Last movie you watched (13)

RDKirk said:

1917

Click to expand...

Could you summarize the plot?

JackRT said:

Could you summarize the plot?

Click to expand...

World War I. The lines between the English and the Germans have been static for months. But there has been news that the Germans are suddenly retreating, so two battalions are in pursuit.

Headquarters discovers from aerial reconnaissance that, however, those two battalions are being lured into a trap. It becomes necessary to send two men across No-Man's Land, through the several miles the Germans have left open, and catch up to the two battalions before they launch their attack into what will be a slaughter. They are to deliver orders from the general to call off the attack--scheduled for the next morning. One of the two men has a brother in one of the battalions, so he has a particular reason to go on the mission. This reminded me of the plot of a WWII story I read in high school, "Going to Run All Night" by Harry Sylvester.

Although the pair are not expected to meet much opposition (the Germans have "retreated," after all), there is still a major possibility of running into snipers or small patrols. The territory they have to maneuver though has been contested back and forth for months, so the land has been cratered by artillery from both sides and is littered with decomposing corpses from both sides.

So many men killed anonymously. Their bodies will never be identified. Their loved ones will never know how, and perhaps not even where they died. Those many anonymous corpses give a special poignancy to the end.

But there is also a clear Ecclesiastes moral to the story. Even if they manage to save those soldiers today, tomorrow there will be another battle, and another, and another. And we in the audience know what those soldiers don't: Not even this horror will be the "war to end all wars." In only twenty years, they will be fighting for the same countryside again.

The cinematography technique has gotten a lot of media attention. It is shot as though the entire movie is one long, continuous take, a steady, unblinking eye on the protagonists, sometimes leading them, sometimes following them, sometimes circling them, sometimes running, crawling, swimming beside them, but never blinking. The effect is to put the viewer right into the action with them, as though there is no fourth wall, and it emphasizes the urgency in every minute of the movie.

Of course, it's not really a single two-hour-long take, but it is composed of many very, very long takes. Some of them are as much as seven or eight minutes long of men in constant forward motion. They had to rehearse the movements months before they built the sets (which included a full mile of trenches), and then design the cinematography to fit the timing of the movement.

And because the actual takes were so long, the actors had to know their lines and movements cold. In some cases, errors were left in. One actor said, "If you made a mistake, you didn't stop unless the director called 'cut'."

But all that work was extremely effective. Sitting in the audience, I didn't dare glance down to grab a nacho.

You've got me now. Sounds like a "must see".

Game changers on Netflix.

Heavenhome said:

The last movie I watched was tonight on DVD called "Silence" with Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson.
Has anyone else seen it?

Click to expand...

Yep, it's one of my favorite movies. Easily top3. It tore me apart and then started mending the pieces back together. I think it's amazing how that movie portrays faith, what faith is, its essence in the purest form. Some brutal honesty there too, it's not a movie about doctrine or a film that's preaching at you. I also really like Bringing Out the Dead, since we're talking about Scorsese.

But now it's today, and I saw Dragged Across Concrete. It's a...hmm. Let's just say if someone has seen, for whatever weird reason, Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99, this isn't far off from them. Same director, same minimalistic touch when it comes to creating unbearable suspense and showing us stuff we don't really want to see. I really liked it and hated it at the same time. Which is to say the movie was good. Even more slow than Zahler's movies normally are. It was good to see Mel Gibson again, and he certainly didn't phone it in. Not recommended for very sensitive people.

I also saw Upgrade. Neat little action flick. The lead actor and the "gimmick" worked, otherwise didn't care that much, and the film tried to do too much, not as smart as it tried to be. But when it worked, it worked well. Better than I thought it would be. Alright.

I'm watching Bull Durham. I'm not a huge fan of Costner, but it's such an enjoyable movie. Baseball, with theological undertones.

Cats.

Honestly, aside from the uncanny cat monster people and Rebel Wilson's "Oh dear Lord, why?" scene, it's kind of a boring movie. I love watching so-bad-it's-good movies, and Cats was hyped up more as being that than it should have been.

SacredHeartClub said:

Cats.

Honestly, aside from the uncanny cat monster people and Rebel Wilson's "Oh dear Lord, why?" scene, it's kind of a boring movie. I love watching so-bad-it's-good movies, and Cats was hyped up more as being that than it should have been.

Click to expand...

My wife and I rather enjoyed Cats. We did, however, understand what it was: It was a thin vehicle for nothing more than dancers to dance. It's a fact, however, that watching dancers in person on the stage is always much more entertaining that viewing them on a screen. But we understood Cats for what it was. It was a cat-themed episode of "So You Think You Can Dance," and nothing more.

That bit with the human-faced mice and cockroaches was squirmy, though. They could have left that out.

Being stuck at home, I'm watching more movies than usual. The latest was The Greatest Game Ever Played about golfer Francis Ouimet. It was a simple way to waste some time.

SacredHeartClub said:

I love watching so-bad-it's-good movies

Click to expand...

That's what I like to do. There aren't too many of the famous ones, so nowadays I just try my luck and search for all kinds of awful crap from YouTube, link them to CyTube into a playlist, where I can watch them with a friend and we can spam the chat like crazy people. CyTube is great, especially now when we're socially distancing (although I was already a hermit), you can set up a room, even with a password, and have your own playlist. I even put some awful commercials and clips in between the movies to simulate a trash TV night. The last movies we watched were some awful horror films, can't even remember their names anymore but the suffering was real. But for every 10 awful movies that just drain us of all energy and life, there's usually one funny one and it's great when it's a surprise.

Tempura said:

That's what I like to do. There aren't too many of the famous ones, so nowadays I just try my luck and search for all kinds of awful crap from YouTube, link them to CyTube into a playlist, where I can watch them with a friend and we can spam the chat like crazy people. CyTube is great, especially now when we're socially distancing (although I was already a hermit), you can set up a room, even with a password, and have your own playlist. I even put some awful commercials and clips in between the movies to simulate a trash TV night. The last movies we watched were some awful horror films, can't even remember their names anymore but the suffering was real. But for every 10 awful movies that just drain us of all energy and life, there's usually one funny one and it's great when it's a surprise.

Click to expand...

This all sounds great, tbh. I love a good trash horror movie.

The last so-bad-it's-good movie I saw was The Room that my ex and I saw at a screening. People were yelling back at the screen and throwing plastic spoons. It was honestly the most fun at a movie theater that I had in years.

I Still Believe

about Christian singer Jeremy Camp

Im watching Ice age on tv right now.

The Godfather Part II (last night)

Vertigo. The 1958 Alfred Hitchcock classic. I bought the DVD at an estate sale. I'd never seen it all the way through. Excellent performance, as always, by Jimmy Stewart. And who but Kim Novak could be both hot, and very cool at the same time? Not to mention the great on-location scenes of San Francisco.

Wonder Woman 1984

By 2020 standards it has relatively traditional values and morality. That, and having a real story with developed characters and relationships, made for a refreshing experience. Diana Prince reminds me a lot of Superman as another who follows the noble hero archetype. Her compassion and commitment to non-lethal violence turn her into an actual role-model instead of a generic strong woman character. The romance with Steve does a lot to humanize Diana so that she is relatable.

Pixar's "Soul."

It didn't grab me as emotionally as some Pixar animations have, but the message was more of a slow, thoughtful burn. The basic message: Have your passion and your purpose--that's a great thing--but also live in the moment, be aware of the beauty of people and the world around you, take nothing for granted, even if it's not your passion.

RDKirk said:

1917

Click to expand...

I just re-watched it with my dad, who hadn't seen it before. Very good.

I think 1917 was the last movie we watched in a theater before Covid-19.

What was the last movie you watched in a theater?