, eventually ending in something approaching chaos where we don't know what to think. A powerful depiction about how political ambition can ruin even the most decent and honest souls. Rossen's gritty direction is also a great boon for the film, as he brings the same kind of hard-nosed edge he did on the best of all the classic boxing films, Body and Soul.

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Broderick Crawford turns in a great performance as Willie Stark and the film makes for gripping viewing. It's far better than the book, which I reviewed on the forum a short while ago. The John Ireland and Mercedes McCambridge characters are completely different to those in the novel where the central character is the narrator rather than Stark, who is obviously based on the real life Huey Long .

Yeah, I forgot to mention the performances, and Crawford is superb.

Dov'è la libertà...? (1954; Roberto Rossellini) - 7.5/10

A charming surprise of a virtually unknown Rossellini film. Most everyone that knew him spoke of his light-hearted humor, but that side rarely came through in his films, which evolved from the dark neo-realism of his early days to the more restrained, subtle, and formal films of his later historical films. This, however, is a comic social satire of a Swiftian nature about a man who's released from prison after 20 years whom gains his freedom only to find that the outside world has degenerated beyond all recognition to the point he breaks back into prison! It has a wonderful lead performance by Toto, Italy's answer to Chaplin and Keaton, with a very light touch by Rossellini in the direction.

Amore e Rabbia (1969; Bellochio, Bertolucci, Pasolini, Godard, Lizzani)

An anthology of 5 short films by the above directors, only one of which is worthwhile: Godard's L'Amore (8/10 rating), which is a perfect condensation of everything that makes Godard great--a bit of poetry, politics, philosophy, film, humor, and Brecht combined with an utterly singular, distinctive, gorgeous visual eye for composition and "ear" for editing rhythms. Lizzani's L'indifferenza (4/10) is a dull, badly shot, on-the-nose depiction of people's indifference to the tragedies around them; Bellochio's Discutiamo, discutiamo (3/10) is a bunch of intellectual talking heads discussing society and politics with nothing cinematic about it; Pasolini's La sequenza del fiore di carta (5/10) is a pseudo-poetic depiction of innocent ignorance, depicted by an oblivious character walking happily down the street, juxatposed with the "knowledge" of the horrors of society around them with voiceovers discussing how anyone can remain innocent in such a society. Bertolucci's Agonia (6/10) is a rarely filmed example of Living Theater, an avant-garde theater movement that's either challenging and exhilarating in its abstract, expressive rawness, or hopelessly silly and pretentious. I actually found it rather interesting, but too overlong, and a bit too obviously symbolic of the Catholic Church's indifference to the suffering of the Italian people (I guessed from the beginning the old man was going to be a Papal figure). Ultimately, this collection is worth it for Godard completists, but that's about it.

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Originally Posted by MorpheusSandman

All the King's Men (1949; Robert Rossen) - 8.5/10

Probably the best film on politics ever that feels as relevant today as ever. The writing is razor sharp, with characters that distinctively evolve over the course of the film. As they evolve, so do our allegiances, eventually ending in something approaching chaos where we don't know what to think. A powerful depiction about how political ambition can ruin even the most decent and honest souls. Rossen's gritty direction is also a great boon for the film, as he brings the same kind of hard-nosed edge he did on the best of all the classic boxing films, Body and Soul.

I almost never go to the theaters to watch films. Their prices are outrageous when I can rent movies for about $1 on Netflix. Saving up for a good home theater is a much better investment.

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Yes, it is expensive; and home theaters are also nice-I've attended a few showings at one. But I do like the movie going experience, the theater, the dark, all the people. It's manageable if you don't get too much at the concession stand. That's the real money pit.

Zero Dark Thirty. 10/10 I loved it. I found it compelling and I thought Jessica Chastain did an outstanding job.