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

The Sixth Sense directed by M. Night Shymalan - 6/10
This is one of the more disappointing films I've seen. When I was growing up I always wanted to see this film but never got the chance, I read a lot about it and saw images that interested me, and I loved other films starring Haley Joel Osment. Unfortunately, I don't find this film to be very great at all. The acting is very good, the overall storytelling and filmmaking is good, but I didn't find the story to be very interesting. The twist is good, but that was spoiled for me a long time ago anyway so it had less impact. In many ways I wish I didn't watch the film because I prefer my childhood imagined version of this film.
 
MiniJamesW said:
The Idle Class directed by Charlie Chaplin - 8/10
This is a very entertaining comedy short by Chaplin, I kind of didn't enjoy the beginning much and didn't get it. But once the plot gets going it becomes extremely hilarious and enjoyable to watch. I'll consider watching this one again sometime as I feel I wasn't paying too much attention at the early scenes so I didn't enjoy them that much.

The Gold Rush (1925 version) directed by Charlie Chaplin - 10/10
This is pure unbelievably incredible filmmaking. I think that the first 25 minutes or so show cinematic comedy/drama at its finest, it is just a great survival story. The rest of the film is a lot different from what these scenes show but it is still just as great. I like the love story, the comedy, the elements of survival, and the rags to riches story. What makes this film stand out though is just that scene for scene it is just brilliant, I really can't find one scene that I did not enjoy. I think this is the first time I really REALLY 'got' Chaplin because before I always thought he was good but not as good as Buster Keaton. This film proved me wrong, he is as good as Keaton, it's just a matter of preference (I still enjoy Keaton more but I wouldn't say he's better). I think my increased understanding/appreciation of cinematic staging helped, because Chaplin is a master at staging much more than using strong compositions in his cinematography. When watching this film you can notice just how much can be communicated purely by staging, and I feel like this needs to be done more in contemporary mainstream films. Staging is of course used effectively in art films but if you take a look at Chaplin's work or even someone more recent yet still old like Hong Kong's Tsui Hark, you can notice how effective staging is at creating entertaining scenes for larger audiences. I honestly feel that this way of telling stories can be more effective than the hyper-continuity editing that is being employed today. Ah well, I kind of mixed in some of my thoughts about cinema in general while watching this film but that's only because I loved it so much that it made me think about life, love, and cinema. Thank you Mr. Chaplin, I hope I get to see more of your masterpieces soon!
Click to expand...

City Lights is much better than gold rush
 
sfoster said:
It's the AFI #1 romantic comedy of all time
Click to expand...

Eh, I don't really care for what AFI thinks, they tend to just re-emphasize the American-centric mainstream canon. But I have heard from several critics and cinephile friends that City Lights is one of Chaplin's best. Then again, Charlie Chaplin himself thought that The Gold Rush was his best. I think when it comes to masterpieces, chosing one over the other is just a matter of preference.
 
I prefer City Lights. I love the opening of the film, and the rest of the film is a fantastic blend of drama, comedy, and romance. Gold Rush felt a bit more cartoonish, but I thought City Lights was fun, yet more developed and mature. I thought the audio work & cinematography is much greater as well.

Searching for Sugar Man - 7/10 - Eh... not bad. I thought it started off strong. But the last 20 minutes of the film sort of died out and lost the magic that the film built up. Although, the music is fantastic, and overall, it was decent.
 
Ah I see, yeah I want to watch all of his films anyway so I'll see what I think soon. I think that The Gold Rush is a masterpiece, so if his other films are just as good then I'll be happy to see multiple masterpieces from one director.

Apart From You directed by Mikio Naruse - 7/10
I feel kind of strange giving such a low score to such a well-directed film. Every frame of this film is perfect, the pacing is perfect, and the editing is perfect but the problem is that the characters and story could've been better. The story has a lot of potential but it feels like the outline of a good story than a fully fleshed out good story. Most of the characters feel the same way but the main female character is extremely strong and interesting, very few filmmakers were making strong female characters in 1933. I think if I saw this on a big screen with benshi narration and a musical score I'd give it an 8, but as it is I think the film is a masterful work of pure cinema that unfortunately serves an underdeveloped story with underdeveloped characters.
 
Great Dictator, City Lights, and Modern Times have always been my favorite from him. Great Dictator has the characteristics of previous Chaplin films, but with a more developed style and with some incredibly refined dialogue. City Lights being a beautiful romance, comedy, and drama. Modern Times was an interesting satire showing the industrialization of the world in the 30's with some truly unique visuals and some of the most memorable images from his filmography. Although Gold Rush and The Kid are definitely up there... but I didn't think that they quite hit the emotion strings that the previous 3 did.
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Great Dictator, City Lights, and Modern Times have always been my favorite from him. Great Dictator has the characteristics of previous Chaplin films, but with a more developed style and with some incredibly refined dialogue. City Lights being a beautiful romance, comedy, and drama. Modern Times was an interesting satire showing the industrialization of the world in the 30's with some truly unique visuals and some of the most memorable images from his filmography. Although Gold Rush and The Kid are definitely up there... but I didn't think that they quite hit the emotion strings that the previous 3 did.
Click to expand...

Yeah Chaplin has made several cinematic treasures. I loved The Kid but it lacked the emotion that The Gold Rush had for me. I haven't seen as much Chaplin as I should, but I'll definitely get around to it soon.

What do you think of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd? I find Keaton to be the funniest of them all, and I prefer his short films much more than those by Chaplin. In terms of feature films, I think they're about tied and it just depends on what I'm in the mood for. I haven't seen much Harold Lloyd but Safety Last! was a masterpiece, the first silent film I fell in love with!

Late Spring directed by Yasujiro Ozu - 10/10
I tend to spread out my Ozu viewings so that I won't finish all of it too soon, and I try to watch Ozu films when I NEED them rather than just watching them like any other films. But now that I'm almost moving and leaving behind my movie collection I'm going to try to watch more Ozu. This was a re-watch for me, a re-watch of a film that changed my life. Ozu's Late Spring is his first film in his fully developed distinctive mature style. It features some of his key players such as Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara in their groundbreaking roles. Since Late Spring was the first Ozu film I saw it is a very meaningful film to me, yet as I wasn't as well-versed in Ozu's cinema or cinema in general when I first watched the film, I had a lot of new things to appreciate now. First of all, I never noticed how much motion there really is in this film. Ozu is generally characterized as a filmmaker of stillness, and he is for the most part, but the way Setsuko Hara simply moves to express emotion is incredible. There is also just the sheer amount of brilliant characters, literally every character in the film is interesting. The end of the film remains one of the most powerful scenes that I have ever seen. I'm tempted to write tons more on this film but I'll save that for my extensive reviews that I'll write. The last thing I'll mention is that, maybe it's just that I'm too used to slow cinema now after watching more Asian and European films, but I didn't find the pacing to be slow at all really, so I think this would be a good introduction to anyone who wants to see 'slow' cinema. Oh and I have to say, this film has dethroned Tokyo Story as my favorite film now, I feel like it is just slightly more eloquent and gets a lot done in less time.
 
Most of chaplins short films are poor. This is because he was under contract to produce a short every week at one point. Anytime you force someone to hammer them out like that the quality is going to suffer.

For later films like City Lights, he had full control, full investment and was able to take however much time he needed.

I liked the general, thought it was fantastic. Still haven't seen sherlock jr. didn't care for the other buster keatons that I've seen.

The thing about city lights is that it isn't just a comedy, it's possibly the most romantic film of all time. It's on a totally different level that I don't think buster keaton ever came close to gracing
 
MiniJamesW said:
What do you think of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd? I find Keaton to be the funniest of them all, and I prefer his short films much more than those by Chaplin. In terms of feature films, I think they're about tied and it just depends on what I'm in the mood for. I haven't seen much Harold Lloyd but Safety Last! was a masterpiece, the first silent film I fell in love with!
Click to expand...

Lloyd is probably my least favorite of the three... but he's not bad. His style doesn't quite suit me, but his importance is undeniable. Keaton was amazing, a great comedic actor in some truly wonderful films. Chaplin had a certain bittersweet quality to his films that don't seem as evident in the two other's filmography, but they all are important, and to this day, entertaining.

Oh and I have to say, this film has dethroned Tokyo Story as my favorite film now, I feel like it is just slightly more eloquent and gets a lot done in less time.
Click to expand...

Heh. That's probably one of the finer "older" pieces of Japanese cinema that I've seen. I think I'll have to give Late Spring a look.

sfoster said:
Most of chaplins short films are poor. This is because he was under contract to produce a short every week at one point. Anytime you force someone to hammer them out like that the quality is going to suffer.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I find that sometimes artists work well when forced to be productive, but producing a short each week would be difficult. Then throw in the fact that this was before the technology we have now.
 
sfoster said:
Most of chaplins short films are poor. This is because he was under contract to produce a short every week at one point. Anytime you force someone to hammer them out like that the quality is going to suffer.

For later films like City Lights, he had full control, full investment and was able to take however much time he needed.

I liked the general, thought it was fantastic. Still haven't seen sherlock jr. didn't care for the other buster keatons that I've seen.

The thing about city lights is that it isn't just a comedy, it's possibly the most romantic film of all time. It's on a totally different level that I don't think buster keaton ever came close to gracing
Click to expand...

I see, no wonder because when I first started watching Chaplin I just saw the shorts and I was disappointed as I thought they didn't compare with Keaton or Lloyd at all.

I can't wait to watch these other Chaplin features, but I do think that Buster Keaton is extremely talented. The General is one of my favorite films ever, and I find the camerawork and stunts in Keaton's films to be stronger than in Chaplin's films (from what I've seen so far). I'd agree that Chaplin is better at doing "more than just comedy" but I'm not sure if that should automatically place him as superior to Keaton.
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Lloyd is probably my least favorite of the three... but he's not bad. His style doesn't quite suit me, but his importance is undeniable. Keaton was amazing, a great comedic actor in some truly wonderful films. Chaplin had a certain bittersweet quality to his films that don't seem as evident in the two other's filmography, but they all are important, and to this day, entertaining.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. I don't think I've seen enough of each of them to really rank them but I'd say they are all masters of comedic cinema.

Heh. That's probably one of the finer "older" pieces of Japanese cinema that I've seen. I think I'll have to give Late Spring a look.
Click to expand...

Ah! There is so much fine classic Japanese cinema, the more I watch these classics the more I am convinced that Japan may have the greatest national cinema (because of its quality, its longevity, and quantity). The only nations that compare would be China (if you combine mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan!) and MAYBE the U.S. (I think it's lacking in longevity, I still am not fully convinced with much of the contemporary work) IMO.

If you liked Tokyo Story you'll probably also like Late Spring and most of Ozu's 'late period' works (1949 - 1962) as he was a very consistent director that made seemingly similar films during his 'mature' period. That's why I've always said that Ozu is mostly a love him or hate him sort of director because he has such a unique style that he never changes during his 'mature' period, so if you love one film you are likely to love all of them and vice versa. His silent film period is different though, he's less consistent and less uniquely Ozu, although there are some masterpieces from that period as well.

Other classic pre-New Wave Japanese masters (you probably have heard of some of them): Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi (have you seen Ugetsu?), Mikio Naruse, Kon Ichikawa, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, and Keisuke Kinoshita. I'm only mentioning directors whose films I've actually seen, but I've heard of a lot more great ones that I'll explore later on.
 
Last edited:
MiniJamesW said:
Ah! There is so much fine classic Japanese cinema, the more I watch these classics the more I am convinced that Japan may have the greatest national cinema (because of its quality, its longevity, and quantity). The only nations that compare would be China (if you combine mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan!) and MAYBE the U.S. (I think it's lacking in longevity, I still am not fully convinced with much of the contemporary work) IMO.
Click to expand...

I don't think I could rank one nation as having the greatest cinema. It's fun to have a variety of flavors.

If you liked Tokyo Story you'll probably also like Late Spring and most of Ozu's 'late period' works (1949 - 1962)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll give Late Spring a look. I'm familiar with most of Ozu's works, but I'm sure that there are some that I've missed out on.

Other classic pre-New Wave Japanese masters (you probably have heard of some of them): Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi (have you seen Ugetsu?), Mikio Naruse, Kon Ichikawa, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, and Keisuke Kinoshita. I'm only mentioning directors whose films I've actually seen, but I've heard of a lot more great ones that I'll explore later on.
Click to expand...

Yup. Big Kurosawa fan. Rashomon and Dreams are some of my favorite films. I'm somewhat familiar with Mizoguchi, have seen some of Naruse's work, although I can't say I'm entirely familiar with the last directors mentioned.
 
Certainly keaton was more of a stuntman.. but if you want to talk all time stunt comedy then I think that position has to go to jackie chan

The Legend of Hercules 2/5
This probably deserves a 1/5. The acting was terrible and the writing was cheesy. The absolute worst is when he shouts "Father i believe in you!!!" and suddenly he gets super powers. :gag:

The Pope of Greewich Village 3/5
Holy crap!! Mickey rourke used to be attractive?? The only thing i recognized was his smile, everything else has changed and this dude now has one of the ugliest mugs in hollywood. He actually used to look a lot like a young bruce willis. What a disaster, some people can not age gracefully.

Pompeii 3/5
This probably would have been a lot better if I hadn't already seen riddley scotts gladiator, because it borrows so heavily from that film. I am a huge 24 fan, but I didn't like sutherlands accent in this film.. he should have just spoke with his normal voice. Sorry kiefer, I know you're probably reading this and I hope you don't take it too personally. I still think you're a great action star
 
I wrote a response a while ago but for some reason it didn't get posted and Indietalk didn't work for me for like a whole day, ah well.

@sfoster
Jackie Chan is certainly a better stuntsman but I find Keaton to be much more than just a stuntsman, he is a great consistent director IMO. Jackie has made great films but he is way too inconsistent, sometimes even within one film he has scenes that are great, mediocre, and bad.

Every-Night Dreams directed by Mikio Naruse - 8/10
The best of the Naruse silent films with the perfect directing of Apart From You utilized to tell a more interesting story.

2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick - 10/10
Wow, I always knew this was a classic but I loved this even more than I expected. Brilliant special effects that still hold up, brilliant abstract filmmaking, and I just find this film to be perfect. I usually prefer more character-based films, but this was so good that I don't mind, it easily slips into my top 25 favorite films. I love how mundane the lives of the characters are depicted, it makes the future appear more realistic to me. Of course there are also awesome ideas explored. So far this is my favorite Kubrick film.

Street Without End directed by Mikio Naruse - 8/10
Finally finished watching all of Naruse's silent films, and this one is quite interesting. The film directing is more subtle and less experimental, but the overall effect is weaker than Apart From You and Every-Night Dreams. But the story, as standard as it is, is still stronger than that of Apart From You, so it makes the film a bit more enjoyable. After watching all these silent films, I think that some of them are very good, but Naruse would go on to make much better sound films later on. These films still compare favorably to most of his early sound films though.

The Neighbor's Wife And Mine directed by Heinosuke Gosho - 8/10
This was a slightly disappointing film for me, as I heard that Gosho was a master (and he may well be one, this just isn't a masterwork). But the film was very entertaining, and it captures a tone that few films manage. It's just a very relaxed comedy film that just feels nice. It's no artistic triumph, it has no real incredible characters or ideas, but it manages to capture a feeling of laziness (one that I'm having right now actually, as I should be editing a video project for school lol) that I've only seen in The Big Lebowski. If this film were longer I'd give it a 7/10, but with its brisk 60 minute runtime and its jazzy feeling, I can't help but love this film.
 
Jackie has been in a ton of movies, so the inconsistency is just part of being an actor in china i think
If you want to watch films he actually directed then check out Project A, Project A2 and Operation Condor.

Personally I think Rush Hour is the best action comedy ever made.

All this keaton talk ..

Our Hospitality 1/5 :(
Gave me about one laugh every 15 minutes, which is my biggest complaint.
The funniest part of this film was him riding the bicycle, which apparently was just a recreation of what bikes actually were back in the 1800s. :lol:

Lots of things irked me slightly.. like the dog that can run forever without getting tired. A bunch of gunshots right outside of someones house yet none of the guests can hear them?? until later when there is one shot and suddenly they all hear it and run out, which is bafflingly inconsistent. :no:

The romance angle was also overplayed, I didn't feel it at all. Just buster being polite and suddenly this woman is willing to betray generations of her entire family. Did she grow up in a convent or something, has she never seen a man?

I wanted to watch sherlock jr after but I needed a break and barely made it to the end of our hospitality.
 
sfoster said:
Jackie has been in a ton of movies, so the inconsistency is just part of being an actor in china i think
If you want to watch films he actually directed then check out Project A, Project A2 and Operation Condor.

Personally I think Rush Hour is the best action comedy ever made.

All this keaton talk ..

Our Hospitality 1/5 :(
Click to expand...

Yeah he has been in a ton of films, and he does have some really great films. I've heard of those and want to see them soon, I have to watch more Jackie. I think the Police Story series is amazing, so I know Jackie has tons of talent. Even a minor film that he directed like The Fearless Hyena is enjoyable, but I don't think Jackie always reached the heights of his idol Keaton. Even then, I find that Jackie is extremely underrated as a director, I'd place him along with Tsui Hark as one of the masters of commercial Hong Kong cinema.

I loved the Rush Hour series when growing up, but I'm not so sure they'll hold up for me since I generally don't like those kind of movies anymore. I'll still re-watch all of them if only to re-watch some of my favorites from a long time ago (and to watch Jackie's complete filmography).

Eh, I guess you're not a Keaton guy. I haven't seen that one yet, but I'll give it a watch soon.
 
I have only seen 3 keaton films and I gave the general 4/5, which is in the top 20% of films for me. I thought it was great.

Didn't like Seven Chances
There is a pretty good chaplin film called Limelight which has chaplin and buster keaton doing a comedy act together.


You seem to enjoy slower movies so you might like our hospitality. It came as a double feature when I ordered sherlock jr.

Rush hour movies were great.. first one was the funniest. Second one wasn't as funny but it had better action scenes.

The third one… atrocious. I absolutely hated the third one.
 
A Million Ways to Die in the West 2/10

Went and saw it in theatres and it was a major disappointment, even with expecting nothing but immature crude humor. Seth actually attempted to make a somewhat real movie out of it. All but one scene of jokes can be watched between the five or so trailers they've released and the rest is a cliche love story.

Casting was nice, with Giovanni and Sarah's characters being one of the best parts of the film for their ironic humor.

Wouldn't watch it again :D Don't expect anything like Ted or Family Guy from it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top