What did you watch today? v 22.0

Tell everyone what you watched, what you thought, and what's up next.

The first post in this thread is # 6460

And as ever, link your films please.

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Aces on July 26, 2009 at 11:40pm: I liked Fido too. The Lassie reference was funny.

Permalink Reply by Sevorin on July 26, 2009 at 11:34pm: Defiance -- Its tits aren't big enough. Good story and cast, though. A fatter reel toward the beginning, dense with more character or historical material, would have helped set up the later developments. As good a job as both Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber do, we really only get who they are from the dialogue. The DVD's special features show us that the real life individuals had more powerful, resonant personalities.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon -- I had no idea such a documentary existed. I came across it by accident in my local library. Well worth seeing, but even though I agree with its underlying political attitudes, I'd prefer to see a stronger exposition of the opposing viewpoints. It's no longer enough to say that those viewpoints were evil and fulla shit. I need the intellectual excitement -- as well as the simple historical truth -- of Nixon and his people giving reasons for doing what they did. Hollering that they were just a bunch of paranoid jackoffs no longer stiffens my dick. The time in which all this went down was not simply the Era of Youthful Ideals triumphing over the Desiccated Cynicism of Corruption and Age. Things went deeper than that. I may be asking too much of this one. It does do its job.

Permalink Reply by Microwaved on July 27, 2009 at 7:42am: RE: The U.S. Vs. John Lennon

I don't think they want you to have any sympathy for Nixon and his administration. This is about John, and the filmmakers wanted your sympathies to lie solely with him. I'm OK with that, if they would have given voice to Nixon and his administration for why they did this I probably would have turned the damn thing off. I'm biased though, really biased.

Permalink Reply by Knaldskalle on July 27, 2009 at 9:53am: Actually, I would've liked more about "The U.S. vs. John Lennon", which is the setup it kinda fails to deliver, but since I'm just a little too young to have been around at that time I enjoyed it as a "historical immersion" experience, tons of great music.

Permalink Reply by Pihk on July 27, 2009 at 7:24am: The Friends of Eddie Coyle: 5 STARS.

I'll join Guy, Beeswax, the Prof et al in praising this wonderfully bleak 70s crime pic from Peter Yates.

Couple of things that haven't been mentioned so far are the fantastic Boston location footage (I live in Beantown so it was fun to see people in 70s fashions walking by familiar areas like Government Center, etc). On the very worth listening to director's commentary, Yates said that the entire movie, including interiors, was shot in Boston. I haven't read the novel (shocking, I know, Sev) but the dialogue which Yates claims comes almost verbatim from the novel is crisp and delicious. Don't be fooled by the claims that Mitchum's accent is spot on, though...Bostonese is almost impossible to truly emulate but Mitchum makes an admirable effort. Having a convo with a born and bred Bostoner is one of those truly unique life experiences :)

Second point is the soundtrack. The raw funky and jazzy vibe suits the movie perfectly. Not surprising that the composer was David Grusin, who also did the incredible OSTs to Three Days of the Condor and another Mitchum film, the underrated The Yakuza . Bonus points to Criterion for the tastefully remixed and cleaned up Dolby Digital track.

Finally, it's really sad to note that a movie like this would never get made today. It's way too downbeat; it has an understated style that even serious non-Micheal Bay directors would be compelled to embellish with crane shots, weird film color stocks, etc; and worst of all: no studio would ever release a movie where it takes so long for certain relationships in the film to get established. heaven forbid that a modern audience might have to scratch their heads for longer than 5 minutes. At least companies like Criterion ensure that films like this gets to put their best foot forward for people like myself who are watching this gem for the first time...

Permalink Reply by The Continental on July 27, 2009 at 8:00am: At least companies like Criterion ensure that films like this gets to put their best foot forward for people like myself who are watching this gem for the first time...
YES,, to us old farts that started out loving Criterion for what they did for movies on Laserdics, it been great to look forward to reissues on DVD's and Now Blu-Ray, I've yet to see a bad Criterion Disc, I think they put what was "there" down on a disc truer than anybody else ,even THX comes in second.
I appreciate that you appreciate the first time viewing experience of "as my kids say old movies"
And I envy you that exsperience with Eddie Coyle, I remember the glowing write up and background piece RollingStone did on this one when it was about to be released ,,"wish I'da kept those old issues now. I've watched this movie a half a dozen times over the years and am anxious to see it's Criterion treatment.

Permalink Reply by Pihk on July 27, 2009 at 9:07am: Eddie Coyle reminded me a lot of another great 70s movie, Straight Time

Both of these films excel at presenting criminality in a realistic way without veering into bleeding heart in one direction or paranoid "lock them all up!" in the other

Permalink Reply by Sevorin on July 27, 2009 at 2:21pm: Bostonese is almost impossible to truly emulate but Mitchum makes an admirable effort.

It's not that good an effort because the language that Mitchum is speaking is still recognizably English.

During my visits to Boston I encountered amiable and gracious people -- people who were unquestionably Americans -- who used a tongue that, for lack of a better way of describing it, was still "Yankee" or "New England-ese" but was absolutely incomprehensible. (I am thinking of a cabbie I spoke to near Fenway and to a lanky old yachtsman I I came across in Concord. I know they were talking to me in the English language. Yet I defy anyone who is not conversant with their particular accents -- even you, Pihk -- to decipher what they were saying. I did not think it possible for me to be so befuddled by the natural yak of any citizens of my country.)

Permalink Reply by Knaldskalle on July 27, 2009 at 9:56am: Guys, you've got to stop talking this movie up. Soon it'll be unable to live up to my expectations because you all praise it so much... I'm still waiting for my library copy.

Permalink Reply by David on July 27, 2009 at 1:33pm: Yeah, I agree, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a good movie, Straight Time too, if you're referring to the Dustin Hoffman film. If you haven't seen Charley Varrick, watch it it's great too, along with another Matthau film, the original Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three. Another one to recommend is Michael Caine's Get Carter. One friend recommend I see the Seven Ups, but I didn't find it that engaging, did I miss something? I've seen Bullet, and French Connections 1 & 2. The Conversation is also good. So are there any other recommendations along these lines?

Permalink Reply by The Continental on July 27, 2009 at 1:51pm: the Seven Ups had been praised by the critics when it was released, I remember seeing it years ago, but did'nt get into it, I liked Roy Scheider he was great inna lot of things, I maybe just didn't give it a proper chance> Marathon Man is a easy recommend, Sorcerer (1977) Point Blank /Lee Marvin etc.

Permalink Reply by beeswax on July 27, 2009 at 3:19pm: So are there any other recommendations along these lines?

I had already put The Yakuza on my list (mentioned by pihk above) as it is another chance to see Mitchum and Richard Jordan in the '70s. Also, written by Paul Schrader, directed by Sydney Pollack.

Another Pollack movie worth seeing, mentioned by pihk in connection with its Grusin score, is Three Days of the Condor. And another movie that people have been mentioning to me a lot lately is The Driver.

If you haven't seen Mean Streets in a while, or can watch it with fresh eyes, it is one of the great "downbeat" '70s movies dealing with "working class" criminals. I also like Across 110th Street, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and Cisco Pike. Point Blank (mentioned by The Continental), although not '70s, is one of my all-time favorites.