Recent Viewing Part IV

Awe, kiddies, you are taking these films far too serious.

If you want meaningful in depth film analysis, lets talk about Fellini or Bergman.

Volker

Your eyes may have glazed over the part where I mentioned I enjoyed it as a dumb action movie, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. That said, 'taking movies seriously' is par for the course on a forum like this.

Had a very productive Christmas

Arthur Christmas (on blu-ray) (and on Christmas eve )

totally endearing. Liked it even more than the first time. Though the humor is perhaps thrown in your face too fast (not enough time to totally get each specific gag, the heart and enthusiasm of the characters is what keeps this movie going. Like The Polar Express, it tackles all the right buttons to ensure a great Christmas feeling, and the score by Gregon-Williams helps a lot in that too. Truly enchanting from time to time

8 out of 10

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Pacific Rim (on blu-ray)

One of those films that holds some of the best effects yet created. Man, the middle battle was the absolute highlight, and even though it goes a little downhill from then on, I still liked it a lot. Of course courtesy due to a very entertaining score (which I heard for the first time). Overall, I liked the development (though nothing spectacular), the effects, entertainment and score, all adding up to a pleasant time

7 out of 10

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Into the Wild (on blu-ray)

WOW. Though a bit long, this movie is full of lessons that you begin to realize the moment the film has ended. Very true and very sincere, this true tale shows how ?easy? it is to make something with no effects or anything like that. Very humble direction from Penn, who leaves it up to the script, characters and cinematography to create an enticing and heartfelt adventure

9 out of 10

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Jack the Giant Slayer (on blu-ray)

Was expecting the least of this (due to the awful trailer that didn't capture my interest one bit), but overall like Pacific Rim I liked it. Again, nothing too fancy from the characters, but I like how it all builds towards this truly explosive second part. Enough heart to care for the characters (though the acting is nothing to write home about), and enough invention to keep the (known) story interesting. The score by Ottman worked (though some moments could have been better) and I truly liked the main theme which I think was awesome (again first time I heard it). The movie's been there, done that, and yet somehow it captivated me enough to enjoy it

6 out of 10

Sometimes you never realize just how many little mistakes are in a film until you have them pointed out to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jboIiCsgIrY

Film Music Composers Vol. 1 : John Williams

I watched this over two days .
It's a double dvd (bootleg) set which contains about 4 hours of John Williams stuff .

The first disc has :

* The Movies Of Steven Spielberg (all ripped from various DVD's)
* Star Wars (ripped from the Star Wars DVD's)
* E.T. 2002 Premiere (ripped from the E.T. Anniv. DVD)
* Memoirs Of A Geisha Performance (recorded from TV)

The second disc has :

* From Hitchcock To Superman (recorded from TV)
* Interview with Andre Previn (recorded from BBC TV)
* 1993 Boston Pops Performance (recorded from TV)
* 20/20 Special : The Music Of The Jedi (1983) (recorded from TV)
* Kennedy Honors John Williams (recorded from TV)
* Oscar Montage (recorded from TV)

I enjoyed the 2nd disc because there was lots I hadn't seen before .
I particularly loved the 1993 Boston Pops segment and the interview was also very interesting .
The quality of the image differs because of the age of the recordings but it was still very watchable
none the less . Don't expect HD ...

Man of Steel
After all the talk here, I decided to see Man of Steel for myself. I can see that some may like it, but it's just not a film for me. Superhero movies have never really been a genre (?) that I liked very much, but this one was just painful. Endless battles and explosions and flying vehicles ... I didn't care one bit about anything. I've had it with superhero movies.

Gravity
I did see it again yesterday (two months after the first view) because it is so awesome. What a tense and exciting experience.

Like Father Like Son
It's advertised here like everyone knows the director, but it seems not many do. Anyhow, it's an interesting story and he takes the time to explore. Very quiet and often moving. The father was the most interesting character and while it's difficult what to expect from him as a father what to do in such moment, I must say I would be like him as well, even though the movie hinted that the other father somehow did "a better job". If that makes sense.

If anything, Man of Steel feels (to me) like a nail in the genre's coffin. Thank goodness we still have Marvel around to keep the fun in things.

I liked the film, it appears to be a typical fantasy film when you see the trailer, but undereath it all it's more than fantasy, it's personal drama. The fantasy shows the reality just differently

I liked the score and the film
And Zooey's just so gorgeous

Recently I've only seen Gravity (loved it!!) and Smaug (loved it too!).
I was a bit pissed that Thor The Dark World was in theatres here for only six weeks or somerthing... must be the Hobbit taking up three screens and then all the Christmas animation and feelgood movies. I wanted to hear Tylers score in the theatre but I was so busy I wanted to wait until the Christmas break... too late unfortunately.

The hyperfast rotation of films in The Netherlands annoys me anyway.
You simply generally can't take your time: you better go within three weeks or it's GONE!

I almost never go to the cinema any more and this is a major reason.

My trainer watches it and he loves it.
So... there you go.

Spader's great, but I was hoping for more from the show. The episodes seemed too episodic and didn't have enough forward motion for me.

Agreed. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. A collective groan went around the house after the "explanation" in the pre-credits sequence. And almost a cheer (definitely a sigh of relief) once that sequence was resolved.

I read elsewhere that the actual terrorist threat was a bit weak but, for me, it was all about how they were going to explain the climax of the previous series. And without really knowing if we've heard the definitive answer doesn't matter too much to me - which is a huge round of applause to the writers for making me not feel cheated at not getting a definitive answer!

As you say, I wouldn't mind it it was not mentioned again.

The new score was interesting to hear. From what I remember, it does sound as though there was more of an emphasis on non-orchestral scoring? Looking forward to hearing the new CD due out at the end of the month.