THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO
6/10
THUNDERBIRD 6
7/10
If you're a Gerry Anderson fan, TT's Blu-Ray of the two Thunderbirds films is just dandy: crisp, natural looking AVC encoded transfers with gorgeous color and high detail highlight the single-disc double-feature, capturing all of Derek Meddings' brilliant technical effects and the striking use of widescreen employed by both. 5.1 DTS MA soundtracks gently repurpose the original monophonic recordings for a broader sound stage, though Barry Gray's scores are centered and offer no stereo separation, even of the simulated variety.
In terms of the viewing experience, I did, in fact, manage to see these films years back, after Anderson's time had long since passed. Apparently, while Lord Grade was unable to secure a U.S. TV deal for "Thunderbirds" at the time of its original broadcast, syndicated reruns were shown in America when I was growing up in the late '70s and '80s. I recall watching the series when I got home from school, and my mom rented both of the Thunderbirds movies on old, pan-and-scan VHS tapes at some point also.
From an adult perspective, to be honest, I was nearly bored to tears by THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO, which is unbearably slow, and only comes to life when a puppet Cliff Richards shows up in a dream sequence that's hard to describe and even more jaw-dropping to actually witness! The story, though, is a real slog -- involving International Rescue aiding a manned mission to Mars that's been sabotaged by "The Hood" -- and the movie difficult to sit through unless you have fond, nostalgic memories of the picture. On the plus side, the follow-up THUNDERBIRD 6 is more entertaining with a faster-moving plot; here, Brains is hired to design an airship that ends up being commandeered by the villainous "Black Phantom" as it travels around the world. The latter globe-trotting element enables Anderson and Meddings to design miniatures in a variety of international locales, while the story -- looser and with more of a sense of fun -- is appreciably more appealing.
On the whole, these are films that are going to appeal mostly to viewers of the "Fanderson" generation, and truth be told, they aren't what I'd exactly consider "timeless entertainments" that have held up particularly well. The storytelling, especially in "Thunderbirds are Go," is nearly as stiff as Anderson's marionettes, though the technical FX wizardry is something that's easy to admire and an element that's certain to endure. Particularly in this day and age where nearly everything is CGI rendered, there's something to be said for a genuine, physical "make-believe" world that was built by hand with great skill and loving attention to detail -- and it's here where "Thunderbirds" still soars.
rate the last movie you saw
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AndyDursin
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Eric Paddon
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
Godzilla Raids Again (1956) 5.5 of 10
Watched the Classic release of the Japanese version and then just the commentary track only on the badly dubbed/re-edited US version (which removes the name "Godzilla" from the creature!). Even in its superior Japanese version it is inferior to both versions of the first Godzilla movie because the fictional characters are just not interesting and also the film takes too much time to get into a decent plot line. That said there are some very effective touches in the original version. When the Dr. Yamane character from the first film returns briefly and shows film of the first Godzilla attack on Tokyo it just plays in silence with only the noise of the projector. The effect is quite eerie. And of course the Japanese version makes it clear that yes, the Godzilla of the first film is dead and destroyed but this is another reawakened one so in effect the classic history of Godzilla through 1978 has always been "Godzilla II" starting with this film!
The absence of director Honda and composer Ifukube also has the effect of making this more of a "B" picture even by Japanese standards. It's not surprising nearly six years would elapse before Godzilla returned again and Toho concentrated instead on other sci-fi/kaiju efforts.
Watched the Classic release of the Japanese version and then just the commentary track only on the badly dubbed/re-edited US version (which removes the name "Godzilla" from the creature!). Even in its superior Japanese version it is inferior to both versions of the first Godzilla movie because the fictional characters are just not interesting and also the film takes too much time to get into a decent plot line. That said there are some very effective touches in the original version. When the Dr. Yamane character from the first film returns briefly and shows film of the first Godzilla attack on Tokyo it just plays in silence with only the noise of the projector. The effect is quite eerie. And of course the Japanese version makes it clear that yes, the Godzilla of the first film is dead and destroyed but this is another reawakened one so in effect the classic history of Godzilla through 1978 has always been "Godzilla II" starting with this film!
The absence of director Honda and composer Ifukube also has the effect of making this more of a "B" picture even by Japanese standards. It's not surprising nearly six years would elapse before Godzilla returned again and Toho concentrated instead on other sci-fi/kaiju efforts.
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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
POMPEII
5.5/10
For a while, Paul W.S. Anderson’s winter flop coasts along comfortably in “guilty pleasure” territory.
Kit Harrington plays a young Celtic man whose people were wiped out by a vile Roman commander (Kiefer Sutherland) while he was a boy. Now a slave years later (shades of “Conan the Barbarian”), Harrington has become a hardened warrior destined to fight a fellow slave (Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje) in the ring (shades of “Gladiator”), in front of Sutherland’s now-powerful Senator. Meanwhile, one of Pompeii’s local businessmen (Jared Harris from “Mad Men”) finds himself at odds with Sutherland’s bad guy, who wants his daughter’s (Emily Browning) hand in marriage. Browning, though, has other plans, including batting eyes for Harrington, leading to a romance that comes into conflict when Mt. Vesuvius decides to blow its stack.
Anderson, who’s proven to be a prolific hack recycling elements from countless films in even his biggest successes (“Alien Vs. Predator” and the “Resident Evil” movies), does the same here. The first half plays like a road company version of Ridley Scott’s Oscar winner, the second a poor man’s “Titanic” as the city is destroyed by flowing lava, tidal waves, and volcanic debris falling from the skies. What’s surprising, however, is that the initial portion is the more entertaining one – better-acted than the material deserves, and highlighted by an especially amusing performance from a wickedly hammy Sutherland that dominates the early-going. With his fey, faux-European accent, it’s a gas to see Jack Bauer in Roman attire and livening up the hackneyed script by Janet Scott and Lee Batchler and Michael Robert Johnson (it’s inexplicable that Sutherland’s performance was buried in the film’s advertising, seeing as he’s the film’s most enjoyable attribute). Unfortunately, once Vesuvius erupts at about the hour-mark, “Pompeii” turns into a mediocre, green-screened effects show with the city’s residents running for their lives while Harrington and Sutherland arrive at one final showdown. It’s disappointing this material is so weak and repetitive (there are only so many falling rocks to keep you interested), compounded by a 3-D presentation that’s likewise muted in its intensity.
Sony brings “Pompeii” to Blu-Ray next week in a combo pack sporting both 3D and 2D platters. Although the movie was shot in 3D, the drab cinematography and dimly lit settings don’t make for an especially photogenic presentation for format owners. Extras on the 2D Blu-Ray are exclusive to the format and include 20 deleted scenes and a series of featurettes, while the 3D version includes commentary and two additional featurettes. The 5.1 DTS MA sound is somewhat subdued considering the subject matter.
5.5/10
For a while, Paul W.S. Anderson’s winter flop coasts along comfortably in “guilty pleasure” territory.
Kit Harrington plays a young Celtic man whose people were wiped out by a vile Roman commander (Kiefer Sutherland) while he was a boy. Now a slave years later (shades of “Conan the Barbarian”), Harrington has become a hardened warrior destined to fight a fellow slave (Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje) in the ring (shades of “Gladiator”), in front of Sutherland’s now-powerful Senator. Meanwhile, one of Pompeii’s local businessmen (Jared Harris from “Mad Men”) finds himself at odds with Sutherland’s bad guy, who wants his daughter’s (Emily Browning) hand in marriage. Browning, though, has other plans, including batting eyes for Harrington, leading to a romance that comes into conflict when Mt. Vesuvius decides to blow its stack.
Anderson, who’s proven to be a prolific hack recycling elements from countless films in even his biggest successes (“Alien Vs. Predator” and the “Resident Evil” movies), does the same here. The first half plays like a road company version of Ridley Scott’s Oscar winner, the second a poor man’s “Titanic” as the city is destroyed by flowing lava, tidal waves, and volcanic debris falling from the skies. What’s surprising, however, is that the initial portion is the more entertaining one – better-acted than the material deserves, and highlighted by an especially amusing performance from a wickedly hammy Sutherland that dominates the early-going. With his fey, faux-European accent, it’s a gas to see Jack Bauer in Roman attire and livening up the hackneyed script by Janet Scott and Lee Batchler and Michael Robert Johnson (it’s inexplicable that Sutherland’s performance was buried in the film’s advertising, seeing as he’s the film’s most enjoyable attribute). Unfortunately, once Vesuvius erupts at about the hour-mark, “Pompeii” turns into a mediocre, green-screened effects show with the city’s residents running for their lives while Harrington and Sutherland arrive at one final showdown. It’s disappointing this material is so weak and repetitive (there are only so many falling rocks to keep you interested), compounded by a 3-D presentation that’s likewise muted in its intensity.
Sony brings “Pompeii” to Blu-Ray next week in a combo pack sporting both 3D and 2D platters. Although the movie was shot in 3D, the drab cinematography and dimly lit settings don’t make for an especially photogenic presentation for format owners. Extras on the 2D Blu-Ray are exclusive to the format and include 20 deleted scenes and a series of featurettes, while the 3D version includes commentary and two additional featurettes. The 5.1 DTS MA sound is somewhat subdued considering the subject matter.
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Eric Paddon
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
Fate Is The Hunter (1964) 7 of 10
-I got the Blu-Ray today and the transfer is gorgeous. The best the film has ever looked. I'm glad they went back and redid this for Blu-Ray after being one of the early titles in the program and before Blu-Ray became their standard. Hope they'll do the same for "Stagecoach" in the future.
-I did have to remind myself while watching that this film was made at a time when the cockpit voice recorder was not yet a standard feature of all aircraft because I was half-expecting a line of dialogue covering the absence of a recording but there wasn't (and listening carefully to the dialogue, had there been a recording they would have been able to figure out what happened since Taylor remarks about his spilt coffee before the crash). Goldsmith's theme is lovely showing what he could do for even a sparse score such as this back then (and why I do gravitate a lot toward this early work of his)
-I got the Blu-Ray today and the transfer is gorgeous. The best the film has ever looked. I'm glad they went back and redid this for Blu-Ray after being one of the early titles in the program and before Blu-Ray became their standard. Hope they'll do the same for "Stagecoach" in the future.
-I did have to remind myself while watching that this film was made at a time when the cockpit voice recorder was not yet a standard feature of all aircraft because I was half-expecting a line of dialogue covering the absence of a recording but there wasn't (and listening carefully to the dialogue, had there been a recording they would have been able to figure out what happened since Taylor remarks about his spilt coffee before the crash). Goldsmith's theme is lovely showing what he could do for even a sparse score such as this back then (and why I do gravitate a lot toward this early work of his)
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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
GODZILLA
review is up -- I'll have more thoughts in the AM
http://andyfilm.com/2014/05/15/5-20-14- ... -releases/
review is up -- I'll have more thoughts in the AM
http://andyfilm.com/2014/05/15/5-20-14- ... -releases/
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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
ROLLERBALL (1975)
5/10
One of numerous ‘70s dystopian future films, Norman Jewison’s ROLLERBALL is only separated from the release of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” by a scant seven years. In terms of their cinematic language, though, this plastic and painfully simplistic take on a violent professional sport – being played in a future presided over by large corporations – bears more in common with “The Brady Bunch” than Scott’s groundbreaking sci-fi classic.
In a detached and seemingly disinterested performance, James Caan plays “Jonathan E,” a futuristic gladiator who takes part in the bloody game of Rollerball – a cross between roller derby and football, played to throngs of fans around the globe. The corporation overseeing not just Rollerball but, apparently, the world itself want the superstar to retire from the game, and when Jonathan opts not to, they begin to change the rules – making for a deadlier and even more explicitly violent contest than before. Undeterred, Jonathan stays the course, even as the game itself takes on life-threatening proportions as the “evil corporations” seek to diminish the importance of individual achievement.
Sterile and cold, “Rollerball” fits right alongside its decade’s “dreary future” movies like “Soylent Green” and “The Omega Man” among others. Meaning, William Harrison’s story might be set in the future, but it’s a world seen through the prism of the 1970s – complete with drab, uninteresting cinematography. Jewison produced many memorable films throughout his career but “Rollerball” struck me as a curiously dispassionate piece of filmmaking, capped by a straightforward story that offers scant surprises. The game sequences pack a potent punch, but everything else about the movie is bland and uninteresting, with nobody to root for.
Backing up Caan are a number of familiar faces: John Houseman makes the most of his trademark “greedy businessman” role, though his role is as obvious as it sounds; John Beck essays Caan’s best friend on the team; Robert Ito, Burt Kwouk and Shane Rimmer appear in small parts; Ralph Richardson essays “The Librarian”; and both Pamela Hensley (future “Buck Rogers” ingenue) and Maud Adams pop up, though the latter’s appearance, despite her third billing, is essentially relegated to the final half-hour. None of the actors, though, are able to make an emotional impression on a picture that should’ve been appreciably more exciting given its premise, cast and director.
Aficionados of “Rollerball” should still be thrilled with Twilight Time’s Blu-Ray: the MGM licensed 1080p transfer crisply captures the mostly claustrophobic trappings of the picture, which mostly look as prefabbed as a ‘70s TV sitcom. Both the original mono audio and an effective 5.1 DTS MA remix are included, along with decent extras: two commentaries (one from Jewison, another from Harrison), featurettes, TV spots, trailers, and an isolated score track of Andre Previn’s heavy-handed use of classical music.
5/10
One of numerous ‘70s dystopian future films, Norman Jewison’s ROLLERBALL is only separated from the release of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” by a scant seven years. In terms of their cinematic language, though, this plastic and painfully simplistic take on a violent professional sport – being played in a future presided over by large corporations – bears more in common with “The Brady Bunch” than Scott’s groundbreaking sci-fi classic.
In a detached and seemingly disinterested performance, James Caan plays “Jonathan E,” a futuristic gladiator who takes part in the bloody game of Rollerball – a cross between roller derby and football, played to throngs of fans around the globe. The corporation overseeing not just Rollerball but, apparently, the world itself want the superstar to retire from the game, and when Jonathan opts not to, they begin to change the rules – making for a deadlier and even more explicitly violent contest than before. Undeterred, Jonathan stays the course, even as the game itself takes on life-threatening proportions as the “evil corporations” seek to diminish the importance of individual achievement.
Sterile and cold, “Rollerball” fits right alongside its decade’s “dreary future” movies like “Soylent Green” and “The Omega Man” among others. Meaning, William Harrison’s story might be set in the future, but it’s a world seen through the prism of the 1970s – complete with drab, uninteresting cinematography. Jewison produced many memorable films throughout his career but “Rollerball” struck me as a curiously dispassionate piece of filmmaking, capped by a straightforward story that offers scant surprises. The game sequences pack a potent punch, but everything else about the movie is bland and uninteresting, with nobody to root for.
Backing up Caan are a number of familiar faces: John Houseman makes the most of his trademark “greedy businessman” role, though his role is as obvious as it sounds; John Beck essays Caan’s best friend on the team; Robert Ito, Burt Kwouk and Shane Rimmer appear in small parts; Ralph Richardson essays “The Librarian”; and both Pamela Hensley (future “Buck Rogers” ingenue) and Maud Adams pop up, though the latter’s appearance, despite her third billing, is essentially relegated to the final half-hour. None of the actors, though, are able to make an emotional impression on a picture that should’ve been appreciably more exciting given its premise, cast and director.
Aficionados of “Rollerball” should still be thrilled with Twilight Time’s Blu-Ray: the MGM licensed 1080p transfer crisply captures the mostly claustrophobic trappings of the picture, which mostly look as prefabbed as a ‘70s TV sitcom. Both the original mono audio and an effective 5.1 DTS MA remix are included, along with decent extras: two commentaries (one from Jewison, another from Harrison), featurettes, TV spots, trailers, and an isolated score track of Andre Previn’s heavy-handed use of classical music.
Re: rate the last movie you saw
I remember going to see ROLLERBALL when it originally came out and reviewing it for my high school paper-I panned it and got into some interesting arguments with other students who thought it was incredible and couldn't see why I did not like it. I remember one of the things I said was that the movie produced a great poster and not much else-still feel that way and in fact I think the poster is the only thing I remember with any positive feeling (gorgeous artwork by the legendary Bob Peak). I watched the film again after the remake came out and was amazed at how good it was compared to the remake, but then that version was truly awful and stupid, so...meh. 
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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
Yeah, I really didn't like ROLLERBALL. The whole tone and atmosphere of the film were off-putting, and I couldn't believe Caan's performance. I think "disinterested" is probably a kind term lol. Did he net a huge salary for that picture at the time?Jedbu wrote:I remember going to see ROLLERBALL when it originally came out and reviewing it for my high school paper-I panned it and got into some interesting arguments with other students who thought it was incredible and couldn't see why I did not like it. I remember one of the things I said was that the movie produced a great poster and not much else-still feel that way and in fact I think the poster is the only thing I remember with any positive feeling (gorgeous artwork by the legendary Bob Peak). I watched the film again after the remake came out and was amazed at how good it was compared to the remake, but then that version was truly awful and stupid, so...meh.
I agree also on the poster, it's one of those situations where the concept and the poster are more intriguing than the film. It's a wholly unlikeable piece of work.
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Eric Paddon
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
And "end of the world double feature".
The Last War (1961) 6.5 of 10
-Toho had a gap of some five years doing kaiju monster flicks and during that time their F/X division came up with sci-fi films such as this one, showing the steady march toward a nuclear war (between "The Federation" (i.e. NATO and the West) and the "Alliance" (the East bloc)) and we see the nervousness inside Japan leading up to this (and the effects of the crisis on one family) before it finally culminates in a Tsburyaya orgy of nuclear destruction around the world (using mostly unconvincing model work of big cities like New York, Moscow, London that are just then exploded). The Tokyo nuclear devastation gets the biggest attention and is more effective with a particular eerie matte painting shot of a mushroom cloud rising in the background next to Mt. Fuji. The tone of the film is very pretentious at times (and seeing Japan play the innocent peace loving victim of all this less than two decades after they engaged in some of the most barbaric acts of inhumanity ever committed is very hard to swallow) but its still effective and entertaining for what it is, and a reminder of how Toho could do things other than giant monsters in this era. The score by Ikuma Dan is quite good and at some point I mean to get the two-CD version that Screen Archives has.
So naturally, after watching this, I had to follow up with.....
On The Beach (1959) 7.5 of 10
-In a strange way, if you watch this film after "Last War" it practically works as a continuation since in OTB the circumstances of the war were never explained (wisely) and thus it can almost seem like this is the rest of the story caused by the same war. This is the only one of Stanley Kramer's message pictures I can sit through because despite the subject matter, it's ultimately more about the human stories (which "Last War" was purposely copying I might add two years later to lesser effect) and ironically more restrained than say "Inherit The Wind" or "Judgment At Nuremberg". The one who always impresses me most is Ava Gardner, because her whole role is practically autobiographic in nature (drinking problem and unlucky in love her whole life).
The Last War (1961) 6.5 of 10
-Toho had a gap of some five years doing kaiju monster flicks and during that time their F/X division came up with sci-fi films such as this one, showing the steady march toward a nuclear war (between "The Federation" (i.e. NATO and the West) and the "Alliance" (the East bloc)) and we see the nervousness inside Japan leading up to this (and the effects of the crisis on one family) before it finally culminates in a Tsburyaya orgy of nuclear destruction around the world (using mostly unconvincing model work of big cities like New York, Moscow, London that are just then exploded). The Tokyo nuclear devastation gets the biggest attention and is more effective with a particular eerie matte painting shot of a mushroom cloud rising in the background next to Mt. Fuji. The tone of the film is very pretentious at times (and seeing Japan play the innocent peace loving victim of all this less than two decades after they engaged in some of the most barbaric acts of inhumanity ever committed is very hard to swallow) but its still effective and entertaining for what it is, and a reminder of how Toho could do things other than giant monsters in this era. The score by Ikuma Dan is quite good and at some point I mean to get the two-CD version that Screen Archives has.
So naturally, after watching this, I had to follow up with.....
On The Beach (1959) 7.5 of 10
-In a strange way, if you watch this film after "Last War" it practically works as a continuation since in OTB the circumstances of the war were never explained (wisely) and thus it can almost seem like this is the rest of the story caused by the same war. This is the only one of Stanley Kramer's message pictures I can sit through because despite the subject matter, it's ultimately more about the human stories (which "Last War" was purposely copying I might add two years later to lesser effect) and ironically more restrained than say "Inherit The Wind" or "Judgment At Nuremberg". The one who always impresses me most is Ava Gardner, because her whole role is practically autobiographic in nature (drinking problem and unlucky in love her whole life).
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Eric Paddon
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
The Moneychangers (1976) 4 of 10
-This big four part miniseries from 1976 just came to DVD, though CBS/Paramount didn't bother to do any remastering and it looks a bit on the ratty side. This is the kind of "novel for TV" even more than "Roots" and "Rich Man, Poor Man" I think that made network execs think shows like "Dallas" and later "Dynasty" could be viable for regular series fare since the whole thing is a sordid look at the goings-on in the high stakes banking world, and giving us the straw man dynamic of two VPs vying for the Bank Presidency, one ethical and with a social conscience (Kirk Douglas) the other greedy and sleazy (Christopher Plummer) and also a moral hypocrite. Along the way we get other subplots interrelated to things that includes rather distastefully what has to be the first depiction on TV ever of implied gang rape sodomizing in a prison jail cell. The film's biggest problem is that its heroic leads, Douglas and his mistress, crusading lawyer Susan Flannery (who despite her fame in daytime soaps is not credible as a leading lady) come off as too arrogantly self-righteous to elicit from me at least the cheerleading the script is asking me to give them. Joan Collins is her seductive best as the woman who leads Plummer to his downfall. I'm amazed Jean Peters came out of retirement to do two thankless scenes as Plummer's wife.
At any rate, now that I've seen it, I can finally listen to the two-CD Intrada release of Mancini's score!
-This big four part miniseries from 1976 just came to DVD, though CBS/Paramount didn't bother to do any remastering and it looks a bit on the ratty side. This is the kind of "novel for TV" even more than "Roots" and "Rich Man, Poor Man" I think that made network execs think shows like "Dallas" and later "Dynasty" could be viable for regular series fare since the whole thing is a sordid look at the goings-on in the high stakes banking world, and giving us the straw man dynamic of two VPs vying for the Bank Presidency, one ethical and with a social conscience (Kirk Douglas) the other greedy and sleazy (Christopher Plummer) and also a moral hypocrite. Along the way we get other subplots interrelated to things that includes rather distastefully what has to be the first depiction on TV ever of implied gang rape sodomizing in a prison jail cell. The film's biggest problem is that its heroic leads, Douglas and his mistress, crusading lawyer Susan Flannery (who despite her fame in daytime soaps is not credible as a leading lady) come off as too arrogantly self-righteous to elicit from me at least the cheerleading the script is asking me to give them. Joan Collins is her seductive best as the woman who leads Plummer to his downfall. I'm amazed Jean Peters came out of retirement to do two thankless scenes as Plummer's wife.
At any rate, now that I've seen it, I can finally listen to the two-CD Intrada release of Mancini's score!
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Monterey Jack
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
-X-Men (2000): 7.5/10
-X2: X-Men United (2003): 9/10
-X-Men: The Last Stand (2006): 6/10
-X-Men: First Class (2011): 9/10
-The Wolverine (2013): 8/10
I will never watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine again.
I hope that and the gravely disappointing Last Stand are gonna get retconned right the heck out of existence tomorrow...
-X2: X-Men United (2003): 9/10
-X-Men: The Last Stand (2006): 6/10
-X-Men: First Class (2011): 9/10
-The Wolverine (2013): 8/10
I will never watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine again.
I hope that and the gravely disappointing Last Stand are gonna get retconned right the heck out of existence tomorrow...Re: rate the last movie you saw
Saw a truly wonderful, human story tonight that, unfortunately, I cannot write any more about until it opens on June 6 
. I will say this much-there were two wonderful performances in this adaptation of a novel by one of our best writers, and considering its only competition that weekend is the "new" Tom Cruise epic, it just might be one of the biggest "small" films of the year and I think one of the films we will see in the Best Picture noms next year.
. I will say this much-there were two wonderful performances in this adaptation of a novel by one of our best writers, and considering its only competition that weekend is the "new" Tom Cruise epic, it just might be one of the biggest "small" films of the year and I think one of the films we will see in the Best Picture noms next year.-
Monterey Jack
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
Monterey Jack wrote:I hope that and the gravely disappointing Last Stand are gonna get retconned right the heck out of existence tomorrow...
X-Men: Days Of Future Past: 9/10
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Paul MacLean
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
Milius
Excellent biographical documentary on the controversial (and brilliant) screenwriter and director. An impressive lineup of interviewees features in the film, including Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Scorsese, Eastwood and Sam Elliot among others. I don't want to give to much away, suffice to say it I learned some interesting facts about Milius I never new, and he's quite a character (and a genius too). Highly recommended.
Excellent biographical documentary on the controversial (and brilliant) screenwriter and director. An impressive lineup of interviewees features in the film, including Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Scorsese, Eastwood and Sam Elliot among others. I don't want to give to much away, suffice to say it I learned some interesting facts about Milius I never new, and he's quite a character (and a genius too). Highly recommended.
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Paul MacLean
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Re: rate the last movie you saw
Black Angel
Although it doesn't have much of a story, and offers a fairly vague narrative, this is a very good-looking movie, very atmospheric and haunting. What impressed me most was how influential it was on later (and better-known) movies, particularly Highlander and Excalibur (the entire "Grail quest" sequence from Excalibur draws heavily on Black Angel).
Trevor Jones' score is also very good, and one of his better efforts actually, like a small-ensemble precursor to The Dark Crystal.
Although it doesn't have much of a story, and offers a fairly vague narrative, this is a very good-looking movie, very atmospheric and haunting. What impressed me most was how influential it was on later (and better-known) movies, particularly Highlander and Excalibur (the entire "Grail quest" sequence from Excalibur draws heavily on Black Angel).
Trevor Jones' score is also very good, and one of his better efforts actually, like a small-ensemble precursor to The Dark Crystal.
Last edited by Paul MacLean on Thu May 29, 2014 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.