What is The Last Movie You Watched?

Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, 2000)

This aired on tv the other night, and it was the first time I have seen it. In general it is quite a good film, but in some specifics it begs a lot of questions, not the least of which is, do people who are used to being gregarious, go mad if they are isolated and on their own for as long as 4 years? Did Tom Hanks really have enough water for the journey once off the island, and what did he eat? Also, leaping from a week or so after the crash to 4 years was a jolt. That said, it was a watchable film, and it was a big hit at the box office.

Once Upon a time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)

I understand that the definitive version of this film either does not exist, or is being hoarded by someone. What I have is the 2-disk version, and though I have seen it and the cinema release version a few times before, this time around, on its 40th anniversary, I have to say I dislike it. I know it is compared to Coppola's The Godfather, but that only makes it worse. Coppola's two films have everything going for them -the visuals, the music, the scripts and of course, the acting. All Leone has is a good eye, because the script is poor, and the acting wooden, even De Niro can't breathe life into his character; the best comes from Jennifer Connolly who was 13 or 14 when the film was made. The actual story is not substantial, being a re-hash of most group themes in films: either they are strong but then fall apart through greed and betrayal, or they are weak but become strong through an act that cements their solidarity -Godfather has both. The more obvious problem is that at times the jump from the 1930s to the 1960s looks so sudden you think there is a scene missing, and there probably is. All in all, Leone will be remembered for his other films. He spent too much time on this film, and it shows.

The French Despatch (Wes Anderson, 2021)

If you don't like Anderson's films, you definitely won't like this one. I do, and I did. This aired on Film4 last night. It is a very clever film with a deadpan narrative that uses a fictional version of the New Yorker based in Ennui -or Paris, if you like- and not only pays homage to language through its writers, for example James Thurber and James Baldwin, but the editor, but also either pays homage or mocks the language of film too. In particular the scene with student revolutionaries could be an homage to Godard but as that is not possible, as Godard was and remains an insult to cinema and human intelligence, it stands as a delightful mockery; while car chases suggest the Bourne Identity. Well I loved it. And his ensemble cast fizzes through their lines.

Madame Web (SJ Clarkson, 2024)

Oh dear, what a tangled web she weaves, when at first she seeks to relieve, us of the misery of franchise films.

High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)

Low on talent, interest and anything else, another milestone in the decline of a once promising career in films for John Cusack. I am only glad I didn't have to pay to watch this.

Old (M Night Shyamalan, 2021)

Aired on Film 4 last night. Lacking in credibility, the screenplay is as bad as the acting. Dire. One of Shyamalan's worst films.

I agree. What makes some of his films so aggravating, is that - sometimes, there’s a better movie hiding in his script, but he’s unable to see it, because he is far too busy adding in layers of increased absurdity just to make his thin premise and attempt of a ‘gotcha’ ending possible. Many of his film would probably have worked in half hour TV shows of old, such as Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, but don’t work as long winded films. I’m surprised he still draws in enough cash for a production quality and star power his movies simply don’t deserve. Many of them would be far better as low budget pulp.

Deadpool and Wolverine - It is a funny take on the MCU superhero genre, but not
enough there to want to see it again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fred41

I agree. What makes some of his films so aggravating, is that - sometimes, there’s a better movie hiding in his script, but he’s unable to see it, because he is far too busy adding in layers of increased absurdity just to make his thin premise and attempt of a ‘gotcha’ ending possible. Many of his film would probably have worked in half hour TV shows of old, such as Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, but don’t work as long winded films. I’m surprised he still draws in enough cash for a production quality and star power his movies simply don’t deserve. Many of them would be far better as low budget pulp.

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Good points with which I agree. Shyamalan can create a narrative which flips at the end, a trick that cinema has pulled for a long time, and is terrific when it works, but lame when it does not. It just doesn't work in Old.

Civil War (Alex Garland, 2024)

I actually purchased the DVD for this. There are no special features on the disk, probably because this is not a special film. I am not sure if it is about a civil war in the US or the Voyeurs who don't want to fight but photograph the people who do, albeit at some risk to themselves. But that also means us, watching people watching other people kill each other. If that is supposed to reflect the time we live in then Vietnam got there before this film, and dare I say the impact it had on what Lefebvre might call the mentalité of Americans was profound in ways this film is not. And while some might say this is what Steve Bannon's 'Stalingrad every day' might look like were Trump to transform the US, were the context to this film 9/11 and the prurient observation of other people's grief, I doubt the film would even have been made.