rate the last movie you saw

[sprocket]

Terribly bored with American film, I'm watching a lot of South Korean films these days.

Miss Granny 9/10



A comedy/drama/musical/romance which is sort of a reverse-tooled Big with winning performances from everyone involved. It touches all the bases and isn't too hard to follow with subtitles. Stick around on Youtube for the songs sung by the film's star, Shim Eun Kyung.

Il Mare 7/10

A romance which left me confused for much of the run time. Sort of a Korean "Somewhere in Time", this was remade into The Lake House with Sandra Bollock and Keanu Reeves a few years ago. None-the-less, the idea that romance can only happen at the right time (as the main characters interacted a few times before becoming aware of each other), is very interesting.

The Man From Nowhere 8/10



A stylish Korean cross between Taken and Leon: The Professional. Not much else to say, except the protagonist is left crying in the end...

Secret 8/10



Remember that guy from The Green Hornet who played Kato? Well Jay Chou is quite something in his home country of Taiwan. He wrote, starred in and directed Secret a while ago and it's another time-bending romance (whose mechanics are a bit convoluted, if you ask me). He plays a young music student in love with a fellow classmate, who has a secret. This film is interesting for the performances, especially the appealing female leads, and the music. Hey, there is a piano battle at one point: how many American movies would feature that?

Most of these films are on youtube, but, for the most part, I'm importing the blurays. Expensive, but there again, these are movies which will not be released on bluray again.

[AndyDursin]

BATMAN V SUPERMAN
6.5/10

http://andyfilm.com/mboard/viewtopic.ph ... 450#p60450

Full review coming later on

[AndyDursin]

STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS
8/10

Slight downgrade on second viewing. Not a major one...but the seams show more the second time around, and it's not nearly as fun without an audience.

I also do believe the comments that Rey was "overpowered" are accurate. Luke's journey from farmboy to Jedi was gradually developed over the trilogy -- here, Rey has the answers for EVERYTHING. She knows how to handle herself in a fight (no guys need help her out!). She knows how to pilot the Falcon. She knows how to fix the Falcon. She knows how to work a blaster with little practice. She knows how to outduel Kylo Renn with a lightsaber.

It's like Disney are so hellbent on "girl power" that they didn't want her seeming weak at all. But it's overdone, and dramatically, hurts her character and evolution. Even if they have her learn a few 'hard lessons' in the next film, it's not going to work nearly as well than a character who evolves...here, she's already evolved, and has nowhere else to go but backwards.

[mkaroly]

STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS
8/10

Slight downgrade on second viewing. Not a major one...but the seams show more the second time around, and it's not nearly as fun without an audience.

I also do believe the comments that Rey was "overpowered" are accurate. Luke's journey from farmboy to Jedi was gradually developed over the trilogy -- here, Rey has the answers for EVERYTHING. She knows how to handle herself in a fight (no guys need help her out!). She knows how to pilot the Falcon. She knows how to fix the Falcon. She knows how to work a blaster with little practice. She knows how to outduel Kylo Renn with a lightsaber.

It's like Disney are so hellbent on "girl power" that they didn't want her seeming weak at all. But it's overdone, and dramatically, hurts her character and evolution. Even if they have her learn a few 'hard lessons' in the next film, it's not going to work nearly as well than a character who evolves...here, she's already evolved, and has nowhere else to go but backwards.

Good points - missed opportunity on their part. Yet I will still take that over Lucas' complete de-evolution of Amadala's character in the prequels...in my mind one of the worst character arcs ever.

[Monterey Jack]

-Top Secret! (1984): 10/10



Saw that this was added recently to HDnet Movies, and had to give it another whirl. Still one of the most dizzyingly hilarious movies ever made, and the best film the ZAZ team ever made (I realize that will seem like blasphemy to some to say this is better than Airplane! or The Naked Gun, but...it is). I still collapse in helpless laughter for pretty much the entire running time, and would dearly love for this to hit Blu-Ray at some point (the HDnet version looks pretty spiffy). I would even pay Twilight Time prices for it.

Whatever happened to Lucy Gutteridge, anyways? I wonder if her bosoms still defy gravity.

[Eric Paddon]

City On Fire (1979) 3 of 10

-While inventorying my DVD albums I had to pull this one out since I hadn't seen it in about 25 years when I recorded it off an HBO airing I think and then had it transferred to DVD one night ten years ago when I wasn't watching so I could toss the tape. We're all familiar how the "disaster" craze spawned a series of cheap TV-movie imitations, but here we have a cheap Canadian production that plays like a cheap TV-movie (with an uncharismatic top-billed Barry Newman, star of the forgotten "Petrocelli" series and Susan Clark who was in between her earlier successes in TV movies and then "Webster") with a couple bits of gratuitous profanity and a couple gross-out shots to childlike minds to justify getting an R-rating at the time. Meanwhile, throw in two veterans of "Poseidon Adventure" (Shelley Winters who gets another death scene and Leslie Nielsen in the "captain" role, this time as the mayor of the city), one of "Earthquake" (Ava Gardner, once again being given deference to who she had been by trying to make us think she's still attractive when she was badly puffed and looking every bit her late 50s at the time) and finally one from two other disaster clunkers, "The Swarm" and "Meteor" (Henry Fonda, who only had to put on a fire chief uniform and stand in a cheap command center set) and you get something that plays like an unintentional "Airplane" a year before the genuine article as it takes every bad cliche of the disaster genre and without a good script, competent direction or good F/X makes for uninspired viewing.

[Eric Paddon]

The World Of Henry Orient (1964) 6.8 of 10

-I had never seen this movie before but I had in that album a TCM letterboxed recording from well over seven-eight years ago that I remember doing solely so I could have an excuse to buy the FSM CD, but since I'd never gotten round to watching the film, the CD remained unplayed too! I have to admit, that when you grow up with your chief frame of reference for Peter Sellers being Inspector Clouseasu it's sometimes hard to at first shake the image of that when seeing him in other films ("Dr. Strangelove" was an exception for me). Eventually I did since the focus of the story of course is less Sellers but the two children and their obsessive pursuit of him (Merrie Spaeth, one of the girls grew up to be an official in the Reagan Administration in the 80s!). It's also fascinating again to see one of these mid-60s NYC movies that suggest a glossy, charming place with no signs whatsoever of urban decay and decline looming (the girls roaming about the city and Central Park being the ultimate testament to that!) and for the first time I was able to be introduced to Bernstein's score. Not his best, but a charming effort (and I finally did play the CD for the first time today!). The real underrated surprise to me though was Tom Bosley as the father. It's a very strong performance even though he and Angela Lansbury don't show up for almost an hour into the film.

[Monterey Jack]

That's a really charming film...I picked up the Blu-Ray during the last Twilight Time sale (w/isolated score track and commentary featuring Bond, Jeff Bond ).

[AndyDursin]

Eric is a tough critic Terrific flick I've been a fan of since the laserdisc era!

I think it is one of Elmer's better scores in fact too.

[Paul MacLean]

Krull

Still lots of fun, with stalwart, likable heroes, action, romance, valor, great visuals, genuinely funny humor and many touching moments. No, it's not a perfect film; making the villain an invader from outer space (and arming his minions with ray guns) was kind of goofy. But the film is so unpretentious, and committed to being just a fun, exciting, old-fashioned adventure yarn, I can't complain. And James Horner's score is the best he ever wrote. I'll take Krull over any of the glum fantasies of the past 15 years, with their humorless (and pretentious) scripts and morally ambiguous "heroes".

The transfer of the Mill Creek Blu-ray looks great, though the sound is a bit shrill (like it was mastered at a low bitrate) and also suffers from what sounds like 80s-era Dolby NR. The disc also contains no special features (you'd think they could have at least included the commentary track from the DVD).

[AndyDursin]

I think you're right on Horner. It may be his best work from start to finish.

[mkaroly]

I think you're right on Horner. It may be his best work from start to finish.

For me Horner's best work is Star Trek II. Krull would be in a solid second place for me. It was one of his best works for sure.

[AndyDursin]

I listen to Krull more than Khan myself. I think the romantic component gives it a bit more color compared to Trek II. But that's a classic also!!

[sprocket]

Happiness (2007) 8/10

As a Su-jeong Lim fan I had to watch her in this film, the first of 4 South Korean films I have received in a collection of films by director Jin-Ho Hur.

If you like escapist films, then this film isn't for you. It's about the doomed relationship between an alcoholic womanizer and the all-too-fragile girl he meets while staying at a sanatorium in the Korean countryside. It is surprisingly low-keyed in exploring their relationship and there are no 'big gestures'; everything is very natural and makes sense. The acting is great; script, cinematography, scenery, music ... all come together wonderfully.

[AndyDursin]

CANDY
5/10



Kino Lorber heads back to the ‘60s with CANDY, a whacked-out, would-be satirical take on the era’s social attitudes and pop-culture, adapted by Buck Henry from the Terry Southern-Mason Hoffenberg novel and directed by Christian Marquand.

Ewa Aulin stars in the title role – a typical high school student who embarks on a zany journey of sexual discovery, having encounters with some of the era’s most popular stars: Marlon Brando (a guru), Richard Burton (an appropriately boozy poet), James Coburn (a demented surgeon), Walter Matthau (a military general), and Ringo Starr (a gardener). These appearances occur throughout “Candy,” a film that also boasts special effects by Douglas Trumbull, production design by future Oscar winner Dean Tavoularis, a “mod” score by Dave Grusin (with songs from The Byrds and Steppenwolf), and supporting turns from a varied cast including John Astin, John Huston, Charles Aznavour, Elsa Martinelli and Sugar Ray Robinson.

“Candy,” a production of Selmur Pictures (owned by ABC) and released through Cinerama, was a box-office bomb that functions today strictly as a time capsule of its era. Despite being shot in Rome, the movie looks like an R-rated episode of “The Monkees,” with tight, claustrophobic sets, a wide pallet of colors and “groovy” music that, in total, date the film as a specific product of its period. That said, one wishes the film were more fun, especially with that cast, most of whom look as if they’re putting in appearances on “Laugh-In,” giving the movie a very disjointed feel as it moves, at times incoherently, from one “sketch” to another.

A movie that’s carried only a small cult following because of its lack of availability, “Candy” premiered on DVD from Anchor Bay in 2002 but has been out-of-print for years – as the movie had been prior to that edition. Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray brings the film back into the public eye thanks to a new, 2K restoration (1.85) with DTS MA mono audio. The film looks healthy and vibrant, and the disc offers a new interview with Buck Henry that’s candid and funny, as the writer details the film’s rocky, drug-infused production and disastrous commercial reception. There’s a shorter interview with critic Kim Morgan who attempts to defend the film, while two radio spots and the trailer round out the disc.