The Holy Man (Mahapurush) (1965) 7.5/10
The Guest (2014) 6/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Extraordinary film.
Andrei Tarkovsky was one of the all time great film directors and his early death at 54 was tragic. F W Murnau was another one of the all time great directors who died early at 42. At least we have their films to see.
I saw "Conspirators of Pleasure" (1996), directed by Jan Svankmajer. Ir's a Czech film without subtitles or dubbing though that doesn't matter as there is no dialogue. Film about 6 people who play out their fetishes which are so outrageous that they give little offence. Humourous but also tragic as these are people unable to communicate with others and have empty lives.
Kamikaze (2014) 6/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
One wonders what was going through the producers' minds when they decided to make this film and why Nicole Kidman was chosen? It wouldn't surprise me if it gets included in the next Golden Raspberry awards.
'71 (2014) 8/10
I watched Men in Black 3 (2012). Although Tommy Lee Jones is again in this film as Agent K, much of the film has Will Smith (Agent J) sent back to 1969 and teams up with a younger Agent K played by Josh Brolin who is quite convincing as a younger Tommy Lee Jones.
It's a watchable film with Michael Stuhlbarg as Griffin the stand out character.
Foxcatcher (2014) 8/10
Gone Girl (2014) 9/10
I resaw Doctor Zhivago (1965), very good David Lean though I wouldn't include it in his best films such as Great Expectations, Brief Encounter and Lawrence of Arabia.
I saw Adventures of Tintin - the Secret of the Unicorn (2011). Of the Steven Spielberg films I've seen, I rate this one as the worst. Steven Moffatt was one of the writers and there's a little nod to his Doctor Who writing when Haddock says "Geronimo".
Whiplash (2014) 8.5/10
The Imitation Game (2014) 8/10
Unbroken (2014) 6/10
Big Hero 6 (2014) 7.5/10
I saw The Dark Knight (2008), exciting but grim.
Co-written by Jonathan Nolan who later created and wrote for the television series Person of Interest. There are some parallels between The Dark Knight and Person of Interest with both Christian Bale#s and Jim Caviezel's characters being brooding, quietly spoken to create hightened tension. Also the use of the sonar machines monitoring cellphones is enhanced in Person of Interest into a more powerful surveillance device - too similar to be just a coincidence.
I watched The Wind and the Lion (1975). American woman (Candice Bergen) kidnapped with her children in Morroco by Berbers (Sean Connery as their leader), and the US president (Brian Keith) sends in the troops to rescue them. Written and directed by John Milius.The film is set in 1904 so not in the present time. Watchable but, although Connery is likeable, not a great film.Good music score by Jerry Goldsmith.
John Huston appeared in the film as an advisor to the president. Connery's next film was The Man who would be King, which Huston directed but Connery was recommended to Huston for that film by Paul Newman.
Oddly enough, The Wind and the Lion (set in Morocco) was filmed in Spain, but The Man who would be King (set in Kafiristan which is in Afghanistan) was filmed in Morocco.
Leviathan (2014) 9.5/10
Interstellar (2014) 5/10
I watched Little Buddha (1993). Although Keanu Reeves, Chris Isaak and Bridget Fonda are shown as the leads on DVD covers this is misleading. The true leads are Ruocheng Ying (Lama Norbu) and Alex Wiesendanger (Jesse Conrad).
If you watch the film thinking it's about the life of Siddhartha (the Buddha) then the film will be a dissapointment. The film is more about Lama Norbu's search for Buddhist enlightenment for himself, the candidates for the reincarnation of his teacher, and for the viewer.
A much better film than the typical ratings given on IMDB and film books. The film is just over 2 hours long and I wouldn't have minded if it had been longer. A sign of a good film and my favourite Bernado Bertolucci film.
I watched Hugo (2011), Martn Scorsese's family film.
There is a connection between the storyline and Scorsese. The storyline is to some extent about the restoration of the reputation of the film pioneer Georges Melies. Years before this, Scorsese was instrumental about restoring the reputation of Michael Powell bringing him to New York to help him. And in the process Powell met and married Scorsese's editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
I resaw Galaxy Quest (1999). Good entertaining film about the stars of a popular science fiction series at a fans convention coming to the assistance of some aliens who believe that their characters are real. The Galaxy Quest series is obviously a clone of the original Star Trek series.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I resaw Galaxy Quest (1999). Good entertaining film about the stars of a popular science fiction series at a fans convention coming to the assistance of some aliens who believe that their characters are real. The Galaxy Quest series is obviously a clone of the original Star Trek series.
I saw it as a take on The Magnificent Seven, same as 'The Three Amigos' was.
Didn't seem to relate to Star Trek to me.
PS. I loved it!
I resaw Psycho (1960).
The lead male character Sam Loomis (played by John Gavin) ran a hardware store. At the end of the film he is present during the scene where s psychiatrist explains what had happened with Norman Bates' mind.
After the end of Psycho Sam Loomis decided to give up the hardware store and trained to become a psychiatirst himself at the Smith's Grove sanitarium. 18 years after Psycho he returned to films (now played by Donlald Pleasance) in Halloween and later films in that series.
I resaw Journey into Fear (1942/3). A rather muddled thriller based on a book by Eric Ambler starring Joseph Cotten, and featuring Orson Welles. The third feature film from Mercury Productions (first Citizen Kane, second The Magnificent Ambersons) and did feature other actors who had been in those films.
The film was started by Orson Welles, it was taken out of his hands by the studio bosses, and Norman Foster was credited as director.
Welles and Cotten are credited as having written the script. To what extent Welles was involved with the directing is not known, but the start of the film did seem to have a bit of Welles' touch with the camera moving in a bit like this from Citizen Kane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th8cuq9tzZk
I watched The Tree of Life (2011), the Terrence Malick film.
Unusual film about the creation, life and death. Malick seems to be trying to be another Andrei Tarkovsky, but doesn't succeed.
Special effects by Douglas Trumbell, who was heavily involved with 2001, a Space Odyssey. The film is not a science fiction film, but is as obscure as the last part of 2001.
Brilliant photography and good use of music are the main reasons to see the film.
I watched "Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired girl" (2009) directed by Manoel de Oliveira.
It was based on a 19th century short story and although set in modern times, it felt like a 19th century story. For instance the young man who works for his uncle wants to marry, aske him for his permission, the uncle refuses, and sacks him on the spot throwing him out.
The most notable thing about the film is that the director (who recently died) was 101 at the time and the world's oldest working director of feature films.
I watched The Dark Crystal (1982), fantasy from Jim Henson and Frank Oz.
Aughra, the wise one, was voiced by Billie Whitelaw. Kira voiced by Lisa Maxwell (Samantha Nixon in The Bill), and her pet Fizzigig by Percy Edwards (who was famous for his bird voice imitations and also of animals).
I watched The Passenger (1975) directed by Michelangelo Antonion and starring Jack Nicholson and also Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre and Ian Hendry.
Maria Schneider meets a lost soul, has a relationship with him until he is shot dead. Not the first Maria Schneider film to which that summary matches.
I saw Labyrinth (1986), another fantasy from Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Starred Jennifer Connelly in an early role and David Bowie as the goblin king. Scripted by Terry Jones.
There was a scene in it where the girl has been entranced into the goblin king's castle in a ballroom with many people dancing. It reminded me of last Sunday's episode of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell where there's a similar scene and Marc Warren's appearance as outlandish as Bowie's.
Originally Posted by Baz:
The last two films I saw were Quatermass 2 , and Hitchcock's Suspicious 
Did you know that most films made since those films are in colour
The oldest film I remember seeing in the cinema was The Wizard of Oz. I also saw Gone with the Wind in the cinema which was made around the same time. And Pinocchio which was made shortly afterwards.
(I should say that I saw them on re-releases rather than when originally released )