Return Of The Film Corner Thread

[kinuta]

The Four Feathers - Zoltan Korda (1939)

[jlhoots]

Aeronauts

[kinuta]

Dark Victory - Edmund Goulding (1939)

[kinuta]

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame - William Dieterie (1939)

An amazing film, even among all the other gems from 1939.

I'd only seen it previously in a scratched up, faded print. The BR is stunning.

[jlhoots]

The Two Popes

[kinuta]

The Roaring Twenties - Raoul Walsh (1939)

Wuthering Heights - William Wyler (1939)

[medjuck]

3 hours ago, kinuta said:

The Roaring Twenties - Raoul Walsh (1939)

Wuthering Heights - William Wyler (1939)

I once saw a brand new 35mm print of Wuthering Heights.  It looked amazing. 

Edited December 18, 2019 by medjuck

[Brad]

A fantastic film about the Stasi in East Germany five years before the Wall fell  

Edited December 18, 2019 by Brad

[kinuta]

3 hours ago, medjuck said:

I once saw a brand new 35mm print of Wuthering Heights.  It looked amazing. 

It's a pity that we can't see the old classics on a big screen, as they were intended.

Anyhow, I'm still working through the best of 1939, watching as many as possible in BluRay.

There are so many, it's astonishing that John Ford alone made three films that year that all all classics. 

[medjuck]

14 hours ago, kinuta said:

It's a pity that we can't see the old classics on a big screen, as they were intended.

Anyhow, I'm still working through the best of 1939, watching as many as possible in BluRay.

There are so many, it's astonishing that John Ford alone made three films that year that all all classics. 

1939 was a great year and Ford was in his prime. 

[kinuta]

Lucy In The Sky - Noah Hawley (2019)

I kept wondering what the point of the film was. It could have been good but is frustratingly patchy.

The script could have used some work, to be charitable.

Natalie Portman is always good and does her best with the thin hand she's been dealt.

 

[Brad]

[ghost of miles]

22 minutes ago, Brad said:

 

What did you think? My friend Pete and I took his two boys to see it Thursday night, and we all loved it. 

[jlhoots]

Bombshell

[Brad]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

What did you think? My friend Pete and I took his two boys to see it Thursday night, and we all loved it. 

I didn’t think it was that good.  I mean. It was ok but not great. My son, who is a big fan, hated it. I don’t know if you saw the Times review, but it was pretty critical. There’s a significant drop off in quality between the Lucas directed movies and these last three. 

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

I didn’t think it was that good.  I mean. It was ok but not great. My son, who is a big fan, hated it. I don’t know if you saw the Times review, but it was pretty critical. There’s a significant drop off in quality between the Lucas directed movies and these last three. 

Well, it’s definitely proving to be as divisive in its own way as The Last Jedi (and a mirror image of it on Rotten Tomatoes, where TLJ has a 91/43 score differential between critics and audiences; as of this moment Rise Of Skywalker has a 57 “rotten” rating from critics, worse even than Attack Of The Clones—really?! but an audience score of 86). The reviews had made me rather wary going in, so I was pleasantly surprised. (Richard Brody called it a “soulless robotic spectacle” or some such, confirming for me yet again that as a film critic he’s on some planet where wrong-headed overintellectual pronouncements are evidently coin of the realm. He also is apparently a prequel revisionist. Those films were absolutely god-awful—talk about soulless!-badly-written, badly-directed, badly-acted, though Revenge Of The Sith has its moments.) I thought Abrams wrapped things up about as well as anybody could have, and I say that as someone who had appreciation for what Rian Johnson was up to in The Last Jedi (though that film, despite its high praise from critics, had its fair share of clunky issues too). For me Star Wars has always been a popcorn series, and I guess I felt as if Abrams brought back the butter and salt, after the glossy but bland no-flavor pap of the prequels. 

Edit: should add that I do think Rogue One is better than any of the “new trilogy” movies. I wasn’t that interested in Solo, so never got around to seeing it.

Edited December 21, 2019 by ghost of miles

[kinuta]

Love Affair - Leo McCarey (1939)

Loved the film but the image quality was awful. This badly needs restoring.

The Lighthouse - Robert Eggers (2019)

 

Ingmar Bergman meets David Lynch.

Seriously out there at times but an admirably well made and acted black horror show.

 

[gmonahan]

7 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Well, it’s definitely proving to be as divisive in its own way as The Last Jedi (and a mirror image of it on Rotten Tomatoes, where TLJ has a 91/43 score differential between critics and audiences; as of this moment Rise Of Skywalker has a 57 “rotten” rating from critics, worse even than Attack Of The Clones—really?! but an audience score of 86). The reviews had made me rather wary going in, so I was pleasantly surprised. (Richard Brody called it a “soulless robotic spectacle” or some such, confirming for me yet again that as a film critic he’s on some planet where wrong-headed overintellectual pronouncements are evidently coin of the realm. He also is apparently a prequel revisionist. Those films were absolutely god-awful—talk about soulless!-badly-written, badly-directed, badly-acted, though Revenge Of The Sith has its moments.) I thought Abrams wrapped things up about as well as anybody could have, and I say that as someone who had appreciation for what Rian Johnson was up to in The Last Jedi (though that film, despite its high praise from critics, had its fair share of clunky issues too). For me Star Wars has always been a popcorn series, and I guess I felt as if Abrams brought back the butter and salt, after the glossy but bland no-flavor pap of the prequels. 

Edit: should add that I do think Rogue One is better than any of the “new trilogy” movies. I wasn’t that interested in Solo, so never got around to seeing it.

I agree that Rogue One is the best of the recent ones I've seen. Have yet to go see this one. If you really want some scathing reviews (some of which are pretty funny), have a look at what reviewers are saying about "Cats"!

 

 

 

gregmo

[ejp626]

8 hours ago, Brad said:

I didn’t think it was that good.  I mean. It was ok but not great. My son, who is a big fan, hated it. I don’t know if you saw the Times review, but it was pretty critical. There’s a significant drop off in quality between the Lucas directed movies and these last three. 

There's definitely a push among the critics to praise The Last Jedi and to run down The Rise of Skywalker, though the general audience seems to feel the reverse.  (There were a few scenes (and dopey plot twists) in The Last Jedi that I thought were so awful that I am quite unlikely to watch it again.)  Will probably check out Rise of Skywalker next week.

Will be passing on Cats...

[HutchFan]

Loved the original program as a child. Loved the documentary from a few years ago. Loved this film.

 

[Brad]

2 hours ago, gmonahan said:

I agree that Rogue One is the best of the recent ones I've seen. Have yet to go see this one. If you really want some scathing reviews (some of which are pretty funny), have a look at what reviewers are saying about "Cats"!

 

 

 

gregmo

Agree about Rogue One. It was a good stand alone movie. Also, the series The Mandalorian on the Disney Channel is better than these past few movies. I don’t agree about Abrams. I just don’t think he’s very good. A mistake they made in the last three was having two different directors; different ideas, different visions, etc. 

[ejp626]

Haven't seen many movies in a long time, but I just saw Almodovar's Pain and Glory at the newly refurbished Paradise Theatre in Toronto.  It has some very strong moments.  Banderas really inhabits his role well (esp. the scene when he reconnects with an old lover), though the most memorable scenes of the film are the childhood flashbacks.  This review generally seems on target - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/25/pain-and-glory-review-pedro-almodovar-antonio-banderas-penelope-cruz

Will probably see Rise of Skywalker over the weekend and then perhaps a showing of 2001 (with 70 mm print) at TIFF.

 

[kinuta]

The Cotton Club Encore - Francis Ford Coppola (2019-1984)

Don't have a copy of the original to make a comparison but the newly edited version looks really good, with more song and dance . Still feels off kilter with the musical side never meshing with the weak gangster storyline.

The musical numbers are super good and I would have been happy just watching those. In one scene some arguement in the foreground is supposed to be the focus of attention while a spectacular song and dance number is playing out on stage.

My attention was entirely on the stage and that sums up the schizoid nature of the film.

Top marks for the music, although some has been edited out, but much less enthusiasm for the weak mob storyline stuff.

Judy - Rupert Goold (2019)

Renee Zellweger deserves praise for giving it her all. The film is certainly worth watching  but the all pervasive sadness is wearing. It might have been better to offer more light to the darkness of the film. The studio abuse of the young Judy was sickening.

Made For Each Other - John Cromwell (1939)

Carole Lombard and James Stewart are great together. As the film darkens Stewart moves into almost a dress rehearsal for the later tormented George Bailey

The film goes completely off the rails in the last 25 minutes, to the point of very nearly destroying the film.

One of the worst examples of studio tampering I've ever seen. Apart from that it's very enjoyable. 

 

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, ejp626 said:

Haven't seen many movies in a long time, but I just saw Almodovar's Pain and Glory at the newly refurbished Paradise Theatre in Toronto.  It has some very strong moments.  Banderas really inhabits his role well (esp. the scene when he reconnects with an old lover), though the most memorable scenes of the film are the childhood flashbacks.  This review generally seems on target - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/25/pain-and-glory-review-pedro-almodovar-antonio-banderas-penelope-cruz

Will probably see Rise of Skywalker over the weekend and then perhaps a showing of 2001 (with 70 mm print) at TIFF.

 

Where's The Paradise Theatre? 

[ejp626]

11 minutes ago, medjuck said:

Where's The Paradise Theatre? 

It's on Bloor between Dufferin and Ossington.

Here's some photos of the interior - https://www.blogto.com/film/2019/12/paradise-theatre-toronto/

It's definitely a bit pricey for a second-run theatre (basically full price tickets), but I'll try to go from time to time, since the owners deserve some major plaudits for bringing this place back from the dead.