* Did you watch a film last night (on Blu or DVD), and what was it? *

[NorthStar]

The Huntsman: Winter's War

I much preferred the first original one.

"This spin-off of "Snow White and the Huntsman" acts as both prequel and sequel to the original film, detailing the adventures of Eric the Huntsman as he gets caught up in the rivalry between wicked queens Ravenna and Freya. During his quest, Eric is also endangered by his feelings for fellow warrior Sara, since ice queen Freya has decreed that love is forbidden in her kingdom."

Still entertaining (not really) if not a little too lacking in zest.

- Starring:
Chris Hemsworth
Charlize Theron
Emily Blunt
Nick Frost
Sam Claflin
Rob Brydon
Jessica Chastain

- Music by James Newton Howard
- Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael

It's a great cast; just too bad that something was missing...perhaps in the direction.

I admit; I was more influenced by the cast and the production (special effects), plus I'm sort of a completist...having and liking the first one on BR.
Yes it could have been bettered and was rightly "spanked" by many 'short sighted' film critics...but there is some redemption from the Blu.

Overall (film and technical merits): 65 See if you disagree; you'll never know if you and your family don't try.
And yes I know...only 17 @ Rotten Tomatoes. But here my overall score includes the Blu's picture/photography and sound attributes...plus the costumes and special effects. Without those ... 45. With only those ... 85. The balance is in your own hands.

Last word: @ the end you're not missing by skipping it.

 

[Ronm1]

The Huntsman: Winter's War


I much preferred the first original one.

Same here

 

[NorthStar]

I'll have to revisit...

 

[Ronm1]

Bob
Its the issue with slot of sequels. The uniqueness wears off and the adult bent to the tale, in this case, has worn off. At least for me.

 

[NorthStar]

Ron, then we'll just go back to 1937 ...
the first full-length cel animated feature film and the earliest Disney animated feature film (based on the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm).
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)

"In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry and is ranked in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films, who also named the film as the greatest American animated film of all time in 2008. Disney's take on the fairytale has had a huge cultural impact, resulting in popular theme park attractions, a video game, and a Broadway musical."

______

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be the first full-length cel animated feature in motion picture history, and as such Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother and business partner Roy Disney and his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it, and the Hollywood movie industry referred to the film derisively as "Disney's Folly" while it was in production. He had to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which eventually ran up a total cost of $1,488,422.74, a massive sum for a feature film in 1937.

At this time, Disney also encouraged his staff to see a variety of films. These ranged from the mainstream, such as MGM's Romeo and Juliet (1936) — to which Disney made direct reference in a story meeting pertaining to the scene in which Snow White lies in her glass coffin — to the more obscure, including European silent cinema. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as the two Disney films to follow it, were also influenced by such German expressionist films as Nosferatu (1922) and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), both of which were recommended by Disney to his staff. This influence is particularly evident in the scenes of Snow White fleeing through the forest and the Queen's transformation into the Witch. The latter scene was also inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), to which Disney made specific reference in story meetings.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre on December 21, 1937, to a wildly receptive audience, many of whom were the same naysayers who dubbed the film "Disney's Folly". The film received a standing ovation at its completion from an audience that included Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich.

The film was a tremendous critical success, with many reviewers hailing it as a genuine work of art, recommended for both children and adults. Although film histories often state that the animation of the human characters was criticized, more recent scholarship finds that most reviewers praised the realistic style of the human animation, with several stating that audiences will forget that they are watching animated humans rather than real ones."
______

The full Wiki link above is fascinating. It's worth reading to the interested ones in animated film and cinema history.

 

[YashN]

Its the issue with slot of sequels. The uniqueness wears off and the adult bent to the tale, in this case, has worn off. At least for me.

Sequels, Prequels, Spin-offs, Alternate Timelines, Crossovers, all for the money-grab and agenda implementation and usually not much in story-line and originality.

 

[Ronm1]

Disney's Snow White holds a special place for me as it was the first movie I saw in a theater. '51 I believe five at the time

 

[Ronm1]

From my library
Papillon

 

[NorthStar]

Disney's Snow White holds a special place for me as it was the first movie I saw in a theater. '51 I believe five at the time

I've read that...impressive.

I don't remember which was the very first full animated film I saw @ the theater. None in the 50s, none in the 60s...and I cannot remember which in the 70s.
But I am still relatively young because in 1951 I wasn't even born yet. :b

I do remember those, but that is much later on than 1951 (the three in the 80s...1982 - 1981 - 1982):

---------

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* Pink Floyd - The Wall has only few animated segments.

 

[NorthStar]

---------

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1968, 1967, 1965 ... I'm just not sure, but I think not.

 

[NorthStar]

Last night I wanted a dose of Italian art, or from Bernardo Bertolucci or from Federico Fellini ... two of my favorite film 'maestros'.
Pretty much all the films from these two cineastes are a visual feast. You can start watching anyone and you'd be under the spell...you can't stop watching...for me.

I revisited this one:

I posted brief reviews of The Last Emperor (1987) in the past. I have no idea which number (rating score) I gave it last time, I just know the score today from revisiting it last night...overall (film and magic): 92

"Based on the true story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of Imperial China, Bertolucci's remarkable film traces the life of a man who was crowned at the age of three - his every whim catered for by an army of courtiers - through his virtual imprisonment in the Forbidden City, to his re-education as a humble citizen of communist China."

* @ home we have our hi-fi stereo sound systems and are passionate about our music collection on vinyl.
I am as passionate on my movie collection on Blu. They both give us a richness in our senses that was created artistically by humans using microphones and cameras aiming @ artists performing their chops (instruments, voices, ...) @ various world venues/decors/vistas to suit our taste just the way to elevate our happiness.
This, is sure one of them...it's the Coltrane of cinema.
________

- Music by: Ryuichi Sakamoto · David Byrne · Cong Su
- Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
- Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

- Awards: Academy Award for Best Picture · Academy Award for Best Director · Academy Award for Best Cinematography · BAFTA Award for Best Film · Academy Award for Best Original Score · Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing · Academy Award for Best Production Design · Academy Award for Best Costume Design · Academy Award for Best …
________

I like the music of Carlos Santana; I have many albums (LPs, CDs, SACDs, DVDs, Blu-rays) in my music/video library. I also like Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Chaplin.
I like black and white cinema muet, black and white music, black and white Federico Fellini, Bernardo Bertolucci's films including 'The Last Emperor'.

 

[NorthStar]

Another revisit last night; Amarcord (1973)

A film masterpiece doesn't lose its luster even after multiple viewings, to the contrary, it gains even more power. It's the same with multiple music listening...
We are reborn each and every day, and in that perspective time is irrelevant, and life's appreciation is higher of not only the new but also of the older classics.
Are you following my drift? Of course you are; that's why we're so passionate about the music and films we love.

Overall (all): 93.5
_____

"In this movie Fellini portrays his home town of Rimini as he remembered it in the 30's, during his young days. Many bizarre but very warm and human characters and specific Mediterrenean humour made this movie the most popular of all Fellini's works."

- Director: Federico Fellini
- Music by: Nino Rota · Carlo Savina
- Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno

- Awards: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film · New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film · David di Donatello for Best Director · David di Donatello for Best Film · National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film · New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director

* The film's title (pronounced [amar?k?rd]) is a Romagnol neologism for "I remember".
? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarcord

Last word: Magic good humor and memories.

This Criterion Collection BR is the best picture presentation you can get @ home, unless you have the master original tape locked somewhere in a vault...good lock.

 

[MadFloyd]

I've never seen a Fellini film. I should!

Last night I saw Goodnight Mommy


It's in German with English subtitles. I love European film pacing - tjey take their time. This is an intriguing story reminiscent of a certain American director but to even tell you who might reveal too much. You're better off knowing nothing (as I did) going into the film. Film is under 2 hours and I was never bored. It's not a horror film to me but it's somewhat marketed that way. Recommended.

 

[Ronm1]

^^^
Bob 'Last' is an excellent film a favorite for sure.

Nevada Smith
In the Heat of the Night

 

[NorthStar]

I've never seen a Fellini film. I should!

...One of the greatest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Fellini

"Known for his distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness, he is recognized as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. His films have ranked, in polls such as Cahiers du cinéma and Sight & Sound, as some of the greatest films of all time. Sight & Sound lists his 1963 film 8½ as the 10th greatest film of all time.
In a career spanning almost fifty years, Fellini won the Palme d'Or for La Dolce Vita, was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, and directed four motion pictures that won Oscars in the category of Best Foreign Language Film."

My recommendations to you Ian (best films to start with):

• La Dolce Vita (1960)
• 8½ (1963)
• Amarcord (1973)

"Personal and highly idiosyncratic visions of society, Fellini's films are a unique combination of memory, dreams, fantasy and desire. The adjectives "Fellinian" and "Felliniesque" are "synonymous with any kind of extravagant, fanciful, even baroque image in the cinema and in art in general". La Dolce Vita contributed the term paparazzi to the English language, derived from Paparazzo, the photographer friend of journalist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni).

Contemporary filmmakers such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Emir Kusturica, and David Lynch, have cited Fellini's influence on their work.

I vitelloni (1953) inspired European directors Juan Antonio Bardem, Marco Ferreri, and Lina Wertmüller and had an influence on Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973), George Lucas's American Graffiti (1974), Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and Barry Levinson's Diner (1987), among many others. When the American magazine Cinema asked Stanley Kubrick in 1963 to name his favorite films, the film director listed I Vitelloni as number one in his Top 10 list."
______

 

[NorthStar]

Havana Moon | The Rolling Stones (2016)

Back to the Stones...in Havana, Cuba:

That was pretty good...solid presentation from the most well known rock solid band in the entire world.
Short of being there live this is the next best thing, on Blu (comes with a pair of CDs too).
The photography is good, very good, the sound quality is good for a live music concert...in hi-res audio surround (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1).
The Cuban audience is top notch...and no small affair.
? Overall (the total Stones live experience on Blu): 89.9

"For the first time ever in their 50 year long career, The Rolling Stones played in Havana, the capital of Cuba.
The movie shows how music can work as tool of social improvement."

• http://www.rollingstones.com/havanamoon/

Last word: The flame is alive; it'll never die. The Stones are still Rolling big time. If you're a fan you'll get another jolt, right there in your guts.

______
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Tonight:

Yes, in (((3D))) this time around.

 

[Ronm1]

Day of the Jackal followed by
The Jackal

 

[NorthStar]

Which one do you prefer best Ron?

 

[Ronm1]

Zinneman's but I did like them both. A classic. Bruce playing vs type in one and I really Longsdale as the det first time I had seen him in a film when I saw this I the early 70's. Went on to play a Bond heavy.

 

[NorthStar]

Late last night, revisited, but in 3D this time: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 3D

I prefer the 3D dimension over the 2D vision. But that's nothing new coming from my eyes...I'm a multi-dimensional type of guy, so 3D suits me perfectly.
As for the UHD/4K version for 2-Dimensional videophiles? That would be next...for the triple dipping.
And Dolby Atmos (or DTS:X) audio in both 2D and 3D? Who knows when Disney is going to join in. Right now time is all on their side because they know their customers; they'll repurchase the same film in separate time releases...2D, 3D, 4K and Atmos. No way Disney is going to include it all in one ultimate version from the get go, just no way because Star Wars has to make money first, lots and lots of money. It's good for their investors and good for Disneyland's economy. Plus their cruises. ...And us? Yeah, what about us; it's up to us to outsmart Disney with our patience. And today, who's got some of that...patience?
Hey, this title alone costed me $70 (double dipping). I blame me, not Disney. Disney is in the business of revenues, me I'm in the business of contributing to them revenues.
They provide entertainment with great visuals and sounds and I get entertained big time for big bucks.

Ok, out with the business facts now. Let's get it on with the content of this new 3D version...

I've already saw this flick back in the spring...first week of April. It was ok, nothing extraordinary, but fun nonetheless if not a little childish for my own taste, and I do understand the Star Wars "wave" for fans...younger fans...and older ones too. The technical aspects were top-notch.
Now in 3D the envelope just went another layer higher, another dimension was added...visually with depth, substance, physicality. That's the way 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' should be viewed...in my honest and visual opinion. But the 4K version ain't here yet, and I bet it will be also a real treat.

Anyhow, as of now this is the version to have for the 3D fans like me. Getting rid of this obsession is simply futile... :b

Overall (film merit, acting, 3D visuals, surround audio, the full package): 89
High recommendation.

* I will be revisiting it...I know I will because the visual extra dimensional immersion is very good.
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Choose your 3D weapon (light saber goggles):