rate the last movie you saw

[jkholm]

-Cinderella (2015): 8.5/10

Patrick Doyle's lush score recalls his 90's prime.

That is excellent news!

[AndyDursin]

At some point I will be able to go to a theater again. lol

Looking forward to seeing CINDERELLA, looks like Branagh also regained his form there, which is good to hear.

[Monterey Jack]

Looking forward to seeing CINDERELLA, looks like Branagh also regained his form there, which is good to hear.

Following the anonymous, gravely disappointing Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, this is Branagh recovering the gliding craftsmanship of his Shakespeare adaptations. It's definitely worth seeing in a theater if you can.

[Jedbu]

BIRDMAN: 6/10

Rented the DVD of this (the one video rental place we have in town never has the Blu-Ray in stock and got tired of waiting) and after watching have come to the conclusion that here is another film to admire but not really like. You all know the story and about the look of the film-I admit to not even noticing the seamless mixing of the images although I could tell there were a few times when they did a ROPE type of cut (going into a totally dark place to make the edit). An interesting premise that is muddied for me by one of the most annoying musical scores in memory (nice drum solo but after a while, c'mon, although I will give them props for using part of Mahler's 9th but why?) but salvaged by a performance by Michael Keaton that is his finest ever. I thought that he could act after seeing CLEAN & SOBER but this just blew me away. Have yet to see Eddie Redmayne's performance that won him the Oscar but not sure how Keaton could have been topped.

REAL GENIUS: 8/10

Enjoyed this nicely off-kilter entry in the teen science sub-genre back in the mid-80's when I first saw it and I think it actually improves with age. Val Kilmer, when he was funny and also fun, is the resident science whiz on campus when a 15-year-old (Gabe Jarret) is recruited by science department gorilla William Atherton to speed up work on some black ops project for the US military, although without Kilmer and Jarret's knowledge. There are the usual college hijinks-both of a sexual nature and rowdy humor, but there is a bit of gravitas to the film with the student geniuses finding out what they have really accomplished and how they turn the tables on both their mentor and the military brass. I really liked the off-the-wall touches: the guy who lives in Kilmer and Jarret's closet, the tanning invitational, the unique way Atherton's house is taken care of, Jarret going to a math class that starts off with all students gradually giving way to the students just leaving tape recorders to winding up with the instructor just leaving an audio recording of himself (that the students use cassettes and the instructor a reel-to-reel machine reminds you of when this movie came out) for the students to record-with my favorite touch being a rendering of Professor Fate from THE GREAT RACE on Kilmer's wall that is seen only fleetingly. I thought I had seen it when I first saw the film in a theater years ago and had it confirmed when I had it on video. Kilmer's character is a smart-ass but still likeable, Jarret is the naive straight arrow who realizes that being super smart does not mean being stuck up, and I really like Michelle Meyrink's overhyper female nerd who starts off annoying but ends up being quite enchanting by the end. The film does not wear out its welcome and I truly would love to know more about these characters. Hope that Sony does a Blu-Ray release some day with some extras-the DVD transfer is nice but could use a boost.

[sprocket]

I didn't like the ending of Birdman - I thought it went against the setup of everything that had gone before it. It was too cute.

I found the way it was shot also distracting. It's style was in the way as far as I was concerned. What saved everything was the performances, which I really enjoyed, and some welcome flights of (superhero) fancy.

7/10 for me.

[AndyDursin]

Great review of REAL GENIUS Jeff, one of my '80s favorites as well. Surprised a Blu-Ray has yet to surface.

HOOSIERS
10/10

One of my favorite films always gets a workout here right before NCAA March Madness tips off.

Interestingly enough, this time around, I noticed the remastered Blu-Ray's 4.0 Dolby Digital track is audibly superior to the 5.1 DTS MA audio. The latter has a "tinny" quality to the dialogue that goes back to prior, problematic DVD remixes (I first noticed it in the 2000 DVD release, and it was the same in the 2005 DVD), whereas the 4.0 mix has a warmer, fuller sound (and is supposed to be representative of the original theatrical mix; the last time this mix surfaced was, I believe, back in the LIVE non-anamorphic DVD release from the late '90s). Jerry's outstanding score -- one of his best -- benefits from the 4.0 mix as well. Note the 2nd Blu-Ray only has this audio plus all the extras missing from the first Blu-Ray release -- it also has an appreciably better transfer. Just forget the 5.1 DTS MA audio, which has that muddled soundtrack.

HUNGER GAMES - MOCKINGJAY PART 1
5/10

Anyone else sick of book-to-film adaptations being split into multiple installments when they don't need to be? Here comes another one: two full hours of talk with brief, intermittent action that's really just a lead-in to its sequel. Needless to say this is the weakest part of the Hunger Games movie series, and it nearly bored me to tears in spite of it being the shortest at two hours. How about cutting it down to fit one movie the next time? Oh wait, you want to make money pushing these across multiple sequels? Forget it.

THE ALPHABET MURDERS
6/10

I’m a fan of the many Agatha Christie film adaptations, and Warner Archive’s new release of MGM’s THE ALPHABET MURDERS fills a major void as it’s the last of the major-studio Christie films to see a release on DVD.

This curious offspring of MGM’s successful Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford attempted to launch a series of Hercule Poirot mysteries starring none other than Tony Randall. The result is an unsuccessful yet oddly entertaining picture that falls somewhere between an adaptation of Christie’s “The A.B.C. Murders” and a Pink Panther-esque comedy, with Randall’s broad portrayal of Poirot carrying a decided Clouseau feel. Frank Tashlin’s direction tries hard to punch up the meager David Pursall-Jack Seddon script, and the sleek B&W cinematography, supporting turns by Robert Morley, Anita Ekberg and Julian Glover, and – best of all – Ron Goodwin’s breezy, tuneful score do compensate to a degree (Goodwin’s main theme is even more appealing than his work on the Marple series). Ultimately, though, if it’s easy to see why MGM decided to nix any future adventures of Randall’s Poirot.

The Archive DVD comes with a detailed 1.85 (16:9) transfer with mono sound and the trailer. Recommended for Christie completists and curiosity seekers, though purists will want to stay far away.

[Monterey Jack]

-It Follows (2015): 7/10

Eerie, stylish and just-a-bit-overhyped film plays with the ultimate 80's horror trope -- you get laid, you die -- and fashions an experience so slow-burn it makes Stanley Kubrick look like Michael Bay. The camera is always slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-wly panning or zooming around, with a punishingly overbearing electronic score going for that John Carpenter/Tangerine Dream trance mood but mostly building up to "scares" that peter out into nothingness. It's certainly well-made and intriguing, but I'm sure mainstream horror fans will be gnawing their feet off to escape the theater by the halfway point.

[Eric Paddon]

Journey To The Center Of The Earth (1959) 8 of 10

-Got the new Blu-Ray edition. Certainly looks outstanding and an excellent job with the transfer. The new commentary track though is dragged down by the presence of Diane Baker, whose role was in the film was very minimal and as a consequence the whole commentary when it isn't about Bernard Herrmann veers off into a lot of digressions about her career elsewhere. If they were going to get a surviving cast member, why not Pat Boone or Arlene Dahl?

[Eric Paddon]

First Men In The Moon (1964) 7 of 10

-The new Blu-Ray also came to me. This film couldn't have been made a decade later not just because of our reaching the moon by then but because by then it would have been too late to plausibly have a character in age makeup do a flashback telling that could keep the film in its 1899 setting. On that point, I should say that not enough credit has been given to the makeup people for making Edward Judd a convincing 95 year old. I wish the ending hadn't been so abrupt because to me its the one thing that could have used a little more breathing room. I'll mention that great as the picture looks, the sound is even better. For the first time I can hear more clearly Lionel Jeffries' coughing fits that establish his developing cold (the first time I saw the film years ago, that kind of went over my head). Speaking of which, every time he shouts "GIBBS!!!!" never fails to make me laugh out loud. The commentary track, after the disappointing one on "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" was better but there was too much star struck awe of being in Harryhausen's presence and also it was too much on the technical side with not enough on the other aspects of the production. This led to an error when they said Peter Finch was doing a movie about Oscar Wilde at the time he made his unplanned cameo. That film had actually been released in 1960.


The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) 9 of 10

-On Palm Sunday I finally got my first item for Holy Week out. I've come to enjoy this film more and more and hope someday we get a Blu-Ray release I can feel comfortable buying. I think the only weak part is the Crucifixion sequence because of its obvious studio-interior quality. Coming after the spectacular cinematography of the film up to this point, the transition is too jarring. But overall, I still find it improving with age compared to KOK (silent and 1961) and its one big advantage over Jesus Of Nazareth IMO is the fact we aren't missing the vital Temptation scene that Zeffirelli IMO should not have cut from his film.

[AndyDursin]

Had the same basic reaction to First Men. The sound is tremendous on the TT Blu...movie is decent but not great and also takes an inordinate amount of time to literally take off.

[Monterey Jack]

-The Fast & The Furious (2001): 7/10

-2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): 7/10

-Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006): 6/10

-Fast & Furious (2009): 5/10

-Fast 5 (2011): 8.5/10

-Fast & Furious 6 (2013): 8/10

Okay, I'll admit...this series actually does get better in the second half. The first one even played better to me almost fifteen(!) years after I first watched it. The only real fumbles are the middle entries...Tokyo Drift is moderately fun, but very slight, and Fast & Furious (what was with that weird late-00's trend of fourth sequels having virtually the same title as an earlier entry in the series? The Fast & The Furious/Fast & Furious, Rambo: First Blood Part 2/Rambo, Final Destination/The Final Destination, etc.) is a total whiff, and even the car scenes are pretty anemic, with some truly awful greenscreen work. Once the series ditched the whole "street racing" thing (and none too soon...Vin Diesel and Paul Walker were starting to look ridiculously long in the tooth to be hanging around with these preening teenagers) with the fifth entry and just evolved into these elaborate Ocean's 11-style vehicular heist movies, they really jump to life, with superior action sequences and loosey-goosey character interplay between the burgeoning cast that's consistently amusing. Color me surprised how much I liked these once I finally gave them a fair shot. Sign me up for Fast 7 now.

[Jedbu]

Recently watched the DeMille KING OF KINGS (original roadshow version-disc 1 of the Criterion set)-still one of DeMille's finest films with a performance by H. B. Warner as Jesus that is still my favorite. He is still for so much of the film that when the scene comes up where he drives out the moneychangers his anger and revulsion is eye-opening. I also have always loved the scene where the little girl asks him to fix her broken doll and his solution (breaking off a branch to repair a joint) is so logical-we sometimes forget that Jesus was a carpenter first-yet so charming that you cannot help but smile when he does. Warner's eyes are so expressive and his smile almost bursts from the screen yet his suffering at the end is almost unbearable. The shorter version moves better, but the longer version has a pageantry and gravitas that makes it hard to disagree with what Will Rogers had to say when he saw it: "There will never be a greater film because there is no greater subject."

I also love DeMille's use of the 2-tone Technicolor process in the two sequences that he juxtaposes brilliantly-the opening with Mary Magdalene at her opulent home and living her life of sin with all the men she has procured (with Judas being absent) and the Resurrection with its simplicity of the spareness of the tomb and also the Magdalene after she has been cleansed and now seeking her Lord when she cannot find Him.

Only complaint-the score is just so-so with use of electronics and it just cries out for something orchestral and majestic. The Riesenfeld score on disc 2 actually works better and it is too bad someone could not have found a way to repurpose it.

[AndyDursin]

-The Fast & The Furious (2001): 7/10

-2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): 7/10

-Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006): 6/10

-Fast & Furious (2009): 5/10

-Fast 5 (2011): 8.5/10

-Fast & Furious 6 (2013): 8/10

Okay, I'll admit...this series actually does get better in the second half. The first one even played better to me almost fifteen(!) years after I first watched it. The only real fumbles are the middle entries...Tokyo Drift is moderately fun, but very slight, and Fast & Furious (what was with that weird late-00's trend of fourth sequels having virtually the same title as an earlier entry in the series? The Fast & The Furious/Fast & Furious, Rambo: First Blood Part 2/Rambo, Final Destination/The Final Destination, etc.) is a total whiff, and even the car scenes are pretty anemic, with some truly awful greenscreen work. Once the series ditched the whole "street racing" thing (and none too soon...Vin Diesel and Paul Walker were starting to look ridiculously long in the tooth to be hanging around with these preening teenagers) with the fifth entry and just evolved into these elaborate Ocean's 11-style vehicular heist movies, they really jump to life, with superior action sequences and loosey-goosey character interplay between the burgeoning cast that's consistently amusing. Color me surprised how much I liked these once I finally gave them a fair shot. Sign me up for Fast 7 now.

Toldja!! Lol
,
Though for me the first film is exponentially better than the lousy 2nd installment.

[Monterey Jack]

I didn't really have a problem with 2 Fast (of course, having sexy Eva Mendes in the cast didn't hurt)...all of these movies are empty calorie sugar rushes anyways, just the later ones generate a longer, stronger buzz. Eh, they're a lot more fun than what I would have expected from the first one years back, and once I shill all of the digital copies and movie cash tickets for part 7, I'll have essentially acquired the whole lot for close to free, so I can't complain.

[AndyDursin]

Yeah, exactly. Personally I never cared for 2 and found 3 very entertaining in spite of its lack of "star power" -- but I agree 4 was kind of "meh" in spite of how well it did. 6 also was not up to the standards of 5...but it sounds like 7 nails it.

I mean, it really IS crazy how this street racing series evolved into a global box-office franchise. SEVEN installments? It's insane. There's really nothing else to compare it to.