Movies: Talk About What You've Seen Lately--Part 3 - Page 770 - The Lounge Discussion and Review on Literature, Arts, Culture

I recently watched Cronos, Blade II, and Pacific Rim with Guillermo Del Toro's director commentaries. It's really interesting hearing him talk about his weird movies.

Anyone know of any movies with excellent director commentary? I would highly recommend those three if you're into listening to people talk about movies.

04-04-2016 , 05:03 PM

#19227

BigPoppa

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That is a good question. I like commentaries that don't suck. Actor commentaries almost always suck (it was cold!, we had doughnuts!), and many director commentaries suck (this shot was really expensive!).

What are some good commentary tracks?

04-04-2016 , 05:07 PM

#19228

dogmother1776

journeyman

Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 244

All the Simon Pegg movies I've seen have great commentaries. Hot Fuzz actually has a commentary track with Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino.

The Alien Anthology has a bunch of good ones too.

04-04-2016 , 05:57 PM

#19229

diebitter

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Quote:

Originally Posted by BigPoppa

The Thing (1982)
Joe Bob Brigg's commentary on I Spit on your Grave (I'm not kidding)
Spinal Tap Commentary of actors in character ('he's dead...', 'why do you keep saying that, it's depressing...')
True Romance - Tarantino

04-04-2016 , 05:59 PM

#19230

diebitter

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Some of the universal horrors have some great commentaries by film historians. Standouts are Dracula (1931), Bride of Frankenstein, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. They're all pretty good though.

04-04-2016 , 06:29 PM

#19231

Clovis8

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Quote:

Originally Posted by BigPoppa

The Martian is what a blockbuster feel good movie should be, and it didn't have a single CGI fight scene.

So this.

04-04-2016 , 06:47 PM

#19232

DC2LV

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Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 3,185

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baltimore Jones

Haven't seen either but it feels like they'd be dated now. Do check out Kramer vs. Kramer vs. Godzilla if you get a chance though.

Why do you "feel" that Sophie's Choice would be dated?

04-04-2016 , 06:48 PM

#19233

Anzat

adept

Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,141

Adaptation has another good Streep performance, in a supporting role though.

04-04-2016 , 08:11 PM

#19234

samuri8

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The problem with the Martian, although I still enjoyed it, is that Matt Damon is one of the least funny people I can think of. Those bits take away from the rest of the movie which was good overall I thought.

04-04-2016 , 09:19 PM

#19235

biggerboat

you're gonna need one

Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 49,007

The Lost Weekend An alcoholic goes on a bender. Yep, that's pretty much it. Well, there is a devoted girlfriend, a fed up brother, a disgusted bartender, some Irish pawn shop owners, a nosy neighbor, a bunch more alcoholics, and a heart of gold hooker. But really, it's about an alcoholic on a bender.

This gets pretty high ratings but it just didn't do it for me.

04-04-2016 , 11:49 PM

#19236

ITT666

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Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,663

Quote:

Originally Posted by samuri8

Wasn't Stuck on You a comedy?

Granted I have never seen it, sounds like I shouldn't.

04-05-2016 , 12:00 AM

#19237

Clovis8

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10 Cloverfield Lane

I thought this was pretty genius. It has a few "holy F*ck" moments to rival most films. Great suspense and tension. Amazing this is a first time director. The score is the one to beat for this years Oscar. The end fails a little but otherwise a great movie.

Grade: B+

Last edited by Clovis8; 04-05-2016 at 12:08 AM.

04-05-2016 , 12:02 AM

#19238

rbenuck4

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Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2,416

Quote:

Originally Posted by samuri8

His cameo in Eurotrip, and I'm ****ing Matt Damon, are hilarious.

My ringtone for several years was "Scotty doesn't know,"

04-05-2016 , 12:28 AM

#19239

chopstick

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The problem with The Martian is that it is a bad movie.

04-05-2016 , 01:38 AM

#19240

Baltimore Jones

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Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 5,835

Kramer vs. Kramer vs. Godzilla is a reference to a film by the fictional Spinal Tap director (Marty DiBergi).

Quote:

Originally Posted by diebitter

And yea, that in-character commentary is amazing. Love the 'he's dead' thing. Just as funny or funnier than the movie itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC2LV

Why do you "feel" that Sophie's Choice would be dated?

Oscar bait:

[x] Holocaust
[x] Meryl Streep
[x] depressing
[x] human triumph (I assume)

But yea I'd watch it if it was as a double feature with Postcards From the Edge (mediocre Streep 1990 dramedy) or something.

I realize this doesn't address the "dated" thing one bit.

04-05-2016 , 01:58 AM

#19241

Baltimore Jones

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Might legit buy the Hateful Eight soundtrack on iTunes. :'(

04-05-2016 , 02:45 AM

#19242

riverboatking

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David fincher does awesome commentary, highly recommend.

04-05-2016 , 05:06 AM

#19243

thethethe

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominic

I just found a movie on Netflix that was absolutely, astoundingly brilliant.

Codebreaker, Clare Beavan & Nic Stacey, 2011

It's a movie about the life of Alan Turing - but not that one - you know, the one starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Codebreaker is both drama and documentary, mixed together, to form one unique, visually stunning and impeccably acted film.

We've all seen documentaries that use recreations for dramatic purposes, but this movie gores even further - you have the normal interviews with real people from Turning's life, his biographer, family, etc. But Codebreaker also uses feature film-quality dramatic scenes with Turing and his psychiatrist, taken from journals of that doctor.

The two leads are played brilliantly by Ed Stoppard and Henry Goodman, and Stoppard as Turing especially stands out.

You'd think mixing a documentary and feature film drama like this would be clunky, bu the filmmakers are incredibly self-assured and do not once misstep.

Excellent film.

I saw this a while back and really enjoyed it.

If you're interested in Turing, this is a fascinating documentary on Gordon Welchman. He was another genius codebreaker at Bletchley, who, although credited (with Turing) of shortening the war by years, is virtually unknown.

04-05-2016 , 06:05 AM

#19244

RichGangi

Laughable false & highly douchey

Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 9,567

Sophies Choice is a must see. Yeah, it's not the most uplifting film, but it is great. I like to feel feelings sometimes tho. Meryl Streep is the GOAT actress imo.

04-05-2016 , 06:36 AM

#19245

diebitter

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Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 65,994

No way is she better than Raquel Welch in 1 Million Years BC

04-05-2016 , 10:29 AM

#19246

Eeyorefora

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Quote:

Originally Posted by diebitter

No way is she better than Raquel Welch in 1 Million Years BC

No doubt,as an actor,Rachel moved me more.

At age 12.

Well, part of me.

04-05-2016 , 04:27 PM

#19247

petesgotaces

old hand

Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,733

The Walk (2015): About a tightrope walkers journey, ending in him crossing the span between the twin towers. This is based on a true story.

Found this movie to be very entertaining/funny. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the french tightrope walker Philippe Petit. I think Levitt has really become a star. His acting in this was top notch.

This film does drag on a bit at the end, but def. worth the watch. It is a very inspirational movie.

Solid A grade film.