[Film] Most satisfying movie you have seen recently

[schismatics]

^ While looking throught that list I have come to realize that I have seen all of those movies with my Dad. o_O

[Eva Yojimbo]

I've seen a lot of great movies recently, here's some short reviews:

Winter Light - Bergman at his most intimate and just about his most intense. Sparse, spare, and very pared down, it's a simple story of a pastor in the midst of a crisis of faith, unable to help his parishioners because of his own doubts. Like most Bergman it's incredibly heavy and dramatic and not for everyone. This is probably as direct as Bergman ever dealt with religion and faith (he's done so many times more allegorically). No director battled his demons on screen so explicitly as Bergman and this is a great example of his profound artistry.

Band of Outsiders - Godard at just about his most charming. Anna Karina along with two other guys set about trying to rip off her uncle who has a ton of money stashed away and insanity ensues. Like most Godard it gleefully subverts tropes and is kaleidoscopic in its themes, focus, direction, and story. His films are always incredibly hard to describe, but this one's worth it alone for the dance scene in the restaurant.

I Don't Want to Sleep Alone - Tsai Ming-liang's latest... If you've never seen a Tsai film... well, you should, if JUST because it's a unique experience unlike any other. Tsai defines what it means to be an auteur, and IDWTSA is vintage Tsai; incredibly long, static shots, almost no dialogue (he essentially makes modern silent films), precise framing, very dark humor... imagine a mix of Bresson, Tati, Ozu, Antonioni and Keaton and you're close to Tsai's idiosyncratic presentation. Highly recommended, though I'd also recommend starting with his earlier films and working forward (IMO, What Time is it There? is his best).

My Own Private Idaho - A terrific surprise of a film! I'm new to Van Sant and after being disappointed by Drugstore Cowboys my expectations for this film weren't high but it was truly excellent! Part modern retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IV (the Falstaff bits, anyway) and part film about memory, friendship, and loneliness, it's funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Very highly recommended.

Walkabout - My first Nicolas Roeg film and I was highly impressed. A very unique film about a teenage girl and her young brother who are stranded in the desert when their father kills himself and sets fire to their car. They're left to wander and try to find their way out, until they meet a native aborigine of Australia who befriends them and helps them. In essence a visual allegory about returning to nature and its innocence. More of a tone poem than a narrative film, but the scene of the girl swimming naked in a lake intercut by the boy hunting is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen; truly like a moving painting.

Images - Robert Altman imitating Bergman ala Persona and doing it well. A superb leading performance by Susannah York as a schizophrenic writer encountering her mental creations at a getaway lodge. A really claustrophobic film with an incredibly disturbing ending that almost gave me nightmares, and an awesome but REALLY eerie soundtrack by John Williams that really enhances the mood.

^ While looking throught that list I have come to realize that I have seen all of those movies with my Dad. o_O

Your dad has good taste then! Classics are classics for a reason, I guess. :)

[backseatjesus]

Anyone recommend other good westerns?

John Ford was THE master of Westerns. He essentially wrote the book on them, destroyed it, and then rewrote it. Anyone that came after him was merely copying something he already did (yes, that goes for Leone and Eastwood):

Maybe story wise(Face it, it's hard to get an original story for a western), but directing wise, hell no. Leone is very unique in his directing style and no film I've ever seen has compared(Yojimbo is the closest thing, but Fistful was basically a remake.).

Just watched Seven Samurai. Excellent flick. Never a dull moment.

[Eva Yojimbo]

but directing wise, hell no.

You're insane if you don't think so. Arguably no other director has been more pervasively influential than Ford (Hitchcock, Welles, Godard, and Griffith come close). Welles said that when making Citizen Kane he was inspired by the masters of film "John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford". Kurosawa's main influence was Ford, and one of Leone's prime influences was Kurosawa. Leone's juxtaposition of long shots and close-ups is right out the John Ford manual, as is his framing of characters against their environment. Though Leone was a bit more stylistic than Ford, such as with those extreme close-ups, but pretty much everything he became known for had precedent in Ford; he simply pushed them to a slightly more extreme level.

[backseatjesus]

Well I guess I'm insane. I really dislike The Searchers and a lot of his films. His directing style bores me.

[Eva Yojimbo]

To each their own I guess. Ford is my favorite after Kurosawa and Bergman. It always sounds strange to me for someone to say they dislike Ford's directing style since I can 100% guarantee that his 'style' will play a prominent role in at least one of their favorite directors' styles; like Leone. Dislike his films if you want, but his influence and importance is undeniable.

[backseatjesus]

I mean, I respect the guy and indeed to each their own, but nothing I've seen has made me drop my jaw or anything. I guess all the movies and media I've watched has decreased my shock value. Seeing people expand upon his style and improving it probably took the fun out.

And my opinion about The Searchers is pretty biased because I've never been a fan of John Wayne. I've always found his acting stale.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Well, I go back to a point I made elsewhere about greatness needing to be understood in context. I mean, DW Griffith is nothing until you realize that he essentially gave film its own language, and if you watch pre-1915 films and then jump to Birth of a Nation and Intolerance and realize the incredible innovation. Same thing goes with Ford. He took Griffith's language and refined to an incredible degree, and one could even say he was film's first visual poet.

The funny thing about Wayne is that Ford thought the same thing too. He pretty much just used him for his iconic status and likability. Ford even said of Wayne "I didn't know the big sonofabitch could act!" when he saw him in Hawks's Red River. Though I actually think The Searchers is one of Wayne's best performances; along with The Quiet Man and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

[snowballreborn]

Yes, I really enjoyed HBP as well. I was only slightly irritated about how they converted the book to film, they just left so much out of it, like at the end, there is actually supposed to be fighting going on, and it's just the Death Eaters going for a walk. Lol.

I heard they didn't add the big fight scene at the end in order to not have it compete with the ending of deathly hallows (despite the fact that it is being split in two and the second half with the similar scene doesn't come out till 2011). It would have been too hard, in my opinion, to have the fight at the end because of the lack of many of the DA members in HBP. Luna was the only DA member besides Harry, Ron, and Hermione that had any respectable screen time, so having Neville and everyone else just show up for the end would have been kind of too much "Deus Ex Machina" for most of the audience. The burning of the burrow scene was added which worked better in the film in my opinion because it spaced out some action that was originally lacking in the middle of the book.

The only pesky thing missing from the book in my opinion was Dumbledore's horcrux info which will leave the crew just wandering around even more aimlessly than in the book. For some dumb/odd/absolutely rubbish reason I think it was David Yates screwing it up for the next director in case he didn't make it for Hallows (which he of course did). Perhaps Harry will find a note left from dumbledore explaining it in the next movie, thus making the information more fresh for Hallows.

[Guyver Spawn]

Marley and Me: I saw it today on DVD and I enjoy this movie a lot. The story was very good and the movie was very cute. The dog in this movie remind me of my old lab and I cry at the end of the movie since my dog in the movie died the same way my dog did =(. I give the movie a 3.5/5

[Evangelionfreak]

both Revolutionary Road and the Reader were great films
I dont watch new movies that often, but both were excellent
also if youre not in the mood for a drama, Role Models was funny as shit.

[snowballreborn]

Revolutionary Road was amazing and I really need to see the reader.

I got Role Models on blu ray and can't wait to buy i love you man on blu ray in a few weeks (which I find slightly better). Paul Rudd is becoming a comedy behemoth.

[schismatics]

watched Mongol last night. the overall story line is kinda funky but I adore the camera work and the scenery.

[xtr00kvltcorex]

i recently purchased and re-watched Watchmen (the D-Cut) and i enjoyed it significantly more than my first outing with it in theaters back in march. the change in the ending still irks me but the inclusion of hollis mason's death makes up for it as i find it a very memorable scene. but apparently their taken a double dip in the fall with an extended edition, with tales of the black freighter mixed in. screw warner bros.

[Nathan]

Urgh, I thought this version was the one with Tales of the Black Freighter tied in, I was holding out for that version as I've still not watched the film, but loved the Graphic Novel.

-------

I just watched "Moon" yesterday in the cinema, it was really great. It's limited screening but I suggest you check it out if you can.

[xtr00kvltcorex]

its a very good adaptation, however i'm a die-hard fan of the graphic novel and it took a couple of watches to get used to. like the ending, while in its END is the same the MEANS are radically different; this fact almost made me walk out of the theater. but in terms of book-to-film adaptations it is far more loyal to the original than others of its kind.

[Nathan]

I think I might still hold out for the final version of it though, if I've waited this long I might as well go for the long haul. The way Tales of the Black Freighter parallels the story developing is genius and I'm really interested to see how they implement it in the film version.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Saw Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night last night; truly superb and absolutely hilarious! I can't imagine a better adaptation being made of Shakespeare's play. Helena Bonham Carter is gorgeous and truly illuminating and enchanting as Olivia (I dare any heterosexual male to watch this and NOT fall in love with her!). Ben Kingsley is predictably superb as the 'fool' Feste. The rest of the cast is only less stellar by comparison, but the film is great fun. The mark of a great Shakespeare film is when it gives you a greater appreciation for the play; Twelfth Night is one that, on the page, I didn't care much for, but it really came to life on screen and now I can't help but consider it one my favorites from the Bard.

[CyberXIII]

The last movie I saw that I really liked was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The critics can go to hell; that movie was awesome.

[schismatics]

Got Coraline today and watched it with the awesomeness of the 3-D glasses that came with it. I was already amazed by the movie when I seen it in 2-D in theaters but man...Coraline perfected the whole 3-D trend thats going on right now.