Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[cigar joe]

Lumet's best

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 9/10
The Verdict 7/10
The Pawnbroker 10/10
The Fugitive Kind 7/10
12 Angry Men 8/10

[dave jenkins]

Pacino was a great actor for a short time in the 70s, but he began early to foster his quickly overdone mannerisms, and he did that already early in Bobby Deerfield and in And Justice for All, but since the 90s his performances are often really terrible, they hurt the films, and I say such a thing quite seldom about actors. De Niro has also lost all his incredible charisma since the mid-80s, but at least he is mostly not that bothersome.

Unimpeachable comments.

[dave jenkins]

@Stanton:

I admit I haven't dug into the less famous films by both Lumet and Penn. But come on, 12 Angry Men is his first film, of course, just like CoR, it isn't as good as a masterpiece by Arthur Penn. The story is still told in a better way than what I remember from The Left Handed Gun. . . .

Zing! [stanton returns to his corner to lick his wounds.]

[dave jenkins]

Better idea is to watch that with your boyfriend

Oooo, ooooo, Drink made a FUNNY!!!

[cigar joe]

The American Soldier aka Der amerikanische Soldat (1970) Written and Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. sort of an experiment that combines Alphaville with Breathless, Film Noir, New Wave, Experimental interesting enough for me. 7/10

[dave jenkins]

More Kauirsmaki!

Shadows in Paradise (1986) - 7/10. An OK rendition of your usual love story, but Kauirsmaki-ized, of course. The ending is the same as in Ariel.

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana (1994) - 5/10. Mostly an exercise in style, this is A.K. spinning his wheels. The b&w photography is pleasant to look at.

[Novecento]

Dog Day Afternoon is really good.

Dede Allen should take a lot of credit for that. One of her greatest achievements IMO

[drinkanddestroy]

@Drink:

I'm glad you and I disagree afterall 
But no, it was a discussion you started with me, very much centered on Lumet, in the context of Lumet and only Lumet. I seem to remember you had just (re?)watched Running on Empty or read Lumet's Making Movies.

Talking about Running on empty: the following extended shot, in the context of the whole movie of course, is at last as truly, deeply cinematic and incredible as anything by Penn Mr Stanton can find:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Ztq4icMGU
(that shot is also much better than the whole movie itself)

I wouldn't say Lumet is a great director. And if I said or implied as much, maybe I got carried away. I've never given any of his movies a 10/10. I don't even recall ever giving a 9/10.

Anyway, I can't believe that I like Running on Empty better than my French Commie comrade!

I also forgot to mention The Pawnbroker, a good movie. Very gritty. The Fugitive Kind is one of the most excruciating movies I have ever seen.

[Novecento]

Pale Flower (1964) Directed very stylistically by Masahiro Shinoda

Excon Maraki, a yakuza, returns to his old haunts in Tokyo. He resumes his place within the Funada gang.  He is a gambler and returns to the illegal card games he loves, there he meets the much younger Saeko a well dressed, beautiful young woman with lots of cash and a gambling addiction who is bored with life. When Saeko tells him she tried heroin he tells her there is a bigger high and asks if she wants to watch him carry out another Yakuza hit. 8/10

Watched this on the Criterion channel before my subscription expired. Boy, was this good. Seems like Masao Kosugi teamed up with Shinoda a few other times.

[dave jenkins]

Pale Flower is easily the best yakuza movie ever made. Nothing else even comes close.

[noodles_leone]

I guess this all mean that now I have to watch The Pawnbroker.

[dave jenkins]

I guess this all mean that now I have to watch The Pawnbroker.

You will be disappointed.

[stanton]

Most likely, yes.

[dave jenkins]

Five Easy Pieces (1970) - Jack Nicholson suffers existential angst. Or something. Then he leaves. A break-through in its day, it seems a bit flat now. Always nice, though, to see Bainbridge Island, WA, even when played by British Columbia.

[cigar joe]

I guess this all mean that now I have to watch The Pawnbroker.

Just watch, it forget the detractors, everyone's tastes are different, It won 6 awards it's stylistically innovative and it contains some great archival footage of East Harlem that is now long gone.