What was the last movie you've seen?

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MrPopo
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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noiseredux wrote:Yeah what? Troll post right?
I could do research but it's much easier to use you guys. All I know about Purple Rain is that it somehow involves both Prince and Morris Day & The Time. Come to think of it, all I know about Purple Rain comes from the opening of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.
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noiseredux
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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If you are being serious it is an excellent movie with an amazing soundtrack.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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Just finished watching:

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Loved it. Dario Argento does it again with this 1985 Italian horror film, in which an American girl (Jennifer Connelly, of Labyrinth and Dark City fame) attends a school in Switzerland, only to discover that a murderer is on the loose. But with the help of a famous entomologist (Donald Pleasence, of Halloween fame), she discovers that she has psychic powers that grant her the ability to communicate with insects, she soons finds herself trying to solve the murders.

Fans of the game Clock Tower might recognize this as being a major influence. By which I mean the first title, not the title released in America as Clock Tower (which is the sequel, while the game released in America as Clock Tower 2 was just a spinoff), just to clarify for those unfamiliar with the series.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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Nothing so flashy to note here, but last night I let me daughter stay up nearly an hour late sitting with me to watch Kiki's Delivery Service and she loved it and really dug the story and the talking cat.

Glad I have that Miyazaki blu ray boxed set from Amazon I got for my B'day. Now she's into Kiki and Totoro. I'll have to find another on there to pull next.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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I haven't been posting much in here lately with all the films I've been watching, but since FilmStruck has been announced and I do a lot of pleasure watching anyway, I feel I can get back to it now. This is what I watched this weekend:

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Shoot the Piano Player

François Truffaut's 1960 film is a lot of things all mashed together: drama, comedy, crime, romance. As a result it's a bit all over the place, yet it works for me. The plot centers on a pianist with a secret identity who is forced to reexamine his past after his brothers double cross two gangsters during a heist. Our anti-hero is timid, depressed, longing to hide from his problems but ultimately forced to face them, unfortunately with disastrous consequences in the end. I appreciated that it did not end happily and feels messy; it makes it more realistic, and I found myself able to identify with our pianist as a result.

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Miller's Crossing

How this failed at the box office, I don't know, because it's marvelous. Gabriel Byrne is perfect as an incredibly intelligent(and highly manipulative) Irish mobster during Prohibition that is forced to make some hard decisions after a rival gang challenges his boss' hold on the city. While making his way, Byrne successfully pulls strings to end up winning in his own way, making you wonder just how much he had planned everything out from the very beginning. Even at times when the plan goes wrong, he successfully pivots or gets lucky enough to continue on. If you like gangster movies, this is one not to miss.

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Breaker! Breaker!

A corrupt small town called Texas City, California, uses local law enforcement to hijack truckers and gouge tourists. But they end up beating up Chuck Norris' brother, so Norris arrives and gets his trucker buddies to fuck up the town. This was Chuck Norris' first starring role, and man this movie is awful. Delightfully awful. Let me be up front though: Chuck Norris actually does quite well, even if some of the fight choreography is a bit hokey. You still believe Norris could kick everyone's ass, even if they all crowd around and then only attack one at a time. The problem is pretty much everything else, from the terrible script(more holes than an Atlanta city street) to the ridiculous editing to the use of stock footage of semis which are then obviously not the semis used to drive through the town at the end, all while a bunch of truckers do voice overs.

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Phantasm II

Well, now I've seen two more Phantasms than most people and two fewer than TSTR. I really liked this movie. It's a bit more action packed than Phantasm, sure, but it still has that great 1980s horror feel, some delightful monsters and special effects, likable heroes, and a genuinely creepy villain. It's off beat but entertaining. Also, this one has a four-barrel shotgun that is actually believable. I like heroes in horror movies that are capable, and Reggie and Mike certainly are. They also can acknowledge their limitations, and they screw up and make mistakes, but man you end up rooting for them. Now I really want to track down the rest of the series sometime.

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Eastern Promises

I love both a good gangster film and a good Cronenberg movie, and this is both. Whenever David Cronenberg directs, you know you're going to see something new about the human body in all its glory as well as in all its horror. Here the plot focuses on a woman who births a baby from an underage Ukrainian prostitute and winds up being pulled into the Russian mob underworld in London as a result. Since the vory use tattoos extensively to depict status and history, and since they're known for their violence and brutality, well, it's perfect fodder for a Cronenberg-type picture. Viggo Mortensen excels here as an alternately cruel and kind gangster, one who always keeps a level head and knows the score. There's a twist which explains much of this behavior, but ultimately the film is worth watching solely for his performance. Also, while very violent and bloody at times, this is also a film that would serve as a great intro to Cronenberg's work for those who are 'uninitiated.'
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noiseredux
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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I might actually like Phantasm II just as much as the first movie.

I forgot to say that I also watched The Money Pit over the weekend, which I've seen plenty of times before.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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Phantasm II is a great follow-up. The only thing that bugs me to this day is James LeGros instead of A. Michael Baldwin, but that's just because I'm such a big Phantasm dork. His performance is still good though.

Also sick watching Phenomena, REPO. I love the batshit heavy metal sequences.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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I won't go off on my Argento tangent again, but Phenomenon/Creepers is in the tier of his films that I think are "good, not great." Having said that, it's responsible for the entire Clock Tower series so yeah, it's something that needs to exist.
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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Noise, what is your opinion of George Eastman?
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noiseredux
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?

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I wouldn't say I had a strong opinion, having never really thought much about him until you asked. But I mean he certainly had a pretty interesting career. Obviously the D'Amato connection brings a certain schlock cache. But I mean the dude wrote Stage Fright, got to play Django in one of many many unofficial sequels... I'd say what I actually know of him is tip of the iceberg. But interesting career it would seem.
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