What is The Last Movie You Watched?

[Fitzcarraldo]

It's a Wonderful Life.
I'd never seen if before. It's okay, watchable.

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Quite the terse review for an acknowledged classic.

[Stavros]

Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)

This aired on the BBC in the early hours. A bog standard Russian Mafia film with all the usual stuff: the calm but ruthless Daddy, his out-of-control son (ie, Don Corleone and Sonny); the equally calm but devious chauffeur who slowly climbs the ladder (ie, Michael) and the innocent amongst thieves, the astonishingly beautiful, and wasted Naomi Watts. A waste of time and money with a plot that never holds the interest and has credibility issues, but what can one expect from Cronenberg?

[Stavros]

Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley, 2017)

Saw this on tv. The idea might not be original, but I found this a fascinating exercise in personality swapping, though without the profundity of Bergman's Persona. Anya Taylor-Joy is outstanding as someone who morphs from pampered college girl to demon under the influence of a stunning psychopath. I think there is something here about gender roles. Rather like to see this again.

[Stavros]

Dune, Part Two (Denis Villeneuve, 2024)

It was a time of destiny, it was a time of war. It was a time of saviours, it was a time of spies. It was a time of storms, it was a time of...whatever, it just goes on and on and on.

Visually fantastic, but the story? I just don't care. Saw it in the cinema for the big screen experience. Note: if travelling from North to South, take the Worm Express, as there ain't no Kamils on Arrakis.

[Stavros]

Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet, 2023)

This is the kind of film that appeals to those who have read their Barthes, Foucault, Lacan and that generation of philosophes, as over two and half hours it presents an event which has at least three different points de vue, with the added delight that a German woman who lived in London with a French man has removed with him to an alpine chalet outside Grenoble where they converse, most of the time in English before and after his mysterious death. Half or more of the film is set in Court, and the conclusion of the Court is not necessarily a conclusion of anyone watching the film. For some reason, the Border Collie in the film is called Messi.

It could have been a pretentious disaster, but the editing, camerawork, and the script that has won most of its awards, make this a fascinating film, the only let down for me was the Prosecutor who I thought was too young, and too aggressive. I give this 8/10.

[Stavros]

The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion, 2021)

Another spiteful, nasty film from Campion. The film is bleak, with no redeeming features, while the basic premise of the film claims one needless death can be paid for by another, both by the hands of men. Horrible.

[Stavros]

Air Force One (Wolfgang Petersen, 1997).

This aired on Film4 the other night, and though I have watched parts of it before this was the first time I watched it all the way through. It is rubbish, or course, but entertaining in its own by-the-numbers way. The bad guys lose, the good guys win, but what struck me most about the film is probably an in-joke -the alpha heroic President of the United States of America, who refuses to escape in his pod, remains on the plane and rescues the situation and defeats the terrorists -without removing his jacket. It is half off in one scene, but no matter whether he is hiding or fighting that piece of cloth remains in situ on his broad shoulders. Hilarious.

[Stavros]

Rotten Tomatoes’ 300 Best Movies of All Time | Rotten Tomatoes

This list is compiled from reader's reviews, which is why it has little or nothing to do with Film as either art or entertainment, but merely the limited bank of opinion on a website. This explains why Spotlight is No 20 but Lawrence of Arabia is at 173 and another Lean classic, Dr Zhivago doesn't make it all. Neither does Ghost, which has in Whoopi Goldberg one of the finest comedy acts in movie history. Dirty Harry? Nah. Help me out with that one, one of the most penetrating cop films ever. But The French Connection does come in at 248 (!).

Just sad really.