Rate The Last Movie You Saw

No I said I did make it through.

QT's acting brought tears to his eyes.

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Johnny Guitar follows Vienna (Joan Crawford), a tough saloon owner determined to make a stand against a posse that wants to ride her out of town. She is paired with a former gunslinger and ex-lover, Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), who has returned after years away from her.

The thing is that Vienna's cards are stacked against her, just for being a woman, which is what she's lashing at in the above rant; a world in where she's hold to different standards than men, and where her possibilities to strive and succeed are suffocated and thrown aside. Men have the comfort of few worries, while women have double, and that's ever present here.

We can argue that the reach of that manly control can even extend to the story itself. It is called Johnny Guitar, but to me, this is Vienna's story all the way and Crawford's determined to make it work. She's just excellent in the lead role with a commanding presence and a demeanor that just demands attention. Johnny Guitar is, in a way, peripheral to her, but hey, I guess its a cooler title.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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Eyes of Fire, 1983

A preacher named Smythe (Dennis Lipscomb) in a small community takes up with a married woman, Eloise (Rebecca Stanley) whose husband, Marion (Guy Boyd), is away hunting. The locals end up banishing Smythe, Eloise, Smythe's odd adopted daughter Leah (Karlene Crockett), and a small handful of followers into the wilderness. The motley crew--eventually tracked down and joined by Marion--ends up in a strange valley that seems to be haunted by the spirits of past residents and a strange witch creature living in the forest.

This movie is a mish-mash of interesting ideas and images, but it doesn't quite add up to more than the sum of its parts.

Lipscomb is convincingly awful as the arrogant preacher who puts his followers in danger because he is so over-confident in his own abilities. In one of my favorite moments, Leah and Marion successfully turn back an attack on the group while Smythe shakes and prays. When the attackers are repelled, Smythe looks up in celebration. Later, he confidently asserts that he repelled one attack and he can repel another, with zero credit given to Leah or Marion. He's the kind of guy who believe 90% of his own nonsense. But when that 10% of doubt starts peeking through, things get ugly.

Crockett, with her shock of red hair, is enjoyable as Leah. Traumatized by witnessing her mother's execution at a young age, Leah speaks in tongues and has telekinetic powers. But when things begin to kick off, Leah actually discovers that she's in her element. She roams the forest, keeps watch over the vulnerable children, and endures Smythe's obnoxious posturing.

What I liked most about this film was the weirdness of the concepts and the visuals. The trapped spirits of the past inhabitants of the valley appear in multiple ways. Sometimes they emerge from the soil. Other times they simply appear out of nowhere, only to suddenly vanish. As the forest witch claims souls, those people appear as faces in the trees of the forest. It's a simple but pretty cool visual. There are also flashes from Leah's point of view, showing how she sees the people and events in the valley.

Despite liking certain elements of the film, there is kind of a "and then more stuff happens" feeling to the story. The strongest story element was the relationship of trust that develops between Marion and Leah. Both of them know that things are amiss, and Leah slips Marion clues about how to fight the evil spirits. (Thank goodness the relationship veers into a kind of friend/ally territory and never turns romantic---despite her feeling and appearing young in many ways, the film really liked showing Leah undressed.) The best section is the middle, as the party is trapped in the valley and striving to understand the strange events around them.

Good, but I wish it had been both a little weirder and a little more coherent.

I cry while watching a lot of movies too, (and TV shows, and listening to some songs). I can't count how many times Hubby has walked in the room to find me crying, and the first thing he does is look at the TV screen to see if I'm okay.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

The way you described the film in the post I was quoting, however, made it seem like you either cried while watching the film in the past, or that you found something in it heartbreaking, albeit not enough to make you cry. Granted, Jules' monologue at the end puts me in a certain mood when I watch it, but I wouldn't describe it (or anything in the film, really) as heartbreaking.

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Letterboxd

Well, I can't argue with that.

I recently started binge-watching the TV series "Mr. Lucky", and it's very good. John Vivyan has a lot of similarities to Cary Grant, so it's easy to see why he was cast to replace Grant's character from the movie. And I love Ross Martin as his friend and partner Andamo.

By http://www.impawards.com/1995/get_shorty.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7557441

Get Shorty - (1995)

I think that Get Shorty thinks it's a little cleverer than it is, but it's not an unpleasant prospect, watching a film-obsessed mob guy slide on over to Hollywood and get into the movie business while tying up a few dangerous loose ends. Especially if his name is Chili. I got a kick out of all the movie references, and Gene Hackman's b-movie producer Harry Zimm. James Gandolfini had another good opportunity here, before hitting it big with The Sopranos. I enjoyed watching it, although I believe Robert Altman did a better job with a film that had the same feel - which I'm assuming influenced filmmakers like Barry Sonnenfeld here. We ended up with a few films which referenced the industry that made them, often in a satirical way. This one was solid, and smooth.

7/10


By http://chriscrespo.com/review-indepe...ay-resurgence/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46943337

Independence Day Resurgence - (2016)

This sequel has the same strengths as the original, and exactly the same weaknesses. If you're not ready for some of the same, you're not gonna like it. I remember going to see Independence Day in 1996 well - the trailers had made it look incredible, but I was very turned off by all the logical inconsistencies and lack of scientific authenticity, compounded by all the chest-beating and inane macho posturing. On the way home, my partner and I were cornered by a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses who had no idea what ID4 was, or was about. Explaining it to them was perhaps 5 of the most uncomfortable minutes of my life. Anyway, this was dumb - but as I wasn't expecting much this time, and I enjoyed it slightly for being nothing more than an inane science fiction film. If someone spent this amount of money making a science fiction film which is clever, inspiring, thoughtful and intelligent that would be great.

5/10


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Ransom - (1996)

Generally, a formulaic thriller won't get a high score from me just because it is what it is - but Ransom is definitely at the upper tier of formulaic thrillers - if not at the tippy top. Directed by Ron Howard, it knows exactly how to wring the most it can from every stage of it's development and pair of climaxes. You can't watch it and not be impressed. I don't go in for too many action thrillers as they're all a little too much of a retread each and every time, but Ransom can at least fool you into thinking you're watching something different because of it's cool competence, and it reaches for the best in what it has to do.

6.5/10

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I found my enjoyment went up and down depending on which characters were on screen. When it’s the group with Jeff Goldblum and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the movie’s actually pretty good. When it’s the group with the Hemsworth brother, it’s pretty dicey. When it’s Judd Hirsch and the bus full of children (who barge into an otherwise decent climax), watch out!

Gone With the Wind (1939)




Finally watched it in its entirety (TCM: On Demand) - since it's a 4 hour film, took me about 3 sittings.

People probably think I'll talk about the modern controversy surrounding the slavery issues - but I don't know why such a big deal was made about the depiction from a movie made in 1939 when the issues of slavery are such a minor part of the movie (and yeah, I realize the film romanticizing slavery is the issue some have with it, but I just saw it as a historical depiction focusing on one household rather than addressing the overall issue).

The Civil War itself is just a backdrop for part of the film - it is central to everything that happens, yet it's really just a setting. I always thought this was a movie about the Civil War, but you won't learn much about it (it's causes, origins, major points or players) from the film.

Instead I'll focus on the one thing I never knew about this film and that is how it's about such unlikable & unscrupulous characters.

I can't even say it was romantic, as no one featured seems to truly love anyone else - even if they end up married. (Even the female background characters only seem to seek a husband to avoid ending up old maids.)

Towards the middle, as Scarlett is suffering the ravages of war, I thought it was going to turn into a coming-of-age or redemption story (ala Schindler's List) where hard times take away her ego-centrism & materialism while letting her see that life is about something far deeper than money, but the experience just seemed to make her more ruthless in her bad qualities.

I will admit to shedding some tears toward the end as so much tragedy piles up and only the most innocent characters die.

If there were some lesson or message to this film beyond a character study of shallow people for whom even war can't bring about inner spirituality, then I didn't see it.

I admire it's technical achievements for its time, but overall I found it a bit too soap-opera-y for me (not to mention a bit too long).

That's what I thought, too. But apparently, it's just the kind of film. Some things can move me, but I will never cry if a given film doesn't have any of them. Plus the portrayal of these things needs to be quite specific, too. Sooo... I cried on 188 films but I've seen over 15.000. So this really puts things into perspective.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

I've seen Gone With the Wind several times and love it just because it is so soapy...I love a good melodrama with dynamic & colorful characters and GWTW has oodles of them. I had a different reaction to Vivian Leigh's 'Scarlett'...I found her self importance and underhanded ruthlessness to be fascinating and I liked her character's determination. I don't know of any actress at the time who was more lovely to look at than Miss Leigh and I'm a big fan of hers. I should watch this again.

So you liked it, judging by your rating?

That's probably just how much popcorn he ate during those 4 hours

1 bucket per hour - must be on a diet

Really interesting reading your thoughts on this classic. And though I haven't watched it in awhile, I agree with most of you what you've said with the possible exception of no one in this movie really loving anyone. I think Rhett really loved Scarlett, but her obsession with Ashley kept her from loving him and eventually drove him away. JMO.

Samaritan is an extremely cliched and predictable superhero film. I wonder if the original concept already was this childish and bland.

Don't Deliver Us from Evil is a weird French drama with some horror elements. Two young girls from a convent school vow to serve Satan, sin, and do evil. There's not much plot, but an (in)decent atmosphere and good chemistry between the two leads. It reminds me of Poison for the Fairies and is loosely based on the same event as Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures.

Rob Zombie's Halloween is a pointless remake. The intro takes almost half of the film, and I don't think it improves the original in any way (I'm not even a huge fan of Carpenter's original).

Saladin is an Egyptian medieval epic. It's a somewhat entertaining take on the subject, but don't expect objectivity or historical accuracy. The Arab-speaking Europeans look funny, and the whole movie reeks of Pan-Arabism.

1974: The Possession of Altair is a Mexican found-footage horror. It's slightly above average in its genre. I love how it looks (it's presumably shot on real 8 mm film), and it has a creepy atmosphere. I wasn't a fan of the reveal.

Egomania: Island Without Hope is a German, eh, arthouse movie, I guess. I don't know if it tries to say something (not too unusual when it comes to "art"), but it's an interesting experience. It's flirting with horror themes and some nice visuals.

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Curious about this as well...as much as I love Pulp Fiction, I can't think of anything in that movie that made me cry.

It held my interest and my rating is an "overall" one that encompasses cinematography, story, pacing, acting, special effects, mood, music, etc. I also liked the aspect of surprise (for me)... after a lifetime of hype about it, I come to find out it's a movie about scoundrels who have far more animosity for each other than they do feelings of romance.