rate the last movie you saw

[Paul MacLean]

Inception.

What an overrated nothing. Extremely derivative, filching elements from The Matrix, Brazil, Dreamscape (and even Star Trek: The Next Generation's holodeck set toward the end).

Some cool effects, but this is movie is little more than escapist gimmickry. There were too many gunfights, too many explosions, and it all became almost funny toward the climax, with the crosscutting between the falling van, the guy in the elevator shaft, etc. And then the final shot of the top spinning on the table -- oooo, is it a dream or isn't it? Who knows???

Great score too! (I'm kidding.)

P.S. -- I had to rent the DVD because they were out of Blu-rays of this film. What a terrible transfer. I am convinced Warner Home Video is making intentionally bad transfers on their DVDs in order to make Blu-ray look better.

[AndyDursin]

And then the final shot of the top spinning on the table -- oooo, is it a dream or isn't it? Who knows???

Haha, that is EXACTLY the reaction I had when I saw it. I knew the movie was going to end that way too. Talk about a cheap way out. Nolan should've ended it as Michael Caine said with the top falling over (which Caine says is the ending of the film), but he chose the predictable conclusion which I think any seasoned movie-goer would've seen coming from miles away.

I rewatched portions of the movie on the plane down to Aruba. It is a technically proficient movie but Nolan's films continue to have no heart and no soul. I wonder if they ever will...

[Paul MacLean]

I rewatched portions of the movie on the plane down to Aruba. It is a technically proficient movie but Nolan's films continue to have no heart and no soul. I wonder if they ever will...

Oh, but "heart and soul" is so "old school" Andy. Artistic cinema has to be cerebral, not emotional (and humorless too).

[AndyDursin]

I rewatched portions of the movie on the plane down to Aruba. It is a technically proficient movie but Nolan's films continue to have no heart and no soul. I wonder if they ever will...

Oh, but "heart and soul" is so "old school" Andy. Artistic cinema has to be cerebral, not emotional (and humorless too).

Exactly. What got me about INCEPTION is that it really isn't that complicated or original. Some of the visuals, sure, they're spellbinding, but the one-dimensional story, lack of character development, total absence of emotion -- it's like the ultimate movie for 16 year olds.

BTW I couldn't believe some critic who said the new TRON movie lacks "the complexity of AVATAR." I didn't realize AVATAR was complex! lol. I've watched Afterschool Specials with more depth than AVATAR.

[mkaroly]

The new BR for the complete METROPOLIS looks gorgeous. It's very clear where the new footage falls in the film, but you'll get used to it after the first few times the footage appears. It's really an amazing accomplishment and fun to watch. I was reminded how much BLADE RUNENr was influenced by this film (as well as so many others). I only got through 30 minutes of the doumentary before I had to turn it off...looking forward to finishing it this week sometime. The score sounds great in 5.1 as well.

[John Johnson]

The new BR for the complete METROPOLIS looks gorgeous. It's very clear where the new footage falls in the film, but you'll get used to it after the first few times the footage appears. It's really an amazing accomplishment and fun to watch. I was reminded how much BLADE RUNENr was influenced by this film (as well as so many others). I only got through 30 minutes of the doumentary before I had to turn it off...looking forward to finishing it this week sometime. The score sounds great in 5.1 as well.

I caught the documentary Metropolis Refound on TCM back in November and it's very interesting to watch.

[Paul MacLean]

I watched Enemy Mine again the other night. Hadn't seen it since the 80s.

I always felt this film was underrated and deserved better box office and reviews than it got. And it holds-up very well after 25 (!) years.

While perhaps not a seminal classic, this film gets high marks for actually trying to say something rather than settling for being another escapist sci-fi flick. In this sense it is a lot like the Twilight Zone or Star Trek in it's use of science fiction to make a metaphor for the bigotry and ignorance that afflicts our world (but avoids the pitfall of being preachy).

Maurice Jarre's score is one of his best, adroitly blending orchestral and electronic cues, and is unusually "traditional" for the sometimes-quirky composer. (Say, when is this score going to get reissued?)

I also get a strong sense that Enemy Mine's visual style was an influence on Paul Verhoeven, as Total Recall's look was VERY reminiscent of this film.

I will say that it is perhaps understandable this film didn't draw-in larger audiences when one considers it's unexciting poster artwork...



...certainly compared to the artwork for the UK release...

[Monterey Jack]

Yeah, I Netflixed Enemy Mine a few months back, and it's still an entertaining (if modest) 80's sci-fi flick, with fine F/X and a terrific Maurice Jarre score.

[AndyDursin]

Always liked ENEMY MINE as well. The story is worthwhile, the performances by Quaid and especially Gosset are tremendous, the message is praiseworthy and the ending highly satisfying. The similarities between it and ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS are striking though, the latter certainly had a major influence on it.

I also found the back story of ENEMY MINE fascinating, how the film was being shot in Iceland with a different director and was well into production when Fox pulled the plug. They must have lost a fortune on the picture to restart it with new sets, a new director, all of that. The finished film has an odd feel to it, like portions of it were cut (it's bizarre how Quaid narrates some of the movie, then none of it, then another guy comes in and finishes it!), but it has some terrific elements and I've always enjoyed it.

Fantastic score by Maurice Jarre as well, one of his best!

[John Johnson]

In the UK, the trailer was voiced by Tom Baker.

[Paul MacLean]

In the UK, the trailer was voiced by Tom Baker.

Cool...is that on the R2 DVD by any chance? I'd buy it just for that!

[AndyDursin]

In the UK, the trailer was voiced by Tom Baker.

Cool...is that on the R2 DVD by any chance? I'd buy it just for that!

I'm pretty sure it isn't...I believe most of the R2/R4 discs are one and the same, and have that weird deleted scene in German with English subtitles.

[Eric Paddon]

After my giant diss of the 1987 Soviet version of "Ten LIttle Indians" (And Then There Were None). I went back and took another look at the three more notable versions (the 1989 one is too painful to EVER sit through again).

1945. 8/10. The first one is still the best because of its overall great cast and that it decides to take advantage of the fact that so many of the actors were noted for comedy by giving us a true "black comedy" on many levels with the witty script. It's because of that, I can be more forgiving of the film's changes from certain aspects of the novel (I'm not talking about the different ending, which is taken from the stage version Christie wrote) because if you cast Mischa Auer as a victim then have him basically play the same character he was noted for, and don't make him "Tony Marston" like in the novel. The only weak link for me is June Duprez as Vera Claythorne, who is really not all that engaging.

1965. 7/10. The changed locale from an English island to a mountain resort is not entirely welcome (especially in how it forces alteration of one of the lines of the nursery rhyme, "Eight little Indians traveling in Devon, one said he'd stay there, then there were seven" to the utterly nonsensical and absurd, "Eight little Indians traveling to Heaven, one met a pussycat, then there were seven". HUH???) but it manages to work. What also helps this film is that most of the 1945 script was ported over intact although the black comedy angle is gone and more traditional suspense is being emphasized. Some of the casting is not good such as the embarrassing turn of Fabian as victim #1, and changing the spinster Emily Brent character to a sexy foreign movie actress simply to give us Daliah Lavi doesn't work much either since Lavi isn't much of an actress. OTOH, Shirley Eaton is a big improvement over June Duprez and I have to also give special credit to Wilfrid Hyde-White whose confession scene manages to surpass Barry Fitzgerald's in the original. Despite the flaws, the film still works as an entertaining mid-60s romp.

1974. 1/10. Ugh. This was even worse than I remembered and I suppose I'd only give it an extra number if I sat through the 89 version again. The directing is so amateurish it's incredible, as we open with a long, static shot of watching a helicopter approach (this isn't Lawrence of Arabia, fellow!) and then we have a group of actors who can't utter three words without pausing or breathing to finish their lines. This is especially noticable when you watch this right after the 65 version because despite the change in locale to the Iranian desert, the script is IDENTICAL to the 65 version. So in one production, we heard the actors deliver their lines normally and coherently, but here, no one knows how to do it right. And that's not simply because we've got more foreign actors in some of these parts with changed nationalities (like Gert Frobe as "Wilhelm Blore") even the English actors like Oliver Reed, Herbert Lom and Richard Attenborough do the same. Whereas Fitgerald and Hyde-White were credible as the ultimate killers, Attenborough is an embarrassment. Awful score, awful photography, awful direction, awful acting all around.

[AndyDursin]

Went to two today for the first time in a long while:

TRON LEGACY - 8/10 - Cool sci-fi fantasy that was right up my alley. And the reactions to this film are predictable to me -- reading some of the critics, people who hate sci-fi and special effects aren't going to like it. In other words, it's exactly like the original in that it's a visual ride, but man, I loved it for what it was. Gorgeous visuals, terrific action, and yes, that awesome score -- one of the best I've heard in years all told. The music really carries the picture, I liked the mythology and the duelling Jeff Bridges characters. They fumbled the Tron character (I would think people who didn't see the original will be lost a little bit) but for the most part the movie felt right. Is the story simple, the message straightforward? Sure. Doesn't anyone realize this is still a PG-rated DISNEY film? Of all the recent remakes/reimaginings I think Disney did the best job here with the material. Sounds like they got a big opening this weekend too -- kids ought to love it, nostalgia freaks should find plenty of eye candy and references as well. Good stuff.

THE FIGHTER - 8/10 - Mark Wahlberg's underdog boxing saga isn't exactly "Rocky" but it's a realistic slice-of-life pic about Lowell Mass. yahoos without a lot of brain power and in particular the rocky relationship between Wahlberg's aspiring fighter and his has-been older brother who's turned into a druggie. Christian Bale is terrific in the showy role of Wahlberg's bro, while Amy Adams "gutters" herself for a working class type that's believable too. Well acted and very entertaining, and if some of it seems a bit hard to believe - -it's all true!

[John Johnson]

In the UK, the trailer was voiced by Tom Baker.

Cool...is that on the R2 DVD by any chance? I'd buy it just for that!

Not sure. I remember it being on the original Fox video release. That was when Fox released their titles in the large platic library style video boxes.