What films are you watching right now?

[promethean75]

watched 'brothers' recently. good movie, good cast. had an especially good element of the tragic going on in the background there.

there's nothing spectacular about the storyline of a guy going off to war and presumed to be dead by a wife (portman) who then begins an affair with the guy's brother. we'd expect that. the loss was overwhelming, she's very alone and in need of companionship and intimacy. it's not like she was cheating because the official report was that he got killed. so far so good.

but then there's this twist. while taken prisoner in afganistan, toby is forced to either kill his fellow soldier who was captured with him, or be killed himself. he chooses the former... especially because he doesn't want his wife and daughters to lose him (obviously). but then when he gets back to the states, he finds out that jake is having an affair with his wife.

here are the impossibly entangled existential dilemmas he's caught up in. first, he's both angered by the affair, but understanding of it... because the wife really thought he was dead. but then in being so shaken by this and unable to come to terms with it, he realizes that killing the soldier was in vain... since, technically, the family situation back home is no longer what it was. i mean that was the whole reason he killed the guy, right? so now he's like 'fuuuuuck!' in addition to this, he hasn't told anyone he killed the guy because like how awkward would that be? toby is literally seething over with regret and despair and at one point freaks the fuck out, trashes the kitchen (which jake remodeled for the wife), and almost has a shoot-out with the POleece. really good shit. only at the very end when he's finally resolved to accept the rationality of the situation - that neither the wife nor jake meant to betray him - does he calm down and tell the wife that he killed the guy back in afganistan. but by then he's been put in a mental institution (after the freak-out incident), and the movie ends. not a great ending, but it worked i guess.

but think about that, man. that retroactive remorse for deciding to do something tremendous that ends up being in vain. ain't that a bitch.

[MagsJ]

Watched The Great Wall.. featuring Matt Damon, last night. It had everything I would expect, and love, in this genre.

https://youtu.be/DefILRrX77k - first attack scene

[pinkladydragon]

Just watched the original "The Magnificent Seven" (Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen etc). This, at first, largely for the music. I have not seen this film for easily 30 years, although I recently saw the remake (with Denzel Washington) on tv. It's interesting to watch modern remakes of 60s or 70s films to see how fashions change. To my surprise I really, really liked the original version. Much lighter in tone with more humour. Also, modern fashions are to have characters with dirty, greasy hair and, often, dirty looking clothes too, so nice to see good old clean-cut cowboys for a change.


Have also seen The Seven Samurai upon which the above film is based, but not recently.

[MagsJ]

Guardians of the Galaxy.. better than II, but II wasn’t that far behind, so both equally entertaining all round.

The Trailer

“
Brash space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finds himself the quarry of relentless bounty hunters after he steals an orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain. To evade Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with four disparate misfits: gun-toting Rocket Raccoon, treelike-humanoid Groot, enigmatic Gamora, and vengeance-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when he discovers the orb's true power and the cosmic threat it poses, Quill must rally his ragtag group to save the universe.

Release date: 31 July 2014 (United Kingdom)

Director: James Gunn

Featured song: Come and Get Your Love

Budget: $232.3 million (gross); $195.9 million (net);

Box office: 773.3 million USD
”

[Meno_]

Hitchcock

https://youtu.be/Q2iKLI5FLyo

[pinkladydragon]

7 Years In Tibet (Brad Pitt, David Thewlis). Director: J-J Annaud

I saw this film years ago and remember really, really, liking it. Then I came across the dvd recently to buy, so I did. It has not disappointed. I had forgotten how humorous it is. The scenery is fabulous too. I have been in that part of the world but not into Tibet proper. I was in a Tibetan part of China in the late 80s. The town I was in was a monastery town with, so I was told, the biggest monastery outside Tibet/Lhasa. Some of the scenery in the film is reminiscent of where I was, except that although I was experiencing mild altitude sickness, I was not nearly as high up as Lhasa is.

The story: Pitt and Thewlis are Austrian mountaineers, part of a team who are attempting to climb one of the Himalayan mountains (not Everest, not K2) just before the start of WWII. The attempt fails but when they descend and re-enter India they are arrested by the British because war has just been declared and they are now "the enemy". The climbing team are sent to a prisoner of war camp from which, a year or two later, they escape. Pitt parts company with the others but meets up again with Thewlis near the Tibetan border. Both are trying to enter Tibet which is difficult because Tibet will not allow foreigners inside its borders. They do manage in the end to reach Lhasa.

I believe the film is based on a true story. Somewhere along the line since last watching the film I got it into my head that the Pitt character was a Swede. I'm pretty sure I read a book about a Swede in Tibet around that time. But an Austrian as well? Or perhaps I simply got confused in the intervening years...……..

[promethean75]

i just watched apocalypse now (redux) again and i swear to god i never even noticed that 'mr.clean' was the young lawrence fishburne. i was watching it and all or a sudden i was like 'wait a minute, is that lawrence fishburne?' and it was.

the only thing that has eclipsed this example of unacceptable ignorance in my life was the time i was eighteen and thought karaoke was some kind of chinese food.

[MagsJ]

Having not felt this movie (and it’s subsequent sequels) at the time of release, it was really rather good viewing.. when I came across it late last night on terrestrial TV.

I really couldn’t fault it.

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Scream
1996 ‧ Mystery/Slasher ‧ 1h 51m

Play trailer on YouTube

Wes Craven re-invented and revitalised the slasher-horror genre with this modern horror classic, which manages to be funny, clever and scary, as a fright-masked knife maniac stalks high-school students in middle-class suburbia. Craven is happy to provide both tension and self-parody as the body count mounts - but the victims aren't always the ones you'd expect.

Release date: 2 May 1997 (United Kingdom)

Director: Wes Craven

Screenplay: Kevin Williamson

Box office: 173 million USD

Budget: 15 million USD

[MagsJ]

I caught this movie 20 minutes in, after Scream had finished, which was based on a true story.

Not only had I not/never heard of it, I was equally surprised that it had been Directed by Michael Bay.. he of the Transformers movie franchise.

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Pain & Gain
2013 ‧ Crime/Drama ‧ 2h 9m

Play trailer on YouTube

Danny Lupo (Mark Wahlberg), manager of the Sun Gym in 1990s Miami, decides that there is only one way to achieve his version of the American dream: extortion. To achieve his goal, he recruits musclemen Paul (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian (Anthony Mackie) as accomplices. After several failed attempts, they abduct rich businessman Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and convince him to sign over all his assets to them. But when Kershaw makes it out alive, authorities are reluctant to believe his story.

Release date: 30 August 2013 (United Kingdom)

Director: Michael Bay

Based on: Pain & Gain; by Pete Collins

Box office: 86.2 million USD

Budget: $26-$35 million

[pinkladydragon]

I have bought a lot of old Westerns recently, some of which I've seen before (a long time ago) e.g. The Magnificent Seven, and others I have not. In general, I find that they have far more humour than I expected or even remembered. They have very good photography, and are filmed in some fantastic scenery.

The Western I am watching right now is Red Sun (Toshiro Mifune, Charles Bronson, Ursula Andress). Mifune is dressed in full samurai garb and is accompanying Charles Bronson in the hunt for a man called Gauche (Alain Delon) who knows the whereabouts of a treasure - this being of special interest to Bronson - as well as a ceremonial katana - of interest primarily to Mifune. Mifune has been charged with retrieving the katana by the man he is guarding, the Japanese ambassador to the US. He has to complete the task within 5 days. Failing to do so means he and his boss will be obliged to commit ritual suicide. With only one more day to go, the pressure is on for Mifune……………...

[MagsJ]

I watched this movie in the 70s as a child, and it still hasn’t dated.. in my eyes.

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The Vikings
1958 ‧ Drama/Action ‧ 1h 56m

Play trailer on Youtube

Viking Prince Einar (Kirk Douglas) doesn't know it, but his most fearsome enemy, the slave Eric (Tony Curtis), is actually his half brother. Their feud only intensifies when Einar kidnaps Princess Morgana (Janet Leigh), the intended bride of the brutal King Aella (Frank Thring). Einar intends to make the beautiful girl his own. Unfortunately for him, Morgana has eyes only for Eric -- leading to much bloodshed and the capture of their father, King Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine).

Release date: 3 August 1958 (United Kingdom)

Director: Richard Fleischer

Music composed by: Mario Nascimbene

Box office: $6.2 million (US and Canada rentals) $7 million (overseas rentals)

Language: English

[pinkladydragon]

I watched this movie in the 70s as a child, and it still hasn’t dated.. in my eyes.

The Vikings
1958 ‧ Drama/Action ‧ 1h 56m

That's certainly a trip down memory lane for me. I used to like that movie a lot, too.

[pinkladydragon]

I only watch films, not broadcast tv, so I get through a few in a week. Today I just finished Kiss of the Spider Woman (William Hurt, Raoal Julio: 1985?), a film I have seen before a long time ago. I liked it then and I still do.

Oh, and I watched an early Mel Gibson film, Tim, on YouTube the other day too. Generally I really like Australian cinema. I also remember I used to like films by the National Film Board of Canada, although I cannot now remember any names - except for one film with Oliver Reed as a trapper, I think, and Rita Tushingham as his wife. Must have been made in the 60s or 70s. Canadian films have a totally different feel to them than US films.

[Meno_]

Tin Tin

[MagsJ]

Probably read the book in English-Lit, and have previously watched this movie, but without recall.. it is not disappointing, and the issues the characters deal with and face, make sense in their pertinence through personal experiences had.

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Great Expectations
1946 ‧ Mystery/Romance ‧ 1h 58m

7.8/10 IMDb 4/4 Roger Ebert 5/5 Empire
87% liked this film: Google users

Great Expectations is a 1946 British film directed by David Lean, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and starring John Mills, Bernard Miles, Finlay Currie, Jean Simmons, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness and Valerie Hobson. It won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others.
Wikipedia

Release date: 26 December 1946 (United Kingdom)

Director: David Lean

Adapted from: Great Expectations

Box office: 2 million USD (US rentals)

Awards: Academy Awards in 1947 for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White (John Bryan, Wilfred Shingleton) and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, and was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

[Pedro I Rengel]

I only watch films, not broadcast tv, so I get through a few in a week. Today I just finished Kiss of the Spider Woman (William Hurt, Raoal Julio: 1985?), a film I have seen before a long time ago. I liked it then and I still do.

Oh, and I watched an early Mel Gibson film, Tim, on YouTube the other day too. Generally I really like Australian cinema. I also remember I used to like films by the National Film Board of Canada, although I cannot now remember any names - except for one film with Oliver Reed as a trapper, I think, and Rita Tushingham as his wife. Must have been made in the 60s or 70s. Canadian films have a totally different feel to them than US films.

wow holy fuck that's deep.

That novel is great and a canon of South American literature. Charmingly, it is itself written as a screen play. South Americans like writing literature like that. Sometimes it works gloriously, like with this very excellent novel, sometimes not so much.

[Pedro I Rengel]

Cortazar was a genious, but his genious quite often overtook him. That's why short stories tended to be his best work.

https://www.shortstoryproject.com/story ... aken-over/

[Pedro I Rengel]

Incidentally, that is why Garcia Marquez is viewed as the undisputed greatest by far. Because he managed never to let his genious get ahead of him, and it was considerable genious. For that reason as well he is even less translatable than Cortazar.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1976 ... -patriarch

[Meno_]

'Dark Waters'

Now playing

[Meno_]

Dr. Sleep

[MagsJ]

I have bought a lot of old Westerns recently, some of which I've seen before (a long time ago) e.g. The Magnificent Seven, and others I have not. In general, I find that they have far more humour than I expected or even remembered. They have very good photography, and are filmed in some fantastic scenery.

I watched The Magnificent Seven yesterday.. I have to admit I was swooning over 6 of them, and dismayed that the 4 who were killed, died from their own stupidity.

[MagsJ]

My kinda movie.. made me wanna be MI5 or NASA, until people started getting killed.



Operation Avalanche
2016 ‧ Mystery/Thriller ‧ 1h 34m

Play trailer on YouTube

Two young CIA agents are sent to NASA, under the false pretence of making a documentary, to investigate reports of a mole. But once there, they become entangled in a much bigger conspiracy involving the Apollo 11 mission.

Initial release: 16 September 2016 (USA)

Director: Matthew Johnson

Production company: XYZ Films

Nominations: Canadian Screen Award for Achievement in Visual Effects, MORE

Cinematography: Jared Raab, Andrew Appelle

Budget: $1,250,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross: $31,585

[Meno_]

What's wrong with Helen?



https://youtu.be/RPAcL0IsnF4

[promethean75]

outstanding! portman delivers a spectacular performance and really demonstrates her character range in this one. so the deal is, after going to space, portman is so blown away by the experience that everything back on earf becomes mundane by comparison. stupid little trivialities like marriage, picking the kids up from school, eating at denny's, and whatever else you do on earf, start to feel small and meaningless. that's the basic premise, and throughout the movie we see a general malaise overcome portman which serves to fuel her desire to get back up there where the shit's real. eventually she's betrayed by this other astronaut guy who gets her kicked off the list for the next mission, and this totally enrages her. i mean this chick is ALL ABOUT SPACE. she lives and breathes the shit. supposed to be based on true events and i remember vaguely something about it.

hey yo but you think about that. you think the banal routine of your little life is lame now, go to space and then come back. that'll put your whole miserable existence into perspective. and don't try to tell me it wouldn't effect you because there's plenty going on here on earf. no. you say that now only because you haven't been to space. just look at portman's face... look at her eyes. she'll never be the same. you can't unsee that shit, people.

[Meno_]

https://youtu.be/Hzm8UJeLls8