What was the last movie you've seen?

[OldSchool_Boy]

Pink Floyd's The Wall

Midnight screening of it on saturday.Thought it was pretty cool.

[fast]

Gone in Sixty Seconds - the Nicholas Cage remake. While it pales in comparison with the H.B. Halicki original, it is still a fun movie.

[REPO Man]

Pink Floyd's The Wall

Midnight screening of it on saturday.Thought it was pretty cool.

I've only seen it on VH1 Classic, but I've seen "The Trial" scene on YouTube.

FYI, they cut out the girlfriend/groupie who turns into a hag/scorpion/mutant shecreature/WTF, and when they show the naked fat lady operating the schoolmaster puppet, they just zoom in on the schoolmaster puppet and it looks really grainy.

[Ack]

So I watched two movies over the weekend.

Time After Time probably has one of the greatest ideas for a plot I've ever heard of. Jack the Ripper steals H.G. Wells' time machine and travels to the year 1979 so he can avoid the police and continue his killing spree, so it's up to Wells to travel into the future and stop him. It's a cute movie, but unfortunately it suffers from "I've seen this before" syndrome: man comes to the future, has trouble figuring out the world, can't tell anyone, falls for a girl. It does make some funny jokes about the evolution of ideas from the 1890s to 1970s, and some of Jack's comments about society in the 1970s are both contemplative and disturbing(particularly his "Ninety years ago I was a freak. Today I'm an amateur" speech). Either way, I enjoyed it.

As for the second film, I watched Unforgiven. It's an interesting look at cause and effect, starting with a whore laughing at the size of a man's penis, and ending with the Angel of Death visiting town. I absolutely loved it, from the incredible landscapes to the acoustic soundtrack to the more "realistic" interpretation of a Western. Let's face it, before this Westerns tended to glorify the time period, where as this film is much cruder and violent in its description(that's not to say that this hadn't been done before, but I don't believe it really hit mainstream until this. Compare Unforgiven to the myriad of Westerns that came out in the sixties and seventies and see what I mean). I don't think there could have been a better man to helm the project than Eastwood.

I also wish more Westerns were coming out. I really do miss that genre.

[OldSchool_Boy]

Let's face it, before this Westerns tended to glorify the time period, where as this film is much cruder and violent in its description(that's not to say that this hadn't been done before, but I don't believe it really hit mainstream until this. Compare Unforgiven to the myriad of Westerns that came out in the sixties and seventies and see what I mean). I don't think there could have been a better man to helm the project than Eastwood.

Untrue dude. Sergio Leone's first three films which all star Eastwood as the main character were the first actual violent anti-hero westerns that hit mainstream.If it wasn't for that lead role in Fisful of Dollars I would seriously doubt eastwood would be where he's at today.If anything Unforgiven was probably the last hurrah of the western genre for a while. I've heard great things for The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James but I still have to check that out.

[Ack]

Let's face it, before this Westerns tended to glorify the time period, where as this film is much cruder and violent in its description(that's not to say that this hadn't been done before, but I don't believe it really hit mainstream until this. Compare Unforgiven to the myriad of Westerns that came out in the sixties and seventies and see what I mean). I don't think there could have been a better man to helm the project than Eastwood.

Untrue dude. Sergio Leone's first three films which all star Eastwood as the main character were the first actual violent anti-hero westerns that hit mainstream.If it wasn't for that lead role in Fisful of Dollars I would seriously doubt eastwood would be where he's at today.If anything Unforgiven was probably the last hurrah of the western genre for a while. I've heard great things for The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James but I still have to check that out.

Well, perhaps I am getting a bit ahead of myself. It's just...to me, when I think of older westerns, I think of John Wayne films, you know? And even with Segio Leone's works with Eastwood, there's something that feels different to me about them. Even though he's an anti-hero, I root for Eastwood in those films. In Unforgiven, I watch as he succumbs to his violent past and becomes that which he thought he had left behind but would never manage to escape. In Leone's movies, Eastwood's a man. In Unforgiven, he's a monster. At least, that's what struck me as the difference.

I definitely agree about it being a last hurrah though. In the intervening years I remember watching crap like Wild Wild West, or remakes like 3:10 to Yuma(which was a decent film, but felt a bit forced to me). Even the more original Westerns, like The Quick and the Dead, just didn't feel right.

[dsheinem]

Untrue dude. Sergio Leone's first three films which all star Eastwood as the main character were the first actual violent anti-hero westerns that hit mainstream.If it wasn't for that lead role in Fisful of Dollars I would seriously doubt eastwood would be where he's at today.If anything Unforgiven was probably the last hurrah of the western genre for a while. I've heard great things for The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James but I still have to check that out.

I have a review of The Assassination (and Unforgiven) a few pages back - you should def check the film out.

I plan to re-watch the Dollars trilogy in the next few weeks - and while those Spaghetti Westerns hold lots of influential sway on Eastwood to this day, I agree with Ack that Unforgiven stands alone. It might be as simple as the focus: the physical, mental, and spiritual ravages of the west on aging gunslingers and an aging sheriff - but the film's direction/production create an ongoing unease that is more associated with the psychological horror genre then with even the darker westerns.

[Octopod]

Django also. Spaghetti westerns in general I guess.

[dsheinem]

The Searchers (1956) – I have been on a Western kick of late, so decided it was finally time to see the one heralded by many as the best (http://www.afi.com/10top10/western.html). It is indeed an excellent film – though not my personal favorite Western. John Wayne is at the top of his game here as a hyper-masculine “take no shit” Civil War vet from the South, and his supporting cast is also strong enough that you can remember many of them afterwards (which is more than can be said for plenty of other Westerns or John Wayne films). The story itself was a bit generic even by the time this film came out (1956), but the way it tells it is not – Ford’s direction here elevates the genre to an art form in a way that films before it (at least those that I am familiar with) had not. Also of note is the memorable dialogue throughout. The treatment of race and violence is a little troubling from a 21st century perspective, but this is no Birth of a Nation the way that some have wanted to paint it (I believe Ford is trying to address some difficult social themes and just doesn’t do it as expertly as would be done later).
Grade: 4/5

The Wild Bunch (1969) – While The Searchers was certainly violent in parts, I think that this movie might still be the most violent Western put to film - and it is a fantastic experience. The story is essentially about an aging band of outlaws on the TX-Mexico border who are looking for their last hurrah. The film is defined by three key action scenes – at the beginning, middle, and end of the film – that are tense, bloody, and thrilling. With their pioneering use of slow-motion techniques, quick cuts, and gratuitous gore I would be surprised if this film didn’t influence contemporary directors like Robert Rodriguez and, to a lesser extent, Tarantino. The film does lag in parts and includes a few sub-plots that seem truncated, and I thought that the occasional focus on nature (vs. violence) was contrived/gimmicky (Malick has perfected this). William Holden as the lead didn’t do much for me, but I thought the ensemble cast was excellent and gave the film a timeless quality as you aren’t focused on a big star for too long. Worth a look for both action and Western fans.
Grade: 4/5

Pale Rider (1985)– I know that this film is an homage to Shane, which I have never seen, so my review is lacking that perspective. Another beautifully shot Western (like Ford, Eastwood knows how to utilize the scenery), this one just pops off the screen and looks like it was actually filmed in the time/place depicted. Eastwood plays a priest with a past who comes to town to mitigate a dispute through righteous violence, and the plot plays out pretty much how you’d expect. There’s not a lot of ingenuity or surprise here, but the film is simply fun to watch and has a captivating story. Eastwood as a dark hero is great as always and really makes the picture.
Grade: 3.5/5

Pineapple Express (2008) – I had no idea what to expect going into this film. I had heard from others that it was a dark comedy, a road movie, a stoner film, a comedy-action hybrid, etc. – I think in the end it is probably a modern take on the screwball comedy. It works, in parts – the last half of the film is much better than the first and the sometimes tedious character development from earlier scenes pays off as the plot approaches its climax. What the film needed was a more judicious editor (see the last scene, for example). The best moments – an early fight scene, a car chase, a family dinner, and a few others – are really quite hilarious and are able to get laughs with both violent slapstick (gunstic?) and clever dialogue. This film finally convinced me that Rogen is probably a better writer than actor – though for better or worse it also has some tell-tale Apatow moments. An uneven but fun and funny movie.
Grade: 3/5

Next Up: Might as well keep going with the Westerns for a bit longer – plan to see Rio Bravo, Red River, Butch Cassidy, and maybe Stagecoach in the near future. Still want to dive into Dirty Harry and more Bond – but they may take a back seat to The Wrestler and Bullitt, both of which I finally picked up and plan to see quite soon…

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

@ Dsheinem

Bullit is an awesome movie, with a great jazzy feel to it.