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

[qimissung]

Anna Karenina 10/10 This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. It is a ballet, it is an opera, it is a play. The settings are luscious and gorgeous. And believe it or not it is well-acted. I thought Kiera Knightly did a very good job; Jude Law was outstanding as the wronged husband. The actor who played Vronsky, Aaron Taylor Johnson (who also played the lead in 2010's "Kick ***"), was good, but he was six years younger than Ms. Knightly, and it shows. It was just noticeable.

I thought Knightly did a very good job of showing Anna as a complex character.The only other flaw for me was that Knightly played Anna as a trifle histrionic when her world was falling apart; I'm reading the book now, and I think her character's grief, while still profound, would be of a quieter and more intense nature. I think she really got it right in the scene just after she gave birth, and the scenes where she is falling in love she is quite transcendent.

Interestingly, I found this interview with her on her role on NPR, and she had this to say about playing anger:


"My dad gave me my probably one and only acting lesson before I did Pride and Prejudice, where he sat me down — I was 18, I think — and he sat me down and he went, 'Right. You've been doing really well on getting by on instinct alone but I think you actually need a couple of tools here.' So he basically talked me through a bit of Stanislavsky and gave me a very, very good note actually, which I've always said. He said, 'Beware of playing anger.' He said, 'Anger isn't very interesting. If you think you're going to go there, really think about it because maybe there's a more interesting route.' And I've actually always held to that because I think he's quite right."

The rest of the interview is here:

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/08/166066...-the-innocence


I have to admit I like Joe Wright. His movies are so painterly, and in this instance all the elements came together spectacularly. Tom Stoppard's screenplay is also well done.

[MorpheusSandman]

It Rains On Our Love (1946; Ingmar Bergman) - 5/10

Bergman's second film with very little of the great, idiosyncratic genius to come.

Le Amiche (1955; Michaelangelo Antonioni) - 7/10

Early Antonioni is still quite interesting. One can definitely see how he's already experimenting with space and mise-en-scene populated with angst-ridden bourgeoisie. Unlike in his later masterpieces, though, he's not yet entirely reliant on visual metaphors and expressionism with a minimal of dialogue and downplaying of character-driven plot. There's a lot of characters here and the film is awash in dialogue. It does, however, have that characteristic detached, observational distance going on, so despite the wealth of characters we still get to play the role of objective observer.

[Emil Miller]

Sudden Fear (1952)

Joan Crawford is the successful and rich playwrite who marries Jack Palance not knowing he is a confidence trickster after her money. Gloria Grahame is his girlfriend who joins him in a plan to kill the playwrite. Somewhat stagey and not very convincing thriller of the type that rolled off the Hollywood production line during the 40s and 50s. Looking at them now, mediocrity seems to be the hallmark of many of them but there were some very good ones although this isn't one of them. It's alright in patches so it gets 5/10.

http://youtu.be/xAYfP4D-BMI

[YesNo]

Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080945/

Apparently not everything Jane Austen wrote is worth spending over $50,000 for including the play that forms the basis for this Merchant Ivory movie. Not knowing much about theater companies I found it difficult to see anyone behaving the way they did around Pierre, but amusing to watch.

Score 5/10

[MorpheusSandman]

Do the Right Thing (1989; Spike Lee) - 9/10

Don't know why it took me so long to see this; it's an extraordinary film that avoids all of the pitfalls that most "racial commentary" films fall into (see: Crash). A great cast of characters and actors, colorful writing and direction, and a wonderful build-up to a devastating climax.

[Irishcrusader95]

The Life of Pi (2013)
i had a lot pf expectations for this move based on what i had heard, yet ultimately it let me down. while there were some great scenes and a bit of a twist ending i still found it a bit boring and while the artistic style of it was good it failed to really hold my attention so i would not watch it a second time.

[Snowqueen]

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher - 7/10

Anna Karenina 10/10 This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. It is a ballet, it is an opera, it is a play. The settings are luscious and gorgeous. And believe it or not it is well-acted. I thought Kiera Knightly did a very good job; Jude Law was outstanding as the wronged husband. The actor who played Vronsky, Aaron Taylor Johnson (who also played the lead in 2010's "Kick ***"), was good, but he was six years younger than Ms. Knightly, and it shows. It was just noticeable.
.

Qimi, I had watched the trailer of Anna Karenina when it came out and didn’t really like it, to be honest, but after reading your post I’m planning to see this film. I’ve seen Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice and it was good.

[MorpheusSandman]

The Fugitive Kind (1959; Sidney Lumet) - 8/10

I'm rather puzzled at the lukewarm reputation this film has; what's not to like? You have the greatest American actor ever in Marlon Brando paired with the greatest Italian actress ever in Anna Magnani together playing two lonely characters with the utmost subtlety and understatement; you have superb supporting performances by Joanne Woodward and Victor Jory, a superbly written screenplay by Tennessee Williams (based on Orpheus Descending), all concatenated by the intelligent, slow-burning, atmospheric direction of Lumet. Perhaps it's a trifle too theatrical, especially in terms of the unnatural, florid dialogue, but Lumet was always at home with such theatrical material, and that doesn't make it any less cinematic.

[sadparadise]

Les Miserables, very well done! 10/10.

[Emil Miller]

The Full Treatment (1961)

A British thriller set on the Riviera in 1960, three years before the laughingly called entertainment **** hit the fan, was not to be missed even though my references gave it the thumbs down. Starring the tragic Ronald Lewis, who died penniless in a seedy London hotel, and a cast of well known contemporary French and British actors, it concerns a racing driver who suffers brain damage during a motor accident in England on his way to France with his newly married bride. Undergoing psychiatry after discovering that he wants to strangle his wife, he discovers that the psychiatrist is setting him up for an insane asylum in order to marry his wife. Run of the mill performances in a run of the mill film but, as a personal nostalgia trip, 7/10.

[YesNo]

Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall

This is a concert. The best part was "Someone Like You" followed by the closing "Rolling in the Deep". I realized she is one of the greatest poets of the English language when thousands in the audience sang her lyrics for her. Some might not consider that even a criteria for being a poet, but so be it.

It was a little difficult following her accent when she spoke, but not her songs. I did learn how English females say "a$$hole" from her which is more delicate, like "ahshole", than the cruder way I would pronounce it.

Score 10/10

[qimissung]

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher - 7/10



Qimi, I had watched the trailer of Anna Karenina when it came out and didn’t really like it, to be honest, but after reading your post I’m planning to see this film. I’ve seen Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice and it was good.

Eeek, I really hope you like it, Snowqueen! Let me know when you see it.

[islandclimber]

Patrice Leconte's Girl On a Bridge.

Filmed in an almost sulphurous black and white, with a haunting score, Girl On a Bridge is unapologetically romantic, it is erotic without nudity, its humour is droll, its voice alternates between uplifting and bleak. Daniel Auteil is incredible as the knife-thrower Gabor, there's a subtle brutality to him that is caged deep inside, and his mysterious world-weary eyes speak volumes. Vanessa Paradis brilliantly portrays the delicately sensual, naive, tragic Adele, his target, who falls in love with any man who is nice to her, even though she seems to understand the joke is on her... They belong to the caste of those discarded by society, from their near suicidal meeting on the bridge, through their erotic (in an uncomfortably delightful way) knife-throwing act, their parting, and to their near suicidal reunion. But together they overcome this alienation. 9/10

[Pierre Menard]

Autumn Sonata by Bergman: Beautiful film. Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman play off each other so magnificently, in their estranged mother-daughter relationship. The years of resentment and guilt and pain build to a heart-wrenching climax and re-established why Bergman is my favourite of all filmmakers. 9/10


King of Comedy by Scorcese: Real quality flick. De Niro is absolutely at the top of his game (as is Scorcese's directing) and Jerry Lewis is excellent as well. The Don Quixote-esque nature of his character with his desire for fantasy over reality is ultimately somewhat tragic and moving. Good stuff. 8/10

[MorpheusSandman]

Dancer in the Dark (2000; Lars Von Trier) - 9.5/10

I'm one of Trier's biggest critics, but this was a brilliant, emotionally gut-wrenching film--easily his best since Breaking the Waves. Say what you want about Trier's troll-like tendencies, but he is undeniably a ballsy filmmaker, and one of the very few that can so originally and audaciously experiment with form and genre. Who but him could think of combining a plot straight out of a 20s, silent melodrama (a poor girl is going blind and working in a factory to save money for her son's operation so he won't go blind--eat your heart out, Charlie Chaplin and Lilian Gish!), a musical, and the "style" of Dogme 95? It could've been disastrous--and many critics have claimed such (Peter Bradshaw humorously said: "one of the worst films, one of the worst artworks and perhaps one of the worst things in the history of the world.")--but it's held together by Bjork's stunning, unbearably poignant performance, and the utterly original and haunting musical numbers. I know that this is a film I'll be thinking about for months and probably years to come.

Jackie Brown (1997; Quentin Tarantino) - 7/10

This was rewatch on blu-ray, and I thought perhaps this film would've grown on me over the years, but it still feels bizarrely subdued for a Tarantino film. Where's the sense of fun and cinematic adventurism? There are some fine moments, and nobody an orchestrate more original and surprising murders than Tarantino, but it runs way too long and is far too dull for too much of that runtime to be considered great.

Autumn Sonata by Bergman: Beautiful film. Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman play off each other so magnificently, in their estranged mother-daughter relationship. The years of resentment and guilt and pain build to a heart-wrenching climax and re-established why Bergman is my favourite of all filmmakers. 9/10

King of Comedy by Scorcese: Real quality flick. De Niro is absolutely at the top of his game (as is Scorcese's directing) and Jerry Lewis is excellent as well. The Don Quixote-esque nature of his character with his desire for fantasy over reality is ultimately somewhat tragic and moving. Good stuff. 8/10

Both great films. Bergman is part of my "holy trinity" of filmmakers along with Hitchcock and Kurosawa.