Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

[spikepipsqueak]

Spring rains in Summer is doing my head in.

Watched Malcolm (1986) just now. Some comedies don't stand the test of time. This one does.

 

[pood]

Rewatched the original Godfather for the umpteenth time. An epic. It always made me think of The Brothers Karamazov, though the parallels are not very precise. Each work features a patriarch and three sons. Sonny rather parallels the novel’s Dimitri, hot headed and unpredictable. The novel’s Ivan is an intellectual and jaded atheist, with no real parallel to Fredo. But Michael is somewhat a match for Alyosha, who in the novel is untouched by Karamazov corruption but basically never changes, keeping his saintly nature throughout the book. Michael, otoh, evolves from a war hero who was out of the family business and faithful to the woman he intended to marry. Over the course of the movie he evolves into a cold-hearted, stone-faced killer.

The novel explores the theme of faith in God vs. atheism. The movie explores the theme of faith in one’s clan vs. faith in government and courts of law. Gripping and unforgettable stuff. 10/10.

Next up: Godfather 2.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

2. Welcome to Pleasantville: I hadn't seen this one since first release. Even though it was more poignant then it still hit the viewer over the head with its social and political messaging. It's still entertaining though. If you really need your liberal itch scratched while watching an enjoyable flick, it's worth revisiting this one.

 

[pood]

Watched Godfather II. As with the original, there are numerous unforgettable scenes. I already knew them in advance so I was just grooving on them. We’ll probably watch Godfather III though I don’t think it was so great. The problem here is that in III, we are asked to believe that Michael, who had evolved into a stone-faced, cold-hearted killer and liar, is suddenly feeling pangs of guilt. It doesn’t seem too plausible to me but it does fit in with a narrative arc. I did like the confession scene very much, but it’s a little late in the game, isn’t it, Michael?

Anyone seen One Battle After Another yet? That is next on the agenda. IIRC it is adapted from Pynchon’s Vineland, which I read many years ago. Spielberg is raving about it but I am not a big Spielberg fan.

 

[pood]

Completely agree about Django Unchained, Lovely movie.

 

[ZiprHead]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic in it. The scene at the dinner table where he cuts his hand on the broken glass was real. It was unintended and he was actually bleeding quite a lot. But he never missed a beat in the filming of the scene.

 

[laughing dog]

The Outfit 8

Well done gangster yarn with lots of plot twists. Mark Rylance is brilliant as a cutter (not tailor, tailors sew sew on buttons!).

 

[Colonel Sanders]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic in it. The scene at the dinner table where he cuts his hand on the broken glass was real. It was unintended and he was actually bleeding quite a lot. But he never missed a beat in the filming of the scene.

For some reason his acting is often given short shrift. IMO he's still one of the best actors in the game. I didn't know that about the glass. As a side note, something similar happened in the Hateful 8 when Jennifer Jason Leigh sees the guitar being smashed. Her reaction is real because it was a real 145 year old guitar valued at around $150K and was not supposed to be used for that scene (obviously).

Seems like Tarantino gets up to some shenanigans.

 

[bilby]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic in it. The scene at the dinner table where he cuts his hand on the broken glass was real. It was unintended and he was actually bleeding quite a lot. But he never missed a beat in the filming of the scene.

For some reason his acting is often given short shrift.

And that reason is that he decided (IMO very wisely) to follow the money and do highly lucrative but slightly vacuous work as a leading man in romances such as Romeo + Juliet and Titanic in the 1990s, which established his fame and fortune, rather than exercising his considerable talents.

IMO he's still one of the best actors in the game.

I agree wholeheartedly. He has an astonishing acting ability, and is one of the most consistently underrated movie actors. In 1995, teenaged girls started screaming and swooning at the very thought of him, which undermined his credibility amongst people who should have known better having seen him two years earlier in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

 

[pood]

He was also outstanding in The Gangs of New York, which unfortunately we cannot seem to get on streaming.

 

[pood]

We also recently watched DiCaprio in Total Eclipse, in which he plays the poet Arthur Rimbaud. He was outstanding, but the movie itself was unimpressive. Except for one brief snippet, none of Rimbaud’s works are quoted, which is weird to me. It would be as if in the movie The Doors none of Morrison or the band’s works are played.

 

[ZiprHead]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic in it. The scene at the dinner table where he cuts his hand on the broken glass was real. It was unintended and he was actually bleeding quite a lot. But he never missed a beat in the filming of the scene.

For some reason his acting is often given short shrift. IMO he's still one of the best actors in the game. I didn't know that about the glass. As a side note, something similar happened in the Hateful 8 when Jennifer Jason Leigh sees the guitar being smashed. Her reaction is real because it was a real 145 year old guitar valued at around $150K and was not supposed to be used for that scene (obviously).

Seems like Tarantino gets up to some shenanigans.

Yup, I heard about that. A very rare Martin guitar.

 

[ZiprHead]

The Revenant. The Departed.

I haven't seen Killers Of The Flower Moon or One Battle After Another but he is supposedly great in both of them.

 

[WAB]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic in it. The scene at the dinner table where he cuts his hand on the broken glass was real. It was unintended and he was actually bleeding quite a lot. But he never missed a beat in the filming of the scene.

For some reason his acting is often given short shrift. IMO he's still one of the best actors in the game. I didn't know that about the glass. As a side note, something similar happened in the Hateful 8 when Jennifer Jason Leigh sees the guitar being smashed. Her reaction is real because it was a real 145 year old guitar valued at around $150K and was not supposed to be used for that scene (obviously).

Seems like Tarantino gets up to some shenanigans.

Yup, I heard about that. A very rare Martin guitar.

William Friedkin liked to fire a shotgun unbeknownst to the actors to get a surprised reaction.

 

[bilby]

We also recently watched DiCaprio in Total Eclipse, in which he plays the poet Arthur Rimbaud. He was outstanding, but the movie itself was unimpressive. Except for one brief snippet, none of Rimbaud’s works are quoted...

Not even First Blood?

Or was that John Rimbaud?

 

[thebeave]

1. Django Unchained. If haven't seen this by now, see it.

Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic in it. The scene at the dinner table where he cuts his hand on the broken glass was real. It was unintended and he was actually bleeding quite a lot. But he never missed a beat in the filming of the scene.

For some reason his acting is often given short shrift. IMO he's still one of the best actors in the game. I didn't know that about the glass. As a side note, something similar happened in the Hateful 8 when Jennifer Jason Leigh sees the guitar being smashed. Her reaction is real because it was a real 145 year old guitar valued at around $150K and was not supposed to be used for that scene (obviously).

Seems like Tarantino gets up to some shenanigans.

Yup, I heard about that. A very rare Martin guitar.

William Friedkin liked to fire a shotgun unbeknownst to the actors to get a surprised reaction.

I'm starting to think Friedkin is a sociopath. While making The Excorcist, he put the actors through some pretty serious shit to get the effect he wanted. Alfred Hitchcock was no saint, either. Especially to Tippi Hedron in The Birds. Largely, because she spurned his advances apparently.

 

[southernhybrid]

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/scent-of-a-woman-1992

Scent of a Woman is one of my favorite dramas, but since Al Pacino is my favorite actor that makes sense I watched it a few days ago again, after watching it many times over the years.

The colonel sits alone in his room, drinking and nursing his self-pity. He is a mean, angry, sarcastic man. We sense he has always been lonely, but never lonelier than now, when he is trapped inside blindness. He lost his sight late in life, through his own stupidity, and now he gets drunk and waits for victims. There is hope for him, however, because of two fugitive threads in his personality: He is a romantic. And he possesses a grudging sense of humor.

The colonel, whose name is Slade, and who does not like to be called “Sir,” is played by Al Pacino in one of his best and riskiest performances – risky, because at first the character is so abrasive we can hardly stand him, and only gradually do we begin to understand how he works and why he isn’t as miserable as he seems.

 

[southernhybrid]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332379/

On the lighter side, we watched School of Rock the other day. I had never seen it before, but as one who loves old school rock, it was quite enjoyable.

After being kicked out of his rock band, guitarist slacker Dewey Finn faces a mountain of debts and depression. He shares an apartment with his best friend, Ned Schneebly, an old band member who is now a substitute teacher. Dewey pretends to be his roommate Ned and accepts a job as a substitute teacher at a snobbish private elementary school where his attitude and hijinks have a powerful result on his students. He learns they are talented young musicians, and he decides to form a rock band with them to win the $20,000 prize money in a local band contest. Once Dewey wins a competition called "Battle of the Bands", the prize money would solve his financial problems and put him back in the rock music spotlight.—Steve Shedloski

 

[pood]

Speaking of Gangs of New York, DiCaprio is brilliantly paired in that flick with Daniel Day-Lewis. Will probably soon rewatch Lincoln, with Daniel Day of course playing the 16th president. Also plan to watch Anemone, which is now streaming. Daniel Day came out of retirement to star in this movie directed by his son.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332379/

On the lighter side, we watched School of Rock the other day. I had never seen it before, but as one who loves old school rock, it was quite enjoyable.

After being kicked out of his rock band, guitarist slacker Dewey Finn faces a mountain of debts and depression. He shares an apartment with his best friend, Ned Schneebly, an old band member who is now a substitute teacher. Dewey pretends to be his roommate Ned and accepts a job as a substitute teacher at a snobbish private elementary school where his attitude and hijinks have a powerful result on his students. He learns they are talented young musicians, and he decides to form a rock band with them to win the $20,000 prize money in a local band contest. Once Dewey wins a competition called "Battle of the Bands", the prize money would solve his financial problems and put him back in the rock music spotlight.—Steve Shedloski

I loved that movie. It was Jack Black in all his pre-star, lovable lunatic glory in a less than mid-budget film. It also shows the very real circumstances of a band kicking out a member that doesn't fit.

Everyone casted is great too.