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seen any good flicks lately?
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i saw it too JB. no plot but very funny.
i liked evans too. he was surprisingly......stoic. ruffalo stole the show.
Battleship
'Miss’
2/10...Noisier than ‘Transformers’ but even my 10 year old nephew was bored
Avengers Assemble’
Just called ‘Avengers’in the US but the ‘Assemble’ has been added so thick Brits don’t confuse it with the umbrella wielding/leather cat suited variety (you have to be over 45 to get that... Emma Peel made an indelible impact on the 7 year old me). I’m not really into ‘Superhero’ guff, but this was really well done – good pace and I particularly liked the well drawn out final showdown.
7/10 – raucous good fun
‘Marley’
Cinedoc of the reggae singer and mystic ganja philosopher Bob Marley – one for the fans really (of which I am one) and those into music docs. Excellent story telling technique throughout and good interpretation of Marley’s unusual life – though it glossed over some unsavoury aspects. The director Kevin Macdonald, has the brilliant ‘Touching the Void’ on his CV and whilst he doesn’t really scale those heights here (geddit?) he has produced an entertaining story of the journey of Marley from extreme poverty and childhood rejection, to worldwide fame and fortune and doe eyed acolytes hanging on his every word. Awful saccharine tinged sickly ending that I had to erase by playing ‘Exodus’ full blast in the car on the way home’
7/10 Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.
Avengers Assemble
I really don't like superhero films as I find them too formulaic and predictable, which this one was too. I planned to see something (anything) else but there was nothing else on at the same time. Found it ok. Snappy dialogue but it felt a bit like they'd spent ages thinking, what would be a cool thing to say here rather than it feeling natural. Whole film, and especially the epic battle scene at the end went on a bit too long for my liking. 4 or 5/10.
Everyone else I saw it with loved it.
I'm probably the only person in the World who doesn't like the music of Bob Marley. It does nothing for me at all.
RS - I feel the same way about the films of David Fincher... everyone keeps telling me how great they are and I just can't see it
I love David Fincher!
Sucker Punch.... Awful Awful Awful....last 12 minutes !
London Boulevard....surprisingly good even if Colin Farrell's mockney accent was a joke.
Anyone excited about Prometheus ?? Ridley Scott is a God who made 2 of my top 10 films ( Alien & Blade Runner ) i am a giddy ( 41 year old) teenager whenever i see the trailer !
Avengers assemble was rubbish. I was bored to tears. 3/10 all given for the eye candy. Toucs loved it 9/10. Definitely a boys film.
Goodbye First Love
Well, we’ve nearly all been there... that first big romance that you think is going to last forever, but a daft thing called ‘growing up’ intervenes and then the adventure of life becomes bigger than you can ever imagine it to be.
This film is supposed to be a semi-autobiographical tale told by the film maker Mia Hanson-Love and relates the story of how she loved, lost, found and lost again... but ended up winning after all.
It’s an absolutely charming little film and made in the way that only the French can make romantic films. It’s wonderfully atmospheric and beautifully shot and has cemented in this reviewer that one day if the opportunity presents itself he’s going the visit the Loire Valley and the Ardeche.
Kudos goes to the actors who played the young lovers, who both excelled but the real praise is reserved for the cinematographer and director who really made this story breath (the final shot is one in particular that will live long in the memory)
8/10 - engaging and given the subject matter, without an emotionally manipulative moment in the whole film - highly recommended as an antidote to world weary cynicism.
I got something on hire from the library for a quid which I think might be good. From a Spanish-speaking country. Not telling you anything more than that 'coz I don't want any preconceptions. It's not The Secret In Their Eyes.
Will report back with a review.
Humph! Well it was The Headless Woman. I suppose I would say it was well-made in terms of cinematography. The pace was very slow and for me it went nowhere. It was a deeply unsatisfying story that tried to erase a problem but not get to the root of it. The story had potential but needed a proper resolution. The characters weren't drawn out enough either - they were all a bit flaky and nondescript.
... and the main character was an emotionless creature with one expression the whole way through ... from the catatonic school of acting.
It was a bit strange - when I saw it, it reminded me of David Lynch's work 'Mullholland Drive' or even 'Lost Highway'...
I saw it about 2 years ago and my abiding memory was 'I should be giving a shit about this story and I don't'
Now, that's either being me too uninvolved to care, in which case it's the film's fault for being rubbish, or I'm not getting something vital - in which case it's the flim's fault for being obscure.
It is a film that divides opinion. My mate thinks it's a masterpiece... I think it's pump and very poor pump at that...
Now 'The Holy Girl' by the same director... that's interesting and, in my opinion, a far better film.
What does pump mean Corrie?
I must see those 2 Lynch films. I love him and it's rubbish that there are films of his I haven't got round to seeing.
P.U.M.P =
Pretentious
Unfathomable
Minimalist
Plot
Other examples of 'pump' - 'Carne' by Gasper Noe... 'Gummo' by someone I can't remember 'The Idiots' Lars Von Trier and anything by Peter Greenaway apart from 'Drowning by Numbers'.
Don't get me wrong - some 'pump' can be interesting... EG anything by Peter Greenaway and some David Lynch
Now I don't think it's pretentious, just weak. I usually lose myself in a film if it's good but I felt like an outsider looking in. I think the director tried to make it everyday and I suppose succeeded but it was too everyday; just like a slice of mundane life which is not really how entertainment should work.
... and why didn't anyone comment on what a zombie the main character had become? No-one seemed to notice.
Saw Cafe de Flore last night. Brilliant film.
Prometheus
Oh dear Ridley- where did it all go wrong? *Sigh*
Probably about the time that this script for 'Alien- the Wonder Years' was pitched at you and you agreed to adapt it and give it your inimitable touch.
I can see where the $200 million was spent and it's quite beautiful to look at, but so is a Ducati 1098. However, it's only when the thing moves that you appreciate that it's not just its looks that matter - it's the substance; it's the narrative and it's the feeling you get of actually going somewhere effortlessly and in some sort of style.
I blame the whole premis the film is based upon - it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever, in fact the whole screenplay is beyond painful... the dialogue laughable and lumpen - I really felt for the actors have to deliver those lines and attempt to keep a straight face. One example from memory:
Vickers: A king reigns and then he dies - it's inevitable
Right... and people actually talk this way - okay...
It's a pretty bad film - though it's a very good looking film, but considering its theme is concerned with the most exciting thing that could ever happen to humanity - it's very lame stuff and so, so cliched, with unbelievable characters speaking lines that people wouldn't speak and in a way they wouldn't say it.
4/10 - a good looking film ruined by a poor screenplay and duff ideas - Ridley... please, please, please don't do a sequel or prequel to Bladerunner - you'll kill it.
I finally got round to watching Drive at the weekend. It wasn't what I expected at all, from the trailers I'd seen I thought it would be a typical Hollywood action film with lots of car chases and no substance, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'd say it's more like a modern film noir and very nicely done. Ryan Gosling has gone way up in my estimation.
Quite a few promising films out at the moment or coming out in the next few weeks. Killing Them Softly is next on my list - has anyone seen it?
I watched The Descendants with George Clooney and I loved it.
Also, Breaking Bad, which isn't a film but a series has had rave reviews and lots of people I know have watched it and said the best thing they have seen. I have yet to watch it. I can also fully recommend Dexter, which again isn't a film but a series and very good.
Avoid 'Savages' - bloody awful.
Bourne Legacy i smuch better than I expected. Paranorman is great too!
I still haven't seen all the Bourne films - I think I'll have to catch up before seeing Bourne Legacy.
I do like Dexter, I'm still working my way through the first season though! I'm really behind with US series, I'm still only on the third season of Sopranos - I tend to not watch them for ages and then have a weekend of back-to-back episodes.
BBC Sherlock is fantastic, only 2 series of 3 episodes each but it's just brilliant. Even converted my dad who is usually dead against anyone other than Basil Rathbone playing Holmes.
Watched a good film last night called Wild Bill. Its a British film produced by Dexter Fletcher with Sean Pertwee and Andy Serkis in. Really gritty good British film about a chap who comes out of prison and turns up at home to see his wife has left for Spain with another bloke leaving his 9 and 15 year old boys alone for 9 months.
Having recently seen Prometheus I have to agree with this review!
I quite enjoyed the first season of Dexter, and then it all got a bit ridiculous and I gave up somewhere in the middle of the second season. I'm not very good at watching series though, especially US ones where there are so many episodes to get through. I don't think Ive watched anything from start to finish (except maybe Heroes but that completely lost its way).
Completely agree about Heroes! I loved the first series, the second series really suffered as a result of the screenwriters strike.
US series do tend to drag on. I really liked the first series of Prison Break but it just got ridiculous once they'd broken out of the original prison.
just when you think you've seen all there is to see in movies, something comes along and knocks you on your ass. beasts of the southern wild.
Frost/Niixon - based on a stage play. Content-wise its a bit slight, but it does have good performances. Michael Sheen again demonstrates what a good mimic he is - he's not a great actor but he's instantly recognisable as David Frost. On the other hand Frank Langella is brilliant as Richard Niixon, captures your perception of what "Tricky Dickie" was really like - a very nuanced performance.
Tyranosaur - I'm a big fan of small British movies, the sort of film that won't get made any more now that the Film Council has been abolished. This is a harrowing, down beat film that is essential viewing, even though you could only watch it once....a bit like Nil By Mouth without the laughs. Brilliant performances by Peter Mullan and Olivia Coleman. Mullan is a damaged angry alcoholic, Coleman is on the face of it a do-good Christian who hides a terrible secret....leading to an unexpected, ever so slightly redempitve outcome.
The Missionary - on the face of it a Michael Palin "Ripping Yarns" spin off but full of subtleties and understated humour. Yet another small British movie (Handmade Films - thank you again George Harrison). Palin plays a missionary who saves the souls of fallen women in 19th centuary London with a unique combination of compassion and intervention - much to the annoyance of the Bishop of London, adroitly played by the ever wonderful Denholm Elliott. A small British movie gem. The closing montage of photographs next to the closing credits is so engrossing that I can't remember the name of anyone involved in the making of this lovely film. Rather reminiscent of the classic Ealing comedies of the 1950s