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seen any good flicks lately?
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Aaaargh! Detailed review of The Grey written and posted, then an error message! Short version: daft, mostly enjoyable, not very believable. Effective use of extreme contrasts in audio and visuals from one scene to the next - real blasts of sound and light (especially the plane crash). The trailer promised some ridiculous yet exciting action but the best clip turned out to come right at the end of the film and the ending was ...[censored to protect those who haven't seen it].
6.5/10
I'll stick the clear ones from the mains if its all the same.
Finally got around to watching "When Harry Met Sally" last night! Yes, I know it's as old as the hills, and how come it's taken me all this time to see it? But I was married at the time and my ex wasn't interested in film, so somehow it passed me by.
Anyway, the premise is that men and women can't just be friends; that sex always comes into the equation at some point, and I suppose this is sort of true. I'm saying this from the perspective of someone who does have a very close male friend - even though we are just friends, there have been occasional "what if" moments. However, I can't see me walking off into the sunset with my friend as Sally does with Harry!
I love Sally's faked orgasm in the cafe (that's one bit of the film that I HAVE seen popping up here and there!) - oh yes, been there, done that!!!
The Room screened at the wonderful and infamous Prince Charles cinema in Leicester Square. This is one of those films that is so bad its good and has quite rightly risen to cult status. You know when you are in for a "good" bad film when the staring role, director, producer and script writer are all the same person in the title credits. Its a love triangle story with predictable consequences but the acting, dialogue and characters are truely awful, with sex scenes to really make you squirm. The set has numerous pictures of spoons and the done thing is to take plastic spoons to the screening which are thrown to the shout of "spoons!" when one comes into view. Truely mad!
The star/director/producer was actually there tonight for a Q&A session and the worrying thing is he has another film coming out in about 6 months' time. Can't wait.
Saw The Woman in Black at the weekend. There were some genuinely startling moments in it, but the whole experience was spoilt by youngsters squealing and giggling, and rustling their popcorn packets. I usually try to avoid the multiplexes and go to my local arthouse cinema instead, where people actually want to see the film - and you can take a glass of wine or a proper cup of coffee in with you if you want!
I read an article in yesterday's Sunday Times Culture section which seemed to suggest that multiplexes are on the way out. Going by my experience I would say that any cinema goer who wants an enjoyable experience should definitely avoid the multiplexes!
Boing for RS.
I've watched a few but have completely lost any eloquence when I comes to giving an account. May go over a list later in the week.
The Kids Are All Right - A fine example of something not being as good as the sum of all its parts.
Acting - all good.
Lesbian marriage - Moore and Bening convincing and never over-the-top.
Mark Ruffalo - best acting from him yet IMHO.
Teens - acting good again, understated.
The look - v light, airy, nice colours (sorry, I'm not very technical)
Interaction between everyone - v real, believeable ...
... but it just wasn't a satisfying experience for me.
Ever experienced time stretch? What do I mean by ‘time stretch’? Well, as this is a running website; think about the first minute after you’ve pulled your guts out in the closing part of a race and think about the time it takes you to recover. The time on your watch will tell you that only a minute has gone by, whilst your heart is beating like a jackhammer; your breath comes in frantic gasps as you struggle to recover. The time in your head tells you, you’ve been suffering for ten minutes or more - that’s time stretch; or at least one version.
There’s other ways of experiencing time stretch - drop a tab of LSD or indulge yourself with too many tokes in too short a period and one of the effects can be cataleptic time stretch where, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll live through days of revelatory visions and when you drift back to normality, you’ll realise that only a couple of hours have gone by and you’ve not moved out of your seat - that’s another version of time stretch. This film provided me a third type of time stretch... and very wonderful it was too.
Films can do all sorts of things - at a very basic level they can tell a simple story; they can induce sympathy even empathy. They can raise your awareness, they can teach, they can entertain - occasionally they can make you angry. Sometimes they have the potential to wash over you and whilst not being life altering experiences, they can induce you to look at things a little differently, or appreciate a perspective you’ve not really considered before. Sometimes, on very rare occasions, a film becomes more than the sum of its parts and becomes something you ‘live’ through. All great art has these iconic artifacts - think of a great piece of music; a moving painting, or a fantastic book. The piece itself becomes more than the sum of it’s parts and becomes something greater... and quite often you cannot figure out why!? Why should piece of music ‘A’ move me to tears but piece of music ‘B’ have no effect at all - even though it’s by the same composer and just as well written? Sometimes, things are just magnificent and there’s no explanation needed beyond that.
So, the Film. Well, it’s a tale about a murder and the hunt for a body in the wild rural landscape of Anatolia. It’s about a team of state officials set on the case to unravel the tale of a dirty deed and it is; on the surface; a corpse hunt. Just below the surface it is much more than this and it’s a deep study of relationships and the complicated interactions between the characters. It’s an in-depth enquiry into each person’s motivation and character flaws upon their journey of discovery during the dark Anatolian night and it is brilliantly done.
The acting is superb - the cinematography better - it’s a film that’s beautifully shot and the mise en scene is perfect; the best I’ve experienced in a long time. Critically, some will consider the narrative slow moving and not much happening; to a certain extent this is true. However, that’s a bit like complaining that your sleigh ride through a Finnish forest in December wasn’t as good as your double ton on a Suzuki around Oulton Park - they both equally valid experiences of transport but completely different in their intent and so bear no comparison.
I found the film to be a hypnotic, enthralling and at times quite moving. It was also a fine example of ‘time stretch’ as leaving the theatre I wasn’t sure if I’d been 30 minutes or 24 hours.
My date thought it was:
‘Totally boring... I couldn’t tell one bloke in a mustache from another and boy it dragged on a bit - the director was on a complete arty farty wankfest’
10/10 - This years Pan’s Labyrinth... watch out for the Hollywood remake coming this way soon.
How to reestablish a vodka empire
Saw this the other night. Its not being widely screened but will be on channel 4 in the autumn. Its rather a charming film but not sure if the aim is to sell the film or to sell the vodka.
@Squawk
re WHMS, apparently in early draft of the script, H did not walk off into the sunset with S. So the orig script more inline with your experience. The WHMS actual ending could be explained as a Hollywood ending.
I dont know if you have seen Manhatten by Woody Allen. Some of the set pieces are similar. (eg Billy Crystal running to the new year party). Worth watching to see how both are celebrations of NewYork.
A few minutes later, after one of them called me a "prick" I went back and made it clear that I wouldn't tolerate their stupidity any longer. She threatened to "punch me in the face". I asked her to repeat that so as to remove any doubt, which she did obligingly. I stated my case once more, while leaning in so that I only had to whisper. After that, not a word.
Bizarrely, the lad that was with them did nothing to disagree with my point of view.
Hello Dude
Anyone seen Midnight In Paris?
yep. some people (me) are so desperate for woody allen to be good again that we wet our pants every time he brings out a film that isn't terrible.
this is one such film.
it was a bit fun, and a bit clever, and a big bit predictable
oscar worthy? naw but worth a look.
re manhattan - its the only film i know that gets better every time i see it. i suppose that's one of the definition of a classic. it's so rich. i now get more of the jokes and references.
i was tricked into seeing a roman polanski film (carnage).
what makes it even worse is that it was the best film ive seen in years
I saw the stage play of Carnage and wasn't keen on seeing the film, but my pal had free tickets.
T'was OK. The mobile man was the best thing I thought. (Richard E Grant played his character in the stage play to great effect. I love Richard E.)
It was something and nothing for me.
Yeah with Woody, I feel some are completely missable but then sometimes he comes up with something really good. I loved Vicky Cristina Barcelona and must admit I haven't seen a lot of his early films such as Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall, Manhattan. Loved Hannah and Her Sisters.
What are your Woody recommendations Dude?
ive a soft spot for his earlier, gag-heavy, slapsticky ones.
try to check out 'Take the Money and Run'. it is just a really funny film. i also quite like crimes and misdemeanours.
john carter
so what the fuck was that all about then?
it made me cry.
allsole vouchers
"John Carter - what the fuck is it about?"
It's about when the money men get control of the creative process... and substitute creativity and innovation for 'focus groups' and technological fetishism
In other words, it's a salutary lesson in how to turn a $250 million dollar budget into shit
I'd review it,... but for once in my life. Words. Fail. Me
0/10 - it's in 3D and that's 2Ds too many - do yourself a favour, stick to the book.
When I first saw the trailer for John Carter I thought it was a Star Wars/Clash of the Titans/Avatar mash up with a couple of Guy Richie slomos thrown in and put it on my don't bother list.
interestingly, thon bloke off Film 2012 (james something) was talking about it and he reckoned the opposite. whereas most blockbusters nowadays are 'film by committee', making them predictable but dull he reckoned no comittee would make this bonkers a film.
maybe the reason it has made a colossal loss.
I don't know who is right but it's drivel anyway.
I caught Hunger Games. seemed like a mix of the running man (without the extreme violence), lord of the flies (without the character development) and battle royale (without both nor emotional involvement). poor, though thon lawrence lassie was quite good in it.
Agreed that Best Exotic is a nice film Inter, but I don't agree with BN being dreary. He doesn't have a great range but I always find him very entertaining.
I finally got to see all of Shutter Island at the weekend, having previously only seen the first 40 or so mins on a disc that wouldn't play. Well, seeing the rest of it certainly makes for a different impression of the movie. Is it a detective story, a ghost story, or an exploration of paranoia? What it is is a decent thriller that'll keep you guessing until the end.
Last weekend I saw Never Let Me Go. On the face of it a simple tragedy involving a love triangle starting from childhood. But these people's lives are different to everyone else's, always destined to be short and painful as, and I don't think this is a spoiler, they have been born to be organ doners in order to keep the general population alive. With such subject matter it would be easy to go for over blown (think The Island) or very sentimental. Neither is the case here. What you do get is slow yet moving story which asks many questions about love and the value of life itself. The climax to the film is truly heart breaking. I found it really powerful and it's something that has stayed with me long after I ejected the disc and sent it back to Lovefilm.
While doing general pottering yesterday evening I had Avatar on the background. I have seen it before on DVD but thought it might do something on a repeat viewing. Its an odd one for me. I wanted to hate it but didn't, but I don't get what all the fuss was about.The story is paper thin - mad=bad, nature=good, throw in a couple of battles and job done. But over 3 hours for it? Purleese Mr C - have a word. Yes it looks great but it didn't take my breath away in the way that Jurassic Park or Lord of the Rings did (both flawed movies but they both look great). We're told it pushed the boundaries of CGI, and I can see that, but does it actually give anything to a film that wasn't available already? All the CGI looks like animation rather than live action, and after only 2-3 years since it was made, some of it looks dated already. It's made a fortune but for the money that was sent on it, I think it should have been much, much better. I can't remember if I've used this line on here before, but to misquote Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, they spent so long wondering if they could, they forgot to ask themselves if they should.
Hi all (with a an extra wave towards dude, who I haven't 'seen' for ages)
No recent cinema trips so I thought I'd check back through my recent DVD viewings...
Scott Pilgrim vs The World - daft, throwaway fun. Any film that makes a feature of a bass guitar duel gets my vote (well, since I started playing bass at least). Okay, this may actually be the only film with a bass guitar duel. It was okay for an evening's viewing but there's no immediate desire to see it again.
The Girl Who Played With Fire - maybe the books are fantastic. And I thoguht the first film (the Swedish version) was interestingly dark and powerful. And yet I couldn't really remember the wider plot. The same is true of this film, except that I already knew the characters so there was less interest. Even now I can remember the characters but hardly anything of the plot. I can only think that the books also rely on characterisation above storyline.