Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2023) - Music Diaries

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

geologist wrote:

I'm not so good at describing these things in detail, and I only discovered the BSO recording a few days ago as well, but I'll give a few thoughts Razz

The Sanderling 15th is the only one I'm really familiar with, and while the playing is undoubtedly excellent I'm not such a fan of the sound quality. Too much reverb and its tone is a bit dark for my tastes. Also strikes me as a bit more tragic than the BSO recording, which seems more neutral to me. But mostly I must stress the great sound quality. Don't think I've ever heard this piece in such expressive, crystal clarity. Just take a listen to that explosive moment in the overwhelming fourth movement. The meandering, puzzling strings converging into (after a brief pause) sheer epiphany, like all of life's elusive perplexity and transcendence being spat all back out at you. It's pretty easy to find on Spotify, I think it's my favorite recording of the 15th.

Thank you geologist, as always youre excellent at explaining your views/reasons/insights imo. I'm not sure I agree with you -- at least whole heartedly -- on this one though I can see where you're coming from I think. I haven't heard all of it yet but I do agree that it is indeed superb technically and superbly recorded. I play tested it some and will get around to checking it out a bit more completely. I agree about Sanderling's being extra tragic and dark (not to mention very "hyper-realistic" with an "immediacy" that can be lost in recordings which sound too over-practiced, too pre-meditated) which is why I think it may be the best ever recorded (for me it tends to come down to that one or Haitink). For my tastes (from some sample listening, need to listen to more), the BSO one is indeed excellently recorded (better than Haitink and Sanderling in terms of sound quality, and maybe even more technically honed than Sanderling; perhaps toss up with Haitink in this regard). But imo it is a bit mannered with a little too much phrasing and tempo fluctuation in the individual instrumental playing and this upsets the steady flow/momentum and transforms the symphony somewhat. Perhaps Haitink's shows best why this is so essential, because it (imo, correctly) gives the first movement an underlying subtext of a "military march", an undercurrent to the proceedings regardless of the constant change of tone/scene that Shostakovich seems to be revisiting about his life. In the slower movements this transitions to a funeral march. The first has a very satirical tone to it where it's as if his life felt forced upon him by sinister oppressive forces (so any comedic touches or cheerfulness take on an extra "forced" tone), and the 2nd and 4th movements take on not just the heavy depression and elongated grief of funeral marches but also a "beast of burden" subtext, a continuation of the external military force oppressing his life as in the first movement. If the conductor overly frees and individualizes the instrumental playing, gets a little bit too mannered in the phrasing, this subtext can be hampered or lost, which I think is essential to the work.
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AfterHours

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Facetious wrote:

Curious as to what you'll think of the show Westworld compared to the film.

Also, are you keeping an updated Action Films list somewhere?

It's hard to find the time to get around to TV shows but I may check out some of Westworld. A lot of people say it's better than the film, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're right.

I think I have a pretty recent (from the past year or so) Best Action Films list somewhere -- somewhere buried in this log and/or Movies and TV forum -- though neither entirely updated. I'll post one soon as that is among my focuses right now and it could use an update.
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AfterHours

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Working on this, recommendations/discussion welcome...

Best Action/Adventure and (Action/Adventure) Thriller Films

IN-PROGRESS...

* = Arguable genre selection, may be removed upon revisit or if I tweak the genre qualifications a little bit.

9/10
<<<<<8.8>>>>>
*North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)

8.5/10
<<<<<8.4>>>>>
*Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) ["The Complete Metropolis", 147 minutes]

8/10
<<<<<8.2>>>>>
*Love Exposure - Sion Sono (2008)
The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969) [Director's Cut, 145 minutes]
<<<<<8.1>>>>>
*Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford Coppola (1979)
<<<<<8.0>>>>>
*Once Upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone (1968)
<<<<<7.9>>>>>>
*Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
The Seven Samurai - Akira Kurosawa (1954)
*Oldboy - Chan-wook Park (2003)
Bullet in the Head - John Woo (1990)
<<<<<7.8>>>>>
*Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino (1992)
Leon: The Professional - Luc Besson (1994) [Original Cut, 110 minutes; Extended Cut: 7.4/10]
Natural Born Killers - Oliver Stone (1994) [Director's Cut, 123 minutes]

7.5/10
<<<<<7.7>>>>>
*Rashomon - Akira Kurosawa (1950)
<<<<<7.6>>>>>
Face/Off - John Woo (1997)
Hero - Zhang Yimou (2002)
*The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston (1948)
*Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles (1955) [Comprehensive Version, 105 minutes]
*Bonnie & Clyde - Arthur Penn (1967)
*The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953)
*Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpah (1974)
<<<<<7.5>>>>>
Death Wish 3 - Michael Winner (1985)
King of New York - Abel Ferrara (1990)
<<<<<7.4>>>>>
*Inglorious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino (2009)
*Frantic - Roman Polanski (1988)
The Getaway - Sam Peckinpah (1972)
*City of God - Fernando Meirelles (2002)
Dirty Harry - Don Siegel (1971)
*Salvador - Oliver Stone (1986)
Baby Driver - Edgar Wright (2017)
*The Game - David Fincher (1997)
The Killer - John Woo (1989)
Hard Boiled - John Woo (1992)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - George Miller (1981)
*Ran - Akira Kurosawa (1985)
Scarface - Howard Hawks (1932)
Star Wars - George Lucas (1977)
*To Catch a Thief - Alfred Hitchcock (1955)
*The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sergio Leone (1966)
<<<<<7.3>>>>>
LA Confidential - Curtis Hanson (1998)
Emperor of the North - Robert Aldrich (1973)
The Terminator - James Cameron (1984)
*Deliverance - John Boorman (1971)
*Uncut Gems - Josh and Benny Safdie (2019)
*Strange Days - Kathryn Bigelow (1995)
*Heat - Michael Mann (1995)
*Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Guy Ritchie (1998)
Mad Max - George Miller (1979)
La Femme Nikita - Luc Besson (1990)
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Don Siegel (1956)
The General - Buster Keaton (1926)
*Ghostbusters - Ivan Reitman (1984)
Brawl in Cell Block 99 - S. Craig Zahler (2017)

(Several entries below this point are missing and will be added once remembered or revisited. A number have already been included on additional sections below)

7/10
<<<7.2>>>
Mission: Impossible III - J. J. Abrams (2006)
Princess Mononoke - Hayao Miyazaki (1997)
Minority Report - Steven Spielberg (2002)
*The French Connection - William Friedkin (1971)
*The Parallax View - Alan Pakula (1974)
*Back to the Future - Robert Zemeckis (1985)
*Scarface - Brian DePalma (1983)
*Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - George Roy Hill (1969)
Mars Attacks! - Tim Burton (1996)
Assault on Precinct 13 - John Carpenter - John Carpenter (1976)
Hot Fuzz – Edgar Wright (2007)
Exiled - Johnnie To (2006)
Total Recall - Paul Verhoeven (1990)
*Duel - Steven Spielberg (1971)
Time Bandits – Terry Gilliam (1981)
King Kong - Merian C. Cooper / Ernest B. Schoedsack (1933)
<<<7.1>>>
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – Edgar Wright (2010)
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Steven Speilberg (1980)
The Fifth Element - Luc Besson (1996)
21 Jump Street - Phil Lord; Christopher Miller (2012)
*Falling Down - Joel Schumacher (1993)
*Children of Men - Alfonso Cuaron (2006)
A Better Tomorrow - John Woo (1986)
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner (1980)
*Jaws - Steven Spielberg (1975)
*Dark City - Alex Proyas (1998)
Escape From New York - John Carpenter (1981)
Run Lola Run - Tom Twyker (1998)
*O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Joel Coen (2000)
*Saving Private Ryan - Steven Spielberg (1998)
*The 39 Steps - Alfred Hitchcock (1935)
*Miller's Crossing - Joel Coen (1990)
*The African Queen - John Huston (1951)
*All Quiet on the Western Front - Lewis Milestone (1930)
*Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein (1925)
<<<7.0>>>
The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan (2008)
True Lies – James Cameron (1994)
Lawrence of Arabia - David Lean (1962) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Robocop - Paul Verhoeven (1987)
Batman Returns - Tim Burton (1992)
Wall-E - Andrew Stanton (2008)
Conspiracy Theory - Richard Donner (1997)
First Blood - Ted Kotcheff (1982)
The Matrix - Lana Wachowski; Lilly Wachowski (1999)
*Full Metal Jacket - Stanley Kubrick (1987)
Logan's Run - Michael Anderson (1976)
*Charley Varrick - Don Siegel (1973)
Enemy of the State - Tony Scott (1998)
Inside Out - Pete Docter (2015)
Platoon - Oliver Stone (1986)
Lethal Weapon - Richard Donner (1987)
Die Hard - John McTiernan (1988)
Goldfinger - Guy Hamilton (1964) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
*South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Trey Parker (1999)
*Night of the Living Dead - George Romero (1968)
*Kagemusha - Akira Kurosawa (1980)
*Soylent Green - Richard Fleischer (1973)
*Outbreak - Wolfgang Petersen (1995)
Predator - John McTiernan (1987)
In the Line of Fire - Wolfgang Petersen (1993)
*For a Few Dollars More - Sergio Leone (1965) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Toy Story - John Lasseter (1995)
*The Wizard of Oz - Victor Fleming (1939)
*Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo (1988)
*The Untouchables - Brian De Palma (1987)
Das Boot - Wolfgang Peterson (1981)
Runaway Train - Andrei Konchalovsky (1985)
*Bullitt - Peter Yates (1968)
<<<<<6.9>>>>>
*Death Wish - Michael Winner (1974)
*Get Carter - Mike Hodges (1971)
*Road to Perdition - Sam Mendes (2002)
Inception - Christopher Nolan (2010)
Planet of the Apes - Franklin J. Schaffner (1968)
Everything Everywhere All at Once - Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (2022) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
*Shaun of the Dead - Edgar Wright (2004)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day - James Cameron (1992)
Alice - Jan Svankmajer (1988)
*Interstellar - Christopher Nolan (2014)
Galaxy Quest - Dean Parisot (1999)
*1917 - Sam Mendes (2019)
*28 Days Later - Danny Boyle (2002)
Toy Story 3 - Lee Unkrich (2010)
John Wick - Chad Stahelski (2014)
Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller (2015)
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - Richard Marquand (1983)
The Towering Inferno - John Guillermin (1974) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Mission: Impossible - Brian De Palma (1996)
They Live - John Carpenter (1988)
Sin City - Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (2005)
*Ransom - Ron Howard (1996)
*Gremlins - Joe Dante (1984)
From Russia With Love - Terrence Young (1963) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
<<<<<6.8>>>>>
The Crow - Alex Proyas (1994)
Dr. No - Terrence Young (1962) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
District 9 - Neill Blomkamp (2009)
*Fistful Of Dollars - Sergio Leone (1964) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Peter Jackson (2003) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Dirty Dozen - Robert Aldrich (1967)
Romancing the Stone - Robert Zemeckis (1984)
Pinocchio - Ben Sharpsteen (Walt Disney) (1940)
The Adventures of Baron Manchausen - Terry Gilliam (1988)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - George Miller (1985)
*The Karate Kid - John Avildsen (1984)
Toy Story 2 - John Lasseter (1999)
The Killer Elite - Sam Peckinpah (1975) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Men in Black - Barry Sonnenfeld (1997)
Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron (2013)
Enter the Dragon - Robert Clouse (1973)
*Godzilla - Ishiro Honda (1954) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Police Story - Jackie Chan (1985)
The Matrix Reloaded - Lana and Lilly Wachowski (2003)
*Westworld - Michael Crichton (1973)
The Neverending Story - Wolfgang Petersen (1984)

6.5/10
<<<<<6.7>>>>>
*Rocky IV - Sylvester Stallone (1985)
Rush Hour - Brett Ratner (1998)
*The Revenant - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (2015) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Logan - James Mangold (2017)
Mission: Impossible — Fallout - Christopher McQuarrie (2018)
Prometheus - Ridley Scott (2012)
Gladiator - Ridley Scott (2000)
<<<<<6.6>>>>>
Snowpiercer - Joon-ho Bong (2014)
Speed - Jan de Bont (1994) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Death Proof - Quentin Tarantino (2007)
We Were Soldiers - Randall Wallace (2002) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
*Titanic - James Cameron (1997)
The Rock - Michael Bay (1996)
<<<<<6.5>>>>>
Death Wish 2 - Michael Winner (1982)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Peter Jackson (2001) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Fugitive - Andrew Davis (1993)
The Running Man - Paul Michael Glaser (1987)
Robocop 2 - Ivan Kershner (1990)
*Miami Vice - Michael Mann (2006) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Avatar - James Cameron (2009)
Darkman - Sam Raimi (1990)
Alien: Resurrection - Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1997)
<<<<<6.4>>>>>
Road House - Rowdy Harrington (1989)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - George Lucas (2005) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Patriot Games - Phillip Noyce (1992) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Clear and Present Danger - Phillip Noyce (1994) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Labyrinth - Jim Hensen (1986)
The Lion King - Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (1994)
The Little Mermaid - Ron Clements and John Musker (1989)
Edge of Tomorrow - Doug Liman (2014)
Oblivion - Joseph Kosinski (2013)
Batman - Tim Burton (1989)
The Dark Knight Rises - Christopher Nolan (2012)
<<<<<6.3>>>>>
*Enemy Mine - Wolfgang Petersen (1985)
*Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Ang Lee (2000) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Bourne Ultimatum - Paul Greengrass (2007)
War of the Worlds - Steven Spielberg (2005)
Toy Story 4 - Josh Cooley (2019)
Backdraft - Ron Howard (1991)
*Jaws 2 - Jeannot Szwarc (1978)
*The Martian - Ridley Scott (2015)
Batman Forever - Joel Schumacher (1995)

6/10
<<<<<6.2>>>>>
Jurassic Park - Steven Spielberg (1993)
Spiderman 2 - Sam Raimi (2004)
Aladdin - Ron Clements and John Musker (1992)
Tron - Steven Lisberger (1982) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Bourne Supremacy - Paul Greengrass (2004)
Braveheart - Mel Gibson (1995) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Starship Troopers - Paul Verhoeven (1997) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Abyss - James Cameron (1989)
<<<<<6.1>>>>>
*The Batman - Matt Reeves (2022)
Hook - Steven Spielberg (1991) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Deadpool - Tim Miller (2016)
The Bourne Identity - Doug Liman (2002)
Convoy - Sam Peckinpah (1978)
*The Simpsons Movie - David Silverman (2007)
*In Time - Andrew Nicchol (2011) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Waterworld - Kevin Reynolds (1995)
*The Firm - Sydney Pollack (1993)
Up - Pete Docter (2009)
<<<<<6.0>>>>>
Spiderman - Sam Raimi (2002)
*Shrek 2 - Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon (2004)
Spiderman 3 - Sam Raimi (2007)
*American Made - Doug Liman (2017) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Dick Tracy - Warren Beatty (1990)
From Dusk Til Dawn - Robert Rodriguez (1996) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Desperado - Robert Rodriguez (1995) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Twister - Jan De Bont (1996) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Armageddon - Michael Bay (1998) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Back to the Future II - Robert Zemeckis (1989) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
*Dune - David Lynch (1984) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Speed Racer - Lana and Lilly Wachowski (2008)
Guardians of the Galaxy - James Gunn (2014) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Hard Target - John Woo (1993) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Goldeneye - Martin Campbell (1995) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Commando - Mark Lester (1985)
Black Hawk Down - Ridley Scott (2001) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Legend - Ridley Scott (1985) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
<<<<<5.9>>>>>
Cowboys and Aliens - Jon Favreau (2011) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Peter Jackson (2002) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Stargate - Roland Emmerich (1994) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom - Steven Spielberg (1984)
*The Panic Room - David Fincher (2002) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Casino Royale - Martin Campbell (2006)
Con Air - Simon West (1997) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
<<<<<5.8>>>>>
The Princess Bride - Rob Reiner (1987) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Beverly Hills Cop - Martin Brest (1984) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Men in Black II - Barry Sonnenfeld (2002) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
The Perfect Storm - Wolfgang Petersen (2000) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Wild Wild West - Barry Sonnenfeld (1999) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Judge Dredd - Danny Cannon (1995)
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol - Brad Bird (2011)
Back to the Future III - Robert Zemeckis (1990) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Dredd - Pete Travis (2012) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Dune - Denis Villenueve (2021)

5.5/10
<<<<<5.7>>>>>
*V for Vendetta - James McTeague (2005)
Last of the Mohicans - Michael Mann (1992)
<<<<<5.6>>>>>
Willow - Ron Howard (1988)
<<<<<5.5>>>>>
Finding Nemo - Andrew Stanton (2003)
Crimson Tide - Tony Scott (1995) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 - Quentin Tarantino (2003) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
*Six Days Seven Nights - Ivan Reitman (1998)
Batman Begins - Christopher Nolan (2005)
<<<<<5.4>>>>>
Shrek - Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson (2001)
Conan the Barbarian - John Milius (1982)
*Deep Impact - Mimi Leder (1998) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Ip Man - Wilson Yip (2008)
<<<<<5.3>>>>>
Superman - Richard Donner (1978)
The Incredibles - Brad Bird (2004)
Knight and Day - James Mangold (2010)
Wonder Woman - Patty Jenkins (2017)
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens - J.J. Abrams (2015) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Top Gun: Maverick - Joseph Kosinski (2022)
*Cool World - Ralph Bakshi (1992)

5/10
<<<<<5.2>>>>>
Independence Day - Roland Emmerich (1996) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Aliens - James Cameron (1986) [Original Theatrical Cut, 137 minutes; Extended "Special Edition" Cut, 154 min: 5.0/10]
<<<<<5.1>>>>>
Air Force One - Wolfgang Petersen (1997) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Broken Arrow - John Woo (1996) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Black Panther - Ryan Coogler (2018)
<<<<<5.0>>>>>
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Steven Spielberg (1997)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Steven Spielberg (1989)
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation - Christopher McQuarrie (2015)
Rambo: First Blood Part II - George P. Cosmatos (1985)
Ip Man 3 - Wilson Yip (2015)
Ip Man 2 - Wilson Yip (2010)
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi - Rian Johnson (2017) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 - James Gunn (2017) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Top Gun - Tony Scott (1986)
Kill Bill, Vol. 2 - Quentin Tarantino (2004) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
GI Jane - Ridley Scott (1997) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***[/i][/b]
<<<<<4.9>>>>>
King Kong - Peter Jackson (2005) [remake] ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Jupiter Ascending - Lana and Lilly Wachowski (2015)
<<<<<4.8>>>>>
The Land Before Time - Don Bluth (1988)
The Mask - Chuck Russell (1994)
Iron Man - Jon Favreau (2008)
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker - J.J. Abrams (2019) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***

4.5/10
<<<<<4.7>>>>>
Jurassic World - Colin Trevorrow (2015) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
<<<<<4.6>>>>>
Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace - George Lucas (1999)
Rambo III - Peter MacDonald (1988)
<<<<<4.5>>>>>
*The Day After Tomorrow - Roland Emmerich (2004) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Godzilla - Roland Emmerich (1998) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Jurassic Park III - Joe Johnston (2001) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
<<<<<4.4>>>>>
<<<<<4.3>>>>>
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - George Lucas (2002) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Steven Spielberg (2008) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Batman & Robin - Joel Schumacher (1997) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Pearl Harbor - Michael Bay (2001) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***

4/10
<<<<<4.2/10>>>>>
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - Jonathan Mostow (2003)
<<<<<4.1/10>>>>>
Mission: Impossible II - John Woo (2000)
<<<<<4.0/10>>>>>
*The Iron Giant - Brad Bird (1999)
<<<<<3.9/10>>>>>
<<<<<3.8/10>>>>>
Robocop 3 - Fred Dekker (1993) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
*Super Mario Bros. - Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel (1993) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***

3.5/10
<<<<<3.7>>>>>
Alice in Wonderland - Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske (1951)
<<<<<3.6>>>>>
Bloodsport - Newt Arnold (1988)

3/10
Gymkata - Robert Clouse (1985) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***

2.5/10
<<<<<2.7/10>>>>>
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Steve Barron (1990)

Add...
Cobra
Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3
Karate Kid 2, 3 ... Do they qualify??? (Not as much "martial arts action" as the first, which barely qualifies if it even does)
Fists of Fury
Drunken Master
Hitchcock thrillers that qualify
XMen movies
Jaws 3, 4?
Under Siege and other Seagal
Jet Li
Other Jackie Chan: Rumble in the Bronx...
Van Damme Timecop, Universal Soldier etc
Mummy movies including Cruise's
Jack Reacher 1, 2
Does Pulp Fiction maybe (barely) qualify? Goodfellas maybe? Mean Streets maybe?
Gattaca qualify?
Catch Me if You Can?
Other Harrison Ford ... Witness enough of an "action" thriller?
Shane? The Searchers? Stagecoach? Unforgiven? Tombstone?
Naked Gun and sequels?
Hot Shots 1 and Part Deux (satires on Rambo etc)
Airplane qualify as "action-disaster"?
Adventures of Robin Hood (Eroll Flynn)
Excalibur? (Boorman)

To See / Recs...
Facetious: RRR (and other S.S. Rajamouli films) for the action list? I would also recommend the Bollywood classic Sholay, and a lesser known but extremely campy Pakistani action (/comedy?) International Guerillas (which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAQlYGeprhk)[
Domme: How to Train Your Dragon

John Wick 2, 3, 4
A lot of (ugh) MCU movies
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

Last edited by AfterHours on 03/13/2023 21:50; edited 17 times in total

Facetious

Gender: Male
Age: 24
Location: Somewhere you've never been

Planning to get around to RRR (and other S.S. Rajamouli films) for the action list? I would also recommend the Bollywood classic Sholay, and a lesser known but extremely campy Pakistani action (/comedy?) International Guerillas (which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAQlYGeprhk)

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Facetious wrote:

Planning to get around to RRR (and other S.S. Rajamouli films) for the action list? I would also recommend the Bollywood classic Sholay, and a lesser known but extremely campy Pakistani action (/comedy?) International Guerillas (which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAQlYGeprhk)

Thank you - not sure if I'll get to these this round or not but I'll add them to my messy "to add" / "to see" section below the list of selections! What would you rate them?
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Piero Scaruffi quote he posted on one of his cinema pages...

The State of Cinema in 2022

Godard once said: “The dream of Hollywood is to make one film, and it's television that makes it, but it is distributed everywhere”. That’s precisely what happened in the 21st century. Hollywood started making the same movie over and over again (car chase, love story, super-hero) often through an endless series of sequels. What movies were lacking in imagination they compensated with effects. Ironically, the flood of new titles via the new medium of “streaming”, the sheer abundance of choice, had nullified art. The audience didn’t rebel. Instead it slowly but steadily got numb to the utter un-originality of the movies, even addicted to predictability in the plot. By the 2020s, the number of people capable of understanding a nuanced, complex, sophisticated film plummeted, and so it had become a vicious circle: the studios were making utterly pointless movies for an audience that demanded precisely that kind of movie, the exact same one, over and over again. The youngest in that audience had been raised on YouTube videos (and soon on even shorter TikTok videos). No surprise that many of the youngest valued videogames more than movies: there was a lot more complexity in videogames than in Hollywood movies. The more competent critics were accused of being out-of-touch with most moviegoers, and pretentious at best. This ended up favoring a new generation of critics who were equally unpretentious and incompetent. People hated the critics who were trying to warn people about the dangers of watching only inanity. People hated the critics who didn’t share their opinions, as if the role of the critic was merely to repeat what people posted on social media and on rating websites, i.e. blindly praise the most publicized and better distributed films, typically the blockbuster films, obviously a much easier job than watching 100s of films from all over the world.

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Perhaps a future wide scale copypasta on the way?

Whether one feels he overstates the issue or not, there is little doubt he has a point. The utter inanity of so many trivial and repetitive "billion dollar blockbusters" (above all, the MCU films) dominating the theaters is especially annoying to those who want to see a more varied and artistic selection of films given wider release on the big screen. This has been declining precipitously since the 2000s and probably hit a peak (besides the 60s and 70s) in the late 90s (just take a gander at all the artistically ambitious and great films released widely in, say 1999, for proof; it is a completely different game now, certainly for the worse in regards artistic ambition).
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Facetious

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AfterHours wrote:

Thank you - not sure if I'll get to these this round or not but I'll add them to my messy "to add" / "to see" section below the list of selections! What would you rate them?

RRR and Sholay would be 7.5 (tentatively) for me, International Gorillay probably a 6.5-7 but very intriguing in a "so bad it's good" way.

DommeDamian
Imperfect, sensitive Aspie with a melody addiction

Gender: Male
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AfterHours wrote:

Piero Scaruffi quote he posted on one of his cinema pages...

The State of Cinema in 2022

Godard once said: “The dream of Hollywood is to make one film, and it's television that makes it, but it is distributed everywhere”. That’s precisely what happened in the 21st century. Hollywood started making the same movie over and over again (car chase, love story, super-hero) often through an endless series of sequels. What movies were lacking in imagination they compensated with effects. Ironically, the flood of new titles via the new medium of “streaming”, the sheer abundance of choice, had nullified art. The audience didn’t rebel. Instead it slowly but steadily got numb to the utter un-originality of the movies, even addicted to predictability in the plot. By the 2020s, the number of people capable of understanding a nuanced, complex, sophisticated film plummeted, and so it had become a vicious circle: the studios were making utterly pointless movies for an audience that demanded precisely that kind of movie, the exact same one, over and over again. The youngest in that audience had been raised on YouTube videos (and soon on even shorter TikTok videos). No surprise that many of the youngest valued videogames more than movies: there was a lot more complexity in videogames than in Hollywood movies. The more competent critics were accused of being out-of-touch with most moviegoers, and pretentious at best. This ended up favoring a new generation of critics who were equally unpretentious and incompetent. People hated the critics who were trying to warn people about the dangers of watching only inanity. People hated the critics who didn’t share their opinions, as if the role of the critic was merely to repeat what people posted on social media and on rating websites, i.e. blindly praise the most publicized and better distributed films, typically the blockbuster films, obviously a much easier job than watching 100s of films from all over the world.

_____________________________

Perhaps a future wide scale copypasta on the way?

Whether one feels he overstates the issue or not, there is little doubt he has a point. The utter inanity of so many trivial and repetitive "billion dollar blockbusters" (above all, the MCU films) dominating the theaters is especially annoying to those who want to see a more varied and artistic selection of films given wider release on the big screen. This has been declining precipitously since the 2000s and probably hit a peak (besides the 60s and 70s) in the late 90s (just take a gander at all the artistically ambitious and great films released widely in, say 1999, for proof; it is a completely different game now, certainly for the worse in regards artistic ambition).

Uuuuuhhh get rekt corrupt critics. Scaruffi back at it again spitting facts yo.

But no seriously, I absolutely agree with all of this. I hope people realize that it's actually quite fun to watch movies that challenges you and stuff. One of the biggest mistakes and at the same time, greatest realizations of 2022 for me, was to watch all the 28 (at the time) MCU movies. By the end, even I got tired of the same old same old stuff. And now I feel dirty, as if I have just supported the evergrowing capitalism, instead of watching so many of the recommended movies the italian guy has listed.
And yes, 1999, was a beautiful year for movies. There will never be another Fight Club. And counterpoint, movies are also now bound to political correctness as well (and I'm not talking about the fact that they cannot say "you're gay" anymore, moreso talking about underdeveloped stereotypical female/black characters who are heroic because of their gender or race color but in reality has no personality).

If you are on the focus of adventurous films, have you seen (practically) my favorite movie How To Train Your Dragon (2010)?
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

Facetious wrote:

RRR and Sholay would be 7.5 (tentatively) for me, International Gorillay probably a 6.5-7 but very intriguing in a "so bad it's good" way.

Thanks, even if my ratings tend to be a little bit lower than yours (1/2 point or so?), as they usually are, they sound like they could still be worthwhile additions.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male
Location: originally from scaruffi.com ;-)

DommeDamian wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

Piero Scaruffi quote he posted on one of his cinema pages...

The State of Cinema in 2022

Godard once said: “The dream of Hollywood is to make one film, and it's television that makes it, but it is distributed everywhere”. That’s precisely what happened in the 21st century. Hollywood started making the same movie over and over again (car chase, love story, super-hero) often through an endless series of sequels. What movies were lacking in imagination they compensated with effects. Ironically, the flood of new titles via the new medium of “streaming”, the sheer abundance of choice, had nullified art. The audience didn’t rebel. Instead it slowly but steadily got numb to the utter un-originality of the movies, even addicted to predictability in the plot. By the 2020s, the number of people capable of understanding a nuanced, complex, sophisticated film plummeted, and so it had become a vicious circle: the studios were making utterly pointless movies for an audience that demanded precisely that kind of movie, the exact same one, over and over again. The youngest in that audience had been raised on YouTube videos (and soon on even shorter TikTok videos). No surprise that many of the youngest valued videogames more than movies: there was a lot more complexity in videogames than in Hollywood movies. The more competent critics were accused of being out-of-touch with most moviegoers, and pretentious at best. This ended up favoring a new generation of critics who were equally unpretentious and incompetent. People hated the critics who were trying to warn people about the dangers of watching only inanity. People hated the critics who didn’t share their opinions, as if the role of the critic was merely to repeat what people posted on social media and on rating websites, i.e. blindly praise the most publicized and better distributed films, typically the blockbuster films, obviously a much easier job than watching 100s of films from all over the world.

_____________________________

Perhaps a future wide scale copypasta on the way?

Whether one feels he overstates the issue or not, there is little doubt he has a point. The utter inanity of so many trivial and repetitive "billion dollar blockbusters" (above all, the MCU films) dominating the theaters is especially annoying to those who want to see a more varied and artistic selection of films given wider release on the big screen. This has been declining precipitously since the 2000s and probably hit a peak (besides the 60s and 70s) in the late 90s (just take a gander at all the artistically ambitious and great films released widely in, say 1999, for proof; it is a completely different game now, certainly for the worse in regards artistic ambition).

Uuuuuhhh get rekt corrupt critics. Scaruffi back at it again spitting facts yo.

But no seriously, I absolutely agree with all of this. I hope people realize that it's actually quite fun to watch movies that challenges you and stuff. One of the biggest mistakes and at the same time, greatest realizations of 2022 for me, was to watch all the 28 (at the time) MCU movies. By the end, even I got tired of the same old same old stuff. And now I feel dirty, as if I have just supported the evergrowing capitalism, instead of watching so many of the recommended movies the italian guy has listed.
And yes, 1999, was a beautiful year for movies. There will never be another Fight Club. And counterpoint, movies are also now bound to political correctness as well (and I'm not talking about the fact that they cannot say "you're gay" anymore, moreso talking about underdeveloped stereotypical female/black characters who are heroic because of their gender or race color but in reality has no personality).

If you are on the focus of adventurous films, have you seen (practically) my favorite movie How To Train Your Dragon (2010)?

Thanks Domme, nope I haven't seen How to Train Your Dragon, so I'll add it to the recs and hope to check it out (as well as for when I get back around to updating my animated list)
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