Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[drinkanddestroy]

ARMY OF SHADOWS is high in my Netflix queue; I hope to see it in the not-too-distant future

[drinkanddestroy]

I am being lectured to SEE SOME MOVIES by the guy who hasn't seen THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and MYSTIC RIVER, the two greatest movies Eastwood has ever directed and two of the ten best movies of the past 25 years?
As an added attraction for MR, the girl who plays Kevin Bacon's wife is a fine blond with an even finer mustache.

P.s. On a related note, I am in middle of reading Scott Eyman's new John Wayne bio; in discussing the marriage problems with Wayne's second wife, Chata, the book talks about how one of the things that bothered Wayne greatly about her was that she didn't shave her legs, and this issue between them particularly blew up after she once wore a tennis skirt to a party ..... I can just see DJ panting at the eroticism ....

[drinkanddestroy]

I never heard of Claude Mann, but he must be a sexy motherfucker ....
I believe I saw this movie somewhere on TCM's upcoming schedule (perhaps on Jeanne Moreau day August?) I will set my DVR to record myself banging Jeanne Moreau in a previous life

yup, Bay of Angels will be playing on Jeanne Moreau Day on TCM's Summer Under the Stars: August 8th
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.html?tz=PST&sdate=2014-08-08

My dvr will be set to that and a few other titles  

[sargatanas]

" joe cocker : mad dogs & englishman "
this classic rock film captures
one of the most exciting concert tours ever
and defines the spirit of a generation
in much the same way as
" woodstock " and " the last waltz "
 

[dave jenkins]

P.s. On a related note, I am in middle of reading Scott Eyman's new John Wayne bio; in discussing the marriage problems with Wayne's second wife, Chata, the book talks about how one of the things that bothered Wayne greatly about her was that she didn't shave her legs, and this issue between them particularly blew up after she once wore a tennis skirt to a party ..... I can just see DJ panting at the eroticism ....

Maybe not in that case, but here:

Une chambre en ville (1982) - 7/10. First Blu-ray viewing--heck, first viewing, period. A Jacques Demy film without Michel Legrand! There's plenty of music anyway: as in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, all the dialog is done as recitative. The plot (against a background of shipyard strikes in 1955 Nantes) is an intersecting double love triangle, and it ends tragically, which may be why this film tanked when originally shown. Dominique Sanda plays the obscure object of desire for two men, and she parades about most of the film in a fur coat with nothing on underneath. She actually flashes the audience twice. There's a wonderful bit where, after trysting with her lover in bed, she leans back and stretches her arm over her head--and immediately reveals a mouth-watering clump of underarm hair. And this film didn't do well? The Criterion transfer gets a 9/10.

[dave jenkins]

A Most Wanted Man (2014) - 7/10.  Much in this is commendable: the Hamburg locations, the photography and editing, the John le Carré plot. But there's also a huge flaw. Except for a single Chechen (played by a Russian) and some Arabs (played by swarthy fellows), the characters are all German, and the filmmakers have decided to make the film in English with American actors taking the lead roles. That might have been okay if the actors could pull off convincing German accents (many of the supporting players, including the lovely Nina Hoss, do just that, because they're Germans who naturally speak accented English). But, for all their abilities as actors, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Willem Dafoe, and Rachel McAdams cannot sound like krauts. Hoffmann assumes a kind of deep-throated guttural voice which is interesting and would work well in another role, but he isn't remotely persuasive as a German (his habit of using American idioms doesn't help, either). I'm not sure if Dafoe and McAdams were trying to do accents; Dafoe, maybe (his voice sounds strange) but McAdams wasn't trying or wasn't trying often enough. Does it matter? It kinda does, because it's part of the convention associated with using English as a substitute for local speech. Also, there's one more significant character who is American (Robin Wright); she has several scenes with Hoffmann, and there needs to be clear differences in vocal expression between the characters (and Hoffmann simply talking lower than usual doesn't cut it). The film, unlike (I understand) the book, focuses on Hoffmann's character, so it's really important for the audience to believe he's German. The illusion never works (Christoph Waltz, much closer to the character's age, would have been better casting). It's a shame, too, because this film, although talky, kept me riveted for the most part, and even pulled off a couple of twists I didn't see coming. Maybe the German dub of this film would be worth a 10.

Hey, I picked up on one of Anton Corbijn's inside jokes! During the obligatory visit to a Hamburg disco, the music being played was D.A.F's "Der Mussolini." This hit from 1981 seems improbable in a post-9/11 setting. Then I recalled that the initials of the band are an abbreviation of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundshaft, the very theme of the film--which is treated, of course, ironically. Ha! I'm so retro-hip, it's scary!

Lucy (2014) - 5/10. Total BS, but amusing BS until it begins taking its BS premise too seriously, and then it becomes totally boring BS.

[dave jenkins]

L'assassino (1961) - 8/10. Elio Petri's first feature stars Marcello Mastroianni as a scoundrel who may or may not have murdered his lover, an older woman who had been bankrolling both his lifestyle and his antiques shop. While the police try to sweat a confession out of him, their questions trigger a series of flashbacks that provide us with details of Mastroianni's life up until--but not including--the crime. So it's An Investigation of a Citizen NOT Above Suspicion, interspersed with an interesting character study. For most of the film we don't know whether the character is guilty or not, so an interesting dichotomy emerges. On the one hand, if Mastroianni is guilty, the hardball tactics of the police seem justified. If he's innocent, however, an injustice is being perpetrated. Petri doesn't spoil things with his ending. The digitally restored widescreen black and white photography is absolutely splendid, and is shown to advantage on the new Blu from Arrow (Region B).

[Groggy]

The Scalphunters - 6/10 - Mediocre.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - 7/10 - Above-average.

[dave jenkins]

The Scalphunters - 6/10 - Mediocre.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - 7/10 - Above-average.

Your volubility takes my breath away.

[noodles_leone]

Grog, don't you know that a rating is only the starting point of the conversation?

I'm paraphrasing D&D quoting DJ, who himself may even not be the guy who came up with the original sentence.

[drinkanddestroy]

A rating may only be the starting point of the conversation, but who says Groggy wants to have a whole conversation? Maybe he just wants to start it. This thread IS called RATE the Last Movie You Saw.
   

[dave jenkins]

A rating may only be the starting point of the conversation, but who says Groggy wants to have a whole conversation?

Groggy used to be the lifeblood of this board; lately, not so much. I, for one, am terribly disappointed.

[Groggy]

Your volubility takes my breath away.

Not sure either movie merits in-depth discussion. I was amused by Dawn's evil chimp being named Koba, a great in-joke.

[PowerRR]

good bad and ugly

loooong, the voices dont match with the mouth, the song plays too much, the desert scene is soooo boring and it took them forever to shoot eachother at the end. 0/10

[Groggy]

the song plays too much

Right?