Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[dave jenkins]

One last from the "Mexico at Midnight" show, less visually intense this time, as this didn't seem to be from a restoration. In fact, visual quality fluctuated from scene to scene, making me suspect that this presentation was cobbled together from a variety of prints.

Crepúsculo / Twilight (1945) - 7/10. Mr. Mustache rides again! This time he's a brain surgeon with shaky hands--a month ago during an operation on his best friend his hand slipped and the man died. Mustache has a bad conscience: he was banging the guy's wife (Gloria Marín). Worse, on the night the cuckold got hit by a falling tree, Mustache knows the man was planning to kill him and maybe his cheating wife as well. The thing is, since he knew this at the time of the operation, Mustache can't dismiss the idea that the knowledge caused him to botch the operation. Holy Hippocratic Oath, Batman! Cue flashback. We see how matters played out during the months leading up to the operation. See, there was this sculpture, and Mustache discovered that the model for it was an old flame . . . and when he came back from Europe he had to have the statue installed in his home. Holy deja vu, Batman! Don't these Mexicans have more than one plot? Anyway, this is straight-up melodrama, it's about as noir as my left nut.

[moviesceleton]

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) - 9/10

[dave jenkins]

Slither (1973) 8/10. Not to be confused with a creature feature, this is the GBU remake that starred Jimmy Caan, Peter Boyle and Sally Kellerman (the Good, the Ugly, and the Batshit Insane, respectively). There were also two very creepy vans. Man, what good films they made in the 70s. Not like the crap they make now.

[drinkanddestroy]

Split Second (1953) 7.5/10

Dick Powell's first film as director; he did not act in it.

I will try to discuss this film a bit when I have more time.

[noodles_leone]

BoJack Horseman, season 2 - 8/10
Still very good and much more professional than the first season. The pacing was much better and reviewers unanimously liked it a lot better. Still, it kind of lacks (a little biy) the heart that was found in season 1.
All in all it's a win for Netflix' first animated series: it's the first one that gets me excited since South Park (1997).

I just bought Nightcrawler on Google Play so that should be my next viewing.

[PowerRR]

Mad Men: The Series - 6/10
First off, that rating is for two reasons on top of it being a long show: it's boring, and it's redundant. It's not something I really look forward to watching, but went through all of it considering I was already halfway through when I decided I was mostly bored with it. That being said, the characters are some of the most subtly and realistically developed in, well, maybe every story I've ever witnessed. That's partially due to that it's maybe the longest story I've ever sat through at 90 hours (including novels, probably). Plot-wise, I think Mad Men could have been 4 seasons. However, the character development is absolutely flawless in that you don't even realize you're watching them grow years right in front of you - maybe that's what the 7 seasons are for. In Breaking Bad (10/10 in comparison for the record), while the Walt character develops brilliantly, the changes in his persona are clearly highlighted by specific incidents (the heroin scene with Jessie and his girlfriend, the Lily of the Valley plant, etc.). Mad Men has sort of the Boyhood effect instead, where nothing huge really happens to effect the ensemble cast, yet characters personalities change with age and career status. It's brilliantly accomplished, and the most novelistic thing I've seen in film/television.

Also, it's hard to describe those last 7 episodes ...but the pacing, setting, and feeling of them is masterful. It all felt incredibly dreamlike, similar to the final minutes of Once Upon a Time in America or The Master, or the epilogue of a very long novel.

And the outdoor cinematography, while rare and far in between offices and dark bars, is beautiful.

Any time Jon Hamm breaks the Don Draper character (season 4 "The Suitcase" for example), he deserves an award. he's damn good.

But man, 92 episodes later, that show was pretty fucking boring.

[noodles_leone]

Mad Men: The Series - 6/10
First off, that rating is for two reasons on top of it being a long show: it's boring, and it's redundant. It's not something I really look forward to watching, but went through all of it considering I was already halfway through when I decided I was mostly bored with it. That being said, the characters are some of the most subtly and realistically developed in, well, maybe every story I've ever witnessed. That's partially due to that it's maybe the longest story I've ever sat through at 90 hours (including novels, probably). Plot-wise, I think Mad Men could have been 4 seasons. However, the character development is absolutely flawless in that you don't even realize you're watching them grow years right in front of you - maybe that's what the 7 seasons are for. In Breaking Bad (10/10 in comparison for the record), while the Walt character develops brilliantly, the changes in his persona are clearly highlighted by specific incidents (the heroin scene with Jessie and his girlfriend, the Lily of the Valley plant, etc.). Mad Men has sort of the Boyhood effect instead, where nothing huge really happens to effect the ensemble cast, yet characters personalities change with age and career status. It's brilliantly accomplished, and the most novelistic thing I've seen in film/television.

Also, it's hard to describe those last 7 episodes ...but the pacing, setting, and feeling of them is masterful. It all felt incredibly dreamlike, similar to the final minutes of Once Upon a Time in America or The Master, or the epilogue of a very long novel.

And the outdoor cinematography, while rare and far in between offices and dark bars, is beautiful.

Any time Jon Hamm breaks the Don Draper character (season 4 "The Suitcase" for example), he deserves an award. he's damn good.

But man, 92 episodes later, that show was pretty fucking boring.

I never managed to sit trough a full episode after the pilot. I've seen tens of single scenes on YouTube or on TV. I like the atmosphere, I like the art direction, I like the premise and I like most of the performances. But every single time, the situations were among the most boring, predictable and cliché I had ever seen (which means, of course, that they lasted too long). Seriously, drastically reduce the budget of a Mad Men scene and you'll soon not be able to know that you're not watching The Young and the Restless. It's a shame because I do not doubt that watching the whole thing is greatly rewarding for many reasons, including the ones that RR mentioned.

I even found myself fzst forwarding the most "pop" scene they ever did (according to the buzz at the time): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXoILGnHnvM

Anyway, like I told many people already, I'll try more seriously some day. After the new X Files and Twin Peaks episodes. May be.

[stanton]

No, no, no, Mad Men is fantastic but ...

... but I haven't watched it complete yet. And I have to admit that in the 6th season, despite being great in parts, things began to repeat a bit, so that the 6th season could not maintain the high level of seasons 1 - 5. I also might admit that I needed half of the first season to really come into it. And that it then were the following seasons in which the real fascination started.

Mad Men is doubtless one of the best US series of the last 15 years.

[PowerRR]

I never managed to sit trough a full episode after the pilot. I've seen tens of single scenes on YouTube or on TV. I like the atmosphere, I like the art direction, I like the premise and I like most of the performances. But every single time, the situations were among the most boring, predictable and cliché I had ever seen (which means, of course, that they lasted too long). Seriously, drastically reduce the budget of a Mad Men scene and you'll soon not be able to know that you're not watching The Young and the Restless. It's a shame because I do not doubt that watching the whole thing is greatly rewarding for many reasons, including the ones that RR mentioned.

I even found myself fzst forwarding the most "pop" scene they ever did (according to the buzz at the time): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXoILGnHnvM

Anyway, like I told many people already, I'll try more seriously some day. After the new X Files and Twin Peaks episodes. May be.

I've said since the first few episodes that it's a glorified soap opera ...still haven't really changed my opinion on that. I think all the ad stuff / affair and relationship stuff is just there to make scenes in California and about Don's past even more rewarding (just read that Weiner [lol] was inspired by PTA by the photography of California in the last few episodes).

I wouldn't bother watching it. It's a 6/10, but it's also a 90 hour 6/10.

I've started some X-Files, a few episodes in. Like it quite a bit so far, but there's also 200 more episodes to go...

[noodles_leone]

No, no, no, Mad Men is fantastic but ...

... but I haven't watched it complete yet. And I have to admit that in the 6th season, despite being great in parts, things began to repeat a bit, so that the 6th season could not maintain the high level of seasons 1 - 5. I also might admit that I needed half of the first season to really come into it. And that it then were the following seasons in which the real fascination started.

Mad Men is doubtless one of the best US series of the last 15 years.

I noticed you tend to like shows that have more to do with literature than cinema in the way they tell a story and develop their characters: Mad Men, The Sopranos and The Wire. Do you also like 6 Feet Under?

[stanton]

I noticed you tend to like shows that have more to do with literature than cinema in the way they tell a story and develop their characters: Mad Men, The Sopranos and The Wire. Do you also like 6 Feet Under?

He, he, if you want to tell me that Breaking Bad is more cinematic than Man Men and Los Sopranos, it is not. Actually it is also the sublime directing which makes MM and Les Sopranos really great. And all long ongoing series are closer to literature than cinema, and are more dominated by the writers than by the directors. The series is basically a writer's medium. Twin Peaks, which tops them all, may be the biggest exception.

The Wire: I started wiring last autumn, but I'm still stuck with episode 8. I still have the will to end the first season, but it tends to be work. But then there are people who claim that the first season is indeed a bit long drawn out ,and that the 3rd and 4th season are the best they ever watched. Hmmm ... that's pathetic ...

6 Feet Under: I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and gladly there wasn't any unavoidable cliffhanger at the end of the first season, so I skipped it.

[noodles_leone]

He, he, if you want to tell me that Breaking Bad is more cinematic than Man Men and Los Sopranos, it is not. Actually it is also the sublime directing which makes MM and Les Sopranos really great.

I was not trying to lure you into such a trick I was talking about the screenwriting.













But BB's still more cinematic in EVERY WAY than anything you mentioned.

[cigar joe]

To Live And Die In LA (1985) Wow how did I ever miss this one, oh yea I was living in the boonies in Montana. Director: William Friedkin, with William Petersen as Richard Chance
Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, John Turturro, Darlanne Fluegel, and Dean Stockwell, on first watch an 8/10 it probably will go up, great chase sequence in LA rail yards and in LA River, great cinematography, watch this if you havent seen it.

[drinkanddestroy]

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (1962) 8.5/10 (TCM)

Some people think you can't like a movie without liking the main character. I liked this movie very much and I have no use for the main character.

[stanton]

I was not trying to lure you into such a trick I was talking about the screenwriting.



But BB's still more cinematic in EVERY WAY than anything you mentioned.

Not really.

Read Stray Bullets instead of wasting your time in senseless arguments with my adorable inerrability.
Stray Bullets is a comic series  by David Lapham, and it probably will never be finished, but anyway, it beats them all (except Twin Peaks of course, because it is Twin Peaks). It's fucking intelligent and fucking entertaining. And every chapter has the level of the best episodes of our beloved (or not so beloved in some cases) TV stuff.

After a hiatus of nearly 10 years (money reasons) Lapham returned to SB in 2014, and the magic is again there.