Movies you've seen recently

[Malcador]

 

Have been meaning to get around to reading that book. Something about Damon irritates me in his performances, or perhaps it's just him personally.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Malcador

[Amentep]

Because sometimes, you just have to wax nostalgic with the cheesy spy spoofs of the 60's....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQwJQkEh2QY

 

The two Flint films are fun (but then I tend to like anything with James Coburn in it).

 

That said, I also like the Matt Helm films i've seen.  The sequence at the end of THE SILENCERS with Stella Stevens and the trick gun is hilarious.

 

That said there are loads of Eurospy and Spy Parodies in the 60s and 70s.  Some good, some bad.

 

Take KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE:

 

 

I'm blanking on the last one I saw - I think I mentioned it here.

 

For this Weekend I watched

 

INSIDIOUS 3 (2015) - Its a bit tamer than the first two by virtue of being a prequel, but manages a few creepy images and a couple of surprises.  Hopefully they'll go back to the present though now that they've got an origin story out of their system.

 

THE STING II (1983) - this is one of those films that lurched to production; one of those things where I think it got made because the process had started despite almost everyone connected to the previous film had dropped out.  There's two ways to judge it - against the previous film in which case it does not live up to expectations - or as a separate story that takes some basic ideas (two con men who'd conned a 'bad guy' in the past teaming up for a new con).  There's a lot of carry over ideas (Jake gets chased by a policeman, but to little ultimate point).  Its true that the Lonnegan of the first film would have just found Gondorf and Hooker and killed them, so you almost have to see this as an alternate reality adventure.  On its own, it has its charms; Jackie Gleason is game and Teri Garr does well as the mystery woman.  Karl Malden is hilarous cast against type and it works (Gleason one-upping him in the restaurant is a hoot).  The ultimate payoff and the con itself are less memorable though and never really manages a place alongside the original even as a companion movies instead of a sequel.

[Hurlshort]

 

Have been meaning to get around to reading that book. Something about Damon irritates me in his performances, or perhaps it's just him personally.

 

The book is fantastic.  Hopefully they can capture the atmosphere of it, it will be good if they stick to the science and don't try to make it a thriller.  

 

Matt Damon is awesome.  

[Oerwinde]

Jupiter Ascending - glad I didn't listen to all the hate. Really enjoyed it, but wasn't huge on the ending.

 

Gone Girl - Wow. Just messed up. Good, but wow.

[ManifestedISO]

Okay, I am totally onboard with Justin Lin directing Star Trek Beyond. 

 

 

I thought about how much a part of my life 'Star Trek' was. Growing up, my parents had this little fish and chips restaurant in Anaheim in the shadows of Disneyland, and they didn’t close until 9 PM. As a family, we didn’t eat dinner until 10 PM, and we would watch the original 'Star Trek' every night at 11.

 

My dad worked 364 days a year, only took Thanksgiving off, and from age 8 to 18, the only time I could hang out with my parents was by staying late. And every night, it was 'Star Trek' on Channel 13 in L.A. That was my childhood.

 

All my friends were 'Star Wars' kids but I didn’t go to the movies, so I was the 'Star Trek' kid. Thinking about this, it became a very personal and very emotional decision."

 

 

 

As great as [the first two Abrams films] were, there’s still a lot to be mined from these characters. They haven’t really gone on their five-year mission, so what we experienced in the TV show hasn’t been touched on yet.

 

That sets up an opportunity for exploration and the deeper you go, the more you are examining humanity. Those are the things that I absorbed as a kid and hope to tap into and embrace and celebrate. By the time this movie comes out, 'Star Trek' will have been around for 50 years.

 

[The story is] all new and fresh. The Klingons, Romulans and other species are great, but it’s time to go further. It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species.

 

[Gromnir]

 

I don't know how I feel about this yet

 

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to Star in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ Remake

 

I do.

 

 

I like The Rock, but there can only be one Jack Burton.

 

dunno.  seems to Gromnir that for an over-the-top role that is all 'bout the camp, a former pro wrestler strikes us as perfect.  dwayne might actual take himself too serious as an actor these days to do proper justice.

 

 

is there a young roddy piper around? 

 

 

  

HA! Good Fun!

[Blarghagh]

I don't think he does:

 

https://youtu.be/apQPaduDRVw?t=15

[Hiro Protagonist]

Project Almanac. Hand held shaky cam throughout the whole movie was annoying.

[Tale]

House at the End of Time

 

I went in with high expectations due to a wealth of recommendations, was not impressed. The horror is muted when you realize what's going on, which you will rather early. But the movie still thinks it's scary once the danger has passed.

[Fighter]

It Follows. Not bad. The premise has a nice way establishing tension and paranoia.

[Lexx]

 

Have been meaning to get around to reading that book. Something about Damon irritates me in his performances, or perhaps it's just him personally.

 

What is this with all the fancy looking space movies coming out lately? Did I missed some memo or something?

[kgambit]

 

 

Have been meaning to get around to reading that book. Something about Damon irritates me in his performances, or perhaps it's just him personally.

 

The book is fantastic.  Hopefully they can capture the atmosphere of it, it will be good if they stick to the science and don't try to make it a thriller.  

 

Matt Damon is awesome.  

 

 

Totally.  The book is outstanding.   

[kirottu]

 

 

 

Have been meaning to get around to reading that book. Something about Damon irritates me in his performances, or perhaps it's just him personally.

 

The book is fantastic.  Hopefully they can capture the atmosphere of it, it will be good if they stick to the science and don't try to make it a thriller.  

 

Matt Damon is awesome.  

 

 

Totally.  The book is outstanding.

 

MacGyver in Mars. Awesomness.

[Raithe]

Since it's always worth a watch..  here for the general interest 15 Fun Facts About Young Frankentstein on its 40th Anniversary
 

(note, the article has a bunch of actual clips to go with it)
 

“SUUUPAHR DUUPER!” On December 15, 1974, this monstrous spoof broke free and electrified audiences everywhere. So today, we’re tipping our top hats, lacing up our tap shoes, & celebrating Young Frankenstein’s 40th birthday.
 

1. Studio Executives tried Tricking Director Mel Brooks into Shooting the Film in Colour

 
By the mid-‘70s, black and white cinema was an endangered species. Nevertheless, writer/director Mel Brooks felt strongly about replicating the feel of Universal’s classic Frankenstein films by going colorless. However, not everybody shared his vision. Columbia Studios’ brass thought the style was unmarketable and, as Brooks explains in this delightful interview (skip to 47:40), used some slippery tactics in an attempt to get their way:


“They said ‘Okay, we’ll make it in black and white, but on colour stock so that we can show it in Peru, which just got colour. And I said ‘No. No because you’ll screw me. You will say this and then, in order to save the company, you will risk a lawsuit and you will print everything in color. It’s gotta be on… black & white thick film.”
Thankfully, Brooks prevailed, though 20th Century Fox wound up taking charge of the project.


2. Star and Co-Writer Gene Wilder Convinced Brooks to Forgo his Usual Cameo Appearance

 
Like Alfred Hitch****, Brooks usually gave himself a part in his own films, from Blazing Saddles’ loopy governor to the wine-selling Rabbi of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. These characters regularly broke the fourth wall and “winked” at the audience, something Wilder felt would clash with Young Frankenstein’s tone. So, as a condition of his taking on the lead role, Wilder made Brooks agree to remain off-camera.
However, the director did provide some howling:


As Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder) takes his first ride to the family castle, the distant wolf cry which startles him is a sound Brooks actually vocalized himself.


3. Early On, We Hear the Exact Same Conversation Repeated in Both English and German

 
En route to Romania, our protagonist catches a train to New York, whereupon he hears an American couple bickering. In the very next scene, Frederick (now on a Transylvania-bound locomotive) witnesses a European pair having an identical, word-for-word exchange in German


4. One of Igor’s Best Moments Inspired a Hit Aerosmith SongVideo of Twf0ffG0v_8
 
“Walk this way!” Marty Feldman’s Igor instructs his master, who proceeds to copy the hunchback’s shuffling gait. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler found this line hilarious and repurposed it as the title of a track about high school lovers.


5. Hans Delbrück Was a Real Person

As Frederick readies his monster, he sends Igor to fetch a very special brain which rests in a jar labeled “Hans Delbruck: Scientist and Saint”. The actual Hans Delbrück (1848-1929) was an accomplished military historian whose son, Max, won a Nobel Prize for his work with viruses.


6. Several Props Had Previously Appeared in the Masterful 1931 Frankenstein Film

Taking his feature-length tribute to the next level, Brooks included much of the faux lab equipment used in that earlier picture.


7. Teri Garr Based Her Character’s Voice on Cher’s Hairdresser

Garr made several appearances on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and used Cher's German wig-stylist as a model for ditzy lab assistant Inga’s heavy accent.


8. Brooks Hired Kenneth Mars After the Actor Signed Off on an Odd Costuming Choice
 
The two had already collaborated in 1968’s The Producers, and while casting Young Frankenstein, Brooks offered Mars the role of grumpy Inspector Kemp, but not before pitching an eccentric wardrobe gimmick that ultimately wound up on-screen.
 
“He [said],” Mars later reminisced, “‘Let me ask you this… if you’re wearing an eye patch and you’ve got a monocle on top of the eye patch, is that too much?’ I said ‘Of course not.’ He said ‘Good, you’re hired!’”


9. Gene Hackman Specifically Asked Wilder for a Part in Young Frankenstein Because he “Wanted to Try Comedy”

 According to the movie’s Blu-ray commentary, Hackman—who’d been thrice nominated for an Academy Award (and won one in 1971)—learned about Young Frankenstein through his frequent tennis partner Wilder and requested a role. Ultimately, ‘Harold’—the lonely blind character he briefly portrayed—sparked one of the most memorable sequences in comedic history.


10. Peter Boyle Had to Wear a Special Pad Over His Crotch to Avoid Getting Scalded During the Famous Blind Man Scene

During their hysterical encounter, sightless Harold winds up accidentally dumping a bowlful of hot soup onto the poor creature’s lap. Fortunately, Boyle’s protective gear kept him from having to method act his way through the ordeal.


11. A Huge Percentage of the Movie Had to Be Deleted

“For every joke that worked, there were three that fell flat,” says Brooks, who whittled Young Frankenstein down to its current runtime after observing several mixed reactions from test audiences. This cut material included a clip in which Frederick’s relatives listen to a recorded will left by his great grandfather Beauvort von Frankenstein whose message starts skipping and nonchalantly repeats the phrase “Up Yours!”

In addition, the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” number was nearly axed as well. Brooks reportedly felt that having Dr. Frankenstein and his monster tap dance to an old Irving Berlin song seemed “too crazy.” Hearing this, Wilder—who thought it brilliant—snapped and came “close to rage and tears” before Brooks unexpectedly changed his tune. “I wanted to see how hard you'd fight for it,” said the director, “And I knew if you fought hard enough, it was right...You did, so it's in.”


12. Wilder was Constantly Cracking Up During Takes

According to Cloris Leachman, “He killed every take [with his laughter] and nothing was done about it!” Shots would frequently have to be repeated as many as fifteen times before Wilder could finally summon a straight face.
 
But, to be fair, he certainly wasn’t the only one who couldn't always keep it together.

Young Frankenstein sees Marty Feldman’s comic genius on full display, which was often more than his castmates could handle. For example, the scene where Frederick’s fiancée Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn) greets him at the castle generated a lengthy gag reel because Feldman—whose character starts ravenously gnawing on her mink scarf—kept everyone in stitches with his manic over-acting.


13. Brooks’ Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein were the 1st and 3rd highest-grossing films of 1974, respectively

“It’s good to be the king!” Before this pivotal year, the funnyman’s earlier efforts—The Producers and The Twelve Chairs (1970)—netted mixed reviews and had lackluster box office performances. But after turning out these back-to-back hits at breakneck speed, Brooks’ reputation as one of Hollywood’s greatest comedic directors was secured.


14. Leachman Was Asked to Reprise Her Role for the 'Young Frankenstein' Musical
 
After getting eliminated from ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, Brooks offered the 82-year-old actress a chance to take a second stab at playing Frau Blücher for his on-stage Young Frankenstein musical, but the show’s run ended before her schedule freed up.


15. Throughout the Shoot, Brooks Offered Wilder Directing Advice
 
Knowing his star dreamed of one day sitting in the director’s chair, Brooks made a point to give him as many pointers as possible before shooting concluded. Wilder reminisced, “Mel would say, ‘Do you know the trouble I’m in because I didn’t shoot that close-up? Don’t do that.’ I would say, ‘To whom are you talking?’ ‘You, when you’re directing.’”
 
Though both headed various productions after Young Frankenstein, they’d never collaborate on another flick. Nevertheless, the pair’s shared legacy is unimpeachable. All three of Brooks’ movies in which Wilder appeared—The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein—have been selected for preservation by the National Film Registry and included on the American Film Institute’s “100 Funniest Movies of All Time” list.

[Raithe]

The Boondock Saints.

 

An amusing little silly violent film. Willem Dafoe working magic as the gay FBI agent on the Organised Crime Task Force, and Sean Patrick Flannery with Norman Reedus as the pair of good, catholic, irish brothers on a mission from god to kill the wicked. Plus a sparky surprise showing of Billy Connolly as a very violent man.

 

I have to admit, it always seems like Flannery should have made it bigger after the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, but he seems to have slid into fairly solid tv work instead of bigger film roles.

[Blarghagh]

I quite like Boondock Saints (Rocco's nervous telling of a racist joke to the mobster is one of my favourite movie bits) but do yourself a favour and skip the sequel.

[sjennie14]

i watched San Andreas amazing action movie by Brad peyton. love the dwayne johnson work

[Malcador]

Christopher Lee's dead - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11666316/christopher-lee-dies-live.html

[Blarghagh]

I just made a thread about that.

[Raithe]

Not strictly film I guess, but I watched the 6 hour mini-series Count of Monte Cristo from 1998.  The Gerard Depardieu one.

 

And yes, I watched it in French, with English subtitles.

 

It's always nice to see a good adaption, although I was at first thrown by how they shifted the timelines around and told a chunk of the first half via flashback scattered throughout the rest of the episodes. Heh, and I've noticed a lot of adaptions like to change it so that Dante and Mercedes end up together again.

[Tale]

Jurassic World

 

In all my life, I might have only once before called a movie "dumb fun." I'm still not even sure how "dumb fun" works, but this movie is pretty dumb and it's pretty fun. The climax of the film had me both laughing at how stupid what I was seeing was, as well as thrilled by it.

 

Like one of those parodies of 80s action flicks, only played straight.

[Blarghagh]

I'm going to see that tonight, and I'm actually nervous about going to a movie. Jurassic Park is to me what Star Wars is to most people. I was 5 years old when it came out, it was my first cinema experience and it introduced me to movie magic - in fact, my parents had to explain over and over that Jurassic Park didn't actually exist and we could not go and visit it. I never understood why the sequels didn't go back to the park idea and instead just had monsters in a jungle, since that was at the core of the first film. So when I say that I've been waiting for this movie for most of my life, I'm not exaggerating. I've set my expectations low, especially because the previous two were such disappointments, but I'm really just hoping for this not to be my Phantom Menace.

[Tale]

I know the feeling about loving Jurassic Park. I would watch the VHS every day when I got home from middle school for like a year.

[majestic]

I remember that I got bullied because of Jurassic Park, awesome as it was. I just couldn't stop myself from telling the other students in class that, while the movie is really awesome, the dinosaurs were actually being from the cretaceous period and it shouldn't be called Jurassic Park. I mean the novel at least was called DinoPark (or at least the German translation had the title DinoPark, nowadays I know the original title of the novel actually is Jurassic Park). So there!

 

Go figure. Reading books and paying attention in biology class at the age of eleven. Yeah. I had my lunch stolen among other things. Pfesh.

[Blarghagh]

Well, I guess there were Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus.