rate the last movie you saw

[mkaroly]

I have a friend who prefers the Tangerine Dream score to Goldsmith's. It's interesting; I just saw the movie for the first time recently but was very familiar with Goldsmith's score. My friend saw the film several times when it was released in America with TD's score and in the past year or two heard Goldsmith's score for the first time. I wonder if I would have preferred TD's score if I had seent he movie in the theater as a kid.

Anyway, I do agree with the opinions of Goldsmith's score for this movie, especially after having seen how it worked in the film apart from listening to it with no context. It has depth, dimension, is imaginative, and compliments the outstanding 10/10 visuals and look of the film. The ballet sequence (with Goldsmith's music) still sticks with me as one of the best moments in the film.

[Eric W.]

I have a friend who prefers the Tangerine Dream score to Goldsmith's. It's interesting; I just saw the movie for the first time recently but was very familiar with Goldsmith's score. My friend saw the film several times when it was released in America with TD's score and in the past year or two heard Goldsmith's score for the first time. I wonder if I would have preferred TD's score if I had seent he movie in the theater as a kid.

I think your friend needs a lobotomy or something like that.

Anyway, I do agree with the opinions of Goldsmith's score for this movie, especially after having seen how it worked in the film apart from listening to it with no context. It has depth, dimension, is imaginative, and compliments the outstanding 10/10 visuals and look of the film. The ballet sequence (with Goldsmith's music) still sticks with me as one of the best moments in the film.

It's downright remarkable the night and day difference that masterpiece of a score makes.

[AndyDursin]

I have a friend who prefers the Tangerine Dream score to Goldsmith's. It's interesting; I just saw the movie for the first time recently but was very familiar with Goldsmith's score. My friend saw the film several times when it was released in America with TD's score and in the past year or two heard Goldsmith's score for the first time. I wonder if I would have preferred TD's score if I had seent he movie in the theater as a kid.

Probably not. I saw LEGEND and never liked it until I heard Jerry's score myself. But there are people, who probably don't care for classical orchestral music, who prefer the Dream's music.

I do think "masterpiece" is apt there Michael. It is in many ways Goldsmith's finest score for me, at least -- few of his works have the depth of thematic material and color that score does. Marvelous.

[Paul MacLean]

I have a friend who prefers the Tangerine Dream score to Goldsmith's. It's interesting; I just saw the movie for the first time recently but was very familiar with Goldsmith's score. My friend saw the film several times when it was released in America with TD's score and in the past year or two heard Goldsmith's score for the first time. I wonder if I would have preferred TD's score if I had seent he movie in the theater as a kid.

Their music didn't work in the film at all, but I think for some it has an "appeal by association" effect -- kind of like a sicky-sweet perfume which would normally make you gag but grows on you because your girlfriend wears it.

I myself came to the film and Tangerine Dream's music slightly differently. I saw the film with the TD music long before seeing it with Goldsmith's, but I had bought the original LP about three or four weeks prior to seeing the film in the theater. Still, I doubt I would have liked TD's music even if I had never heard Goldsmith's score.

Anyway, I do agree with the opinions of Goldsmith's score for this movie, especially after having seen how it worked in the film apart from listening to it with no context. It has depth, dimension, is imaginative, and compliments the outstanding 10/10 visuals and look of the film. The ballet sequence (with Goldsmith's music) still sticks with me as one of the best moments in the film.

Listening to the album before seeing the film, my thought was "This must some kind of amazing movie to have inspired this kind of score".

When I did see the film, I enjoyed it (TD's music notwithstanding), but I found the script simplistic. That didn't shock me too much since that was true of most fantasy movies in those days, but I was surprised that Goldsmith's complex and multi-layered score was inspired by such a relatively slim narrative.

[mkaroly]

EARLY SUMMER (1951) - 6.5/10. Not Ozu's best, but after watching LATE SPRING, it was interesting in that he used a lot fo the same character names and kind of rearranged their life situations. I found this film much more humorous (Chishu Ryo cracked me up) than LATE SPRING and very methodical in its story telling of life cycles across generations in this one family. Decent film, but not his best.

[Monterey Jack]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009): 0/10

SucksucksucksuckSUCKSUCKSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

[Eric Paddon]

Poseideon Adventure (1972)-Played the DVD with the commentary track by Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley and Pamela Sue Martin. Very good camaraderie amongst the three ladies and their memories of the production were quite solid, insightful and witty. All cast commentaries should be like this!

The film itself is still great after all these years and a nice reminder of how disaster spectacle could be done in the days before dreaded CGI. Still rates an 8 of 10 for me and is outdone only by Towering Inferno for best disaster flick of all time.

And BTW, I do NOT recommend anyone ever read the original Paul Gallico novel. It is a very ugly tome with thoroughly dislikable and sadistic characters that you couldn't possibly care about.

[Monterey Jack]

Orphan (2009): 2/10

Ludicrous.

[Paul MacLean]

I just watched Capricorn One again last night. I hadn't seen it since the 80s.

It holds up very well. Some of the dialog is a bit over the top and there are some implausibly lengthy monologs; in a way the dialog is almost more like what you'd hear in a stage play. On the other hand it the actors really seem to relish the chance to expound with some snappy lines. Most of the performances are superb, particularly James Brolin.

Apart from the fact its weird seeing OJ Simpson in anything these days, he's the one truly weak performance, but his character is so minor he's almost a glorified extra (significantly his dialog is also very minimal).

The film really keeps your attention, which is curious as it doesn't move particularly fast, and I do wish it had a little more action. The story is not without some considerable implausibilities, but than again you could say that about North By Northwest too.

Its superbly photographed (like all of Peter Hyams' films) by Jaws cameraman Bill Butler, with a very naturalistic, untheatrical lighting style. Fantastic use of lenses and camera moves too.

Jerry Goldsmith's score is of course superb -- very subtle for the most part, though ironically it features one of his best action cues: "Break Out". The music is also given a surprisingly favorable dub. Like many Goldsmith scores, Capricorn One is also timbrally very interesting, in that it completely dispenses with woodwinds -- a fact that few if any people have ever mentioned (since they probably never noticed).

I don't think this film couldn't be made today -- there are too many eerie similarities to the Challenger disaster, and the helicopter chase at the end would probably be deemed to hazardous in the wake of the Twilight Zone crash.

Its also funny to consider that the two main actors -- James Brolin and Elliot Gould -- were both married to Barbara Streisand. I wonder if she owns this DVD?

[mkaroly]

Watched two movies today:

ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952) - 7.5/10. I liked Ryan's performance. He was very convincing in this film noir offering. Decent acting, awkward ending (I know the film had a weird production history), good visuals, and an amazing score by Bernard Herrmann who totally nailed the emotional content of the film. Music was beautiful.

HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966) - 6/10. Maybe that's a bit high, but I wwas entertained and I have a thing for Audrey Hepburn...I cannot be objective when I watch film with her in it. Also enjoyed WIlliams' score. It's a typical 60s comedy film with good performances...was Audrey not one of the most beautiful actresses in cinema? I don't know why her performances move me so much, but they do. Props to O'Toole and Wallach as well.

[Monterey Jack]

G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra: 1/2 / 10

Stop killing my childhood, please.

[AndyDursin]

I rewatched ANGEL HEART tonight on Blu-Ray.

Michael Seresin's cinematography is exceptional -- the movie's visuals are superb and Alan Parker did a fine job directing this strange and surreal, if a bit obvious, supernatural thriller. Mickey Rourke is excellent in a difficult role and DeNiro hams up, rather amusingly, his extended cameo bit.

The BD heightens the movie's most positive aspects -- and Lisa Bonet is gorgeous, showing all kinds of promise for a career that regrettably never took off -- but the story is still rather one dimensional and, once you know where it's going, just kind of sits there. The second hour also really drags.

I also didn't love Trevor Jones score, which has a recurring piano motif, but it's never really developed the way it could have been, coming off like a dissonant atmosphere score with doses of saxophone. Needless to say it doesn't really come together.

Overall it's a movie that's worth one viewing, especially in high def, and almost certainly will be preferrable to the remake (sigh) that's supposed to be forthcoming.

The BD extras include an amusing 2004 interview with a disinterested Mickey Rourke, who says he never connected with the material and only made the movie because of Parker's involvement. The interviewer tries valiantly to get him to talk about the movie, but it's clear he was going through a tough time when he made it and disliked the story along with it. He gave a good performance under the circumstances though.

[Paul MacLean]

Michael Seresin's cinematography is exceptional --

To me Angel Heart is a movie that is worth watching simply for the photography. Seresin is a remarkable cameraman -- everything he shoots looks amazing, even though he employs a pretty minimalist lighting set-up (often lighting from only one direction).

I also didn't love Trevor Jones score, which has a recurring piano motif, but it's never really developed the way it could have been, coming off like a dissonant atmosphere score with doses of saxophone.

I like Jones' score in the movie (the album wasn't much however, and included dialog!). Despite being mostly electronic Angel Heart still has qualities which, for me, made his early work more interesting -- in particular his penchant for complex, moody harmonies.

Jones has said that he consciously started to write more subtle, essentially unnoticeable scores in the mid-80s, because (astonishingly) he he never got any positive feedback for scores like The Dark Crystal. So he decided to go 180 degrees away from large orchestral scoring as a result.

[AndyDursin]

To me Angel Heart is a movie that is worth watching simply for the photography. Seresin is a remarkable cameraman -- everything he shoots looks amazing, even though he employs a pretty minimalist lighting set-up (often lighting from only one direction).

This is clearly one of those situations where high-definition can have a major effect on a movie, because I had only seen ANGEL HEART on DVD and standard-def doesn't do the kind of justice to Seresin's cinematography the way the Blu-Ray does. The layers of lighting and the overall look of the picture is just exceptional, and the Blu Ray (which is only $12) looks and sounds really great.

Jones' music does work on the atmospheric level, I agree, but I found it odd there's this use of a recurring motif that Rourke even hums on-screen -- but it's never developed, and never goes anywhere. I guess in a different (or more straightforward, thematic) kind of approach it would've been more utilized, but it was kind of like the movie -- it worked to a degree, but none of it reached a higher level, outside of the cinematography, if that makes any sense.

DeNiro was hilarious though, looking like Scorsese and hamming it up. Of course next to Pacino's portrayal of Old Scratch (whoops, spoilers!) it looks positively restrained by comparison.

[Paul MacLean]

Jones' music does work on the atmospheric level, I agree, but I found it odd there's this use of a recurring motif that Rourke even hums on-screen -- but it's never developed, and never goes anywhere.

Its been a while since I've seen it but the main theme was based on the first few bars of an old tune from the 40s or 50s. That's probably what the recurrent theme is.

DeNiro was hilarious though, looking like Scorsese and hamming it up. Of course next to Pacino's portrayal of Old Scratch (whoops, spoilers!) it looks positively restrained by comparison.

The weirdest shot in that movie is when Roarke returns to his hotel near the end, and passes a nun (or a woman in a long dress -- its been a while since I saw the film) and "she" looks up and is revealed to be none other than Robert DeNiro! Not quite as strange as Sean Connery in a wedding dress in Zardoz, but up there!