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

Brazil
8/10

Orwellian mystery, plus film noir, times Tom Stoppard, to the power of Terry Gilliam, equals awesome. I've meant to see this movie for years, and I finally did last night. It was very good, but Gilliam suffers from the same ailment as Tim Burton; good at visuals, bad at people-directing. They also didn't have the budget to make it as good as it could have been, and as a result some of the sets were very cardboard-y. The running theme of Brazil is never explained, either, because they didn't have the money to film the opening sequence of the Brazilian rain forest being cut down.

BUT: It doesn't have a happy ending! :banana: Leading up to the final sequence, this was me:

Me: But that doesn't make any sense.
My B/f: Shut up. It will.
Me: But I don't like her!
My B/f: Shut up.
Me: But I hate happy endings!
My B/f: Shut up.

Anyway, he was right, and I would say it's the most satisfying ending to a movie that I have ever seen, so I'm happy. :D

I just finished watching Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries".

It was not quite what I expected, having seen a good few Bergman films before - the ending was almost happy! It is one of those films that I'll need to watch again. Several agains probably. There is a lot that hasn't sunk in yet.

It's the story of an old professor, travelling to receive an honoury degree, the people he meets along the way, his dreams, and his remeniscences. There is a lot of humanity in the film. A lot of tender moments.

I especially like the interaction between the prof and his housekeeper. It is so touchingly portrayed in the film. Theirs is a master/servant relationship that keeps overflowing into (almost) a husband/wife relationship. There is a moment near the end where they almost relax with each other, but then pull back. It's beautifully staged and acted.

The bitter middle-aged couple that they nearly collide with are brilliantly drawn too. "I'm sorry, it was entirely our fault. My wife was driving.", he says. "I was about to hit him when the bend appeared", she replies.

Man / woman relationships are a central theme in the film: The professor's with his housekeeper, (long deceased) wife, and also his childhood affair with his cousin, his son and daughter-in-law, the young hitch-hiker and her two suitors.

Bergman's films often remind me of James Joyce's short stories in "Dubliners" - they are beautifully drawn sketches of life, rewarding repeat viewings/readings and full of depths and textures, but, like life itself, they leave a lot unresolved. They may not be to the taste of those acclimatised to hollywood's "satisfactory" endings. In my opinion, this is a good thing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emily655321

Anyway, he was right, and I would say it's the most satisfying ending to a movie that I have ever seen, so I'm happy. :D

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I second that.

We can only hope that one day soon Terry Gilliam is given both as much money as he needs and as much artistic license as he needs. To my mind, he's only ever been given one or the other.

Brazil is one of my favourite films - but..... think what could have been. :(

My boyfriend has seen the producer's own cut of the film, which, thankfully, was not the one released. He chopped it up, gave it a happy ending, and, according to the boy, filled it with "bad dubbings of a Robert DeNiro impersonator saying inspirational things." :lol:

I'm not looking forward to the Brothers Grimm, myself. Not sure if I'll go see it. I know it's been years of uphill struggling to get it made, but what I've heard is that by the time they got the funding, there were too many hands in the project, and it's not at all as it was first envisioned. Very Hollywood-ed-up. The trailers I've seen seem to confirm this.

I have much better hopes for "Tideland". Apparantly a lot of the US test audience walked out - always a good sign! ;)

I've just finished The Ringer. My stomach is still aching me with loughter. I like the it.

Tristan & Isolde! Bad reviews but good performances and the most gorgeous men! For that alone my girls and I thought about seeing it a second time. But James Franco’s dark brooding smoldering looks are worth it too. Good romance, decent action, handsome men and a pretty girl to play the lead – what more could one ask for? 3 out of 5

The last movie I saw was “Rushmore” – not a very recent film but I hadn’t seen it before, very funny! I really liked the relationship between Bill Murray’s character, a chain-smoking slob, and his two super-strong athletic sons who are on the wrestling team. At one point Bill Murray says in despair/confusion, “I never thought I’d have sons who are like that” – they have nothing at all in common. This made me laugh because when I was younger I always thought that my parents were the problem – for me, it was all about how I didn’t get along with them. Then as I got older I began to realize that there were probably moments when they didn’t really think much of me either. Maybe there were times when they looked at me and thought, “How come it's grown up into this thing”.

Batman. (The Tim Burton one.)

Blech! :sick: So bad it was funny.

Chicken Little, nothing to say. I was not in a good mood yesterday when I saw it. It's a movie like many others.

Replacement Killers - I don't even remember picking this movie out, but it was my next netflix pic. It was pretty good, your usual action film. I really like Chow Yun Fat, so for him I give it 7/10.

I have just finished seeing of "Heards in Atlantis"
It's wonderful :)
9,5/10

The New World

Typical of Malick it's a meditation far more than it's a narrative. The subject this time: America.

This is probably TM's most ambitious film, even more so than The Thin Red Line (which is brilliant). He may be trying to cover too much, and I don't say that lightly because I'm a huge fan of his work.

The visuals are everything you would expect; the voiceover is used to good effect (but it will probably offend many viewers as it did in TRL). Acting performances are solid if not exceptional. Bales probaby turns in the most nuanced performance in his short time on screen.

The ideas are all those we would expect from the Great American Novel: loss of innocence, the pursuit and corruption of dreams, love and hope, even something of the search for identity.

I give it a 9.

I watched Wrong Turn. which is a horror movie and I love scary movies. It was not bad. I can fairly well remember that I was unable to have a goodnight sleep that night after when I watched it.

I will give it 7/10.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by trismegistus

The New World
I give it a 9.

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Hey there, I haven't seen you in a while, good to know you're still around. :)