movies What's the last film you watched? And rate it!

This Is Spinal Tap directed by Rob Reiner - 7/10
This is one of those rare unfortunate times where I really don't 'get' a film that all of my cinephile friends and even my non-film loving friends adore. There was definitely some really funny moments, but I was never thoroughly entertained and I didn't feel like most of the jokes worked for me. I'm really into rock 'n' roll music and its history and the film does a good job at parodying the genre but I don't get how it is a brilliant film. It's entertaining enough especially for its length but I can't say that I found it to be a great film. I guess I'll have to re-watch this film some day, hopefully I'll get it then.
 
The Grand Budapest Hotel - 9/10

Usually don't care much either way for Wes Anderson's films, but this was thoroughly entertaining and his attention to detail was off the charts. Very funny film.
 
The Hire: The Follow directed by Wong Kar-Wai - 6/10
A good example of a great director handling mediocre content. The visuals are good (sometimes even great) and I quite like the tone of the film but the story isn't very interesting IMO. I think Wong Kar-Wai's style serves feature film storytelling much better.

There's Only One Sun directed by Wong Kar-Wai - 7/10
Another short film by Wong, this one also doesn't have a great story but I think its visuals and experimental approach to narrative are interesting.
 
Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese - 10/10
One of cinema's great character studies! I love how this film takes so many elements from classic Hollywood films and foreign arthouse films to make something unique (unlike some films which I find to be derivative without bringing anything new). Robert De Niro is brilliant in the role of Travis Bickle (one of cinema's most fascinating characters), to me De Niro is on the level of a Marlon Brando. He's a total actor, he can act with his voice, his body, his face, everything he does just helps make his performance stronger. I like the film's dreamy (or rather nightmarish) feel, I really felt entranced in this film with Bernard Hermann's wonderful score, Scorsese's awesome directing style (which I now see has influenced many of my favorite films), the great editing, and the performances. Even with all of those great elements, I think it is Paul Schrader's screenplay that possibly deserves the most credit. The film just has some of the best writing I've seen in the cinema, I love how Schrader makes many of the characters delay their answers to questions, I love how Schrader chooses to suggest some of Bickle's character traits and some of the story's themes without giving us 100% clear answers, and I love how the film feels like one part of a large cycle. I'm still thinking about what happened earlier in Bickle's life and what happens after the film's ending! This is definitely a film I have to re-watch many times because it just has so many engaging elements to it in its story, its total mastery of the cinematic language, its infinitely interesting protagonist, and just how thought-provoking the film is.
 
I love how Scorsese keeps progressing with a couple of themes, then begins to toy with them, and by the end, we're not sure what to believe or what we were supposed to take from it. It's a twisty nightmarish maze of violence, illness, and insanity. Probably my favorite Scorsese film, right next to Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and Raging Bull.
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
I love how Scorsese keeps progressing with a couple of themes, then begins to toy with them, and by the end, we're not sure what to believe or what we were supposed to take from it. It's a twisty nightmarish maze of violence, illness, and insanity. Probably my favorite Scorsese film, right next to Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and Raging Bull.
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Yeah, that's what makes it so thought-provoking for me!

I have to watch more Scorsese. A ton of his movies are available to me, but just very little time to explore all of the directors I want to explore.

Here are other films that are available to me by him (that I haven't seen yet):
Raging Bull
Goodfellas
The Departed
Hugo
Shutter Island
Gangs Of New York
Casino
The Aviator
Cape Fear
The Age Of Innocence

Many of his other films are on Vudu and I can get them with the free five movies they give me when I sign-up but I don't wanna do that since I already have quite a bit of Scorsese available to me. I was planning on watching Raging Bull next, would you recommend that I watch that one next?
 
Raging Bull is one of my favorite films ever, so I think it would be nice to start with that. Goodfellas is a classic, just a pure classic, might wanna try that next. It really doesn't matter which one you watch first. Here's mine from favorite to least favorite:

Raging Bull
The Departed
Goodfellas
Shutter Island
Casino
Cape Fear
The Aviator
The Age of Innocence
Gangs of New York
Hugo
 
@Chimp & sfoster
Thanks for the recommendations!

I think I'll watch Raging Bull then Goodfellas and then I'll see where I go from there!

How does The Departed compare with Infernal Affairs? I thought Infernal Affairs was a near perfect masterpiece if it weren't for a sloppy beginning.
 
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Child's Play directed by Tom Holland - 7/10
A pretty entertaining horror film. It's not one of the horror genre's great films but it's entertaining enough and the concept is good. Although the horror genre has its fair share of stupid characters, I wish that the characters in this film were a little less idiotic lol.
 
MiniJamesW said:
@Chimp & sfoster
Thanks for the recommendations!

I think I'll watch Raging Bull then Goodfellas and then I'll see where I go from there!

How does The Departed compare with Infernal Affairs? I thought Infernal Affairs was a near perfect masterpiece if it weren't for a sloppy beginning.
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I prefer The Departed (but grittier although less sloppily edited and told). But they're both great, IMO.
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
I prefer The Departed (but grittier although less sloppily edited and told). But they're both great, IMO.
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I'll check that one out after I finish the Infernal Affairs trilogy. I just can't see DiCaprio being better than my hero Tony Leung (although admittedly this is one of his 'weaker' performances, I mean it's still great just not as great as In The Mood For Love or any of the films that he does with Wong Kar-Wai or Hou Hsiao-hsien).
 
Infernal Affairs II directed by Andrew Lau Wai-Keung & Alan Mak - 8/10
Not quite as good as the first film in the series, but it does have some improvements. I do like how it added a lot more depth to certain characters that were not very developed in the first film, and it did a good job of giving backstory. However, there are just not as many great memorable scenes, nor does it have the original's two great leading actors, and I just feel like the first film is a masterpiece. This film, on the other hand, feels more like a supporting piece to the original's full-fleshed story. The technical filmmaking is still impeccable and there is great character development but overall the film lacks the power of the first film in the trilogy. Still, it adds a lot to the film's universe so that will make a re-watch of the original even more enjoyable!
 
Rocky directed by John G. Alvidsen; starring Sylvester Stallone - 9/10
A classic underdog story! The directing and storytelling is very conventional but it's also done really well. I love how Rocky's character is revealed through his actions and not by expository dialogue. I love the emotions in this film, the ending really got to me. This was a very entertaining film and it deserves its status as a classic (but I don't think it deserved Best Picture over Taxi Driver!).
 
12 Years A Slave directed by Steve McQueen - 10/10
Wow! I was surprised by how much I loved this film! For me the film is just pure truthful storytelling, it tells a story that's based on reality but unlike most films of its genre it never feels like it tries to force it into a conventional film narrative. I found the film to be like a series of short anecdotes that were coherent and I loved the way the film revealed certain aspects of the plot in a nonlinear manner. The acting and the writing were great of course! The cinematography was amazing! For me the whole film's style was just oppressive. I also love how the film really explores the full complexities of slavery, it didn't make it just "slavery is bad." It said "this is slavery" and you figured it was horrible of course! There were little things like how the blacks in the North didn't really view the blacks in the Souths as equals, or how some black women would marry their slaveowner that were really interesting. As I said, this is just very truthful filmmaking with a lot of really devastating scenes. Akira Kurosawa once said "To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes" and I think that quote perfectly fits Steve McQueen in his film's portrayal of slavery.
 
Chaplin Revue Disc 1 3/5
3 good shorts here, usually his shorts are nowhere near the quality of his later features but I thought all 3 of these stood up to the test of time.

I also thought it was funny how in his opening narration you can tell he is frustrated by how new movies have sound. Something about how he hopes you enjoy the music he composed and it's much better than the sound of foley footsteps on gravel while watching a movie. :lol:

Chaplin's Goliath 3/5
It was entertaining but nothing special. Most interesting part was that some other guy was accusing chaplin of stealing his tramp character. And that other dude died while making a film, he was killed by his ostriches :scared:

The Heroic Trio 2/5
I knew this was going to be over the top before I watched it, which isn't something I typically enjoy. I thought there might still be some good fighting moves in here.. but there weren't. every single fight was completely over the top, nothing decent IMO

Sideways 3/5
Entertaining but average film. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone but at the same time I wasn't bored during it.

The Prince and the Showgirl 3/5
A great monroe flick. Certainly no seven year itch, but I would recommend it to any fans of hers.
 
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