movies What's the last film you watched? And rate it!
- Thread starter GerryLovesU
- Start date
Yeah The General is actually in my top 10 lol, I love that movie! You generally are harder at rating though too.
Ah, well I doubt you'll like Three Ages (have you seen Griffith's Intolerance? This is a parody of that film). I'm more familiar with Keaton's shorts like The Goat (one of my top three favorite shorts) but I'm working on his features soon.
Yeah true, we do have different tastes sometimes! I've actually wanted to see Our Hospitality for a while now, I'll see when I can (although the amount of films I've seen this weekend don't reflect this, I'm actually very busy working on videos and stuff lol).
Yeah the only one I remember a lot is the 2nd one, and I loved it a lot. I don't remember the first one much though. I remember being disappointed with the third one, I saw that in theaters in 2007 (I remember it as the year of threes, Spider-Man 3, Rush Hour 3, and Shrek the Third, all of which disappointed me!
)The Great Beauty - 8/10 - Great film w/ spectacular direction. The film is dreamy, surreal, and sweeps you up in various segments that melt into each other as the film progresses deeper into the mind of the main character in a unique style that feels like a lovechild of Fellini and Lynch. FANTASTIC soundtrack, with amazing sound design and a beautiful score. It's sensual, melancholic, invigorating, captivating, and epic in a strange way.
Yeah The General is actually in my top 10 lol, I love that movie! You generally are harder at rating though too.
Ah, well I doubt you'll like Three Ages (have you seen Griffith's Intolerance? This is a parody of that film). I'm more familiar with Keaton's shorts like The Goat (one of my top three favorite shorts) but I'm working on his features soon.
Yeah true, we do have different tastes sometimes! I've actually wanted to see Our Hospitality for a while now, I'll see when I can (although the amount of films I've seen this weekend don't reflect this, I'm actually very busy working on videos and stuff lol).
Yeah the only one I remember a lot is the 2nd one, and I loved it a lot. I don't remember the first one much though. I remember being disappointed with the third one, I saw that in theaters in 2007 (I remember it as the year of threes, Spider-Man 3, Rush Hour 3, and Shrek the Third, all of which disappointed me!
I haven't seen intolerance but I did see birth of a nation. Snoozefest except for lincolns assassination which was really cool.
I want to amend something I said earlier, rating rush hour as my top action comedy.. it's actually #2. #1 is Wing Chun with donnie yen and michael yeoh, but netflix doesn't categorize it as action comedy so it slipped right past me.
Yeah, I'm going to watch Birth Of A Nation this weekend, but more for historical purposes (its overt racism and storytelling will probably keep me from loving the film). It is a great film in terms of historical importance and innovation, but I heard that Intolerance had better ideas (it pretty much invented the montage that the Soviets would expand on, and tell three stories in one).
Ah I see, I'll add that film to my watchlist!
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: 10/10
I might venture to say that this is the best film Frank Capra ever made. To me, it surpasses It's a Wonderful Life. Great storytelling with an excellent performance by James Stewart. Jean Arthur was also really great. Her cynicism yet gentleness for Mr. Smith's naivete was great!
This might even be Jimmy Stewart's best role, too! I must say that he was also great in Vertigo, Rear Window, Frank Capra's own It's a Wonderful Life, and many others; however, his down-to-earth personality never rang more true than in this film.
With multiple viewings, I see this film jumping the ranks among my favorite films ever made. Maybe, one day, I'll call it my favorite. As for now, I'd say it definitely has a spot in my top ten. I will revisit soon.
I might venture to say that this is the best film Frank Capra ever made. To me, it surpasses It's a Wonderful Life. Great storytelling with an excellent performance by James Stewart. Jean Arthur was also really great. Her cynicism yet gentleness for Mr. Smith's naivete was great!
This might even be Jimmy Stewart's best role, too! I must say that he was also great in Vertigo, Rear Window, Frank Capra's own It's a Wonderful Life, and many others; however, his down-to-earth personality never rang more true than in this film.
With multiple viewings, I see this film jumping the ranks among my favorite films ever made. Maybe, one day, I'll call it my favorite. As for now, I'd say it definitely has a spot in my top ten. I will revisit soon.
I couldn't stand it! Template whacky comedy.
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington also has a spot in my top ten, this film confirmed my love for classic cinema!
What a beautiful story, with a lot of life in it, I think current cinema really needs someone like Frank Capra to make inspiring films. Have you seen Meet John Doe? That one is also really good, and it's in the public domain.
The Bell Boy directed by Fatty Arbuckle; starring Buster Keaton - 5/10
I wasn't really entertained by this film much, I love silent comedy but most of the gags here don't work and it also doesn't have any real engaging story and characters.
A Woman's Sorrows directed by Mikio Naruse - 5/10
This is possibly the second Naruse film (out of the fifteen I've seen so far) that I don't really like. The problem with the film is that it has no interesting story or characters and yet even the directing can't save the writing this time as its very mediocre for Naruse's standards. Worst of all, the film and the story doesn't really go anywhere. To be fair, the film isn't bad and the directing is even somewhat solid, but with Naruse I at least expect masterful directing even when the writing doesn't reach the same level.
Red Sorghum directed by Zhang Yimou - 8/10
Eh, this was a slightly disappointing film by a director I love. This is the fourth Zhang Yimou film I've seen, and I expected this to be one of his best but it just didn't do it for me. As usual, I adore Yimou's use of color cinematography, everything about it is perfect. I also love Gong Li of course. The beginning and ending of the film are perfect pieces of pure cinema, and they are very engaging and emotional. I find problems in the middle portion of the film as the characterization and story development gets muddled. Perhaps Yimou was going more for an art film with this one, but I have always known Yimou as one of the masters of contemporary traditional narrative based cinema, so maybe my expectations threw me off. But either way, even as an art film I feel like Red Sorghum doesn't quite fully succeed because it doesn't explore ideas really well (at least not ones that are comprehensible to non-Chinese viewers). There is a masterpiece in here, and it shows in the way that Yimou continued to make poetic historical dramas with passionate visuals that do even more than Red Sorghum. I still feel like I should re-watch this film some time in case I missed something.
Eh, this was a slightly disappointing film by a director I love. This is the fourth Zhang Yimou film I've seen, and I expected this to be one of his best but it just didn't do it for me. As usual, I adore Yimou's use of color cinematography, everything about it is perfect. I also love Gong Li of course. The beginning and ending of the film are perfect pieces of pure cinema, and they are very engaging and emotional. I find problems in the middle portion of the film as the characterization and story development gets muddled. Perhaps Yimou was going more for an art film with this one, but I have always known Yimou as one of the masters of contemporary traditional narrative based cinema, so maybe my expectations threw me off. But either way, even as an art film I feel like Red Sorghum doesn't quite fully succeed because it doesn't explore ideas really well (at least not ones that are comprehensible to non-Chinese viewers). There is a masterpiece in here, and it shows in the way that Yimou continued to make poetic historical dramas with passionate visuals that do even more than Red Sorghum. I still feel like I should re-watch this film some time in case I missed something.
True enough, I guess. =)
Dead Man Down. Another good one. Had me involved. Satisfying ending. Thumbs up.
Last edited:
Jean de Florette directed by Claude Berri - 8/10
This is a very fine straightforward drama with a great score, a very good story, and wonderful scenery. I generally prefer watching films with more artistic directing, but this film does the job. I can't wait to watch the sequel, as the story is really an epic (I wonder why they didn't just combine the two films as the ending really leaves me wanting more).
This is a very fine straightforward drama with a great score, a very good story, and wonderful scenery. I generally prefer watching films with more artistic directing, but this film does the job. I can't wait to watch the sequel, as the story is really an epic (I wonder why they didn't just combine the two films as the ending really leaves me wanting more).
Man On Wire directed by James Marsh - 10/10
This is simply one of the best documentaries I have seen, it tells a great story through great filmmaking. I like how the ending suggests how the event simply changed his life (for worse) and Jean-Louis' tears at the end communicate so much
Although Philippe's desire to live on the tightrope and encourages others to do the same at the end, those tears show the consequences of that life for better or worse.
This is simply one of the best documentaries I have seen, it tells a great story through great filmmaking. I like how the ending suggests how the event simply changed his life (for worse) and Jean-Louis' tears at the end communicate so much
Although Philippe's desire to live on the tightrope and encourages others to do the same at the end, those tears show the consequences of that life for better or worse.
Man On Wire directed by James Marsh - 10/10
This is simply one of the best documentaries I have seen, it tells a great story through great filmmaking. I like how the ending suggests how the event simply changed his life (for worse) and Jean-Louis' tears at the end communicate so much
Although Philippe's desire to live on the tightrope and encourages others to do the same at the end, those tears show the consequences of that life for better or worse.
better than last cup, road to the world series of beer pong?
I doubt it
I have heard good things about man on wire
better than last cup, road to the world series of beer pong?
I doubt it
I have heard good things about man on wire
LOL I've never heard of that one. I might have to check it out.
Yeah Man On Wire is extremely good, I still prefer Hoop Dreams and Errol Morris' work though. This film really reminded me of the way Errol Morris makes documentaries though, especially in the nonlinear aspect of the film which is similar to The Thin Blue Line in some ways.
I'm in it
It was made by the same guys who did Undefeated
Cool lol, I'll try to check it out some time!
City On Fire directed by Ringo Lam - 10/10
Okay, I think this is an underrated action masterpiece. It seems like no one puts this up there with John Woo's work or with some American classics like Die Hard, but to be honest, I enjoyed this more than Hard Boiled (though not as much as three other Woo films) and even a tiny bit more than Die Hard. I love seeing Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee in a film made in the same year as The Killer, their relationship is also very great in this one. I especially like seeing Chow Yun Fat being funny just as he is in the A Better Tomorrow series. This film just has a great plot, great characterization, great action, great humor, even a pretty decent romance in it as well, it is pretty much the perfect genre Hong Kong film. It does have some flaws but I don't think they really detract from the film. The ending is also really amazing. This film effectively lowered my score for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Reservoir Dogs is good but now I find it to be too derivative of this film, I'd say half of that film's genius was already done in City On Fire and done in a better way. Reservoir Dogs still stands out for its amazing use of ellipsis and how it builds so much drama through just dialogue in one room, but I think it lacks the emotional resonance of the classic Hong Kong gangster films that inspired it.
The Birth Of A Nation directed by D.W. Griffith - 6/10
Like most people, I have very mixed feelings about this film. First of all, I want to mention that in some ways I was pleasantly surprised by the film. I expected to be bored to death by this film simply because it's a 3 hour silent film made in the 1910's, don't get me wrong, I love silent films but its hard enough for me to watch contemporary 3 hour films, and most of my favorite feature silent films are from the 20's. But surprisingly the film was always engaging and even somewhat entertaining sometimes. However, I have to mention that there are no strong characters so this film can't be one of my favorites, every character exists to serve Griffith's extremely racist vision. And that leads to the biggest flaw, the film's story is just pure racist bullshit, I was just so stunned to see the absurdity of it all to be honest. Apart from these two major flaws though, I have to say this is probably the earliest masterpiece feature film I've ever seen, and it really is great. D.W. Griffith is not just a pioneer, he is a master of cinema. There are many scenes in the film with a virtuosity that few films of the times or since have reached. Griffith was not only a master at cinematography and editing but also of movement, storytelling, and pacing a film. In many ways this reminds me of Mikio Naruse's Apart From You, a film that I said was a perfect masterpiece of pure cinema that unfortunately served a mediocre story with mediocre characters. That's just the same with The Birth Of A Nation, Griffith's directing talent is really masterful but it serves a horrible story with a horrible message. I can't wait to watch Intolerance as it looks even more interesting and it isn't marred by racism.
Shut Up and Play The Hits - 8/10 - Up there with Shine a Light. One of my new favorite concert films. The pacing and editing tied together a bittersweet story, with some fantastic audio design and cinematography, capturing some truly stunning scenes.
The Artist directed by Michel Hazanavicius - 7/10
This is a fine tribute to silent cinema but it is by no means a great film. It is just a light entertaining film that is well-made. I gave it a higher rating than The Birth Of A Nation not because it's a better film (indeed Griffith's film is a masterpiece) but because it doesn't have horrible themes. I find The Artist to be such a predictable film though, if someone told any random silent film lover to make a silent film in 2011 this is what they would most likely make, it's good but it's nothing special. What I love most about this film is that it actually got some of my non-cinephile friends to watch a silent film and it got them curious about silent cinema.
This is a fine tribute to silent cinema but it is by no means a great film. It is just a light entertaining film that is well-made. I gave it a higher rating than The Birth Of A Nation not because it's a better film (indeed Griffith's film is a masterpiece) but because it doesn't have horrible themes. I find The Artist to be such a predictable film though, if someone told any random silent film lover to make a silent film in 2011 this is what they would most likely make, it's good but it's nothing special. What I love most about this film is that it actually got some of my non-cinephile friends to watch a silent film and it got them curious about silent cinema.