I am now at 23 Hitchcock movies. While I can see why this Cold War movie with Paul Newman as a regular type of guy having to play a spy (as is common in Hitchcock movies -- regular people caught up in espionage and stuff, I mean) in East Germany is rated so low, I still mostly enjoyed it. Found the ending kind of weak. That fight to the death, how it was shot and the violence, had me on the edge of my seat, as they say. That desperate old woman added a nice personal touch. Should have used Paul Newman in more of his movies. Prefer him over James Stewart.
I never seen Superman 3 and heard it was a terrible movie. Watched it a few days ago and I think if you see it more as a comedy superhero movie or better yet Richard Pryor movie then it's not that bad. Richard Pryor is the highlight of the movie as he is hilarious as Gus. Aside from that I love the fight where Superman battles himself in the junk yard fight which is really cool. 6/10
Good story, pretty photography, perfect use of HDR. But it's no good; I could only think of the main character as the role he played in The Sopranos ten years later, the IDIOT who shoots Michael and dies crying and begging after Tony gives him a soda. That was the correct role for this bland actor.
None of this movie, none of the relationships, would have happened in 99 percent of America because of stroads and single use zoning. They couldn't hang out on the street and just see things and meet people.
Creative. Things I've never seen before. Charming. But also confused me. Seemed a bit all over the place. Probably because Miyazaki's brain is so old now. I was sleepy. Looking forward to seeing it again at home, when I'm more awake, hopefully on UHD. None of the Ghibli movies have been released on the format. Castle of Cagliostro was with heavy DNR and Future Boy Conan was. Thought there was a sort of deus ex machina with the old man asking the boy to build the world, but might be my sleepiness talking.
It was cropped. I saw thin slivers of picture projected very dimly (so dark that you only see it if you look there) above and below the screen. Early in the movie I heard booms and rumbles from the neighboring room. The cinema always disappoints me in some way. Rarely go because there is so little that I care to see. At least watching it subbed meant that there was almost no one there. Couple next to me was still slightly annoying, though.
Having watched Rose of Versailles' (1979) forty episodes three times, was delighted to see how much information that I learned from the show they went into with this movie, and disappointed to see how much was glossed over and skipped. We don't see her grieve for her child, whose illness isn't even shown, she's overly mellow throughout the movie (like she's on a drug, almost), the tension with the king's (Antoinette's father-in-law) concubine whom she doesn't want to acknowledge because she's a whore was way stronger in the show, Antoinette's relationship with Fersen from Sweden was more interesting in the show, we don't see the court case where some of those rumors are spread because the movie chooses only to show the palace life (which makes some sense, being that she insulated herself), and the brutality of the French people is skipped. I wonder if the French even would have let this film crew shoot in Versailles if they had shown the aftermath. That brutality wouldn't fit with how director Sofia Coppola chose to style the movie, including the mellow rock music meant to make it relatable. Was funny seeing King Louis informed of the situation in America and decide to turn against England by giving the Americans aid in a span of thirty seconds (one conversation) because of how quickly the movie has to move. The anime isn't about Antoinette. She's shown mostly from the protagonist Lady Oscar's perspective, especially as she gets older (one of the benefits of animation being that we really see her age), and we don't see the little things about her personal life to the extend shown in this movie, but I found what I saw of her in the anime more personal and real (not so selective for mood). I also loved how the anime asserted that Fersen's demise later in life was because of his grief, that he became imbittered, completing the tragedy. Have to agree with the middling to positive score averages from viewers. This movie isn't brave enough.
This Is America, Charlie Brown > The Mayflower Voyagers (1988)
This is something you show children in a classroom. It's not something you watch to be entertained. It's dark.
With this, I finally finished the nine part Peanuts 4K collection I bought two years ago. Took so long because I was watching/rewatching the series in order (my own DVD rips not available in higher format, Apple 4K rips not available on disc, my own UHD rips, everything), but got too distracted and lost interest in the 1980s.
Israeli agents assassinate Palestinian terrorists in Europe.
Subject was interesting and I understood the politics better than the last time, when I was a teenager, but I was still somewhat bored and found the last section of it imitating Coppola's The Conversation a bit forced.
Don't like how all Spielberg's movies after Saving Private Ryan have this white blasted photographically. It's so harsh sometimes.
Blue Beetle. It was very mediocre. The cast did the best they could but that had a turkey of a script to work with. It was more like the first two episodes of a new superhero series on the CW than a major theatrical release. I only finished watching it all they way through because I was sitting in the doctor's office waiting room and was burned out on playing games on my phone.
Scent Of A Woman - I kinda hate this movie. The performances in it are good.
But, the movie opens when them being assholes harassing the principle, right? So they are in the wrong and Chris O'donnell character is covering up for them.
Then he goes off with Godfather guy, who himself just wants to use him so he can literally bang a hooker then blow his brains out. For $300, without telling him. And the Chris O'donnells character is not even drinking age.
So, both of these characters are effectively pieces of shit.
The movie does the Hollywood thing of something something they learn from each other and a big WHOOO HAAA speech from Al Pacino about how the whole god-dammed system sucks mahhhnnnn... and everyone claps. So god darn impressive.
But... The movie is rewarding him, for covering up, for people harassing a teacher. With a quick auto-resolve of Al Pacino basically unstable and given (or indicated) a token girlfriends at the end, ONE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS he impressed.
Once get past the good performances and look at the movie, it's sort of bullshit being dressed up as feel good.
A highly intelligent psychiatrist stages his wife's murder for a younger woman, his accomplice. The setup is long, the details thorough, with the investigation only beginning more than a half hour into the movie. The detective (Peter Falk in heavy makeup) keeps questioning the doctor, his demeanor casual, friendly, never accusing, but implying subtly. The doctor assesses the detective as he would a patient while acting like he doesn't know that he suspects him, until it's no longer possible to pretend. But he knows that the detective can't prove it.
Slow in some of the second half, but I enjoyed it. Was smart. Aside from cheesy opening credits made with paint mixed in other liquids or something like water lamps, production values make it feel almost more cinematic than television. Jazz music was good too. Had a hard sound.
I bought the Columbo series on DVD a year ago, never opened it, returned it when I read that it streams in HD, then got banned from a private tracker for partially downloading the Japanese Blu-ray rips without having a good share ratio (only completing the first disc before the ban), and finally received Kino Lorber's new 1970s collection two days ago. Some might find it too colorful now, but it looks very nice on the TV, like a theatrical movie, and I would argue that the old versions were too dry. A couple of people more familiar with the series say some of the skin tones and clothes are less strangely tinted now. It's a nice boxset. Attractive artwork, 20 discs in five amaray cases, which is not the norm anymore for sets this big. You expect cardboard sleeves, double-stacking or the big ugly DVD cases with twenty trays that are harder to turn, sometimes a combination of the latter two. I had to put the last season of Twin Peaks in a separate box so that the discs were no longer stacked. Also had to put the last season or two of Miami Vice in a separate box, because there were two discs in every tray (and some of those discs were so badly scratched that they needed replacements through the distributor, go figure).
Halfway into The Lives of Others (2006), rewatch YEARS later. It's about the East German secret police monitoring an artist and the man in charge growing a conscience like in Coppola's The Conversation. Modern German movies feel somehow fake, so melodramatic, soap opera the way they act and what they say. Feel like if this movie was American people wouldn't praise it so much.
Evil Under The Sun - Never liked Hercule Poirot as a detective, as a character he's kinda boring and charmless. This movie as well is just, really dry. Kinda don't give a shit about anything.
Columbo number four, directed by Steven Spielberg. He's an interesting character. Friendly demeanor, full of anecdotes, clumsy at times, acts like his mind wanders ("Yeah, it's probably nuthin."), short stature and hunched to make him even more physically unassuming (plus the crossed eyes with blank stare), pretty likable. That's all part of the trap. He talks about his wife and what he does for leisure, but it might be deception and I don't think I will ever truly know him in this series. Imagine what you could do if you had the ability to make people reveal so much information.
Flesh and Blood - Paul Verhoeven pre-America, his first English movie, complete, total, box office flop. Barely anyone heard of it.
It's good, interesting movie though. Doesn't seem to be any main good character in it. Has this weird fun adventure feeling to it while also incorporating the realities of medieval times.
Would have preferred a more realistic take. Not gonna win over anyone to demanding change like this. So ridiculous that it will instead antagonize. It's an echo chamber movie, intended to make those on the one side feel good about themselves rather than make a point. What it tries to say about our social media, the denial of the media/politicians for the sake of money (Pick any issue.) and the divisiveness in politics is also already obvious to anyone not already too deep in whatever rabbit hole. It's not funny.
The director's psychological nightmare vision of a boy resistance fighter in a war with murderous invaders is not a very believable one. I don't care if he claimed the movie was based on his experiences. The sound, the insanity and the peer-pressured evilness of the crazed German soldiers makes it feel too surreal. The boy is already too far gone by the middle to really care for him. I looked at the time and was annoyed that it was only half over. I remember my previous viewing of the Netflix DVD rental being the same. Had to grab a soda. But it picks up again. Although I have to keep it, I don't understand why this would be among anyone's first picks for war recommendations.
The makeup that's supposed to make him appear tired as he keeps staring into the camera at "thousand yards" is goofy as ****.
Thought I saw grain following figures occasionally, but not sure. Not a very good restoration.
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