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Films Again - all new
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jb lamptoast-morsley
jb lamptoast-morsley
2447 posts

Films Again - all new
Aug 15, 2016, 23:44
Old thread was getting a bit weighty and cumbersome

The Great Beauty. Italian film from 2013. A lot to enjoy in this. An Italian Woody Allen film? Probably not. A 65 year old writer starts to think about life and stuff through Roman night life

Anna Karenina. Enjoyed the stylistics of it enough to watch it to the ad break - clever blend of theatre and film. But soon got bored of the story
Pursued By Trees
Pursued By Trees
1135 posts

Edited Aug 17, 2016, 23:41
Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 17, 2016, 23:39
jb lamptoast-morsley wrote:
Anna Karenina. Enjoyed the stylistics of it enough to watch it to the ad break - clever blend of theatre and film. But soon got bored of the story


Reckon I'll stick with the Garbo-starring version ... either of them really. While the 1927 one with John Gilbert is probably my favourite, Fredric March isn't exactly bad in the more celebrated 1935 one either.

Erm ... 'all new' refers to the thread rather than the films right?
jb lamptoast-morsley
jb lamptoast-morsley
2447 posts

Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 18, 2016, 10:58
No, you have to post films watched within the last 3 years....

Ha ha it is all a joke of my own contriving. Come here, there's more.

Don't worry PBT, you can talk about your old films still.
Pursued By Trees
Pursued By Trees
1135 posts

Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 18, 2016, 23:29
Good, good ... especially as I hear that they're re-making A Star Is Born yet again. As long as they continue to desecrate classic films I'll continue to bang on about how much better the originals are.

Having said that, I did quite enjoy The Prestige (2006) which I saw the other night. Also been watching some of the Lego DC Comics Superhero features lately. I'm not completely rooted in the classics ... just mostly.
Captain Starlet
Captain Starlet
1110 posts

Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 18, 2016, 23:37
I can't really think of many remakes that were actually any good, and the recent spate of American versions of Asian horror films was dreadful.

I actually got round to watching the remake of Gaslight about a month or so ago, not a patch on the original.
jb lamptoast-morsley
jb lamptoast-morsley
2447 posts

Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 18, 2016, 23:56
You can root yourself in whatever you like! Now there's a reason why The Prestige stuck in the memory... something to do with the director...ah yes, IMDB just reminded me that Christopher Nolan was the director. What a CV he has. You a fan?

I have to admit that I am more 'rooted' in modern fare, whilst not ignoring films from yesteryear. Tell me what I need to know about A Star is Born - why is it essential viewing?

A film that i really hope they don't give any new treatment is 'Murder by Death'. A character called Willie Wang - really? Peter Sellers as a Japanese detective?!!! IMDB surprisingly don't seem to mind it - maybe it is just me.

Two films that I have reasonably enjoyed recently are Mindscape and Oblivion. The former very much in Christopher Nolan territory (Inception, anyone?) with one of my fav actors, Mark Strong. I felt it was undeveloped here though. I have to admit to quite liking Tom Cruise films - certainly in recent times. Edge of Tomorrow, Valkyrie, The Last Samurai, Minority Report. I would overlook the woeful Vanilla Sky and haven't really felt the need to follow the Mission Impossible franchise.
Pursued By Trees
Pursued By Trees
1135 posts

Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 19, 2016, 21:12
I agree (on all 3 counts). The 1940 British version of Gaslight is superior to MGM's 1944 version. Much as I like Ingrid, I think MGM were aware as, legend has it, they bought up as many of the prints of the earlier version as they could lay hands on in an effort to suppress it.

There have been one or two re-makes that might be considered to be improvements ... Satan Met A Lady vs The Maltese Falcon springs to mind. Although both based on the same Dashiell Hammett novel they are two quite different films. Also quite a few silent films were re-made in the early talkie era, but I don't know that these count as re-makes in quite the same way.
Pursued By Trees
Pursued By Trees
1135 posts

Edited Aug 20, 2016, 11:14
Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 19, 2016, 21:37
I find Christopher Nolan a bit hit and miss. The hits are stupendous and the near misses probably frustrate me disproportionately as they could have been great.

Heh! If you think Sellers role in Murder by Death hasn't fared well over time you should try Soft Beds, Hard Battles. Anyhow, Peter Falk is far and away the best thing about Murder By Death.

I'm afraid I'm not with you on the Tom Cruise thing. Minority Report especially annoyed me (being a fan of the Philip K. Dick story) ... the film completely blew the crux of the story. I found the need to provide Mr Cruise with some form of romantic interest detracted badly too.

A Star Is Born is powerful because of the tension set up between the principle characters in the narrative. Established star gives break to young hopeful, the two become romantically entwined, and then the newcomers success eclipses that of their benefactor. One star waxes as the other wanes and this places an enormous strain both on their relationship and the characters as individuals.

It doesn't hurt if you have Lionel Stander doing a wonderful job of playing a cynical circling vulture of a journalist relishing the disintegration of the erstwhile star. There are 2 postings of the full 1937 version on youtube at present.

If you prefer, there's also the 1954 Judy Garland/James Mason re-make on there.

I wouldn't recommend it, but the full 1976 version with Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand is also on youtube.

Not sure what happened in 1996, as the film otherwise seems to have a pretty consistent 20 year remake cycle.

EDIT: Aha, The 1954 version was restored to the directors original full-length edit and re-issued in 1983. Fascinating account of the work can be found here: http://www.thejudyroom.com/asib/restoration.html

Further tantalizing account that further 'lost' footage still exists here:
http://www.thejudyroom.com/asib/asib-article.html
Toni Torino
2299 posts

Edited Aug 19, 2016, 22:49
Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 19, 2016, 22:48
jb lamptoast-morsley wrote:
Old thread was getting a bit weighty and cumbersome

The Great Beauty. Italian film from 2013. A lot to enjoy in this. An Italian Woody Allen film? Probably not. A 65 year old writer starts to think about life and stuff through Roman night life

Anna Karenina. Enjoyed the stylistics of it enough to watch it to the ad break - clever blend of theatre and film. But soon got bored of the story


The Great Beauty strongly reminded me of a Peter Greenaway film. The gentle but devastating dissection of the arrogant woman's life is an iconic movie moment.
Captain Starlet
Captain Starlet
1110 posts

Re: Films Again - all new
Aug 20, 2016, 14:34
Hmm, with the old silent into talkies I think a few have been dome really well, The Lodger for example, I consider the remake to be better than the Hitchcock original (heaven forbid) Laird Granger is brilliant and the ending is really edge of your seat stuff. I don't like new remakes, but I always forget that a lot of films from the 50's were remakes too, Ben Hur being one of them
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