rate the last movie you saw

[Edmund Kattak]

Spending Joanne's vacation watching the original STAR WARS trilogy in unmolested versions (two of them from 4K scans -- first time through for Theo on the sequels!

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
"That is not a good ending!"

RETURN OF THE JEDI
"I loved the Ewoks!"

Taking after his dad already...

Those two 4K wouldn't happen to be from that 4K77 and 4K83 project, would those? Fascinating read.

They would be Ed -- the 1080p versions (I don't have anything to play back the UHD files, not even the Xbox One can do that) to be specific. And they look and sound wonderful!

That's great to hear! I have the earlier release of EMPIRE from that same team, but the print had this pulsating magenta hue at times and the black levels were REALLY black in most scenes.

I have read on at least one site (maybe it was theirs?) that as of couple months ago, Disney has started some "activity" on the 4K original trilogy, but nothing that can be corroborated as far as I'm concerned. I guess it's a wait and see act.

[Eric Paddon]

Return to Oz (1985) 5.5 of 10
-First time I saw this (my second order from the DMC with the 20,000 Leagues Blu-Ray). I've always known it was a darker story that was truer to the Baum books, but the fact that Disney went out of its way to self-consciously reference some elements of the 39 classic (they paid MGM permission to use the ruby slippers as a plot device since that was created for the film, and also copied that film's use of counterpart characters) I think should have made them aware they needed to have a couple more light moments to punctuate things. We really don't get anything like that at any point as its pretty much non-stop tension and danger. Disney only made this film because they had acquired the rights to all the other Baum Oz books back in the 50s but never got a single project off the ground, and they were at this point several years away from losing their rights so this was basically, "Let's do something while we have a chance to do it."

[Monterey Jack]

-Jaws (1975): 11/10



The shark is still working.

[Eric Paddon]

But your image isn't!

[Monterey Jack]

-Jaws 2 (1978): 8/10

[Monterey Jack]

Jaws 2 is seriously WAY better than it needed to be to make money, and John Williams' score is one of his all-time best sequel efforts.

[Eric Paddon]

1776 (1972) 10 of 10

-Every year this gets better and better for me. Especially because it shows some telling insights that today's crazies who have sought to tear down our history and our Founding Fathers in a sea of despicable political correctness have forgotten or been taught to forget. The "Molasses to Rum" sequence and the dialogue between Franklin and Adams over why the issue of slavery can not be tackled should be required viewing for all of these people who want to tear down their statues and cease celebrating their lives. Where Franklin tells Adams that if he really believes in securing the dream of American Independence he has to learn how to live with the southern slaveholders "or pack up and go home!" And when Adams later says that if they give in on slavery, "Posterity will never forgive us," Franklin answers, "What will posterity think we were, demigods?" and why it was important to secure Independence first.

-So-called "liberal" minds were capable of recognizing this back then. Today's are incapable of it.

[AndyDursin]

Well said Eric! When is it going to be removed from TCM airings


Several quick capsules...

TUFF TURF (1985)
7/10

James Spader found himself essaying a pair of contrasting roles in two different youth thrillers, both released in 1985. In “The New Kids” -- “Friday the 13th” auteur Sean S. Cunningham’s R-rated answer to the rise of the John Hughes generation – Spader played the icy villain “Dutra,” separated by quite a far distance from his lead role in “Tuff Turf,” an even more entertaining high-school thriller. Portraying a feisty Connecticut teen who moves to L.A. with his family and promptly runs afoul of the local gang of bullies – as well as the leader’s soon-to-be conflicted girlfriend (ex-Disney moppet Kim Richards) – Spader’s character is far less a milquetoast than the usual heroes we find in comparable genre exercises. Turning the tables on the bad guys, Spader charms the troubled Richards while befriending an equally young Robert Downey, Jr.

“Tuff Turf” isn’t exactly “Class of 1984” or “Savage Streets” – despite the R-rating, this New World release is more along the lines of a sexier, more violent Afterschool Special. It also just misses being something truly special, being just competent enough to miss the “so bad it’s good” thrills of the latter and the more adult, trashy amusement of the former. Yet before director Fritz Kiersch stages a mundane climax, “Tuff Turf” offers plenty of entertainment just the same along with a strong Spader performance that’s worth seeing by itself.

Kino Lorber’s superb Blu-Ray of this New World production includes a fresh 2K restored transfer (1.85), DTS MA mono sound, the trailer and a commentary from Kiersch, who also helmed “Children of the Corn” for New World before his career stalled out.

HOTEL MUMBAI (2019)
8/10

Compelling, at times horrifying dramatization of the terrorist attack on India’s Taj Hotel in 2008, where some 30 people died – half of them staff members who tried to save the guests. The lives of the innocent victims as well as the religious motivations of Islamic radicals are vividly chronicled in Australian director Anthony Maras’ film, which combines some characters for dramatic impact and ends up a film that keeps you glued to your seat, in at-times (understandably) uncomfortable ways. Dev Patel and Armie Hammer are both standouts in a uniformly fine cast, and all of it is superbly, believably rendered in one of the year’s best films. Universal’s Blu-Ray combo pack of the Bleecker Street release includes a 1080p (2.40) transfer, 5.1 DTS MA sound, a DVD, Digital HD copy and several featurettes.

CAPTIVE STATE (2018)
5/10


This Amblin/Participant Media co-production has an interesting enough concept – what the world would be like a few years removed from an extraterrestrial takeover – but its agenda can quickly be seen when its opening text crawl tells us “the gap between rich and poor has never been greater” and “deportations are now taking place – off-planet.” Yes, director Rupert Wyatt’s thriller, set in a dystopian future Chicago, is really just a thinly veiled Hollywood commentary on what happened in 2016, just with cactus-adorned creatures showing up every now and then to remind you that you’re watching a movie and not CNN. John Goodman fares well as a frustrated cop with Vera Farmiga as his wife – a former teacher turned futuristic Stormy Daniels. “Captive State” opens solidly and ends with a satisfying enough twist, but it’s unfortunate the rest of it is so slow-going and intermittently preachy. Universal’s Blu-Ray of this scarcely-released picture includes a 1080p (2.35) transfer, 5.1 DTS MA sound, commentary with Wyatt and co-writer Erica Beeney, two featurettes and a Digital HD copy.

[mkaroly]

SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY - Just saw this yesterday. Some thoughts: first, I appreciate that the film paid homage to the Golden Age of film scoring by mentioning Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Alex North, and Bernard Herrmann. It was relatively narrow in scope but their focus was more on the newer trends. Second, kudos to the filmmakers for emphasizing the contributions of Jerry Goldsmith and (especially) John Williams in the documentary (however, with regard to SUPERMAN THE MOVIE I was very irritated that while the discussion centered on the Krypton theme they were showing scenes from the Fortress of Solitude sequence). I also enjoyed that composers like Danny Elfman and Thomas Newman were represented as unique contributors/innovators to the medium (I loved that someone in the documentary said that everyone rips Thomas Newman off with that soft echo-ey piano thing...I laughed out loud because it is true). Finally, it was nice to see both Howard Shore and Elliot Goldenthal in the documentary. Those are the positives.

The negatives? The rest of the documentary. The differences between the aforementioned composers and contemporary composers is mammoth, and while film scoring can handle experimentation, most of the people in the documentary seem to me to be much less imaginative (I was especially annoyed with the composer of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD hammering out drums on his keyboard as well as the French composer who seemed more like a reincarnated 60s beatnik dude with an obsession for plucking things). Pro-Tools...it has its place but boy does it take away from the unique character of different recording studios around the world. I found it ironic that an annoying Disney exec was blabbering on and on about how great film music was - your own damn company doesn't give a rat's ass about film scores. Does contemporary film score music (generally speaking) tell a story like the more "classic" scores out there? Or are people just obsessed with the physics and intellectual side of sound and music that they forget to write something that is moving (generally speaking)?

And then, of course, there is Hans Zimmer...the documentary was not lying when it said this was his era. His fingerprint is on so much stuff out there that one cannot deny his influence. But the documentary shows the radical difference between film scores of the past and contemporary stuff in its comparison of two film endings and their scores: ET and INCEPTION. The neuropsychologist (whatever) explained how film scores move people using those two examples - all one has to do is listen to and watch both sequences to see that one score (ET) is everything the other score (INCEPTION) tries to be but (IMO) fails miserably to achieve. ET builds, breathes, and leads to a climactic coda that still makes me cry. INCEPTION builds and tries to breathe but ultimately sounds to me like noise that goes nowhere. I respect Zimmer for giving kudos to John Williams, but I just don't like his contributions to film scores (generally speaking). That is harsh and biased but I cannot be objective about this.

[AndyDursin]

SHORTCUT TO HAPPINESS
aka THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER

5/10



Among MVD's catalog releases this month is the Blu-Ray debut of SHORTCUT TO HAPPINESS (104 mins., 2001/2007, PG-13), the movie that’s better known as star/director Alec Baldwin’s ill-fated “Devil and Daniel Webster” remake. A slew of problems, including the apparent FBI seizure of the film (due to the fraudulent activity of one of its investors), kept the picture from release for many years. Baldwin disowned the finished product, which the Yari Film Group bought and completed on their own, leading to various cable TV airings but no physical home video release in the U.S.

MVD’s release, then, is a noteworthy one, even if the film itself is a minor misfire. The finished product is credited to director “Harry Kirkpatrick,” with Baldwin playing a struggling NYC writer who sells his soul to the Devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt!) before being defended by publishing magnate Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins). Baldwin assembled a major supporting cast – Dan Aykroyd, Kim Cattrall, Bobby Cannavale, even then-SNL cast members Amy Poehler and Darrell Hammond – for this updating of Stephen Vincent Benet’s old story, written by Pete Dexter, Bill Condon and Nancy Cassaro. Flatly filmed and performed, it’s hard to believe Baldwin’s own completed cut would’ve been a revelation or a vast improvement (the movie seems mostly finished outside of the absence of some transitional elements), but it’s still watchable – even if its behind-the-scenes story is far more interesting than what’s on-screen.

MVD’s Blu-Ray is a no-frills affair with an attractive 1080p (1.85) AVC encoded transfer with PCM stereo sound and a score credited to Christopher Young.

[esteban miranda]

I've used the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing as an occasion, if one were needed, to watch a few appropriately themed movies over the past several days.


Apollo 13 (1995) 10/10
One of my favorites. Horner's score is also one of my favorites.


Destination Moon (1950) 6/10
Enjoyable for what it is, an attempt to portray a fairly realistic trip to the moon in a kind of naive Disney World Tomorrowland sort of way. The Leith Stevens score is a real plus.


First Men in the Moon (1964) 6/10
After the "modern day" landing is depicted, evidence of a decades-earlier visit to the Moon is investigated. It's at this point that the movie slows way down and veers into broad comedy. Others might just see this as "light-hearted" but I find it does not improve the results. Once they land on the Moon it becomes more turn of the (20th) century type adventure like one would find in Wells, Verne, Burroughs, not so bad.


12 to the Moon (1960) 2/10
This title was chosen solely for it's topicality. It was as bad as I remember, something like The Three Stooges Have Rocket - Will Travel without the comedy (or maybe not that good).


Apollo 11 (2019)
Recently produced documentary which is a straight-forward presentation of the Apollo 11 trip to the Moon. It does not attempt to create drama using familiar documentary techniques but is just the plain historical facts put together from NASA and news organization footage and audio. 93 minutes and none of it boring.

[Paul MacLean]

Good to hear from you Esteban!

IApollo 13 (1995) 10/10
One of my favorites. Horner's score is also one of my favorites.

It's terrible I know, but I still don't own this on DVD or Blu-ray. I agree it is an outstanding picture, terrific on every level. Agreed on Horner's score as well, which adds such a special dimension to the movie.

12 to the Moon (1960) 2/10
This title was chosen solely for it's topicality. It was as bad as I remember, something like The Three Stooges Have Rocket - Will Travel without the comedy (or maybe not that good).

I had never heard of this movie until reading your post.

I looked it up and found the trailer on Youtube. Oh my gosh...

[Eric Paddon]

I gave "First Men In The Moon" a view today, inspired by the post. The age makeup they did on Edward Judd is really well-done. I still find it amazing Lionel Jeffries was actually younger than Martha Hyer (who had a small part a decade earlier in "Abbott And Costello Go To Mars"!). For the first time, I realized there is a narrative gap of sorts where there's no explanation for how Bedford and Kate have gotten back the parts to the sphere that had been taken off by the Selenites. Probably indicates some cut footage.

And this publicity pic notwithstanding, Hyer is never seen like this in the film!

[Monterey Jack]

Apollo 13 (1995) 10/10
One of my favorites. Horner's score is also one of my favorites.

I agree it is an outstanding picture, terrific on every level. Agreed on Horner's score as well, which adds such a special dimension to the movie.

Honestly? I've never liked Horner's score to Apollo 13, which is nothing but a grab bag of his Greatest Hits licks (a little Brainstorm here, a lot of Sneakers there) and generic "uplifting score" clichés (break out the timpani rolls and cymbal crashes!). I think people like the score because they like the movie so much. Ditto Braveheart, which I owned on cassette back in the day and never bothered to upgrade to CD.

As for me, I celebrated the Moon Landing anniversary with last year's underrated First Man, which I find to be very engrossing and emotionally sound. I know most critics loved it, but audiences seemed to be asleep at the wheel when it came out, and the lack of major Awards Season love for it confounds me.

[esteban miranda]

Honestly? I've never liked Horner's score to Apollo 13, which is nothing but a grab bag of his Greatest Hits licks (a little Brainstorm here, a lot of Sneakers there) and generic "uplifting score" clichés (break out the timpani rolls and cymbal crashes!). I think people like the score because they like the movie so much....

I heard long ago that this score leaned heavily on some of his previous efforts, but as these other scores were unknown to me, as far as I was concerned, it might have been newly-minted.