Thread: At the movies - what are you watching? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by Off Centre View (# 4254) on :
 
The summer movie blockbuster season is upon us again - have you seen any movies you've either particularly enjoyed or disliked? Are you planning to go see something you're particularly excited by (maybe even a smaller scale film)?

* 've been to see a couple of films recently, including Iron Man 3 (fun with an amusing twist, but kind of forgettable)and Star Trek Into Darkness (very entertaining popcorn movie, but felt like the build-up to something more rather than complete in itself). * 'm next hoping to see the new Superman film, Man of Steel, which * hope will be a lot better than the very weird Superman Returns.

What are you watching at the movies?

[ 21. September 2014, 11:35: Message edited by: jedijudy ]
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
On Monday Mr Marten and I went to see Behind the Candelabra, which I enjoyed very much. Both Michael Douglas and Matt Damon were excellent, the costumes and sets were fabulous, and it actually was quite a moving love story.

I remember seeing Liberace on the TV quite a lot as my mum was a fan!
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
Oh, oh, I can't wait to see that, Pine Marten!

A friend and I went to see Gatsby and loved it in spite of a few irritating liberties taken with the novel. I'm glad we saw it at the movies and didn't wait for the DVD. Big powerful stories deserve the big screen. I'm sure Liberace does, too.
 

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Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :
 
My last two cinema trips were to see the early Doctor Who films during half term, they were accompanied by lectures on Daleks (given by a close friend) and it was very enjoyable to revisit the wobbly sets/hand drawn scenery/blatant sexism/Julian Clary lookalikes etc.
The Liberace film is definitely on top of my to do list, it sounds wonderful
 

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Posted by Taliesin (# 14017) on :
 
Has anyone seen the will Smith and son movie, after earth ?

The critics are slating it, but I just want to enjoy the CGI.
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado about Nothing'* opens next week. Our local Shakespeare company is hosting a special first-night showing.I'm looking forward to attending.

(*Yes, I know it's William Shakespeare's and that Joss Whedon is just the director!)
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I've just finished seeing 40 movies at the Seattle Film Festival.

Much Ado About Nothing was good, although it really gets moving when the physical comedy starts. Be prepared for American accents.

20 feet from Stardom profiles the Black Backup Singers who have sung with The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, Elton John. It gives you a new perspective on songs you've heard so often that they are elevator music.

Five Dances is a dance rehearsal film about a gay 18 year old dancer trying to make it in New York City. The lead is an amazing dancer.

The Bling Ring is a fictional account of a group of Los Angeles teenagers who started a robbery spree targeting their favorite celebrities like Paris Hilton. Drugs, Shoes and mindlessness.

BlackFish is an alarming documentary about psychotic orcas held at Sea World theme parks.

Populaire is a French comedy version of Pygmalion about a speed typist in 1958.

Frances Ha! is a new Noah Baumbach comedy about a dancer in New York City who is failing to survive as her friends become successful. It's a weird cross of King Of Hearts and Woody Allen Comedies

Key of Life is a Japanese comedy about a failing actor who ends up exchanging lives with a mob hit man.

Putzel is a comedy about a New York Lox seller who can't leave the upper West Side, before he meets the right girl.
 

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Posted by Gill H (# 68) on :
 
I found Behind the Candelabra thought-provoking and terribly sad. The performances are wonderful.

Don't eat before you go, though. They don't warn you about some rather icky plastic surgery scenes.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
We've seen the blockbusters, but the last film we saw was Peeples , a small comedy produced by Tyler Perry. It was at a second-run house and we were the only ones in the cinema Monday afternoon. It was our anniversary and we wanted something to do before dinner when we both had the day off. It was nice to see some old friends like Melvin van Peebles, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson and Diahann Carroll in character roles. It was much better than Meet the Fokkers which may have inspired it.
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Much Ado About Nothing was good, although it really gets moving when the physical comedy starts. Be prepared for American accents.

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It's an American film with American actors -- what were you expecting?


(P.S. I speak with an American accent myself having lived in the U.S. all my life.)
 

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Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :
 

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Much Ado About Nothing was good, although it really gets moving when the physical comedy starts. Be prepared for American accents.

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It's an American film with American actors -- what were you expecting?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Much Ado About Nothing was good, although it really gets moving when the physical comedy starts. Be prepared for American accents.

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It's an American film with American actors -- what were you expecting?


(P.S. I speak with an American accent myself having lived in the U.S. all my life.)

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Originally posted by Hedgehog:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Much Ado About Nothing was good, although it really gets moving when the physical comedy starts. Be prepared for American accents.

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It's an American film with American actors -- what were you expecting?

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Possibly the worst of all possible worlds: American actors pretending to do an English accent a la Dick Van Dyke. :shudder:

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Originally posted by Twilight:

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Originally posted by Hedgehog:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Much Ado About Nothing was good, although it really gets moving when the physical comedy starts. Be prepared for American accents.

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It's an American film with American actors -- what were you expecting?

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Possibly the worst of all possible worlds: American actors pretending to do an English accent a la Dick Van Dyke. :shudder:

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Americans see British actors doing American accents every day, in movies and all over our prime time TV. It might be time to get over Dick Van Dyke doing a cockney accent in "Mary Poppins." It's been half a century.

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Originally posted by deano:
Anyhoo, I think old Willy Shakespeare’s plays contain messages that are universal, so if Americans do a version of one of his plays and it’s good enough to stand up there with the best then fine. If Russians, Chinese, Indian or Tanzanians do a version of one of his plays is good enough to stand up there with the best then that is also fine.

Shakespeare can be performed anywhere, not just in the Globe Theatre. If old Willy were alive today he’d be in Hollywood writing the next Arnie, Sly, and Bruce blockbuster, but it would be better than blockbusters being written nowadays.

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Originally posted by deano:
Yeah, but our actors are better. Sorry.

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Originally posted by Taliesin:
Has anyone seen the will Smith and son movie, after earth ?

The critics are slating it, but I just want to enjoy the CGI.

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
There are times however when Shakespeare is not always universal. Shakespeare in the Bush

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Originally posted by leo:
A film simply called 'F'...

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I saw the British National Theater Live encore of Helen Mirren as the Queen in the Audience.

It was funny and she was fabulous.

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I saw the British National Theater Live encore of Helen Mirren as the Queen in the Audience.

It was funny and she was fabulous.

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Me too! That woman is amazing.

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[tangent]
I still remember with pleasure seeing Helen Mirren play a wondrously voluptuous Cleopatra with the National Youth Theatre when she was all of - ooh - 20? . About 4 years later I saw her play Castiza in The Revenger's Tragedy in Stratford...she is definitely lovely!
[/tangent]
 

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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
I don't get to watch many films, but the last one we saw was Die Farbe des Ozeans (Color of the Ocean) by Maggie Peren, about a German tourist on the Canary Islands who is confronted with a boat of almost dying refugees coming from the African coast.

Parts of the story were a bit simplistic, but some of the characters in the film present an interesting mix-up of good and bad within them.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 

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Originally posted by Pine Marten:
I still remember with pleasure seeing Helen Mirren play a wondrously voluptuous Cleopatra with the National Youth Theatre when she was all of - ooh - 20? . About 4 years later I saw her play Castiza in The Revenger's Tragedy in Stratford...she is definitely lovely!

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Originally posted by leo:
A film simply called 'F'.

The basic story is of a school teacher who is assaulted a pupil, not backed up by the school's 'leadership team, who needs to a drink a bottle of whiskey before he can face a class again. he loses it.

That is true to experience - I speak as a trade union rep. who has had to deal with such cases.

Then it morphs into a horror film with marauding pupils going about killing teachers.

Somnewhat ridiculous from this point on.

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Has anyone here ever seen Shock Treatment, the sequel to RHPS? I've only heard of it recently and am not at all sure...

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Originally posted by JoannaP:

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Has anyone here ever seen Shock Treatment, the sequel to RHPS? I've only heard of it recently and am not at all sure...

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Mr P says that it is dreadful. Apparently it was a first draft but the studio refused to wait for the finished script so just filmed it.

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Originally posted by Stetson:
I watched Killer Joe, about a horrible family in Texas doing horrible things.
Based on a play by Tracy Letts, who also penned William Friedkin's last outing, Bug(Killer Joe is better). I'm also wondering if this will be the last film directed by Friedkin, who never quite revisited the artisitic or critical heights of The Exorcist.

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:

I wonder if Keaton is as ditsy in her real life as she always appears in reel life.

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Originally posted by jedijudy:
I heard Helen Mirren, thanks to being treated to a movie by Daughter-Unit! She voiced Dean Hardscrabble in "Monsters University". It was a cute animated movie. It also had a lesson attached for youngsters, demonstrating hard work as a hopeful route to achieving one's dream.

"Monsters University" was a nice way to spend an afternoon, especially in the company of my beloved D-U!

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I went to see Monsters university this week when it arrived in our rural town - without cover of a small person.

I saw a very different lesson about valuing who you are, and your own particular gifts, even in the face of dismissal and/or bullying from others. And was pleased that they missed the too obvious ending showing a vocational as well as academic option (even if just in the fast forward at the end)
 

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Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
Re: Indian films. There was a run not that long since of non-Bollywood type Indian films of all vintages on UK Channel 4. Some great films, and a good reminder that not all films made in India have to be musicals. I've still got Nayak, a version of Strangers on a Train sat on my DVR awaiting some attention.

I was watching Dangerous Liasons last night. I'd forgotten that Peter Capaldi was in it (as Valmont's man servant). That man gets everywhere.
 

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Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
Went to see The Lone Ranger on Friday just because I could - I'm not sure I'd have gone if it hadn't had Johnny Depp in it. It had lovely scenery and some humour but was a bit gory, but then it is a Western so I guess gore is to be expected. The storyline jumped back and forth around history quite a bit, and I'm not sure it worked as well as was probably intended. Not a film I'd see again, nor one I'd necessarily recommend but I didn't feel that I'd wasted the evening.
 

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Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
Recently a friend was raving to me about having finally read Gone With The Wind. I've never read it, and tried to give it a go, checking it out from the local library.

Ye gods. I'll never talk books with that friend again. I made it halfway through Chapter 1 before giving up in utter disgust; the thing is unreadable trash. However, I then decided (please don't ask; these are things I can't explain even to myself) to rent the 1939 movie.

What's worse, I watched the entire thing. I guess in part I was curious, having been reading threads on male feminists and attitudes toward race on the Ship. I kind of wanted to see how Mitchell (assuming the film had something more in common with the novel than its title -- never a safe assumption chez Hollywood) viewed her subject matter.

Amazing: all the happy if slightly mentally-defective "darkies," striving alongside their owners for the preservation of the institution of slavery. At one point, one of these characters mentions that other "servants" "runned away," though there's not the faintest hint as to why, unless it's fear of the invading demon Yanks.

And the main characters -- !! Scarlett is an emotional idiot; Rhett is a rapist (and perhaps predictably, Scarlett falls in love with him after he rapes her); Ashley is a dithering fop; and Melanie is a cardboard saint.

I know; I have no one but myself to blame. I hang my head in shame.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
The one thing that saved the movie for me, other than Vivian Leigh's glorious scenery-chewing, was Hattie McDaniel's going, "if I am stuck being a dumbass mammy character, I am going to be the best damn mammy character you ever seen!" She rocked it. She elevated that shitty, stereotypical role to comedic brilliance. She deserved that Oscar.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
GWTW loses any romance it may have had once you learn that Vivien Leigh had terrible trouble shooting the clinches with Clark Gable because his dentures (!) gave him permanent halitosis...

Hattie McDaniel was brilliant - as was Butterly McQueen as the ditsy Prissy.

As you say, the plot is pretty terrible: the character of Ashley, in particular, is simply unbelievable - and if the character of Scarlet is true then she'd either have strangled Melanie to get at him, but more likely would have realised what a wimp he was and got on with her life.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness has been on TV recently: I'm very torn by the film, which takes appalling liberties with the life-story of Gladys Aylward but it does, at least, tell some of the story of the orphans she led through the mountains. GA came and preached at the church I attended as a child and she was so different from Ingrid Bergman - short and dumpy with dark hair, not a willowy blonde and still with a marked London/Essex accent.
 

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Posted by JoannaP (# 4493) on :
 
This evening we saw The Hammer Horror The Mummy, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, outside at the British Museum. It was great fun, an excellent film, even if not 100% Egyptologically accurate.
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

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Originally posted by JoannaP:
This evening we saw The Hammer Horror The Mummy, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, outside at the British Museum. It was great fun, an excellent film, even if not 100% Egyptologically accurate.

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Originally posted by Firenze:

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Originally posted by JoannaP:
This evening we saw The Hammer Horror The Mummy, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, outside at the British Museum. It was great fun, an excellent film, even if not 100% Egyptologically accurate.

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But does it have anything to match the bit in the Boris Karloff original where you have the Egyptologist gibbering in a corner with the shot of trailing bandages moving across the floor....

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Originally posted by Ariel:
What you lot are missing about Gone With the Wind is that Ashley Wilkes was played by Leslie Howard who was hugely popular back in the day. I didn't belong to that generation, but I had a crush on him myself when younger and even though that's faded, I still think he was a good actor.

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I still have a crush on him. Leslie Howard was one fine sharp dressed man.
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
I never had a crush on Leslie Howard, but... having watched 'sharp dressed man' maybe the lovely Tom Hiddleston could play him in any future Hollywood bio...
 

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Posted by would love to belong (# 16747) on :
 
I haven't seen many new films this year, but I did go and see "Lincoln" and really enjoyed it. So much so that I went to see it a second time and a third time. Much of the brilliant script was lost on me on the first viewing.

I saw Gone With the Wind for the first time aged about 12 in a fleapit in Helensburgh. It didn't make much of an impression on me then, except for the scene where Rhett and Scarlet's little girl (name?) was thrown from her pony and killed.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Bonny Blue Butler (because her father opined that the child's eyes were as "blue as the bonny blue flag"...
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

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Originally posted by Twilight:
I still have a crush on him. Leslie Howard was one fine sharp dressed man.

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But what is SI, Fletcher?

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Originally posted by L'organist:
Just come in from seeing the live feed from the National Theatre of Othello with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear.

Blissful!

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That sound that you can't hear over the internet is me seething with jealousy The live feeds of the National Theatre are always shown on Thursdays, which I can never make. This Othello looked so good; I think there is another Rory Kinnear one late 2013/early 2014. Oh, well.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
Would that I could get them here. I work for the local opera company and still have my student ID: we will see Pinafore with decent seat in a few weeks and Flying Dutchman in November.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Tonight it was the turn of The Birdcage - Gene Hackman is just stunning in drag! I am always more impressed with Nathan Lane's performance than I am with Robin Williams.

I think I still prefer La Cage aux Folles [perhaps next week] but this is about as good as a remake gets.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
Last night was about escapism : R.I.P.D. with Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.

Pure tosh - bliss
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
We saw James Gandolfini's last film earlier this week. It was great: no stunts, no CGI, just a man and a woman trying to carry on a romantic relationship without interference from their families. Well worth driving more than 12 miles to see!
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
This week my copy of Dr Strangelove arrived - years since I've seen it but still good fun with an early-ish appearance by James Earl Jones. George C Scott gives probably the best performance of the lot. Nice to see Peter Bull, the fellow arctophile, again.
 

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Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 

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Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
This week my copy of Dr Strangelove arrived

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Now that was a really good film.
 

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Posted by Clarence (# 9491) on :
 
I'm not sure what the distribution outside of Australia might be, but on the weekend FD and I saw The Turning, the adaptation of Tim Winton's book of interwoven short stories of the same name.

The best way to describe it is like going to an art gallery of films. Each of the stories was directed by someone different and the whole effect is extraordinary.

I'm still thinking about it two days later.
 

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Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
I recently watched The Hours, expecting to be impressed as usual by Meryl Streep. I wasn't disappointed; she was impressive. But I was blown away by Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman.

Kidman as Virginia Woolf was especially astonishing. Can't remember what, if anything, else I've seen her in, but until now I've thought of her as just another blonde glamourpuss.

So wrong.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
So glad you saw that. That is one I have watched over and over... yes, all three women in the principal roles are outstanding.

I also like Toni Collette's little turn as the popular socialite friend who isn't as together as she seems. She took me from despising her to weeping for her. And Claire Danes's moments as the daughter. That film is like an actress Fantasy Football league.
 

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Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
Having now watched another film (but B or C-level -- what was her agent thinking?) with Kidman in the major role, I suspect a good script and a good director are what she needs to tap into her own ability.
 

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Posted by Late Paul (# 37) on :
 
Just watched Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing.

I enjoyed it. It doesn't topple the Branagh/Thompson version as my favourite but it has a lot to commend it. For one, in most productions I've seen Claudio is a bit of a blank slate. He's there to move the plot along but you're usually watching the other characters. Here Fran Kranz made the part come alive in a way I've not quite seen before. Also I think the key scenes between Beatrice and Benedict - especially the one centred around 'kill Claudio' - work exceptionally well.

In any case I suspect the Branagh is my favourite due to seeing it at an impressionable age, and when I was falling for someone.

Oh and Sean Maher as a villian? Perfect! How come he's not doing that all the time?
 

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Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :
 
A friend has been lending me all the Babylon 5 episodes, and I've just watched the third film that they made, A Call to Arms, in which President Sheridan foils a plot to destroy Earth - almost. The idea was to set up a second five year series, with the people of Earth under threat of a bio-engineered plague and Our Heroes searching for a cure, but it was never taken up.
I liked it, and thought it was the best of the three Babylon Five films.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

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Originally posted by Porridge:
Having now watched another film (but B or C-level -- what was her agent thinking?) with Kidman in the major role, I suspect a good script and a good director are what she needs to tap into her own ability.

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Check her out in The Others and Cold Mountain. Both really meaty, complex roles, although more so in the former.

[tangent]A bunch of us were discussing female facial expressions off board-- here's the thing-- I think a number of directors (especially of the B variety)have their actresses hold a certain look for the camera that will produce the most stunning shot-- not necessarily the one that will allow the actress in question to express the required emotion the most fully. Because Kidman is so flipping gorgeous, I fear she has been put in that position- they only allow her to stare dreamily into the lights, just so.[/tangent]

Back to "The Hours" alumnae-- I really was moved by Julianne Moore's performance. Her agony was apparent, and her attempts (in character)to be authentic while sticking to the 50's housewife script were masterfully executed.

If you want to see her kick more thespian ass, check out "Safe." It's a very strange, Kubrick- esque character study/ social commentary revolving around a woman who gets a mysterious chemical sensitivity condition in the early 80's. Moore does a fantastic job of portraying this rather spiritless, over-impressionable, easily-lead woman who finally thinks about what she wants and needs when her body completely breaks down. The film also has a meta-statement about the various trends in medicine and pseudo-medicine at the onset of the AIDS epidemic.
 

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Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
Oh, I'd forgotten The Others. Genuinely creepy, and yes, Kidman pretty much walked off with it. I've added Safe to my Netflix queue.

[ 14. October 2013, 01:52: Message edited by: Porridge ]
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
Well the Seattle Gay Film Festival has started. So far I saw a great documentary on Divine, a film about a 40 year old broke lesbian film maker living in a garage and making film and 4 films about gay men who have gone straight and had a kid when a gay lover shows up.
There was a horrifying documentary about being Gay in Cameroun where it's illegal.

Tonight's film was "Reaching for the Moon" a film about the Poet Elizabeth Pike and her Brazilian lover who was an Architect who built Flamengo park in Rio.

The one I'm looking forward to is a new documentary about Moms Mabley directed by Whoopi Goldberg.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
They made a film about Divine???

Oh wait, sorry misread that. They should make a film about Divine, anyway.

[ 14. October 2013, 17:10: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

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Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :
 

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I also like Toni Collette's little turn as the popular socialite friend who isn't as together as she seems.

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Originally posted by no prophet:
Boogie Nights made me uncomfortable with Julianne Moore. The circumstances of watching it were such that I could not simply leave, but would have if I could have.

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Things get dark and grim when drugs and AIDS come on the scene.)

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Originally posted by Stetson:
Kelly wrote:

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Things get dark and grim when drugs and AIDS come on the scene.)

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If I recall correctly, Boogie Nights doesn't actually get into AIDS, and the chronology might actually stop, possibly on purpose, right before it became a major health issue.

And the drugs are present right from the get-go(eg. the ODed women at the pool party), but it's only in the second half that they begin any serious negative impact on the lives of the characters we're following.

For the most part, I think, the misfortunes that befall the characters in the 80s are more a case of their 70s proclivities starting to bear bitter fruit, eg. Dirk spirals further into addiction, Little Bill finally snaps over his wife's philandering, Amber and the cowboy discover that their cinematic careers can have negative impact on other areas of their lives, etc. Admittedly, Horner's descent into cheeziness and exploitation(as compared to his earlier efforts at legitimacy) are shown as related to the video boom.

I agree about the pacing. It's on especially wonderful display in the "Wonderland" scene, when they rob the drug dealer.

EDIT: Just checked, and according to wiki, the story ends in 1985, well after AIDS had hit the public consciousness. Still don't recall it being mentioned in the film, though.

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My mention of drugs becoming more of an issue-- yeah, it was present from the beginning, but it seemed like the 1980's new year party was a real turning point in Dirk's drug story-- is knowing that at the beginning of the 80's, cocaine use suddenly spiked and became hugely problematic, not just for individuals but for the whole drug culture.

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it seemed like the 1980's new year party was a real turning point in Dirk's drug story

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(And while AIDS was not "officially" discussed until about 1985, as you say, it was very much in the public consciousness from about 1981 on, particularly in highly urban areas like NYC, LA and San Francisco, where activists were already setting up clinics and awareness campaigns.)

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Perhaps some of my discomfort has to do with blurring lines between pornography and not. Is Boogie Nights pornographic itself? I guess I'd have to say that is not as a whole, but it contains pornographic scenes.

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Originally posted by Francophile:
Just been to see this film.

What a disappointment after the stage version.

The Proclaimers music didn't come alive except maybe the last scene. On the stage, it did.

Most of the external shots were Edinburgh city, not Leith. I'm convinced some were shot in Glasgow.


Don't waste your money seeing this.

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Originally posted by Stetson:
I'd have to come down on the side of saying it's not pornographic. If I recall, there is only one sex scene, Dirk's audition with Amber, and even that is not explicit, when compared to what can be seen in some other more-or-less mainstream films.

I'm sure that it attracted its share of audience members who were just looking for voyeuristic thrills, but they'd probably come away disappointed, and maybe even a little disquieted at just how negative the portrayal of the industry gets towards the end. Think about the Colonel's story arc, where he goes from being seen as this good-natured bon vivant to being an outright child molestor: not exactly the kind of thing you'd put in a film intended to create postive vibes about the porn industry.

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I just saw the new Woody Allen movie "Blue Jasmine". Cate BlanchetT plays a woman who had been married to a shady financier (Alec Baldwin) who has been convicted and now she has to live in a San Francisco apartment with her sister and kids.

It was good, not as good as Midnight in Paris but still a worthwhile if depressing film if only to watch Cate chew the scenery as she goes downhill.

[SNIP]

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Originally posted by Stetson:
Tonight, I re-watched The Village by M. Night Shyamalan

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Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
I'm giving this film a post of its own because there doesn't appear to be a film thread running at the moment.

I saw it a few days ago, and ever since have been making a cerebral list of all the things wrong with it, while at the same time finding myself unable to shake off its visceral impact.

Any comments?

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:


Funny to think that the little baby in that film is nearly 60 by now.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
I saw Philomena a few weeks ago. It was quite good. It could have been syrupy but I didn't find it that way.

---

Yes, that’s true.

Apparently the genre is known in the movie trade as a “womb trembler”, but this particular example fell far short of crass emotional manipulation.

I had at least three reservations about it.

First, the lead character was not integrated, to my mind, but bifurcated into toughness; experience of thirty years as a nurse; and the intrusive powerful, self-possessed persona of Judy Dench, on the one hand, and the ingenuousness (especially the religious naivete); unworldliness, and lack of cultural sophistication, on the other.

Secondly, while the actions of the RCC in the film were inexcusable, the historically ignorant could go away thinking that they were somehow unique, whereas in that era, even young single mothers in secular hospitals could have their babies removed from them straight after birth, and adopted out, without their even ever seeing them, let alone holding them.

Thirdly, part of the film’s anti-religious narrative drive is dependent on the mother’s claim in the film to have thoroughly enjoyed the sex (“Why would God give us such a capacity for pleasure and then punish us for using it?” asks the atheist journalist), but the idea that a sexually ignorant (“I didn’t know then that I had a clitoris”) virgin Irish teenager in the early fifties, having sex for the first time, outside on the ground or up against a wall, is going to have a great orgasm straight off, is a bit hard to believe.
 

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Posted by Smudgie (# 2716) on :
 
I get to see Frozen today
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Ariel, I think most Hitchcock is still eminently watchable.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
So do I. The one I've bought is Notorious, with Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains (where she marries Claude Rains in order to spy on his Nazi activities, despite her being in love with Cary Grant who is the FBI agent giving her orders). I'm really looking forward to seeing this again.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Smudgie:
I get to see Frozen today

---

I saw that with my Daughter and Granddaughter on Friday!

It was a great way to spend time with two of my favorite people. They had both seen it before, and liked it enough to go again.

I think the story was well-told. Frustrating enough to relate to real life, but with the predictable 'magic' that can put a smile on a grandmother's face!
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
Hubs and I watched "The Reader," last night. Last Christmas someone got me the latest version of "Mildred Pierce." We realized we now know Kate Winslet's body better than our own since we've been avoiding mirrors for years.

"The Reader," raises interesting questions about how much we can or should punish war criminals. It also raises the subject of illiteracy and the shame that many people feel over not being able to read. Unfortunately, I didn't think the film delved deeply enough into either question for us to form answers and we were just left depressed by it all.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
The Mrs. and I watched Ender's Game last night and she told me what was left out. The writing was awesome: the original author imagined what we know as present-day technology - the iPad, nearly thirty years ago!

My new facebook friend, Mr. Russel Crowe, sent me a trailer of his new film, NOAH, last night. What a cool birthday present. Really looking forward to it when it hits the screens here in about nine weeks! All-star cast includes SIr Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson and Jennifer Connelly. Re-watching the trailer even as I write...
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Twilight:
Hubs and I watched "The Reader," last night. Last Christmas someone got me the latest version of "Mildred Pierce." We realized we now know Kate Winslet's body better than our own since we've been avoiding mirrors for years.

"The Reader," raises interesting questions about how much we can or should punish war criminals. It also raises the subject of illiteracy and the shame that many people feel over not being able to read. Unfortunately, I didn't think the film delved deeply enough into either question for us to form answers and we were just left depressed by it all.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
[QUOTE]
I had at least three reservations about it.
...

Secondly, while the actions of the RCC in the film were inexcusable, the historically ignorant could go away thinking that they were somehow unique, whereas in that era, even young single mothers in secular hospitals could have their babies removed from them straight after birth, and adopted out, without their even ever seeing them, let alone holding them.

---

quote:

---

David: I endured the latest Hobbit movie a few weeks back. I recognised some of the characters from the book. In the first half, there were even some events that I remembered having read. In the second half, there were about none. Who knew that Tolkien left so much out of the novel?

FFS, I could have read the book in the time it took to watch either of these CGI extravaganzas. I walked away without the faintest intention to see the last one - who knows, there might be another dragon introduced who provides a love interest for Smaug or something as ridiculous.

---

Exactly my thoughts.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
Mr. Russel Crowe posted yet another trailer on my facebook account. Suspect he is under a lot of pressure to make it a roaring big success...
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
Has anyone else seen 'American Hustle'? It was my last movie of 2013 and I really enjoyed it. Great ensemble cast - Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper all highly enjoyable in the biggest roles. For me there was something delicious about watching these characters gradually lose control of the situation they were in and scrambling to get back on top.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Another on my list of films by directors I like that I plan to see. I heard a great review of it on NPR.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
I have just watched 'The Help'. It's about racism in the US.

The cast is nearly all female and there's a sisterhood thing going on where a few white women support black maids to tell their stories of abuse.

The other women believe themselves to be 'society women' while the black maids dance to their attention, obey orders and are treated as dirt. 'Dirt' is the key word in one example of a maid's revenge upon her employer.
 

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Posted by Sherwood (# 15702) on :
 
Going to see the second Hobbit movie on Thursday, finally. I'm looking forward to it, apart from one thing: the spiders.

How real-world-looking are the spiders in the Mirkwood scenes? Also, how long do the spidery scenes go on for, roughly?
 

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Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :
 
Sherwood

Having forgotten the book I didn't realise there was going to be a spider scene in the film! It went on too long for my liking, and there were too many big spiders with horrible spidery legs!

On the plus side, the cobwebs didn't look terribly realistic, at least not to me. And when the scene is over, it's over. None of the characters suffer flashbacks - thought I'm sure I would!

I'm looking forward to seeing '12 Years a Slave' next. I'll save that for February.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
Sherwood, are you related to Tim S., the manager at White Hart Lane?

May see Hobbit movie at the second-run cinema. Must read reviews, read the book eons ago!
 

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Posted by Sherwood (# 15702) on :
 
No, I'm not I'm afraid. I am a fan of Robin Hood*, however!

*The legend as a whole, rather than a specific version.

[ 12. January 2014, 18:29: Message edited by: Sherwood ]
 

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Posted by David (# 3) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
May see Hobbit movie at the second-run cinema. Must read reviews, read the book eons ago!

---

Reading the book turns out to be a hindrance. Or irrelevant.
 

---

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
I watched the Dutch film Nova Zembla a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't like it much. The film jumps through time in a strange way, which detaches the viewer from the story a bit. And it is full of physical impossibilities: for example, the sailors look up from Nova Zembla in August, and see the constellation of Orion
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
When my Granddaughter was staying with me for a few days over Christmas, I had wanted to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" with her. But I couldn't find it anywhere.

Of course, the day after she went home, I found a copy at Sam's Club and bought it.

Saturday was a lazy day for me, and was the perfect time to watch it, even with no Granddaughter to cuddle with. I had remembered the movie being a good one, but this time I was blown away by the story and the acting. Jimmy Stewart has always been a favorite of mine, and just pulled me into George's life.

The bonus features were pretty good, too, explaining how the snow was made when they filmed during a heat wave!
 

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Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :
 
I enjoyed the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, which was partly personal ( I once had a folk-singer friend who also used to play guitar and sing songs such as Shoals Of Herring in the car while I was driving him), but also because it was realistically messy and untidy.

My wife disliked it because it is fairly grim ( reinforced by both the interior and exterior lighting and colours) and she could not summon any sympathy for the “hero”, who is an unmitigated jerk.

It is set in the folk scene of the early sixties, when genuine folk-singers such as Woody Guthrie were in the past, clean-cut family-friendly groups such as the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary are popular (there is a hilarious faux-Irish group in matching Aran pullovers), and Bob Dylan is in the offing.

I think the film’s Llewyn Davis is intended as a harbinger of Dylan (who appears right at the end), the would-be subverter of the genre as it had evolved, though there is no suggestion of electric guitars!

The grotesque John Goodman character didn’t seem to contribute anything to the story – or have I missed something?
 

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Posted by Timothy the Obscure (# 292) on :
 
Actually, Oscar Isaac (who played Llewyn) said that the first thing the Coens told him about how to play the character was "Not Dylan." Llewyn supposedly based on Dave Van Ronk, but resembles him only in a handful of superficial details (as the character of Troy Holmes is obviously modeled on Tom Paxton, but misses out entirely on Paxton's wit and charm).

I liked the movie, though at times I found the darkness annoying and false. I wasn't there in 1961, but the folk music scene as I knew only it a few years later included a lot more fun and friendliness than grim, desperate competitiveness. But that's a gripe about the Coen brothers' aesthetic--in their universe, only the squares enjoy life or are nice to anyone.

Anachronism check: Llewyn uses a Shubb capo, which wasn't invented until 1978.
 

---

Posted by dyfrig (# 15) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by David:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
May see Hobbit movie at the second-run cinema. Must read reviews, read the book eons ago!

---

Reading the book turns out to be a hindrance. Or irrelevant.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Has anyone else seen 'American Hustle'? It was my last movie of 2013 and I really enjoyed it. Great ensemble cast - Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper all highly enjoyable in the biggest roles. For me there was something delicious about watching these characters gradually lose control of the situation they were in and scrambling to get back on top.

---

I wanted to go and see this on Tuesday, but it turned out it was the dubbed version not the English-language version

Hoping to try again on Sunday.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
It's awesome. You can just tell God is sneaking up on this guy, and he'll be lucky (?) to avoid a conversion in the near future.

---

Graham Greene was an interesting cat. I picked up all three volumes of his biography a few years back at a thrift store, Among other things, he seemed to be trying to reconcile his Catholicism with being (in my opinion) genuinely polyamorous.

(ooops, I forgot this was the movie thread.)

[ 14. February 2014, 20:00: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I saw Gravity in 3D. It's pretty good 3D effects. I went with a Russian friend who doesn't deal with English too well, so he was happy for the Russian Soyuz section which was in Cyrillic and we both coped with the Chinese section.

All in all, the character played by Sandra Bullock was fairly annoying in the "unaware girl heading toward the horror film monster" sort of way. If I was in space, I'd be thinking very hard about things like air supply.
 

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Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
I saw Gravity too last week. George Clooney in his space helmet is a dead ringer for Buzz Lightyear! The 3D special effects were indeed good, but I couldn't take the storyline at all seriously, one disaster after another ...


 

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Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :
 
Seen American Hustle now. Well worth it. From my experience, excellent insights into what makes con artists tick and all the related grey moral areas. Would watch again on DVD.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
I just saw Dallas Buyers Club with Matthew McConaughey. He's been picking up some interesting roles lately. In this he plays a cowboy/electrition named Ron Woodroof who came down with AIDS from his trifling with the druggie hookers. He was given thirty days to live. That wasn't an answer he was going to take lying down. So with his native wits and determination he found his way into "drug dealing" of medications not then okayed by the FDA, meds that subdued the symptoms of the disease. Based on a real story.
 

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Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :
 
To be clear, I have enjoyed every film I have ever seen (Except "Thin Red Line" which I walked out of).

With that in mind, went to see "Monuments Men" yesterday and thought it was great. Not too demanding. Some comedy and pathos, some great performances (Bill Murray stole the show twice: "John Wayne" lol) and the moral tale was worth re-telling. Well worth a visit for a relaxing couple of hours.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
We are looking forward to NOAH, starring my facebook friend Russell Crowe next month...
 

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Posted by Cottontail (# 12234) on :
 
I came home late last night and The Servant was on the telly. That is one seriously creepy weird film. Beautifully shot, with haunting black-and-white images, and a camera that was not afraid to linger. Also notable was its play-like qualities, with the bare minimum of background music.

I always loved Dirk Bogarde, and now I love him even more. And kudos too to James Fox in the weaker role that probably took even more acting skills to pull off.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Dirk Bogarde was an exceptional actor. I love him, too.

What am I watching right now, you ask? A big steaming pile of poo called Dusk till Dawn 3. It's twenty minutes in and I am going to shut it off soon, but here's why I started watching it-- it purports to explain the very real life disappearance of author Ambrose Bierce. Made me curious enough to start researching the matter and boy, is it a fascinating story.

Just goes to show, even the suckiest movie can have its benefits.
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
Saw the new Robocop. If you like the original, you should like this one. Neither are great films, but they are not intended to be.
The only caveat is that this one is even more heavy-handed with its message.
Samuel, Samuel, Samuel, are you the modern Peter O'Toole, taking any role offered?
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:

Samuel, Samuel, Samuel, are you the modern Peter O'Toole, taking any role offered?

---

Preach!
 

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Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :
 
How apt! As I type this, here in the U.S. Turner Classic Movies is showing Ship of Fools (1965) with Vivian Leigh, Oskar Werner and, well, about a dozen others. Apparently it won Oscars for Cinematography and Art Direction (in February TCM loads up on Oscar-winning films).
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
First time I saw that the Ship was running the "Calling God to Hell" thread, and I noted the scene where the sailors shouted they would send God to Hell and then proceeded to trash steerage. I said to myself, "Simon is a prophet."
 

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Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
Recently watched Black Swan which apparently won various Oscars last year, though I cannot think why. Aside from some camera work / effects stuff which was convincing and impressive, I was disappointed. Well, both Natalie Portman and the actress playing her mother did well, but the script was incoherent, and it's a pity they didn't give Portman more to do than dash around looking distraught.

Aren't movies required to tell stories any more? They only have to take vague stabs at suggesting what a story might become, if allowed to develop?
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Watching the Independent Spirit Awards. Have seen none of the films honored, but one of them has me sitting straight up in my seat. Anybody out there seen All Is Lost?

Apparently it is a Robert Redford one-man-show about a guy who is trapped in the middle of the ocean on a sailboat with a hole in it. The clips looked galvanizing. Want to see!
 

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Posted by scuffleball (# 16480) on :
 
I was pleasantly surprised by Frozen, having grown accustomed to Disney taking an attitude of "Kids aren't clever enough to tell between good and bad media so let's sell them bland gender-stereotyped plastic crap."

It very much feels like a musical - not as much music as Les Mis but more than Grease. And it shows what can be done in 3D too - no longer the province of expensive films like Avatar but now mainstream. Indeed

I'm not sure why everyone is comparing it to The Little Mermaid in which the protagonists remain incredibly unaware of their failings, be they selfishness or apathy. It reminds me more of The Lion King an original story of epic style with interesting music.

Indeed ISTM there are a lot of Christian themes about the evil of isolation and necessity of communion, as well as about the difference between love as romance and self-sacrifice.

Evangelicals have their own take as a metaphor for works salvation - http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/25/disney-frozen-religious-allegory

This is why it seems a bit sad the way the American religious community has jumped onboard the protagonist's singleness and the plot's rejection of some Disney tropes as some sort of abandonment of family values. Particularly odious is the way said community has inferred lesbianism from the protagonist's singleness - not everyone has to have a sexuality, and sexuality need not be the defining feature of a female character! And even if the character were an lgbt person there wouldn't be anything wrong with that. And there are very real issues with the tropes the movie decides to reject.

Interestingly (intentionally or otherwise) the story has been interpreted as "special powers as an allegory for hidden minorities, esp lgbt people" in the style of X-men's "Have you tried... not beng a Mutant?"

Might there be a "Frozen" Lent Course one day?
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Great review! I am not much for Disney, but now I really want to see this!
 

---

Posted by scuffleball (# 16480) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Great review! I am not much for Disney, but now I really want to see this!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by scuffleball:
I was pleasantly surprised by Frozen, having grown accustomed to Disney taking an attitude of "Kids aren't clever enough to tell between good and bad media so let's sell them bland gender-stereotyped plastic crap."

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Great review! I am not much for Disney, but now I really want to see this!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Watching the Independent Spirit Awards. Have seen none of the films honored, but one of them has me sitting straight up in my seat. Anybody out there seen All Is Lost?

Apparently it is a Robert Redford one-man-show about a guy who is trapped in the middle of the ocean on a sailboat with a hole in it. The clips looked galvanizing. Want to see!

---

I heard really good things about this film, but it didn't seem to get a general release here. The critics on the BBC Film programme were giving their Oscar predictions, and couldn't understand why Redford hadn't got an Oscar nom for his near silent performance.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
FISA gave him a Best Actor nod.

I highly recommend watching the Independent Spirit awards (Shown on the Saturday before the Oscars yearly on the Independent Film Channel) if you want to find news about those under-publicized films that are worth seeing,and if you want to see underappreciated actors/ directors/ etc get their due.

If I were in a position to make a movie, the one film award I would value above all others-- Oscars, BAFTAS, Globes,you name it-- would be the FISA Robert Altman award for the director, casting director and ensemble cast in an ensemble film. I love that they actually have an award to compete for Best Release of Ego.

[ 02. March 2014, 21:45: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

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Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by no prophet:


The second one was Nebraska with Bruce Dern as a father with a single minded vision of what he wants to do. American prairies are different than the Canadian prairies to an extent, but I know people pretty much like the ones depicted. There's an element of extreme versions of the characters, reminding of Fargo.

Both are worth seeing, but I would consider Nebraska one that I would have paid the full theatre price to see, Gravity, not so much.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by no prophet:
We saw 2 recently during the current -40°C or °F cold snap. Both streamed to the TV from the internet TV service.

The first was Gravity, which reminded me of a Star trek Voyager episode Day of Honor where two characters are lost in space together, worrying about oxygen and talking. Gravity has better effects, but the character development of George Clooney's character is weak, and Sandra Bullock's moderate I thought. It doesn't compare well with the Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13 from 1985, which is a better movie in all respects except CGI effects.

The second one was Nebraska with Bruce Dern as a father with a single minded vision of what he wants to do. American prairies are different than the Canadian prairies to an extent, but I know people pretty much like the ones depicted. There's an element of extreme versions of the characters, reminding of Fargo.

Both are worth seeing, but I would consider Nebraska one that I would have paid the full theatre price to see, Gravity, not so much.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
This is a slight tangent.

There's a moving essay in the New York Times on how the writer was reaching my autistic son through Disney
(Paywall after a limited number of articles each month).

Sometimes movies achieve higher purposes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
If you enjoyed "Don Camillo" you may enjoy the books. They've been translated and the first is "The Little World of Don Camillo". The writing certainly evokes the period.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chorister:
Two surprisingly similar films - 'Untouchable', a French film, with subtitles, about the friendship between a disabled man and his carer...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
There's an article in this weeks New Yorker about the making of "Noah". It does make it seem like a violent fantasy which may not please those who are expecting a happy Bible story.

---

It makes more sense than the "happy Bible story" versions. All those cute ark and animal toys and picture books make me want to puke seeing that they totally ignore the genocide going on outside the boat.
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
I saw 12 Years A Slave last weekend.

And now I want to see other films directed by Steve McQueen. Because that man definitely knows what he's doing. A beautiful film, at the same time as being a horrible one.
 

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Posted by Hilda of Whitby (# 7341) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
If you enjoyed "Don Camillo" you may enjoy the books. They've been translated and the first is "The Little World of Don Camillo". The writing certainly evokes the period.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
To recommend a film I hopefully will see this week if my friend doesn't keep postponing....

If you have a teenage boy in tow, you might like to see Miyazaki's latest (and perhaps last) animated film "The Wind Rises" about the a boy who grows up to be the airplane designer who designed the Japanese Zero.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
...

It's not a complete departure from his earlier work. In some ways it reminded me of his earlier film about fantasy raccoons Pom Poko and the younger sister reminds me of the younger sister in "My Neighbor Totoro".

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Many years ago a friend of mine went to a showing of Casablanca at a run down revival theater in Cambridge Mass. where it was a perennial favorite.

---

Sadly, the Brattle St. Cinema has closed.

 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Porridge:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Many years ago a friend of mine went to a showing of Casablanca at a run down revival theater in Cambridge Mass. where it was a perennial favorite.

---

Sadly, the Brattle St. Cinema has closed.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chorister:
Two surprisingly similar films - 'Untouchable', a French film, with subtitles, about the friendship between a disabled man and his carer

---

A must.

Just taken back Ridley Scott's Counselor. Not for the faint-hearted. Would not watch again
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
Mickey Rooney died this Sunday at the age of 93 after a long career of starring in movies. He may have been the last silent movie star still working this year.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
Likely he is! He was the star of the first Annie I worked on as a musical. Unfortunately I never met him, though I did meet Joanne Worley, his co-star (and later, on another production, MacKenzie Phillips.)

I miss him - I really enjoyed his old Andy Hardy films with Judy Garland as his girlfriend!
 

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Posted by Timothy the Obscure (# 292) on :
 
I just watched Cloud Atlas on DVD (missed it in the theaters) and it's made it into my all-time Top Ten, possibly booting Annie Hall to number 11, though I haven't really worked out the exact rankings yet...
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I saw "The Hotel Grand Budapest" today and enjoyed it immensely. It continues in Wes Anderson's mannered style with a much darker tone prior to World War 2.

I enjoyed it a great deal including the extensive end credits.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I saw "The Hotel Grand Budapest" today and enjoyed it immensely. It continues in Wes Anderson's mannered style with a much darker tone prior to World War 2.

I enjoyed it a great deal including the extensive end credits.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
I just hope Part 3 is an improvement.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alex Cockell:
Hmm - so an idea would be to wait till The hobbit in its entirety is on Netflix or Channel 4?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
*There are ~50 pages left at the point of the movie's end.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by fletcher christian:
the source material is gold.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:
Finished watching "The Desolation of Smaug" now and felt disappointed. It's almost entirely fighting, and I agree it's short on plot. I just hope Part 3 is an improvement. The scenes with Smaug went on long enough to become boring, and I ended up fast-forwarding some of them. "I am a wonderful dragon, you cannot escape Me" being the gist of the next half hour. Or at least, it felt like a long time.

---

I didn't mind it actually, and I liked the first Hobbit film. I know nothing about the story, and was bored silly by the LotR films (apart from Sean Bean and other nice elements, oh and Andy Serkis). Martin Freeman is good, but I am shallow enough to mainly watch for the sake of Richard Armitage and Aidan Turner ... oh, be still, my beating heart, and please don't die, Kili...!

My son, however, thought it fairly crap.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
It is notoriously difficult to make the middle volume or movie good. The first one out the gate has all the thrill of discovery and conflict, and the third always has the pleasures of catharsis and winding-up of loose ends. The middle's job is mainly to connect the beginning and the end, and so is very difficult to make free-standing.
In other words, we won't be able to judge the second movie until the third is out.
 

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Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
Just been to see 'Henry V' (Laurence Olivier), a perfect film for St. George's Day. And also the 450th Anniversary of Shakespeare's birth.
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
[pedant alert]

Actually we don't know the exact day Shakespeare was born, but he was baptised on 26th April 1564, and he most definitely died on 23rd April 1616, so it's near enough

...and it's a fine film with which to celebrate!

[/pedant alert]
 

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Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
After recently going through a MOOC on Scandinavian cinema [did no assignments/quizzes...merely enjoyed the lectures] I watched Carl Th Dreyer's 1928 silent movie The Passion of Joan of Arc which I was thought was wonderfully directed and had amazing performances, particularly Maria Falconetti's Joan.

I followed it up with A Hijacking [Kapringen -- with 3 actors from Borgen!] which was a very interesting look at the hijacking of a ship from the alternate perspectives of the cook on the ship and the CEO of the shipping company who handled negotiations. I found it an emotional ride which I suppose is the sign of a good film.

I also saw The Grand Budapest Hotel recently and loved it: and, yes, the few who stayed behind through credits were rewarded.

[ 03. May 2014, 11:21: Message edited by: Ian Climacus ]
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
Oh, I've just ordered a copy of The Passion of Joan of Arc! I'm looking forward to seeing it at last.

Tomorrow we're off to our local Odeon to see Pompeii - yes, I know, but I'm in the mood for an enjoyable and trashy disaster movie, as the reviews put it !
 

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Posted by Robert Armin (# 182) on :
 
Last night I finally watched Hobbit 2 and have to agree with all that's been said so far. In 1 I didn't mind the extra material, but here it really felt like padding. All the stuff in Laketown (especially Stephen Fry in a ginger wig) needed cutting, as did Smaug's never ending chasing of the dwarves. In addition, I've always pronounced the dragon's name Sm-org, rather then Sm-owg; I have absolutely no authority for this at all, but it's another reason for feeling fed up with the film.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes, I'm regretting having bought the DVD now because I don't think I'll watch it again. The first was fun, and promising, and the extra material fitted well; the second was just too drawn out.
 

---

Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
Well, I enjoyed Pompeii, it was very entertaining without me having to think about any deep meaningful messages. The fight scenes were quite shamelessly lifted from Gladiator, but it was all done with a lot of spirit and Kit Harington (what a fabulously Elizabethan name ) is fetchingly eye-candy and has impressive abs.

There was a trailer for the next X-Men film, so I reckon that's our next outing to the Odeon .
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
The Seattle International Film Festival starts this month and I have indulged in a pass this year despite not working.

This week started press Previews; films start tomorrow.

The Congress; a SF Film based on loosely on Stanislas Lem about an actress who negotiates a contract to be scanned and only appear as a digital persona. It's half live and half animated.

Ida is a Polish film about an orphan novice who is told to visit her distant aunt before taking vows. She finds out she is from a Jewish family. It's a depressing but moving film. Shot in Black and White with a lot of academy format shooting.

Hellion, a story about a 15 year old going wrong in a family with alcoholic father widower. The boy was very well acted. Directed by and staring Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame.

Belle and Sebastian. A French family film about a cute small boy and a cute large dog in the Alps during WWII who help Jewish refugees to escape.

The Sunfish, about a Danish fisherman who is struggling to deal with quotas, financial failure and a romance with a marine biologist.

Beyond the Brick, A documentary about Lego which is amusing but corporate.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Film nerds-- just made this observation on Facebook, thought I would share it with you all:

I recently saw Oh Brother Where Art Thou (2000) and am now watching Kill Bill Vol 2.(2004)
Now watching True Grit (2010) and last night saw Django Unchained.(2012)
I think Tarantino really wishes he was a Coen, because Seeing the movies in that order-- man, he ripped off a lot.

and later:

"Ill never be a Coen so I 'll vent my frustration by turning half my characters to hamburger!!"
 

---

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I don't think I'd accuse Tarantino of ripping off only one film director.

Saw Polanski's new film Venus with Furs today. It suffered a bit by being a stage play opened up by shooting it in a theater, but had some good moments.

Saw the premiere of the new John Ridley film about Jimi Hendrix; Jimi: all is by my side.

It is about his early days before the Monterey Pop Festival, focusing on the women he was involved with. The acting was phenomenal. It did not do a huge number of his hits, although the replica of has performance of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band was pretty amazing.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I don't think I'd accuse Tarantino of ripping off only one film director.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

....watching True Grit (2010)

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
The coen Brother remade it.

IMO it was very, very, very good. I watched it three times in one weekend.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
The coen Brother remade it.

IMO it was very, very, very good. I watched it three times in one weekend.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sir Kevin:

I did actually meet Janis Joplin in 1069 when I was 15 .

---

It is not certain whether Origen believed in metempsychosis, but it sounds as if you do.
 

---

Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :
 
Saw Belle the other night - a few old familiar faces amongst the actors, but generally worthy and dull.

Also, the crowd and street scenes failed to convey the filth, disease, poverty, malnutrition, violence and deformity which would have characterised eighteenth century England.
 

---

Posted by aunt jane (# 10139) on :
 
I don't know whether anyone has mentioned Divergent yet. I thought it the best film I had seen in ages, challenging storyline, exciting scenes, what more can one ask?
 

---

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I did see a movie tonight that might be of interest to some here.

It's called "My last year with the nuns" and it's a memoir taken from a stage monologue. The author and star talks about his life in 1967 as an 8th grader in Catholic school in the then Catholic neighborhood of Seattle's Capital Hill. It was quite funny and sad where it explores bullying, racism and homophobia.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Do Cable miniseries count as movies?

I decided to re-watch the excellently produced HBO series, "John Adams." I highly recommend netflixing it, especially to y'all Britmates, as it is a great story about a simple, good man and an unsung hero in the American Revolution. Paul Giamatti stars, and Laura Linney almost steals the show as Adams's strong right arm, his wife Abigail.


what drove me to recommend this was one scene that gripped me-- in it, John Adams is received by King George III as the first ambassador of the new nation of the USA. I have seen this series several times, and this scene has always moved me. The actor portraying George is particularly impressive-- he has all of five minutes of screen time, and his quiet dignity and graciousness dominates the screen. The guy had tears in his eyes through most of the scene.

Just to reference other works he may have been in before I wrote this review, I looked the actor up on IMDB and-- hot damn, It's Rev. It's Tom Hollander.

[ 07. June 2014, 05:02: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
My recent film watching has been Tarzan, The Amazing Spiderman 2 and X-Men Days of Future Past, still with 14 year old teenage boy. He is getting more critical, had to be persuaded to watch X-Men but reckoned it was the best film he's seen recently - and that Spiderman wasn't a patch on this. I do agree with him - lots of very recognisable good actors in the X-Men, and fun action and effects compared to Spiderman. The good thing about Spiderman were the views of New York and the action sequences of Spiderman moving through the buildings.

[ 07. June 2014, 09:06: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]
 

---

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I just saw the closing film of the film festival tonight, so I'll succumb to the temptation of making one more post on it.

The Seattle International Film Festival is a marathon; 25 days, 400 films. I saw about 65 much to my surprise. I was surprised that my votes for best film, actor and actresses actually aligned with the results.

The best film was "Boyhood" directed by Richard Linklater. It follows a boy in Texas from age 6 to age 18 when he's college bound. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette play his parents. What makes the film unusual is that it was shot for 2 weeks a year for 12 years while the boy grows up. It has a lot of references to current music. The director said it was like shooting a period film in the current tense. There's a sense of getting to know the people being portrayed and while the boy is a little shaky at first he turns into a good actor.

Another great film was "Life Feels Good" which is a Polish film about a man growing up with Cerebal Palsy who was thought to be a vegtable. It's often easy for an actor to play a disabled person, but he did a pretty amazing job. The same actor was the romantic interest in "Ida" which is about a novice who is sent to meet her Jewish aunt before taking vows.

Tangerines was a film set in the Chechen-Georgia 1987 war where a few Estonians are trying to get one last crop from their settlement before fleeing back to Estonia.

The Disciple was a Finnish film about a 14 year old orphan in 1920 sent to a lonely island to assist an abusive Lighthouse Master

In order of disappearance is a Norwegian black comedy revenge film about a snow plow driver who decides to kill the gangster who killed his sun.

Once upon a time in Shanghai is a Kung Fu film set in 1930's Shanghai. It's very elegant with very little color, but the fact that all the evil villains are Japanese or stooges of the Japanese makes for a troubling reflection of modern tensions.

On a somewhat lighter note is "God Help The Girl", where three friends fall in love and start a band while singing the songs of Stuart Murdoch.

I'll stop now.
 

---

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:

The best film was "Boyhood" directed by Richard Linklater. It follows a boy in Texas from age 6 to age 18 when he's college bound. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette play his parents. What makes the film unusual is that it was shot for 2 weeks a year for 12 years while the boy grows up. It has a lot of references to current music. The director said it was like shooting a period film in the current tense. There's a sense of getting to know the people being portrayed and while the boy is a little shaky at first he turns into a good actor.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Sticking with my recent oldies theme I've just watched Some Like It Hot - terribly dated, terribly politically incorrect over 50 years later but still some good performances.

3 stars out of 5.

eta: not Monroe's greatest performace but I reckon she is always worth watching.

---

I don't disagree with anything that you have said (although 3 stars does seem rather niggardly) - and we will soon have the opportunity to watch it on a big screen
 

---

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Afterwards I thought 3 stars was a bit mean, would 4 be fairer?
 

---

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I like the interaction between Marilyn and the others. And the end joke is hard to surpass for humor and a comment on the underlying panic.
 

---

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
This week's film was Transformers 4. Yes, I know. There are many, many films I would have preferred to watch. Rotten Tomatoes are scoring this at 19% compared to 3 Days to Kill at 29%. Personally I still dislike 3 Days to Kill more because at least Transformers felt fairly honest about what it was doing with genres, albeit very, very long.

I still like Edge of Tomorrow and X-men best of the recent films and Rotten Tomatoes are scoring them at 90% and 92% respectively. The only film that I really wanted to see was Gravity and that scores 97%.

One more film to go next week but looking at what's on I doubt I'll get to either Maleficent or How to Train Your Dragon 2.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
OK, we didn't get Maleficent or How to Train Your Dragon 2 but we did go and see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - amazing effects and story and I agree with the reviews that Andy Serkis did a fantastic job, but I came out feeling that it was a bit worthy - trying too hard to get the messages across without enough leaven.

It also felt as if it was setting the scene for the next one in the franchise.

According to the reviews it's going to go up against X-Men and Edge of Tomorrow for the sci-fi awards. Personally I preferred both of the others which had more humour in them.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I like the interaction between Marilyn and the others. And the end joke is hard to surpass for humor and a comment on the underlying panic.

---

Wanna see Marilyn really demonstrate her acting cred? Check out a flick called Don't bother to Knock. She basically plays a psychotic Fatal attraction type widow-- who is left to babysit a little girl.


The amazing thing is that she keep her soft spoken vulnerability the whole time she is getting scarier and scarier.
 

---

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
OK, we didn't get Maleficent or How to Train Your Dragon 2 but we did go and see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - amazing effects and story and I agree with the reviews that Andy Serkis did a fantastic job, but I came out feeling that it was a bit worthy - trying too hard to get the messages across without enough leaven.

It also felt as if it was setting the scene for the next one in the franchise.

According to the reviews it's going to go up against X-Men and Edge of Tomorrow for the sci-fi awards. Personally I preferred both of the others which had more humour in them.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Afterwards I thought 3 stars was a bit mean, would 4 be fairer?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Figbash:

Anyway, my movie is Holy Motors, an absolutely fascinating, if nearly impenetrable, recent French piece in which an anonymous man spends his day being driven round Paris to play out scenes of 'real people' doing 'real things', while making some outrageous in-jokes en route (e.g. Edith Scob donning her Les Yeux sans Visage mask and announcing that she's returning to her parents). It's quite excellent and, I think, has some interesting stuff to say about human existence, questioning whether we have continuous individual state, or are merely assemblages of loosely connected scenes. Well worth another watching or seven...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

OOOO! OOOO! OOO! Sounds just up my alley!
I also really want to see Les Yeux sans Visage. I just read about it.

---

My work here is done

Franjou's films on the whole are a joy: coming from the world of industrial documentary, he has a whole other approach. Two others to look up are Judex (loosely inspired by Louis Feuillade's very early silent serial of the same name) which mixes amazing cinematography, ravishing set design and a quite insane plot to produce what is possibly the best superhero movie ever; and Les Nuits Rouges which goes even further into delirium, including mysterious conspiracies, Templars, and yet more Feuillade, to create what to me feels like a weird amalgam of Lang's Spione, Grant Morrison's comic The Invisibles and Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Figbash:
...and Les Nuits Rouges which goes even further into delirium, including mysterious conspiracies, Templars, and yet more Feuillade, to create what to me feels like a weird amalgam of Lang's Spione, Grant Morrison's comic The Invisibles and Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.

---

• The Very Slow Time Machine - Ian Watson, 1978
• A Little Something for Us Tempunauts - Philip K Dick, 1975

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hedgehog:
Is there any chance that you could write movie reviews for my local paper?

---

So long as they would be happy to accept a strategy of ignoring anything susceptible of description as a blockbuster, romcom or 'family' movie, and anything with the words 'Marvel Superhero' even remotely associated with it, in favour of concentrating entirely on the strange and unusual, sure, why not?
 

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Posted by Mere Nick (# 11827) on :
 
This past Saturday my wife and I went to see Calvary We were torn between that and the Get On Up flick about James Brown. We chose the one that rated slightly higher at IMDB and would be a little more thought provoking. A very good flick about a RC priest who has to face a very difficult challenge.

The theater had plenty of beers on tap, too. Pisgah Pale Ale at $7 for a 22 ounce draft was cheap for a theater.
 

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Posted by Kaplan Corday (# 16119) on :
 
Woody Allen's latest, Magic In The Moonlight, is the silliest film I have ever seen.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kaplan Corday:
Incidentally, are funerals really conducted in their entirety, including a eulogy, by a lone clergyman with no congregation at all or only a single mourner?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Figbash:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hedgehog:
Is there any chance that you could write movie reviews for my local paper?

---

So long as they would be happy to accept a strategy of ignoring anything susceptible of description as a blockbuster, romcom or 'family' movie, and anything with the words 'Marvel Superhero' even remotely associated with it, in favour of concentrating entirely on the strange and unusual, sure, why not?

---

 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
'The Island' - serious stuff about the ethics of cloning but lots of chases and guns to make it a popular blockbuster.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I saw a sneak preview tonight of "The Imitation Game". It's a dramatization of the life of Alan Turing, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. I enjoyed it a great deal, but I'm easily amused by the shots of the Bombe decryption machine and period British shots.
I think it opens in November in both England and the U.S.
It did get a bunch of the interesting stuff right.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
The Devil wars Prada - about powerful and manipulative women.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
The Seattle Gay Film Festival has started a not very inspired schedule.

Today I saw a collection of shorts, several of which were fun including a translation of Cinderella to a Leather Bar and one called "The Disgustings" about two viscious queens.

The feature film I saw was "Black Bird" based on a YA novel about a black kid being raised in a religious family fighting his feelings of being gay. It had some good acting, but I didn't like the way the 20 year old book was updated with some side soap opera about an abducted sister. It did show the pain of finding your way being raised in a traditional devout family.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
'There will be blood' about a ruthless man drilling for oil, conning local populations to part with their land and covering his greed with a veneer of religiosity.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:

Today I saw a collection of shorts, several of which were fun including a translation of Cinderella to a Leather Bar

---

OMG can you tell me the title of this? I MUST see it!!
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
Aha! After some Googling I find it is called Zolushka but isn't findable to watch anywhere online.

On the plus side, the Cruising 1980 one is.

And I love this one: Boot Camp.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
'There will be blood' about a ruthless man drilling for oil, conning local populations to part with their land and covering his greed with a veneer of religiosity.

---

Ah! A current documentary.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Yes, a perennial issue despite this film dealing with events in 1898 and filmed in 2007
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
I've just watched Midnight in Paris again - I have never been to Paris and now I probably never shall but the film shows it in a lovely light. It's a great cast, too - the star for me is Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein.

First movie I've watched for ages which is silly as I have about 100 of my favourites in arm's reach from where I sit here.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
[Deleted duplicate post. You're welcome, Wodders! ]

jedijudy
Heaven Host
 

---

Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
I've just watched Midnight in Paris again - I have never been to Paris and now I probably never shall but the film shows it in a lovely light. It's a great cast, too - the star for me is Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein.

First movie I've watched for ages which is silly as I have about 100 of my favourites in arm's reach from where I sit here.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ChastMastr:
Aha! After some Googling I find it is called Zolushka but isn't findable to watch anywhere online.

On the plus side, the Cruising 1980 one is.

And I love this one: Boot Camp.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
The movie is called Zolushka and uses the music from both Cinderella. (it's a silent).

---

Didn't they have to get permission for at least the Disney one?
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
Well, Film Festival films get away with a lot. (Although PBS did squelch a short called "B&E" which was a remake of "The Children's Hour" with voiceovers from Bert and Ernie).

But when I said Cinderella I was referring to the Rossini opera La Cenerentola and the Prokofiev ballet Cinderella. The director of the film mentioned growing up in the Soviet Union so he may have missed the Disney version.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
Ah! I did not know of those.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
Still have not watched anything spooky/Halloweenish. We need to do this.

We do have access to the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, which I have never seen (well, I think I saw the one which broke the fourth wall, a long time ago). And Alien and Aliens (neither of which Cubby has seen).
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
If you want old spooky and have a fast enough internet connection; the 1922 version of Nosferatu is on Youtube.
 

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Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by ChastMastr:
Still have not watched anything spooky/Halloweenish. We need to do this.

We do have access to the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, which I have never seen (well, I think I saw the one which broke the fourth wall, a long time ago). And Alien and Aliens (neither of which Cubby has seen).

---

1. Guardians of the Galaxy which was great fun, a sort of Star Wars (the original) meets every other film of the genre they fancied taking the good bits from, but with some kick-ass female characters. Personally I loved the soundtrack; what's not to like about the 70s and 80s music? (Because I was doing this for work, I spent a good chunk of the middle of it in a text conversation with another member of staff and missed a huge plot point. So I went back with my daughter who also loved it.) There is obviously a series planned with the same characters. And the Vin Diesel character is amazing, really, really cool.
2. The Maze Runner - a film of a book. The blurb is that a teenager wakes up in a cage arriving in a clearing surrounded by the high cliffs of a maze, where a colony of young people have arrived one by one, once a month, and what happens afterwards. Definitely worth watching, a very young cast, some unknown, but quite a few to look out for. (Alby is played by the actor who was Trif from Kidulthood, Newt is played by another known actor.) Reviews I read beforehand from lovers of the book were complaining about sub-plots that were missed but acknowledged the acting and pace. This is another one I really liked and it had a subtext.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - it's what you'd expect, good effects, lots of action, not a lot of subtlety, any subtext spelt out in flashing lights.

 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
I've just watched a dvd of Glen or Glenda, Ed Wood's famously bad first film. Actually, it was rather sweet, and Ed's earnestness gave it heart, although there is a 10 or 15 minute nightmare sequence that is quite indescribable, involving a bit of S&M, various girls in states of undress, a Satan figure and goodness knows what else.

I'm very fond the 1994 Johnny Depp film Ed Wood, which is a sympathetic version of his life, and watching Glen or Glenda just makes me warm to him even more . And it's not as bad as Plan 9 from Outer Space .
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Glen or Glenda is awesome. It's like an educational reel on crossdressing. And the final scene was a triumph!
 

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Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Guardians of the Galaxy which was great fun, a sort of Star Wars (the original) meets every other film of the genre they fancied taking the good bits from, but with some kick-ass female characters. Personally I loved the soundtrack; what's not to like about the 70s and 80s music?

---

It is a fun movie. It is not just that it has a 70s/80s music soundtrack, but that they bothered to create a plot thread to explain just why a movie set in interstellar space had a soundtrack of 70s/80s music.
 

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Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :
 
Netflix has at last made it to France, so traipsing down to the DVD hole-in-the-wall may now be a thing of the past.

The choice is not brilliant, but did manage to watch Fargo not long ago.

Helped me to understand (and recognise) Minnesota Nice, and unfortunately is a painfully accurate portrayal of the character and careers of many delinquents I know.
 

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Posted by JoannaP (# 4493) on :
 
Yesterday we went to the BFI and saw the new version of Metropolis
There are still a couple of scenes missing and at times the picture quality is pretty poor, but what an amazing film!! The plot actually makes sense now, the score fits properly and there are some fantastic visuals. How he managed all those extras, especially the children, I have no idea but the crowd scenes are awesome.
 

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Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by JoannaP:
Yesterday we went to the BFI and saw the new version of Metropolis
There are still a couple of scenes missing and at times the picture quality is pretty poor, but what an amazing film!! The plot actually makes sense now, the score fits properly and there are some fantastic visuals. How he managed all those extras, especially the children, I have no idea but the crowd scenes are awesome.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:

quote:

---

Originally posted by JoannaP:
Yesterday we went to the BFI and saw the new version of Metropolis
There are still a couple of scenes missing and at times the picture quality is pretty poor, but what an amazing film!! The plot actually makes sense now, the score fits properly and there are some fantastic visuals. How he managed all those extras, especially the children, I have no idea but the crowd scenes are awesome.

---

Oh wow, that sounds amazing. We have copy of a previous release (I studied some German inter-war film as part of an OU course on Total War) and the first time I watched it I had to keep wiki open so we could work out what was going on.

---

Oh, yes. The restored version is quite an eye-opener to those of us whose first exposure was to the truncated film (I first saw it in the 1970s). Characters that were just walk-ons in the shortened version now have substantial parts, and the relationship between the Master of Metropolis and Rotwang the inventor is...more complicated than it had seemed.

As JoannaP states, the picture quality is poor in some scenes, and special title cards are needed to cover missing bits, but both are a small price to pay to enjoy the film as it was intended to be seen.
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
I had an altercation with the morons in a lorry earlier this afternoon, which carried on through the green man light while I was crossing the road - they got loud rapping on the passenger window and a mouthful of abuse from me, which they returned. So when I got home I put on a dvd of Boris Karloff's 1933 The Mummy, which calmed me down no end.

There is something so classy about Karloff
 

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Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :
 
Actually made it to a cinema and saw The Judge, thought it a lot better than the reviews lead to believe.

Apparently Interstellar is premiering in France tomorrow, which puts us ahead of the crowd. Sorely tempted to go back for this.
 

---

Posted by infinite_monkey (# 11333) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
On a not so scary note, I saw The Book of Life. A Dia De Los Muertos inspired animated movie.
Loved it. Yes, the story is predictable, but it still flows well. Loved the style of the animation, the design and the colour. But, I am infatuated with the Day of the Dead, so....

---

quote:

---

Firstly, The Eiger Sanction starring Clint Eastwood. On the negative it's got some bad 70s traits like some sexism, homophobia and racism.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by infinite_monkey:
And I want a tiny pig shaped like a bleach bottle now.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mili:


Has anyone seen 'Box Trolls'?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
If you're looking for a fun Halloween film, "Troll Hunter" would be a fun choice.

---

I think it is available on Netflix/Hulu too and is in our queue! Thank you!!
 

---

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
Pride was on my list of films I wanted to watch, but failed to see. The trailers were brilliant.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
I watched The Giver on Friday night. A very typical huxleyan dystopia, ie. appearing on the surface as a science-inspired paradise, but hiding a darker reality underneath.

Also, the same basic huxleyan sermonizing about how we can't reject our physical and emotional imperfections without rejecting our humanity. True enough, but hardly a scorchingly original point.

That said, by the admittedly lame standards of the genre, a fairly entertaining yarn(better than Equillibrium or Gattaca), which managed to hold my interest and even moisten my eyes a bit during the humanity-asserting climax.

The character of the Giver, essentially a huxleyan savage but employed by the state(he transmits knowledge of the old days to the rulers of the supposed utopia), was well drawn. I was pleased to see the writers resisted the temptation to portray him as a lovable old rogue(one of the more annoyningly overdone cinematic archetypes these days).

[ 01. November 2014, 16:22: Message edited by: Stetson ]
 

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Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Huia:
Has anyone seen Pride Set in Britain when Thatcher was PM.

---

Yes. Do not see if you are homophobic or a Thatcherite. Otherwise, see. All the political engagement of Brassed Off; all the fun of The Full Monty. Dominic West gets to play a likeable character for a change.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
We watched Nosferatu last night.
 

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Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :
 
We're going to see Nosferatu next week, at the local Church in Wales church (as the vicar said "Well, it's a Gothic building!") with Father Richard doing the musical accompaniment on the organ! Only in Hay-on-Wye!!!
 

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Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eutychus:
Apparently Interstellar is premiering in France tomorrow, which puts us ahead of the crowd. Sorely tempted to go back for this.

---

Did. Was well worth it. Lovers of Moon and/or 2001 should enjoy.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
I watched The Double, a British film based on Dostoyevsky, but trying desperately, at times tiresomely, to be David Lynch.

The whole theme of identity confusion might have been fresh and exciting in 1846, but these days it's become a bit of a film cliche, so the plot isn't as riveting as maybe the creators were hoping for.

The ambiguous location and anachronistic time period are well drawn, but again, those are hardly original devices these days.

All that said, if you like bleak mood pieces, you'd probably enjoy this. I'm thinking I might even give it a second viewing some time in the near future.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Tiger in the Smoke - set in 1956 London smog - a psychopath and a vicar who sees good in everyone.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
I went to see The Book of Life this evening and I loved it. Such unusual (to me) animation framing a story about love, family, integrity, and redemption all set in a world of Dia de Los Muertos. The colors! The textures! Awesome.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
The Terminal - about a man who becomes stateless and cannot leave the airport - he lives there for 9 months. A comedy with a good set of messages about patience, homelessness and goodness.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Just finishing the 2012 version of Nicholas Nickelby-- and I'm kind of enjoying it. It's like if you took the schmaltziest of Merchant-Ivory costume dramas and gave it a dose of a light hallucinogen. The director embraces the over-the top- melodrama of Dickens and adds enough weird little touches and strange characters to give me an excuse to use the word "Felliniesque."

[ 29. November 2014, 09:01: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I continue watching films with a 14 year old, and our recent viewing has included:

• Interstellar - I enjoyed it and reckoned it was channelling Arthur C Clarke and all sorts of things I could use in teaching*, but the 14 year old came out saying he had no idea what it was about and totally switched off.
• The Hunger Games - Mockingjay 1 - again, I quite enjoyed it as I'd seen the first one. Student's comment was that it was boring and had no action. I belatedly checked if he'd seen any others of the series and realised he hadn't. But another tutor also took his students to see it and also reckoned not to bother unless you were a fan and had seen the previous films. He owns both of the previous films on DVD and he was lost in parts of the film.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eigon:
We're going to see Nosferatu next week, at the local Church in Wales church (as the vicar said "Well, it's a Gothic building!") with Father Richard doing the musical accompaniment on the organ! Only in Hay-on-Wye!!!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sir Kevin:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eigon:
We're going to see Nosferatu next week, at the local Church in Wales church (as the vicar said "Well, it's a Gothic building!") with Father Richard doing the musical accompaniment on the organ! Only in Hay-on-Wye!!!

---

One of our favourite films: borrowed from the library, black and white, VHS, silent...

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
... spot the English actor - loved Peter Capaldi

---

Everybody seems to like Paddington a lot.

Interstellar was my last film on the big screen and it was a thrilling experience.

[ 04. December 2014, 14:55: Message edited by: Mr Clingford ]
 

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Posted by Trudy Scrumptious (# 5647) on :
 
The Theory of Everything. I'd love to know who else has seen it as there are things in it I'd like to discuss with someone!
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
It's become a New Tradition for the cable channels around here to show Pieces of April around the holidays, and I cannot recommend this sweet, funny little film enough. Katie Holmes (age 21ish) plays the family black sheep, living in semi-squalor with her sweet boyfriend in a crappy lower East Side tenement, who attempts to show her family she is turning her life around by inviting them to Thanksgiving dinner, which she prepares herself. As an indication of how things go-- her oven is broken, and she has to beg her neighbors to lend her oven space.

Her ridiculously complicated quest is interspersed with scenes of her family driving from Upstate to attend, with her siblings and cancer- ridden mother cheerfully predicting disaster, and her father extolling them to have hope. The humor is the kind that makes you laugh with a sharp ache in your stomach, but the film has a lot of heart, and a gently happy ending.
 

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Posted by basso (# 4228) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:
The Theory of Everything. I'd love to know who else has seen it as there are things in it I'd like to discuss with someone!

---

Saw it today, and really enjoyed it.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Any doc fans out there. I just saw and highly recommend Whoopie Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I watched it because just about every comic I admire cites her as an influence-- and in the comedy world, if a popular male comic doesn't hesitate to cite a woman as an influence, it's a sign she must be checked out. She indeed was a force of nature.

And Sidney Poitier, in his interview, sounded like he had a little crush on her.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I saw the documentary on Moms Mabley and enjoyed it as well. The thing that astounded me was just how long a career she had. I also enjoyed that the lesbian aspect of her personal life surfaced. It's so easy for stuff like that to get lost in the adoration.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Did she not look smoking hot in drag?

( they showed a still of her out of her comedy getup and dressed in a forties- style three piece suit with a fedora and a bigass cigar.)

[ 07. December 2014, 03:40: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
"Passport to Pimlico" is on television - haven't seen that in years. I'd had forgotten how enjoyable some of these old Ealing comedies could be. A refreshing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

(Can't get over how young Charles Hawtrey is in it though.)
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Has anyone seen "The Hobbit" Part 3 yet? I'm thinking of going to see it, but not if it's going to be 90% battles.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
It might be my fate on Tuesday (The Hobbit, that is). I'll tell you what it was like if that happens.
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
I got to see Moms Mabley live once, opening for some Mo-town acts. Very funny. Also funny was the DVD someone gave me yesterday, for my birthday, of Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in The Heat. Not my usual Merchant/Ivory sort of thing but I laughed all the way through it.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
I thought McCarthy and Bullock made a pretty good team-- hope they team up again.
 

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Posted by Trudy Scrumptious (# 5647) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by basso:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:
The Theory of Everything. I'd love to know who else has seen it as there are things in it I'd like to discuss with someone!

---

Saw it today, and really enjoyed it.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I saw The Hobbit today. It's a lot of battle, with some quite graphic scenes

---

quote:

---

I really, really don't remember some of those story lines from the book - a female elf in love with Kili, where did that come from? And where did she come from?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
That last one was 144 minutes .... it did feel over long in parts.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
That last one was 144 minutes .... it did feel over long in parts.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Truman White:
Saw Intersteller at Mrs White's suggestion. She doesn't usually go for Sci Fi but had been swayed by rave reviews. Maybe this was my chance to get her hooked on SciFi so's I don't have to look like some lonely old geezer every time I want to see a SciFi flick.

After about an hour and ten she asked if it was just her, or was it mind-numbingly dull. Gutted. Trouble is, she was right. 20 mins of stellar special effects wrapped up in an hour and a half of sheer tedium. Reminded me of watching Arsenal under George Graham.

Off to see Hobbit 3 in the New Year. On me todd again...

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by L'organist:
My main complaint is that, as usual, the sound was way too loud: even with earplugs in I still found some scenes painful on the ears.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Double post to add it had the most hilarious credit I have ever encountered.

Tolkien Scholar

Best paid 5 minutes of work ever, I should think.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
lilBuddha - apparently the Tolkien scholar had to read all the unreadable Tolkien works to find additional ideas for padding. I suspect reading The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth and the epic poetry took longer than 5 minutes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mili:
I saw "The Hobbit" part 3 yesterday. I found it better than the first two, but agree that it would be better with much shorter action sequences and if it had been 1 and a 1/2 hours long or even shorter.

I was also annoyed by an added storyline about a dodgy townsman, Alfrid. He was dishonest, greedy, selfish, untrustworthy, cowardly, incompetent and hated by all the townspeople- pretty much a sociopath. But for some reason the hero, Bard kept giving him really important jobs like getting the women and children to safety. Surely someone else in town was better qualified.

---

Because everyone else remotely qualified - i.e. all the Real Men, had joined up to fight in the battle.

[ 05. January 2015, 21:40: Message edited by: Sparrow ]
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
what annoyed me about Hobbit was that, for such a way long movie, how many plot coupons were not redeemed. what about Bilbo's acorn? We never see him plant it. Shouldn't Alfred have gotten a better come-uppance than just being laughed at?
 

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Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :
 
And or course no woman could have been in charge in Tolkien's world - though the movie did show Bard was wrong in this opinion and the women didn't exactly listen to Alfrid, instead taking charge themselves.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Both Exodus and Hobbit were far, far too long. Minutes devoted to CGI combat that made the pace as logey as a constipated elephant.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
The other day I stumbled across a copy of Death Of A President, a British-made mockumentary about the obviously fictional assassination of George W. Bush. Some of you may have seen it referenced in relation to the controversy over The Interview last month.

Speaking as someone who generally dislikes mockumentaries, this one was pretty good. For the most part, the "interviewees" seemed like real people, not actors. In my experience, getting that realistic interview feel down is one of the biggest problems in that genre.

Politically, the point is fairly obvious I guess, anti-war, anti-Patriot Act, warnings about blowback etc. But I have to agree with the critic who wrote back in 2006 that the characterizations end up being de facto conservative, in that the pro-Bush characters are mostly portrayed as well-dressed and articulate, whereas the left-wing anti-Bush people(seen mostly in what purports to be news footage of a protest) mostly come off as long-haired, unwashed losers.
 

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Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
We went to see Paddington last night - sheer escapism, feel good, light - just the thing for a Saturday evening. (In other words, we enjoyed it! )
 

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Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
I'm sure Skyfall has been mentioned already on this thread - my Other Half and I watched it when it first came out on DVD and we weren't really impressed at all. We've just watched it again and we enjoyed it much more the second time around.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I went and saw "Selma" today. It has some fine acting and catches a lot of the time. There's some disagreement about how historical the movie portrayed Lyndon Johnson. It's interesting to compare the movie to play "The Great Society". for the roles of Johnson and King.

It marked a high point of the civil rights movement, so there's a lot to admire. The film is good about the cost of the struggle.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
A good movie weekend, in which we saw INTO THE WOODS in the theater, and TOPSY-TURVY on the TV at home.

ITW is the perfect movie for the Sondheim fan -- it's extremely true to the stage production and lovely to look at. (But, if you had to pick between one and the other, see it on stage.)

TOPSY-TURVY is a valentine to all Gilbert & Sullivan fans everywhere. A great backstage film!
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
The Muppetts were on TV over Xmas.
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by St. Gwladys:
We went to see Paddington last night - sheer escapism, feel good, light - just the thing for a Saturday evening. (In other words, we enjoyed it! )

---

We saw Paddington this afternoon - I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was beautifully filmed too. Absolute escapism, and Hugh Bonneville was just lovely! And I particularly sniggered a lot at Peter Capaldi & Nicole Kidman...
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Bridget Jones Diary was light-hearted and amusing.
 

---

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
The Muppetts were on TV over Xmas.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sparrow:
Has anyone else been to see "The Theory of Everthing"? Saw it a couple of weeks ago and I thought it fantastic. Eddie Redmayne in particular was brilliant.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ariel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
The Muppetts were on TV over Xmas.

---

Yes - the Muppet Christmas Carol, saw part of this for the first time. Some good lines, but I did feel the whole thing would have been a lot better without the Muppets.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I just saw "The Imitation Game" for the second time. Like the first, it was free tickets so I went with a friend. It's good even if fuzzes the facts a bit and leaves out interesting stuff. I liked the review which complained "for a biography about a homosexual mathematician" there wasn't much homosexuality or math. You don't often get complaints that film didn't have enough math in it.
It did make me go back and reread the Andrew Hodges Biography which I haven't read in many years. He's a fascinating person.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:


ITW is the perfect movie for the Sondheim fan

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sparrow:
Has anyone else been to see "The Theory of Everthing"? Saw it a couple of weeks ago and I thought it fantastic.

---

• Taken 3 - yes, they found more people in his family for him to avenge and set up the premise for Taken 4. Liam Neeson in action hero mode, lots of messy car chases and violence to entertain teenage boys while still being rated for 12 and over here.
• Night at the Museum 3 featuring the British Museum. We followed that one up with a visit to the British Museum to find that all the fun stuff in the Great Hall that came to life in the film had been moved and replaced by information desks. The frogs and statues were there last time I visited, I swear. And yes, I know the dinosaurs are at the Natural History Museum.
• American Sniper the biopic / hagiography of Chris Kyle, Navy Seal who was credited with the most kills in the Iraq war. Uncritical of the army turning men into killing machines, the American presence in Iraq or giving any real context to any Middle Eastern conflicts, it is otherwise well acted and produced, and shows PTSD and dehumanisation of army life, subtly (sailed over the teenager's head). A lot of action in Iraq is shown, which is very atmospheric. A lot of the controversy seems to be revulsion that men are turned into killing machines in the army. Which may be an issue with the next film too:
• Kingsman, a British spy film, sort of tongue-in-cheek updated James Bond with a great cast and effects, lots of blood, gore, a great arsenal and lots of action to satisfy teenage boys. Pygmalion was mentioned as a reference and the spy film genre was winked at several times. Colin Firth enjoying being an action hero and Samuel L Jackson playin villain were fun, but there are a lot of other faces to spot. But again, sanctity of life isn't something that's considered.

He got two films this week as a birthday treat, which is why two 15 films.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
And I forgot the remake of Annie with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, both of whom gave memorable performances.
 

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Posted by M. (# 3291) on :
 
We're going to see Shaun the Sheep tomorrow!

M.
 

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Posted by Paul. (# 37) on :
 
I keep hearing conflicting reports as to whether Kingsman is gory or not. One colleague said it was - which put me off going last weekend. Another said it was violent but most of that was lots of gunfire of the "bang! fall down" variety rather than showing exit wounds etc.

What do you consider gory Ck?

Last week I went to see Ex Machina instead which the BBFC advice said contained "bloody violence". This consisted of a scene where someone slices their own arm with a razor blade - disturbing but brief enough for me to watch through my fingers - and a stabbing where the stabbee was wearing a white T-Shirt which slowly grew red. Any more of the former and I might have been in trouble.

Ex Machina was good btw. Most of what was troubling about it was psychological. Owes a lot to Bladerunner but then so do a lot of movies. Given I've just talked about my tolerance for violence might be worth noting there is significant female nudity in it, though it's mostly not eroticised.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
Not much actual blood - in the fights, yes, but not so much in the deaths; one bloodless death really should have been a bloodbath. There's a huge body count, and like James Bond, some "interesting" ways of killing people.
 

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Posted by Paul. (# 37) on :
 
Got it. Thanks!
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
I just saw Still Alice, a film about a woman dealing with early onset Alsheimer's. Great acting by Julianne Moore as Alice and Kristen Stewart as her daughter. (Alec Baldwin as husband- eh.) Sad and very beautiful. Both women may deserve Oscars just for the last scene alone.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I went to see the new Hobbit movie. I reviewed it here: Brenda reviews the HOBBIT
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
I went to see Foxcatcher, pretty much minutes after finding out about the film's existence. Which was kinda cool, because it's nice to occassionally go into a film having no idea what to expect.

Interesting to see Steve Carrell doing a darker rendition on his "socially-maladjusted middle-aged guy" film persona. There is virtually nothing funny or light-hearted about the film, though to its credit, it does manage to resist the temptation to wallow in its own bleakness, or congratulate itself too heartily for "daring to expose the American Dream". Given the persona; ideology of the Carrell character, that last bit inevitably comes into play at times.

For the most part, I think it benefited from just giving a likely accurate account of a real series of events.
 

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Posted by Paul. (# 37) on :
 
Thanks to some Google generosity[*], I watch 3 movies in the last couple of days.

The Obvious Child - this came highly recommended but I was a bit underwhelmed. It has its charm I suppose. Maybe I'm getting too old. Also, I think the male lead is a bit too perfect. If this were gender-swapped and back in the 90s then I still think it'd be criticised for having a romantic lead who's essentially a trophy for the MC to win. That's OK I guess, fair's fair, but it's not very imaginative.

The Rewrite - Hugh Grant romcom. Not his best but not his worst either. Given what I've just said I ought to be harder on this movie but... I pretty much knew going in what level it would be pitched at. And it delivered. Given that I was watching it, wrapped up on the couch, sniffling and sipping lemsip, it fulfilled its purpose.

Gone Girl - Read the book last year with the intent of seeing it at the cinema. The movie is stylish, well-acted, beautifully scored and long. It's actually a very faithful adaptation - hardly surprising given the screenwriter - but that means if you've read the book it feels like takes its sweet time to get to where you know it's going. Definitely worth the watch. Had to look away during one scene though.


[*]If you have a Chromecast, check out the "specials offers" for it.
 

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Posted by iamchristianhearmeroar (# 15483) on :
 
Last night I finished watching "Once Upon a Time in America" (over several sittings!). What an amazing piece of cinema. It's brutal, shocking, very difficult to watch at times, but I feel myself wanting to watch it again almost straight away! I've rarely felt that about anything.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by iamchristianhearmeroar:
Last night I finished watching "Once Upon a Time in America" (over several sittings!). What an amazing piece of cinema. It's brutal, shocking, very difficult to watch at times, but I feel myself wanting to watch it again almost straight away! I've rarely felt that about anything.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pyx_e:
Jupiter Ascending: like running at 400 mph into a wall of sci-fi meringue.

It will change your life.

The Bees know all.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I saw "Inside the mind of Leonardo Da Vinci". It's a documentary with Peter Capaldi narrating the words from his notebooks (translated into English).

Capaldi was decent and gave a sense of the writer, but the film was a disappointment. It's in 3D but with the exception of 3 brief scenes it doesn't really show very much at all of the drawings in the notebooks. Instead there are endless shots of river flumes, fields in the mountains of rural Tuscany and shots of Italian cities. Since the notebooks contain spectacular visualizations and examples of how his mind worked, it was extremely frustrating.

---

I saw this when it was on some time ago, and like Palimpsest, was rather frustrated and underwhelmed.

However, this afternoon we are planning to see the new Shaun the Sheep movie, which should be fun
 

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Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :
 
went to see Shaun the Sheep yesterday - fun for all ages !
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Telstar: The Joe Meek Story - a record produced who is also bipolar makes a lot of money but kills himself. Based on a true story.
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wet Kipper:
went to see Shaun the Sheep yesterday - fun for all ages !

---

Oh yes, it was - and I particularly liked the resemblance between the waiter in the restaurant and a certain Mr Miliband...
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
Who's That Knocking At My Door. Martin Scorsese's first picture.

I went into it thinking it would be mostly of historical interest, for the obvious reasons, but it was actually pretty good, in and of itself. Just when you think you've settled into the technical gist of the film, it throws a few curve balls at you to keep you on your toes.

Overall, it seeems to have one foot in French New Wave, and another in Scorsese's own emerging signature style.
 

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Posted by JoannaP (# 4493) on :
 
The BFI is having a Katherine Hepburn season and last night we saw Bringing Up Baby. It is surprising how much difference seeing it on a big screen makes. One of those rare occasions when a cinema audience burst into spontaneous applause
 

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Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :
 
Just watched the documentary The Overnighters on Netflix and immediately considered showing it to the prison chaplains I oversee.

This documentary should be required viewing for anyone engaged in social action, with plenty of discussion time afterwards.

Trailer here. Try not to read spoilers to get the film's full impact.
 

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Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
Saw Birdman yesterday. Fascinating movie, a little odd in some ways but the oddity is properly integrated into the film as a whole, and it held my interest pretty well the whole way through. Performances are fabulous. Everyone's been talking about Michael Keaton, but both Emma Stone and Edward Norton are just as good.

[ 22. February 2015, 09:32: Message edited by: orfeo ]
 

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Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :
 
I picked up a video of Daredevil (the Marvel character) yesterday for 25p. I'd heard it wasn't very good, but for that money it didn't matter.
And it was okay. The chap playing Daredevil/Matt Murdock's legal partner was spot on, the 'fight' between Matt and Elektra in the playground was very well done, and the kid playing Young Matt was brilliant - and Ben Affleck as Daredevil was fine, too.
The film didn't pass the Bechdel Test, though - the only woman in it was Elektra, apart from a previous girlfriend of Matt's who was only heard on the answer phone. And somehow, it didn't quite hit that sweet spot that the more recent Marvel movies have done.
I understand there's going to be a Daredevil TV series soon, which should be interesting.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I just went and saw the Oscar nominated animated shorts. Me and Moulton and Bus Story were fun. The Disney entry about a puppy with an enormous appetite was ok.
Several were darker. A British one about two brothers taking care of their invalid mother was interesting but kept getting into destroying the frame. I didn't really like the Plimpton entry like I usually do.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Stetson:
I watched Kingsman, with Colin Firth.

---

I'm tempted to say that the concerns with (stuff in spoilers) are likely because it's based on work by Mark Millar, who did Kick-Ass and the like. He's one of my least favorite comics writers of all time, I'm sorry to say.
 

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Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
I've just seen a trailer for a new SF movie about a robot, called CHAPPIE.

No way will I be able to take that seriously. When I was growing up Chappie was the name of a brand of dog food, specially formulated for little doggies!


 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
We saw Project Almanac this week, which had a lot of interesting ideas. Not sure the science was thought through enough and I found the hand held camera schtick boring by half an hour in, but there were some nice bits and a number of themes - time travel, unforeseen effects, teenage coming of age in a sweet way, friendship ...
 

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Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
We watched Best Exotic Marigold Hotel yesterday - I absolutely loved it!
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
Not sure if this counts as a movie, but thought I should put it somewhere on the Ship, since who knows how long it will be available...

India's Daughter

It probably does not need to be said that parts of it are fairly unpleasant to watch.
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bene Gesserit:
We watched Best Exotic Marigold Hotel yesterday - I absolutely loved it!

---

Looking forward to the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which opens today, but I won't be able to see it until next week! (I plan to re-watch the first one on DVD before going to see the second.)
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
We watched Sharknado 2 last night! It was amusing.
 

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Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bene Gesserit:
We watched Best Exotic Marigold Hotel yesterday - I absolutely loved it!

---

Looking forward to the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which opens today, but I won't be able to see it until next week! (I plan to re-watch the first one on DVD before going to see the second.)

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quote:

---

Originally posted by orfeo:
Saw Birdman yesterday. Fascinating movie, a little odd in some ways but the oddity is properly integrated into the film as a whole, and it held my interest pretty well the whole way through. Performances are fabulous. Everyone's been talking about Michael Keaton, but both Emma Stone and Edward Norton are just as good.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Twilight:

I was disappointed. I've never been crazy about Hollywood/Broadway's tendency to navel gaze. Movies and plays about the noble art of acting get on my nerves a little bit. Even, to me, the greatest one, All About Eve has the scene where they're all sitting on the stairs talking about acting as though it was more self-sacrificing and beneficial to society than anything Jonas Salk ever did.

---

Yebbut, wasn't the self-absorption part of what we were supposed to be laughing at? Not that they were navel-gazing, but the silly things they came up with when they tried to navel-gaze. Even their attempts to be deep were shallow!
In other words, I get the feeling I really need to see Birdman.
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
You really do Kelly, you're our resident Roger Ebert.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
( so not worthy)
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
What do you feel happened at the end? Was it factual? I have argued that Birdman is simply the origin story of the latest super hero.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Bessy mate from UK brought me a few movies when he came over and now he has gone I have more time to watch them. Yesterday it was Michael Palin and Maggie Smith [and Trevor Howard, Michael Hordern, Phoebe Daniels, Denholm Elliot, etc. in The Missionary - surely one of the funniest British films in years though it's a bit long in the tooth these days.

Brilliant!

Later in the week it will be Rita Moreno in The Ritz - her tribute from Terence McNally. Googie Gomez gets me every time!
 

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Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :
 
Last week we watched Delicatessan (my all time favourite film) and City of Lost Children with our kids as my eldest is really into dystopias at the moment.
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
What do you feel happened at the end? Was it factual? I have argued that Birdman is simply the origin story of the latest super hero.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Polly:
Family visit to see The Avengers at the cinema.

If you liked the last one then this will be of interest.

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Mr Marten and I saw this the other day. I love the Avengers films, and this didn't disappoint, although I lost the plot at times... I did miss Loki not being in it however
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I enjoyed The Avengers too. Lots of action and convoluted plot.

Which made a pleasant change from the previous few films selected by the teenage boy: Fast and Furious 7, Focus and Get Hard all of which were high on action, low on plot, and in the case of Get Hard stuffed with crude and unsubtle penis jokes and far too much sight of the organ in question. It was a 15, so I really wasn't expecting to be faced with flaccid flesh.

Focus was a heist movie and didn't bring anything new to the party, other than demonstrating various pick-pocketing techniques to entirely the wrong audience and Fast and Furious 7 was as to be expected, lots of action, including a pretty cool, if improbable, sequence stealing a car from a Saudi penthouse. It came complete with dedication to Paul Walker and continues to show street racing as a good and exciting sport even though it killed the original star. Mind you, they did show damage to quite a few of the cast.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
We went to see Far From the Madding Crowd which just opened this weekend in the US. The theater was surprisingly full. It immediately struck me how very many things this film does not have in common with Avengers. No explosions (although there was a prospect of an exploding sheep it did not actually go off), no tights, no robotic armor, no flying vehicles. However there was property damage, and world-shaking decisions.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
Watched It Follows. Enjoyable, low-key but still pretty spooky horror/ghost movie. Mercifully avoided the loud blasts of ominous music and gaudy CGI that so blight other current manifestations of the genre.

I'm trying to think of an "If you liked X, you'd like this" formulation, but it's hard, because the film is pretty different from other contemporary horror flicks. It's a BIT like the Ring-esque Asian stuff, but even that's misleading, since it doesn't go for quite the same shocking visuals and convoluted plotlines. I think "Let's Scare Jessica To Death", which some of you old-timers may remember from the 70s, is the closest comparison.

And hours of debate to be had about socioeconomic stratification in 21st Century Detroit.
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
We went to see Far From the Madding Crowd which just opened this weekend in the US. The theater was surprisingly full. It immediately struck me how very many things this film does not have in common with Avengers. No explosions (although there was a prospect of an exploding sheep it did not actually go off), no tights, no robotic armor, no flying vehicles. However there was property damage, and world-shaking decisions.

---

Well compared, Brenda! When we go to the multiplex I usually watch the first few minutes of something like the Avengers with my husband and son before slipping down the hall to watch something like, "Madding" with a few other lone women. I totally get the culture shock.

I still remember the Julie Christie version of "Far From the Madding Crowd," and more recently there was a Keely Hawes version on TV. I love Hardy and love how he loves his leading ladies. I'll be checking this one out I'm sure.

Saw, The Imitation Game, absolutely riveting, infuriating, and astonishing.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
The problem here is that they often put the chick-flick next to the action flick. Gentle orchestral music, silent, meaningful gazes in my theater, then through the wall comes... pow! Pow! CRASH! KABLOOEY!!

:sigh:
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Stetson:
I think "Let's Scare Jessica To Death", which some of you old-timers may remember from the 70s, is the closest comparison.

---

Oooooooo! (Takes notice.)
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
The other day I watched a dvd of the 1940 version of Gaslight, with Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard. It was very atmospheric and Walbrook was a creepy and believable villain, attempting to drive his wife to madness.

One of the best things about it was that I could actually *hear* every word of dialogue - they were obviously well trained actors who didn't mumble. I know I'm getting old but I'm getting increasingly annoyed when I have to turn the volume right up and *still* can't understand half the film because of sloppy diction !
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pine Marten:
...One of the best things about it was that I could actually *hear* every word of dialogue - they were obviously well trained actors who didn't mumble. I know I'm getting old but I'm getting increasingly annoyed when I have to turn the volume right up and *still* can't understand half the film because of sloppy diction !

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Pine Marten:
The other day I watched a dvd of the 1940 version of Gaslight, with Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard. It was very atmospheric and Walbrook was a creepy and believable villain, attempting to drive his wife to madness.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Twilight:
I just watched August: Osage County. Whew. It was like our, "Difficult relatives," thread come to life.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
"Gemma Bovary" is a Modern French Comedy about an English Woman in France who's life begins to resemble the story "Madame Bovary".

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quote:

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Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I saw Big Game last week - lots of subtitled Finnish to start with, which amused me along with lots of shots of Finnish scenery and Northern Finnish traditions. Not sure I've ever seen a Finnish film before. It was quite sweet and very tongue in cheek. (I didn't choose it, teenage boy did.)

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quote:

---

Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
"Gemma Bovary" is a Modern French Comedy about an English Woman in France who's life begins to resemble the story "Madame Bovary".

---

Is this an adaptation of the Posey Simmonds (author of Tamara Drew) graphic novel of the same name?

---

Yes.
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
They are doing Peter Pan live action. And it looks amazing!
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
My ninety-six year old friend and I saw "Cinderella". Bless her sweet heart, it's a good thing the theater was almost empty! She has Alzheimer's, and forgets that she shouldn't talk out loud at a movie. She kept saying, "It's a fairy tale!" Yes it is! And a well-made one IMHO.

The location is gorgeous, the costumes are to die for, and the acting sucked me in.

It's OK to know the story beforehand. It's OK that it mirrors the Disney cartoon movie, because it is, of course, Disney.

What a fun time we had together! Two friends, having an afternoon of light fun, without straining our brains, such as they are.
 

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Posted by Wet Kipper (# 1654) on :
 
I was one of about 6 men in a cinema full of women watching Pitch Perfect 2 last night - I quite enjoyed it - especially the OTT German accents...
 

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Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
Pirates of Penzance was brilliant! It did seem strange to have an interval in a film and have some of the audience applaud.
 

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Posted by M. (# 3291) on :
 
Not cinema - but we went to see Pirates at the Coliseum on
Saturday and yes, it was briiliant!

Except we moaned about the cameras whizzing about in front of us and distracting us....

M.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I saw Mad Max: Fury Road today - it was a Mad Max film with added amazing locations, amazing effects ...
 

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Posted by Robert Armin (# 182) on :
 
Was disappointed by the latest Avengers offering, to be honest. Plot jumped about a lot (what was it with Thor and the pool), and the battle scenes went on forever. Maybe it's because I was less than gripped, that I noticed almost all the civilians in the first half of the film were black - which really highlighted how many of the heroes were. None. The new lineup revealed at the end seems to be addressing this issue, but I'm not sure it works. Heroes like Warhorse seem to be in the "Let's take a major hero and produce a more boring version of him" mould, which is as patronising in my mind as the endless line of "Let's take a major hero and produce a female version of him" products we've seen over the years.
 

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Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
Just watched a movie on TV: "The Pope Must Diet". It's about a priest who accidentally becomes pope, in a situation of great corruption. It's a comedy and something of a spoof, but there's a lot more to it than that.

I wonder if Pope Francis has seen it? I suspect he'd like it.
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
Friendly Persuasion, was on TCM yesterday, so I watched, remembering how much I had liked it as a little girl. It also had really high ratings on IMBD and Rotten Tomatoes.

Well, right of the bat, there was the funny goose and little boy scene I remembered. It was all down hill from there. Everybody said "thee," in almost every sentence, far more than one might say, "you," but that was to remind us they were Quakers, I guess. There was a creepy scene where a bunch of randy hillbilly women were crawling all over Tony Perkins. Well any scene with Tony Perkins is creepy, but this was unrealistic and out of place, yet supposed to be funny, I guess.

The movie couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be a Walt Disney, musical, a slap stick comedy or a deep drama about religion and ethics.

It's the religion and ethics part that was just awful. All the Quakers dropped their pacifist convictions at the very first moment of being put to the test. The movie made it perfectly clear that they had all dropped their silly notions and come to their senses. Quakers everywhere should have boycotted this thing.

[ 25. May 2015, 11:44: Message edited by: Twilight ]
 

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Posted by Paul. (# 37) on :
 
"What We Do In The Shadows" is a mock documentary about vampires sharing a flat in New Zealand. The joke is that they have the same petty squabbles, mundane failures and triumphs as anyone else (arguing over the chores rota). Even when there are issues arising from their supernatural lifestyle, they are portrayed as analogous to more ordinary ones - trash-talking rather than fighting with the local werewolf gang, the idea that turning someone else's human friend into a vampire is a faux pas akin to dating someone else's ex-.

And so on.

It was kind of fun, but I felt the joke was stretched thin to last 90mins. And there was a shaky-cam sequence with a real fight scene that left me dizzy and nauseous. Not bad though.
 

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Posted by Meike (# 3006) on :
 
Nightwatch (1994). The Danish version with Jaime Lennister playing a young student who takes a job as a night watchman at the forensic institute while a serial killer is murdering women in Copenhagen. The student eventually becomes the prime suspect.

The scenes in the institute at night were proper creepy, mostly because of the atmosphere and what went on in my mind, with only a few shock effects. Some dark humor, too.

I rather enjoyed it. It is an old film but I missed it in the cinema then and it's now available on DVD and online.
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I saw Mad Max: Fury Road today - it was a Mad Max film with added amazing locations, amazing effects ...

---

We're off to our local Odeon in about 45 mins to see this - it's had such good reviews I couldn't resist...
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
More from the Seattle International Film Festival.

Friday I saw a film full of clips of early technology and science fiction with a snarky narration by Tilda Swinton.
Saturday I saw "I am Michael" a film about a gay activist who becomes a conservative preacher. It was far kinder to him than he deserved. I then saw "Our Summer in Provence" about three children forced to spend the summer with the grumpy Grandfather in Provence. Sappy and clichéd, although the deaf 8 year old was a good actor.

Sunday I saw two of the Apu Trilogy and then a French film "Vincent" about a man who gets super strength when he gets underwater. Interesting as a metaphor.

Today I saw "Satellite Girl and Milk Cow" about a satellite that turns into a female version of Astro Boy and a musician who is turned into a cow. And there's a wizard who has been transformed into a roll of toilet paper. It was interesting but left me feeling I just didn't understand the references.

There was a documentary about people all over the world trying to make really spectacular steaks. They focused on a Spanish Farmer who raises castrated bulls for 10 to 15 years before slaughtering the.

Tommorrow I have to decide if I'm going to stay up late and see a screening of "Footloose" which is part of the Kevin Bacon retrospective.

Another two weeks of films to go...
 

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Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pine Marten:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I saw Mad Max: Fury Road today - it was a Mad Max film with added amazing locations, amazing effects ...

---

We're off to our local Odeon in about 45 mins to see this - it's had such good reviews I couldn't resist...

---

Gosh, it was amazing alright, and Charlize Theron was way ahead the hero of the story, Max himself playing second fiddle somewhat. I enjoyed it, but was more excited by the trailer for the new Terminator film coming out soon...

And now a completely different thing: the other day I caught the 1952 Ealing film Mandy on TV, and was very pleased to see it again. I did an OU Honours degree some years back, and wrote on the history of post-war cinema, concentrating on Alexander Mackendrick, who directed Mandy, which is about a young deaf girl and her mother's efforts to get her to be taught to speak and to be treated like 'normal' children.

It sounds rather earnest but in fact it's a very interesting film, and has a lovely performance from 6 year old Mandy Miller (not deaf in real life!), as well as having a good adult cast.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
posted by Golden Key

quote:

---

Just watched a movie on TV: "The Pope Must Diet"

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Twilight:


Well, right of the bat, there was the funny goose and little boy scene I remembered. It was all down hill from there. Everybody said "thee," in almost every sentence, far more than one might say, "you," but that was to remind us they were Quakers, I guess. There was a creepy scene where a bunch of randy hillbilly women were crawling all over Tony Perkins. Well any scene with Tony Perkins is creepy, but this was unrealistic and out of place, yet supposed to be funny, I guess.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Twilight:


Well, right of the bat, there was the funny goose and little boy scene I remembered. It was all down hill from there. Everybody said "thee," in almost every sentence, far more than one might say, "you," but that was to remind us they were Quakers, I guess. There was a creepy scene where a bunch of randy hillbilly women were crawling all over Tony Perkins. Well any scene with Tony Perkins is creepy, but this was unrealistic and out of place, yet supposed to be funny, I guess.

---

quote:

---

It is interesting how our introduction to some actors colours our view of them permanently.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Palimpsest:
... Peter Greenaway...it was pretty odd.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Stetson:
Finally saw The Maltese Falcon(Huston, 1941). Hate to say this, 'cuz I know it's supposed to be this great classic of film noir and everything, but I was pretty underwhelmed.

Like other Huston films I've seen, it was long-winded, with what seemed like endless discussion of the intricacies of the criminal plot. Said discussions being somewhat pointless, since the whole thing is just a maguffin anyway.

And that maguffin doesn't really set up anything of much interest. I never really felt myself "hooked" into the story, as one should with a good thriller. It was really just seemed like a bunch of conversations about business and money, with a few scenes of violence interjected every little while.

There was nothing really menacing about the villains either. The portly erudtie Brit and the weasely Frenchman seemed like stock "jewel heist" baddies.

I guess people really take to the Bogartian private dick character, but it's been copied, tributed, and parodied so many times since, I guess I guess I came to it at the wrong time in my life as a film-viewer.

Oh well. I didn't have very high expectations to begin with, being, as I say, a long-standing non-fan of John Huston. Mostly just watched it to be able to say that I had. And now I can.

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quote:

---

Even Citizen Kane, which often tops critics lists of the greatest films ever, isn't accessible to the average, modern viewer.

---

Well, I would qualify as a modern viewer, and I've found Citizen Kane quite enjoyable, even if I can recognize that it might have packed a bigger punch in 1941.
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
Well then, perhaps you are better than average.
I think the statement still stands, though. There is more to an experience than the object of that experience.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 

quote:

---

There is more to an experience than the object of that experience.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
The Birds. I am a Hitchcock fan, but I just cannot connect to this film. I should really view it again to ascertain why, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do so.

---

• Spy, which was fun and silly - Jude Law playing smooth was enjoyable,
• Insidious, Chapter 3 teen horror aimed at girls and does not come recommended; it was a second choice as we were too late for what we really wanted to watch,
• Jurassic World which we saw the following week and for all its 12A certificate had far more really scary moments than Insidious and was definitely worth seeing.

What was noticeable about Spy compared to Kingsman was the strength of the female characters. They were an integral part of the plot rather than a bolted on extra or obligatory token female. Sadly, Jurassic World suffered from the token female feature too, but otherwise was brilliant, great effects and Chris Pratt doing his schtick well.

(I am getting some education in out of this, we got to study earthquakes, tectonic plates and all after San Andreas and we are going to do extinction and genetics following Jurassic World. We did also discuss what would happen if everyone deserted their posts to rescue their families as per Dwayne Johnson's character in San Andreas and get some PSE in. I have also got him to a theatre, the Globe, to see Shakespeare in the last week, so progress is being made.)
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
St. Vincent. Garden variety redemption flick, featuring Bill Murray as a cranky old curmudgeon who meets a lonely little boy, and, well, you know where that's going.

Schmaltzy and derivative, but worth seeing for Murray's performance, which admittedly is probably best appreciated in the context of his overall career. In some ways, it's kind of a "meta"-performance.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
My son and I went to see the new Pixar movie, Inside Out. It was utterly delightful, and I recommend it.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
Prisoners, about the search for two abducted girls.

I went into this somewhat optimistically, thinking it might not devolve into the usual convoluted plotlines and non-sequtorial weirdness that so blight the serial-killer genre.

Boy was I disappointed.

SPOILERS AHEAD

It turns out that the girls were abducted by a religion-hating granny, who devotes her life to kidnapping and murdering children in order to destroy peoples' faith in God. (Maybe all those kids could still be alive if someone had introdued her to Dead Horses.)

The film is still pretty well made, but, as I've said before, the serial-killer genre REALLY needs to bring itself back down to Earth.

[ 28. June 2015, 16:33: Message edited by: Stetson ]
 

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Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :
 
We watched Studio Ghibli's The tale of Princess Kaguya last night - it is utterly charming.

As long-term Ghibli fans, we are thoroughly looking forward to seeing When Marnie was there.
 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Ted - about a lonely Jewish boy whose teddy bear comes to life and befriends him.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Daughter-Unit and I saw Spy about two weeks ago. We both like Melissa McCarthy and dear S-i-L doesn't, so this was an excellent time for mother-daughter fun!

In spite of the f-bombs salting the movie throughout, it was pretty funny! The story line is unbelievable, but entertainment doesn't have to be based in any kind of reality. So, we just sat back and enjoyed the film.

Oh, and stay for the credits if you go.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
Last Saturday I saw a Japanese silent movie with a live orchestra accompaniment.

The film was Ozu's 1934 silent; A story of floating weeds he later remade it as a sound picture. It's about a theatrical troupe that comes to a rural small town.

It was a perfectly restored black and white print.
Ozu has an amazing way of showing people in a realistic fashion.
The performance had a traditional narrator and many unusual instruments.
For me that best part was an evening tryst in a field with the sounds of many crickets made by all of the orchestra whirling a traditional Japanese toy noisemaker. It made the wonderful cinematography perfect.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Ted - about a lonely Jewish boy whose teddy bear comes to life and befriends him.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:

quote:

---

Originally posted by leo:
Ted - about a lonely Jewish boy whose teddy bear comes to life and befriends him.

---

Blink. Boggle.

Having seen Ted 2 this week*, I'm surprised you didn't think to mention the language - every review describes Ted as foul-mouthed, the drug use, the prostitutes, the sexism and teenage humour? There was a quote part way through the film where John (the boy, now man) says he had just wanted a friend to smoke marijuana with, and the trouble with his wife was that she wouldn't.

Ted 2 has Ted married and wanting a child so he has to prove his personhood, which could be an interesting concept but the drug use wasn't something I found particularly helpful.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
My son and I went to see the new Pixar movie, Inside Out. It was utterly delightful, and I recommend it.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gill H:

I wanted to show this film to everyone I know who suffers from depression, or loves those who do. It has some really helpful insights.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gill H:

The short film before, 'Lava', had me blubbing too. Beautiful animation about volcanoes in Hawaii, of all things.

---

This and Boundin' are my current Pixar short films.
 

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Posted by Smudgie (# 2716) on :
 
Here's another vote for Inside Out. I hadn't been sure whether I wanted to watch it but was so so glad I was dragged along. It was amazing the way it tackled such a complex theme in such a "penny dropping" way and so often I thought "Yes, that's it, exactly!"

Extremely embarrassed to find myself going all weepy over a bloomin' volcano and then again over the self-sacrificial act of a blinkin' imaginary friend..... Obviously I was sitting in a draught which interfered with my eyes again.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I was impressed with the depth of INSIDE OUT. And the view into other heads was delightful. Now at last we have an explanation for why the cat gallops through the house.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
In complete contrast I have just watched a DVD of Carry on Cleo which was just as dreadful as I thought it might be - funny though in all its predictability.
 

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Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :
 
"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in fer me!"

I went to see Mr Holmes the other evening, and what a lovely film it is. I was quite choked up at the end. Ian McKellan was brilliant, of course, as the 93 year old Holmes, but so was the boy Roger (Milo Parker) and his housekeeper mother Laura Linney. One part of the plot takes place in Hiroshima, shortly after the end of the Second World War, and that was fascinating.
I was also amused to see, among the credits at the end of the film, two "Knitters" - one of whom must have knitted young Roger's swimming costume.
Well worth seeing.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
I have never regretted seeing a single thing with Laura
Linney in it. She is destined to be remembered as one of the greats.
 

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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
Dunno if we'll watch any films in August... Shall read the film section in Friday's newspaper tomorrow.


Just because films have big-name actors and actresses (Jennifer Garner) doesn't mean they are any good: I worked on that one with Jamie Foxx and it failed miserably!
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I have never regretted seeing a single thing with Laura
Linney in it. She is destined to be remembered as one of the greats.

---

I certainly did not regret seeing Love Actually, but that was in spite of her character, not because of it. Her storyline seemed out of place, even allowing for the multipronged plot structure.

And, while I'd imagine that somwhere at some point there have been siblings who moe together to the same country, in that movie it seemed rather artificial, to justify the presence of an American actor in a British movie.

(Mind you, nothing strained credibility as much as the American expats in the re-make of The Grudge. Are there actually social-service agencies in Japan made up largely of foreigners, but with Japanese clients?)
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Maybe Richard Curtis was just looking for an excuse to work with her...
 

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Posted by Hedgehog (# 14125) on :
 
I just came back from the 2015 Capitolfest in Rome, NY, a three day festival of silent movies and early talkies, shown in a glorious old movie palace (The Capitol Theater).

I won't load you down with mentioning every film shown (it was a three-day festival, generally going from 9:30am to around 11:00pm).

One curiosity was Blue Jeans (1917). This was based on a popular play of the same name and its main claim to fame is that it introduced audiences to the classic “Saw Mill Scene”—you know the one, where a character is tied to a log and heading toward the spinning blade of the saw mill. Now, here is a curious point. In popular imagery, when the saw mill bit is done, it is usually the damsel-in-distress who is tied up and headed towards the saw, to be rescued by the rugged hero. But here, in its first iteration, the roles are reversed. It is the male lead who is unconscious and heading towards the spinning blade, and it is the female lead who courageously breaks out of the room where she was locked in and manages to get him out of the way of the saw just before it hits him.

My favorite film of the weekend was the last one shown, The Dixie Flyer (1926). This was a fast-paced railroad-story, with an evil robber baron, a plucky heroine and a hero who had the impressive ability to lose almost every fistfight he was in until the final one. In fact, about two-thirds of the way through the film, the plucky heroine again rescues the male lead—-he is fighting on a moving flatbed car (and losing) and she, who had been in a locomotive trailing the flatbed car, jumps from the locomotive onto the flatbed car carrying a big wrench to sock the bad guy over the head with. And, honestly, that was one of the minor stunts pulled. The finale is rip-roaring stuff.

The interesting part is that the film is technically still in the process of being restored by the Library of Congress Film Preservation Board (based in Culpeper, VA). This film was once thought to be lost. Then a copy was found with a collector, but in dubious shape. They were able to get some clear images from the middle though. Then another copy was found (actually, it may have been the same collector). They were able to restore most of the film, but they did not have the opening credits. The LoCFPB guys researched type-fonts used to advertise the film and re-made the opening credits using that. But it was announced at the festival (by a guy from LoCFPB) that they just located a third copy of the film and that copy has the opening credits—so this festival is the last time the re-made credits will be used (it turns out they were completely wrong about how the credits looked…). The third copy also has the last 4 minutes of the film complete without breaks, which will be better than what was shown, which was made up piecemeal from the two other copies. It is kind of neat to see a film that is in the process of restoration.

That, of course, is part of the fun of going to this festival: to see films that have been saved from destruction and which often have not been seen publicly since the 1930s. The Dixie Flyer was actually not the primary restored film shown. That honor belonged to Ramona (1928) starring Dolores Del Rio and Warner Baxter as a couple of Native Americans facing prejudice. It’s a tragedy. The story is pretty powerful—in fact, there is a town in California that still presents the play-version of Ramona every year in an outdoor theater. There was also a popular song called “Ramona” that was connected with this film. The downbeat nature of the story makes it hard for me to call the film enjoyable, though. I prefer happy endings.
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
I'm so envious, Hedgehog! I'll look forward to seeing those on TCM someday.

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I have never regretted seeing a single thing with Laura Linney in it. She is destined to be remembered as one of the greats.

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Oh, she ROCKED that movie. She was EEEEVIL.

She also does very good "Genuinely nice person with a few rough edges" well-- see "The Mothman Prophecies." And "The Exorcism of Emily Rose."

"Ahh, I hate this superstitious fear mongering crap that has been totally debunked in various journals, I'll be damned if I clutter my mind with this deluded cra-- Laura Linney is in it? Whoa, and Jennifer Damn Carpenter? I'll get the popcorn."

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Originally posted by Eigon:
I went to see Mr Holmes the other evening, and what a lovely film it is. I was quite choked up at the end. Ian McKellan was brilliant, of course, as the 93 year old Holmes, but so was the boy Roger (Milo Parker) and his housekeeper mother Laura Linney.

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I just came back from seeing Mr. Holmes. It starts as a film about aging and memory loss, but goes from there to emotional loss, and loneliness, and making mistakes. I found the film almost too sad, but I agree the three leads all gave outstanding performances.
 

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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
This week, I watched The World's End. Zimbabwean television is so puritan that they block out the whole sound for around 10 seconds whenever there is a hint of a swear word. This irritated me immensely in the beginning, until I saw the humour of it and thought of it as a silent film
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
American Ultra.

There's probably a great film to be made by marrying the Jason Bourne scenario with the slacker genre. This wasn't it.

Borrows lazily from both of its concept pools(comics-obsessed pothead convenience clerk who's really a CIA-programmed assassin), without managing to transcend or even enhance either of them.

As well, all the non-white characters are gangbangers, and it's meant to be some sort of terrifying revelation that the CIA is training "mental patients" as killers. I suppose this could be justified as genre-parody, but the film doesn't really establish that purpose to any sufficient degree.

[ 30. August 2015, 14:14: Message edited by: Stetson ]
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Ghod, that sounds dire.
 

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Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :
 

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Originally posted by lilBuddha:

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Originally posted by Gill H:

The short film before, 'Lava', had me blubbing too. Beautiful animation about volcanoes in Hawaii, of all things.

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This and Boundin' are my current Pixar short films.

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Originally posted by Amorya:

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Originally posted by lilBuddha:

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Originally posted by Gill H:

The short film before, 'Lava', had me blubbing too. Beautiful animation about volcanoes in Hawaii, of all things.

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This and Boundin' are my current Pixar short films.

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I have to say, I didn't like Lava. I found it quite long and boring, and I didn't like the fact that they felt they had to give volcanoes genders.

Inside Out, on the other hand, was amazing!

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quote:

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One warning is a scene where they hitchhike a ride from a drunk couple with some fairly obvious sex going on in the front seat. Why movies have to throw out these moments that add little and might ruin a film as something you could take your child or grandmother to is mystery to me.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:


ETA: Yeah, probably not for you, Twilight.

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The film is still pretty well made, but, as I've said before, the serial-killer genre REALLY needs to bring itself back down to Earth.

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Originally posted by Twilight:
We saw A Walk in the Woods at the movies yesterday -- yes! we left the house and went to the big movies. For once I thought the film did a fine job of capturing the book. Hiking the Appalachian Trail has long been a dream/ now fantasy of mine, so there's that, and Nick Nolte was absolutely hilarious. Lots of critics thought it was boring but we definitely didn't.

One warning is a scene where they hitchhike a ride from a drunk couple with some fairly obvious sex going on in the front seat. Why movies have to throw out these moments that add little and might ruin a film as something you could take your child or grandmother to is mystery to me.

Kelly, thanks for the film shorts link above!

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I saw and enjoyed Mr. Holmes with Ian McKellen. Wrote a review of it.

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Originally posted by Twilight:

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Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:


ETA: Yeah, probably not for you, Twilight.

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Heh. Thanks Lyda. I'm not quite as prudish as I sound when seeing a movie by myself, but I like to be prepared before I watch something with my son. He turns different colors and runs away mortified not to return until dinner time.

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Originally posted by Stetson:
Kind of interesting to see a "movie about movies" from over 60 years ago, because I tend to regard that as a fairly contemporary genre.

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Originally posted by Hedgehog:

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Originally posted by Stetson:
Kind of interesting to see a "movie about movies" from over 60 years ago, because I tend to regard that as a fairly contemporary genre.

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Oh, bless your heart. You can find examples of that genre practically as old as movies themselves. Take, for example, Souls For Sale (1923).

Yes, I said 1923.

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I saw and enjoyed Mr. Holmes with Ian McKellen. Wrote a review of it.

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Originally posted by Hedgehog:

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Originally posted by Stetson:
Kind of interesting to see a "movie about movies" from over 60 years ago, because I tend to regard that as a fairly contemporary genre.

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Oh, bless your heart. You can find examples of that genre practically as old as movies themselves. Take, for example, Souls For Sale (1923).

Yes, I said 1923.

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Hedgehog, I think you just took the Film Nerd crown.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Here is my review of Mr. Holmes. I review just about every performance or movie I see (not TV, because I rarely watch it) and review it on this site.
 

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Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 
I am watching TheOmen.

(Reply number 666 on this thread.)
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by balaam:
I am watching TheOmen.

(Reply number 666 on this thread.)

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quote:

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Originally posted by balaam:
I am watching TheOmen.

(Reply number 666 on this thread.)

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Originally posted by leo:
Left Behind - about the rapture. Even sillier than the belief itself but quite entertaining

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
God, that sounds cringeworthy.

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Originally posted by Full Circle:
I've saw MacBeth by Justin Kurzel two days ago and am still thinking about it. Definitely some new interpretation of the words and some brilliant moments and also slightly surreal. Lots of words cut and moved about. I will have to go again to decide whether I really liked it or really didn't!

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We saw it a week or so ago. It was ok, but I thought they mucked about too much with it, especially in the bizarre way they killed Lady Macduff & co (no spoilers!) and the way Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane.

Also, although I know of course that films usually cut dialogue, I felt they cut away too many good lines which illustrated the characters' behaviour.

Yesterday I rewatched a dvd of the Polanski Macbeth, and still think it a much better version....not least because I could *hear* the dialogue
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 

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Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
I went to see "The Martian" and quite enjoyed it. It is a rather old fashioned tale of can-do spirit, a lot of pretty decent people (even the crusty head of NASA wasn't a monster), and a hell of a hostile universe. It reminded me of rundowns of creative writing plot options: man again man, man against society, man against his own nature, man against fate, or finally man against harsh, natural circumstances. I wouldn't want a steady diet of human near-perfection on screen, but this was fun for a change of pace.

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Originally posted by Full Circle:
I've saw MacBeth by Justin Kurzel two days ago and am still thinking about it. Definitely some new interpretation of the words and some brilliant moments and also slightly surreal. Lots of words cut and moved about. I will have to go again to decide whether I really liked it or really didn't!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pine Marten:

quote:

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Originally posted by Full Circle:
I've saw MacBeth by Justin Kurzel two days ago and am still thinking about it. Definitely some new interpretation of the words and some brilliant moments and also slightly surreal. Lots of words cut and moved about. I will have to go again to decide whether I really liked it or really didn't!

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We saw it a week or so ago. It was ok, but I thought they mucked about too much with it, especially in the bizarre way they killed Lady Macduff & co (no spoilers!) and the way Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane.

Also, although I know of course that films usually cut dialogue, I felt they cut away too many good lines which illustrated the characters' behaviour.

Yesterday I rewatched a dvd of the Polanski Macbeth, and still think it a much better version....not least because I could *hear* the dialogue

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quote:

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
The space and science agencies are not as tight, security-clearance-wise, as the true military. Nor does having relatives in a foreign country prevent you from getting a top clearance, especially if you can state that you are not cozy with them or perhaps have not even met them.

And it would astonish you, the things that members of the US Armed forces can do. My daughter was stationed in Afghanistan, where it turns out the wifi is not very good. So, feeling dull, she wrote a novel.

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quote:

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They kept playing the snippet of the blonde girl snapping,"the glitch just typed!" and her delivery was so on point I was afraid that would be the best moment in the movie.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Stetson:

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They kept playing the snippet of the blonde girl snapping,"the glitch just typed!" and her delivery was so on point I was afraid that would be the best moment in the movie.

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There are better moments than that, I'd say, though it isn't really a "moment" based flick. The attraction is more the overall buildup, rather than any particular scene.

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quote:

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Originally posted by LeRoc:
I also watched The Martian, yesterday evening. Like others on this thread, I found its optimism a bit over the top ("Any problem can be solved by doing the maths!" "Never accept that you're going to die!" "Years of being alone has no effect on you at all!"), but I managed to block that out reasonably well. There was plenty to make this an enjoyable film.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

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Originally posted by Stetson:

quote:

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They kept playing the snippet of the blonde girl snapping,"the glitch just typed!" and her delivery was so on point I was afraid that would be the best moment in the movie.

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There are better moments than that, I'd say, though it isn't really a "moment" based flick. The attraction is more the overall buildup, rather than any particular scene.

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Good. A film should be more than a bunch of snappy one liners.

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quote:

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Originally posted by leo:
'Invictus' about newly elected Nelson mandela as president supporting the Spirngboks rugby team.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Stetson:
That one scene accompanied by his son singing some sentimental drivel was just awful. (This is a general complaint of mine about all Eastwood's films.)

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quote:

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Originally posted by leo:

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Originally posted by Stetson:
That one scene accompanied by his son singing some sentimental drivel was just awful. (This is a general complaint of mine about all Eastwood's films.)

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I lioke sentimental - have just watched Prerty Woman about a business man who falls in love with a prostitute.

Also Stardust where a falling start turns out to be the woman of a young man's dreams.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Stetson:

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Originally posted by leo:

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Originally posted by Stetson:
...

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I lioke sentimental - have just watched Prerty Woman about a business man who falls in love with a prostitute...

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I like sentimental too. Give me a good rom-com any day.

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quote:

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Originally posted by leo:
Superman - given that it was made so long ago, the special effects are very advanced.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Stetson:
What If...

Smarter-than-average, Canadian-made rom-com starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan as platonic friends dancing around the edges of becoming more than that.

Maybe because it was produced at an arm's length from the Hollywood Dream Factory, it has fuller characterizations and more clever dialogue. Though I am not an expert on how twentysomethings talk and act these days, I suspect it probably captured the generational zeitgeist pretty realistically.

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Zoe Kazan is a treasure. I saw the trailer and Adam Driver is in it, too-- he's a guy to watch, too.

I am in the middle of watching "Unfriended" and I have to say, seeing a horror film generated from the mundane internet stuff you see everyday is really unsettling. Nothing really bad has happened yet, a I am still freaked out.

Also, it's fun to be watching a haunted internet movie and have the page start having freaky loading issues...thank you, computer, for adding to my viewing experience.

 

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Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
Amistad - about slaves on trial for staging a revolt on board ship.
 

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Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :
 
Kelly wrote:

quote:

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Also, it's fun to be watching a haunted internet movie and have the page start having freaky loading issues...thank you, computer, for adding to my viewing experience.

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quote:

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Originally posted by leo:
Kill Your Darlings - Allen Ginsberg as a young man and the influences upon him.

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