Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[dave jenkins]

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) - 7/10. Another vampire movie? Well, it's a Jim Jarmusch film, as well, so it has plenty of style. Cool music, too (some supplied by Jim's own band). Plot? Incidental to the whole project, doncha know. Settings are in Detroit and Tangiers, so there's a rock-and-literature vibe running through the whole thing. Then there's the hip cast: Loki, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt (as Christopher Marlowe--still Shakespeare after all these years). Loki plays a reclusive rocker who refuses to release or tour (because he's a vampire); Swinton is his peripatetic wife (also a vampire); Wasikowski plays the annoying sister-in-law (an annoying vampire) who comes, uninvited, for a visit. It's pretty much a run-of-the-mill domestic comedy, except that everybody's a, you know, vampire. Geddit? The soundtrack is worth revisiting: ordered!

[drinkanddestroy]

1. THE SINS OF RACHEL CADE 7/10 (TCM)

2. KILLER McCOY 6/10 (part of TCM's Mickey Rooney tribute)

[noodles_leone]

For A Few Dollars More 7/10

I've had this BD for over a year and I tried it for the first time. Needless to say, I've seen the DVD over 20 times and my VHS is behond repair. Still, I had not seen that movie in years: I'm a fan of everything Leone did AFTER ffdm. I've always thought his 2 first westerns have more value for what they lead him to do than their own qualities (don't get me wrong, they're great, but they're really flawed and I miss Delli Colli).

About the BD: you probably know that better than I do, but the 5.1 is a shame, the beating is the shortened version and I noticed at least another missing scene, although I cannot remember what it was.

[Groggy]

My opinions on Leone's early flicks fluctuates. I used to think FOD was mediocre, but I've liked it more the past few times I've watched it. FAFDM on the other hand, I seem to like less with each passing viewing.

[Groggy]

Beneath Hill 60 - 7/10 - Aussie war film about miners/sappers (early tunnel rats?) working to blow up a key German position. Very old-fashioned in a good way; short on action, long on character and suspense.

[drinkanddestroy]

Dudes, seriously??
FAFDM is probably the Leone film I've watched more than any other, and my love for it is as strong now as from the moment I saw it.
IMO everything about this movie is perfect; it has the greatest movie villain of all time (Indio), the greatest production design of any Western ever, El Paso is the greatest Western town set ever, there is the usual great Morricone.
My heart is filled with pity for you poor, poor souls who are unable to experience the pure joy that is watching FAFDM.

[stanton]

Fod and FAFDM have surely some flaws, but on the other hand they both contain enough brilliant stuff to make them worth watching again and again. Both are 8/10, at least.

[noodles_leone]

To me they both contain 10/10 and 3/10 material. Unlike the following Leone films, that only contain 7+ material.

So I won't disagree with anyone saying they rock. They do. And the musical watch is one of the greatest ideas ever. I'm just saying they don't only rock:

- the mise en scene is revolutionary but the photography is cheap and hasn't aged well
- most supporting characters are caricatures (and yes, there is a difference between a comedia dell'arte treatment of a myth and cheap caricature)
- every scene is supposed to be utterly intense while some don't deserve this intensity. They become heavy-handed.
- the plot is just not half as well thought as it is in GBU/OUATITW
 
This is why I wouldn't show them to a friend who hasn't seen them without an appropriate warning and a little speech about the importance they had for westerns, cinema and Leone. On the contrary, I know I can show GBU and OUATITW without any introduction other than "Be careful, it's slow."

(I'm not mentioning DYS/OUATIA on purpose, of course. They're flawed and rock in their own way.)

[dave jenkins]

FOD and FFDM suffer in comparison only to other Leones. If you compare them to Westerns by anybody else they look very good indeed. Is there any non-Leone Western that is better FFDM? I say no. Is there any non-Leone Western that is better than FOD? I say no; there are a few "as good as". When we start talking about GBU and OUATITW, then we're talking about 2 of the greatest films made ever (better than Citizen Kane, Casablanca, what you will). In competition, Leone can only lose to himself.

[noodles_leone]

As a movie buff with my own history when it comes to films, I rank Leone films above anything else in the world. Even food.
As a regular viewer with my own tastes, I rank Little Big Man, The Wild Bunch, Cheyenne Autumn, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Unforgiven and even Dance With The Wolves (not the director's cut though) above FOD/FFDM.
From an academic perspective and as a wannabe director, only The Wild Bunch supports the comparison (as good as).

It depends on what you mean by "above another film".

[cigar joe]

Dudes, seriously??
FAFDM is probably the Leone film I've watched more than any other, and my love for it is as strong now as from the moment I saw it.
IMO everything about this movie is perfect; it has the greatest movie villain of all time (Indio), the greatest production design of any Western ever, El Paso is the greatest Western town set ever, there is the usual great Morricone.
My heart is filled with pity for you poor, poor souls who are unable to experience the pure joy that is watching FAFDM.

Agree

[stanton]

The Wild Bunch and OUTW are the best westerns ever, with GBU and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (but not the preview version aka as the Turner version) coming close behind. Actually very close.

For the Criterion western poll I created this list:

1   The Wild Bunch
2   Once Upon a Time in the West
3   Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
4   The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
5   Little Big Man
6   The Mercenary
7   Hombre
8   Yellow Sky
9   The Great Silence
10   High Noon
11   Major Dundee
12   Cemetery Without Crosses
13   My Name is Nobody
14   El Puro
15   Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
16   A Fistful of Dollars
17   One Eyed Jacks
17   My Darling Clementine
18   Ulzana's Raid
19   For a Few Dollars More
20   The Naked Spur

Well, actually I might as well have chosen #14 and #15 for the 2 Dollar films. I definitely prefer My Name Is Nobody to both. Hmm, or all 3 on # 10 ... tricky ...

[drinkanddestroy]

As a movie buff with my own history when it comes to films, I rank Leone films above anything else in the world. Even food.
As a regular viewer with my own tastes, I rank Little Big Man, The Wild Bunch, Cheyenne Autumn, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Unforgiven and even Dance With The Wolves (not the director's cut though) above FOD/FFDM.
From an academic perspective and as a wannabe director, only The Wild Bunch supports the comparison (as good as).

It depends on what you mean by "above another film".

doesn't it suck to be such a nerd artist?

 

[drinkanddestroy]

and btw, I wouldn't say FAFDM suffers compared to Leone's other work. When you're talking about levels of awesomeness, does it matter if one movie is a 12/10 and another is a 13/10? Being one of the very greatest of all time is enough for me; whether it rates slightly behind OUATITW or in front of GBU (or Casablanca) or whatever doesn't matter. It's one of the greatest movies of all time.

[Groggy]

To me they both contain 10/10 and 3/10 material. Unlike the following Leone films, that only contain 7+ material.

So I won't disagree with anyone saying they rock. They do. And the musical watch is one of the greatest ideas ever. I'm just saying they don't only rock:

- the mise en scene is revolutionary but the photography is cheap and hasn't aged well
- most supporting characters are caricatures (and yes, there is a difference between a comedia dell'arte treatment of a myth and cheap caricature)
- every scene is supposed to be utterly intense while some don't deserve this intensity. They become heavy-handed.
- the plot is just not half as well thought as it is in GBU/OUATITW
 
This is why I wouldn't show them to a friend who hasn't seen them without an appropriate warning and a little speech about the importance they had for westerns, cinema and Leone. On the contrary, I know I can show GBU and OUATITW without any introduction other than "Be careful, it's slow."

(I'm not mentioning DYS/OUATIA on purpose, of course. They're flawed and rock in their own way.)

Add pokey pacing (especially the middle hour) which drags the film out without building mood or atmosphere, and silly plotting (well, I guess that's already your last bullet point). Indio's master plan is just a bum steer to explain how Manco and Mortimer make it to the last reel alive.