What films are you watching?

[miserableoldgit]

I know that it probably won`t go down well on here, but have just watched "Young Victoria". Absolutely superb film! Co-produced by Martin Scorsese! If you have any interest in our history it is well worth a look. Please don`t dismiss this as a "chickflick". A really good piece of film-making.

[miserableoldgit]

Return of the King.

 

Yep, finally got through the lot again. I don't know what it is about the film, but by the time I got near to the end I started skipping through bits of it. I remember when I first read the books, there was a moment where I wished it would hurry up. The One Ring goes into the Fires of Orodruin, and that's that. Only there are several chapters left. Tolkien manages to fill those with real meaning, and as the book story slows down after its high point, the reader [at least me] wants the book to now carry on, rather than finish. Not so with the film. It's a shame because there is still a lot to tell, but because there is very little background [for people who haven't read the stories], the significance is largely lost. I mean, who cares if the Elves sail into the West in ships at the end of the film..? Not me. But there is a proper reason for it.

 

Another significant portion of the story was left out, that of Saruman's changes brought about on The Shire when he fled there. So we don't have the battle there either, or the death of Saruman, killed by his sidekick Grima. Even the Beeb left this bit in, on the radio adaptation back in 1980, even though they shortened it.

 

So I was left with a film that Bexy got sick of because it became overly sentimental, and that's probably right too. The reverence does fall into sentimentality and it diminishes what is a good film trilogy overall. The whole lot gets 7.5/10, but this last film drags the score down, for me.

 

If you're the type of person who likes to tick off significant films, books, places, etc... with a been there, done that, type of mentaility, then don't fall into the trap of watching the film trilogy and thinking you've done with the books too. Because you haven't, not by a long, long way. Scratching the surface, is a more apt description.

I know what you are saying about "RotK" but the whole film trilogy was an absolutely amazing interpetation of the books. It is easy to pick holes but Peter Jackson did as good a job as anyone could do, cinematically speaking. These will always be amongst my favourite pieces of cinema.

[St Landrew]

I know what you are saying about "RotK" but the whole film trilogy was an absolutely amazing interpetation of the books. It is easy to pick holes but Peter Jackson did as good a job as anyone could do, cinematically speaking. These will always be amongst my favourite pieces of cinema.

 

Oh, I'm not knocking the effort. They are an extremely good attempt at the story, and I'm not sure anyone could have done better. If you read my reviews of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, you'll see I acknowledge that. But Bexy also mentioned how he became sick of the 3rd film due to various factors, and I can understand why to a certain extent. I would suggest that the films improve, overall for having the background knowledge that the books give you. It also helps to read certain tales from The Silmarillion.

[bpsaint]

Well, you see here's the thing, and some might say this is the reason why it was so much better than the other two... TESB was the only one of the original three that wasn't directed by George Lucas.

 

Without trying to be too much a Star Wars fanboy,Return Of The Jedi wasn't directed by George Lucas either.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Rubbish TV last night so a visit to the DVD collection was very much in order . My hand was mysteriously guided to Stanley Kramer's seldom shown 1963 cold war gem 'On The Beach' and difficult viewing as it undoubtedly is I can't say I regretted it . For those unfamiliar with it the premise of this film (a faithful version of Neville Shute's fine novel) is that a devastating nuclear war has destroyed all human and animal life in the Northern Hemisphere and that the resulting cloud of deadly radiation 'Fallout' is now making its remorseless way south to kill off the surviving population in southern areas (Australia in our story) - Humanity is facing its extinction .

 

I first saw this back in the early 70's and it made a profound impact on me at the time that has never quite left me . We've all seen modern movies dealing with threats to Humanity but let me assure you this is very different to the Hollywood special effects blockbusters you may be familiar with - everyone's life expectancy is now 5 months and no act of daring do or heroic sacrifice is going to change anything in this world .

 

The main leads are Gregory Peck as 'Captain Dwight Towers' commanding the USS Sawfish (the last US submarine) and 'Moira' the desperately needy Aussie girl he falls for (Ava Gardener) . This touchingly portrayed relationship is not only doomed by the approaching apocalypse but also by Dwight's refusal to 'betray' his (now dead of course) US wife and children . The integrity with which Peck & Gardener play this is out (along with Mockingbird) is perhaps the summit of Peck's distinguished career . Strong support is on offer by 'Psycho' star Anthony Perkins and the surprising good Fred Astair - both American actors playing Australian roles presumably to appeal to the US box-office . The highlight of the film for me is when Towers takes his Nuclear sub north for one last mission to check out radiation levels off the Baring Straight and investigate an unexplained Morse Code radio transmission from supposedly lifeless San Diego - I won't say what they find but rest assured you'll never forget it .

 

And so to the end and what a hard ending it is - those who have read the book may say the film pulls some of it punches in the final scenes but I'd say that's because in some ways this part of the book is quite unfilmable , I'll just leave it to your imaginations what scenes dealing with loving parents having to cope with euthanising their own children are like . You won't leave this film feeling joyous for sure , but maybe you will have been made to really feel something - and just how many modern films can claim that ?

 

9/10 .

Edited 10 January, 2010 by CHAPEL END CHARLIE

[Redbul]

And so to the end and what a hard ending it is - those who have read the book may say the film pulls some of it punches in the final scenes but I'd say that's because in some ways this part of the book is quite unfilmable . I will leave it to your imaginations what scenes dealing with parents having to cope with euthanising their own children are like . You won't leave this film feeling joyous for sure , but maybe you will have been made to really feel something - and just how many modern films can claim that ?

 

9/10 .

 

I read the book years ago at the height of the Cold War, it's an incredibly powerful and disturbing ending from what I can remember. Thanks for the reminder, I'll have to dig this out again.

[St Landrew]

On The Beach

9/10 .

 

Watched it myself and did a quick review here back in March last year.

 

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=234751&postcount=363

[jeff leopard]

I watched two of 2009's more notable films yesterday, a low budget character piece showered in praise, and a mega-budget blockbuster undone by critical and commercial indifference.

 

Moon

I won't say anything about the plot, because this is definitely one to go into knowing as little as possible, beyond the fact that it was inspired by the likes of Silent Running/Solaris/2001 and Space 1999. It's mind-bending and engaging without really being thought-provoking, and lacks an emotional punch to match the late 60s/early 70s sci-fi classics, as ultimately it doesn't seem to be about anything particularly deep or resonant. But it’s a joy to see a modern piece of sci-fi that treats its audience with respect, and is pretty much essential viewing to anyone who doesn’t need something huge to explode every 10 minutes or so in order to stay tuned.

8/10

 

 

Terminator 4: Salvation

When Terminator 4 started production, Christian Bale was coming out with quotes like 'I insisted that the story didn't rely on special effects and could be told on a stage in a theatre' and 'This will have more in common with Cormac McCarthy's The Road than most action films'. Well, if there was any depth, characterisation, or dramatic tension, then it was crushed like a puny human skull under an endless precession of huge things exploding every ten minutes and standard action movie clichés. This film displays zero confidence in its own ability, and instead merely goes through the motions and occasionally reminds you how good the early films where by recycling their better moments.

 

Watching this and Robocop 3 reminded me that when dealing with sequels to movies you love, it pays off to expect to see something terrible, and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised. This was never going to be on a par with the first two terminator films, or even the third one, but at the same time, its not nearly as bad as the Transformer films. There are even a few decent moments which suggest this could have been a good film, but its designed by committee, is utterly predictable, bares the scars of being re-written a trillion times, and, like a terminator, is soulless and humourless (there's also a worrying lack of swearing or blood), but if you turn the sound up to eleven, and drink yourself back to the age of 12, you might find yourself actually enjoying it.

4/10

[LVSaint]

Public Enemies. Charts the antics of the notorious and idolized gangster John Dillinger. Good performances from Bale and Depp especially and slickly directed by Michael Mann who does this stuff really well. Not up to Manhunter or Heat standards, I found it lacking in character depth, but very watchable and cinematography is top notch all the same. 7.5/10

[Verbal]

I watched two of 2009's more notable films yesterday, a low budget character piece showered in praise, and a mega-budget blockbuster undone by critical and commercial indifference.

 

Moon

I won't say anything about the plot, because this is definitely one to go into knowing as little as possible, beyond the fact that it was inspired by the likes of Silent Running/Solaris/2001 and Space 1999. It's mind-bending and engaging without really being thought-provoking, and lacks an emotional punch to match the late 60s/early 70s sci-fi classics, as ultimately it doesn't seem to be about anything particularly deep or resonant. But it’s a joy to see a modern piece of sci-fi that treats its audience with respect, and is pretty much essential viewing to anyone who doesn’t need something huge to explode every 10 minutes or so in order to stay tuned.

8/10

 

I think you should knock at least a mark off each for the hokey model effects and the unconvincing 'spacey' voice and robot. Not a patch on a certain film made a mere 40 years ago.

[jeff leopard]

Moon

 

8/10

 

I think you should knock at least a mark off each for the hokey model effects and the unconvincing 'spacey' voice and robot. Not a patch on a certain film made a mere 40 years ago.

 

As the film's budget was only about £5 million, i made a conscious decision to go along with the models, i'd rather have those than cheap cgi. I agree that Spacey's performance wasn't much to write home about, but i liked the computers facial expressions, especially the 'oh sh1t, you've discovered the truth' setting.

 

It didn't plumb the emotional and philosophical depths of the likes of 2001 and Solaris, but then again, and stating the absolute obvious, very few films do.

[The Majestic Channon]

10 Rillington place...again, superb performance from Richard attenborough and john hurt, twas filmed in the actual street..i love a good serial killer me and i never tire of this film.

[Huntingdon]

Mirrors

 

Keifer Sutherland starts as a security guard at a burnt out department store.

However, he soon discovers the building is hiding dark secrets and the mirrors appear to be possessed

 

I thought it was going to be crap, but was actually pretty watchable

[Sheaf Saint]

Seeing as it was on Channel 4 lastnight, and because my girlfriend wanted to watch it, I finally got round to watching Slumdog Millionaire.

 

I won't give a full synopsis or even a detailed review, because I'm assuming most people have seen it. Suffice to say, I thought it was a lot better than the trailers I had previously seen had made it out to be (they seemed to give the impression that it was a musical???), but that it was badly, badly let down by the last 15-20 minutes where it ceases to be a hard-hitting, gritty story about the difficulties of growing up in the slums of Mumbai, and descends into an all-out 'Hollywood meets Bollywood' vomit-inducing cheese-fest.

 

5/10. It would have been a lot higher if it weren't for the terrible ending.

[Redbul]

Seven Samurai over 2 nights though....

 

At 3 1/2 hours long this is an epic. But what an epic. Arguably the greatest film ever made. I've heard many people say that Rashomon is Kurosawa's best but the 2 cannot really be compared, they are too different.

 

The story has been imitated (The Magnificent Seven for example) but can never be bettered. Yes the film is long but there is not one redundant frame in the entire film and the pace is perfect.

 

Basically, a masterless samurai (or ronin) answers a village's call to help protect them from bandits who have threatened to come and steal their crops after the harvest. A further 6 'combatants' are enlisted and together they teach the villagers basic defence techniques. The culmination of the film is a frenetic battle to defeat the bandits. And that's it. But....

 

Everything that goes on to get there is a masterclass of cinema, the outline of the plot at the beginning, the development of every character, the emotion that is generated through this empathy, the cinematography; every scene must have been painstakingly storyboarded, and the slow but inexorable increase in pace towards the denouement. It is a truly brilliant film and the battle at the end (and the strategy developed by the samurai) is enthralling.

 

There are parts of the film that can only have been done in Japanese cinema where the culture is different; the painstakingly and methodical crossing out of the circles that represent the killed bandits is one example; there is much that is conveyed in the film through silence.

 

9.9/10

[St Landrew]

Ocean's Twelve

 

Well, tbf, I started watching it one hour into the action. Shame really as I thought the rest was pretty good fun. I suppose it helps to like this sort of slightly jokey, but smooth capering, all friends together, kind of film. Which, with this cast, I do. Hopefully, ITV will do their usual thing and repeat it endlessly, because I'd actually like to see the first hour, if only to hear Don Cheadle do his excellent blokey London accent, as Basher.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

A wonderfully enigmatic 70's Australian film 'Long Weekend' is rather difficult to pin down in all honesty , not really a full fat horror film nor a conventional thriller either - something in between I suppose .

 

'Peter' (John Hargreaves) and 'Marcia' (Briony Behets) are a young middle class suburban couple attempting to salvage their failing relationship by 'getting away from it all' over the long bank holiday weekend . Alpha Male Peter drags the reluctant Marcia (recovering from an abortion) along to a very remote and apparently deserted beach - the extreme isolation of the idyllic wilderness setting is key to the film .

 

Right from the very first scene the director (Colin Eggleston) manages to install a sense of almost supernatural unease about proceedings , modern mankind's alienation from nature has become elevated into open warfare almost as the pair and their 4x4 comprehensively trash the natural environment - so far so normal you might say but the twist is Mother Nature decides it's time she fought back . Both wildlife and the landscape itself seem to conspire against the couple as each unsettling event that befalls them stresses their already fragile relationship to breaking point and beyond ..... oh and there's something weird floating in the surf .

 

You can find this movie on eBay for a few £s - money well spent I'd suggest .

 

8/10 .

Edited 16 January, 2010 by CHAPEL END CHARLIE

[jeff leopard]

Slaughterhouse Five

 

Timetravel is a great subject for cinema but too many films get tangled up in the mechanics of timetravel, others get lost in a mess of multiple parallel dimensions. Slaughterhouse Five does neither, instead using timetravel as a device to explain the book's fractured non-liner narrative, as Billy Pilgrim, held captive in a kind of zoo on a distant planet, is allowed to 'time-trip' back and forth, from his harrowing youth as a POW in WW2, an unsatisfying domestic life in the 60s, and his future as a celebrated sci-fi author.

 

Whilst it could never match the impact and black humour of the book, Slaughterhouse Five is a charming and fascinating portrayal of life, death, war and peace, made back in the 70s (pre-Jaws and Star Wars) when Hollywood produced some truly odd, counter-culture cinema.

 

8/10

[percy windham]

Slaughterhouse Five

 

Timetravel is a great subject for cinema but too many films get tangled up in the mechanics of timetravel, others get lost in a mess of multiple parallel dimensions. Slaughterhouse Five does neither, instead using timetravel as a device to explain the book's fractured non-liner narrative, as Billy Pilgrim, held captive in a kind of zoo on a distant planet, is allowed to 'time-trip' back and forth, from his harrowing youth as a POW in WW2, an unsatisfying domestic life in the 60s, and his future as a celebrated sci-fi author.

 

Whilst it could never match the impact and black humour of the book, Slaughterhouse Five is a charming and fascinating portrayal of life, death, war and peace, made back in the 70s (pre-Jaws and Star Wars) when Hollywood produced some truly odd, counter-culture cinema.

 

8/10

 

this film is indeed ace. tried to do a presentation on it last year but the rest of the group wouldnt let me because it was too weird and not really about the war. way to miss the point of the film there.

[jeff leopard]

The Hurt Locker

So far this is the only Iraq War films which has been a success with audiences and critics, primarily because it says very little about Iraq (beyond a throw-away comment in the first 15 minutes, as a taxi driver is aggressively hand-cuffed and led away by US troops, an American remarks ‘if he wasn’t an insurgent before, he will be now’). It’s probably unfair to compare a film to a tv series, but after watching Generation Kill, The Hurt Locker feels two dimensional and generic (like watching The Shield straight after The Wire). As an action film its exciting stuff, and has a couple of powerful moments, but if this really was the best film of 2009, then 2009 sucked. For my money, it’s way too soon to make a great Iraq War film, and the only War on Terror films that have really worked are ones which address the subject by looking at a comparable period in history, namely ‘Good Night, Good Luck’ and ‘Waltz with Bashir’, even ‘District 9’ had more to say on the matter. 7/10

 

Double Indemnity

The first and last word on how even the perfect crime will eventually unravel and send all the guilty parties ‘on a one-way tram ride to the cemetery’ . One of the greatest of the film noirs, sublime in just about every way. It’s also a wonderfully Freudian and genuinely heart-breaking tale of suppressed man love, a good 50 years before Brokeback Mountain and bromances. 10/10

 

The Big Sleep

In terms of the quick-fire dialogue, on-screen chemistry, and double-double entendres that would make Caligula blush, there are very few films that can go toe-to-toe with The Big Sleep. The plot is insanely complex, but only because in the noir world, no one ever sees the big picture and no one gets out alive. The doomed lovers, Bogart and Bacall, are drop dead cool whilst being as hard as nails. Pretty much perfect. 10/10

 

I Spit on Your Grave

Don’t ask. Cheap, laughably bad and very very nasty. 0/10

[percy windham]

I know that many of you are Rick Moranis fans, so here is a little present

http://www.itsnotatumour.com/jamesitsnotatumour-com/rick-moranis-we-love-you/

[Rory]

Double Indemnity is golden.

[Red Alert]

BBC 2 22:30 tonight. Perfume: Story of a Murderer a very good little film. Has been reviewed by a couple on here a few pages back. Well worth a watch.

[LVSaint]

Devil's Backbone. 3/4. Very good. More European horror please....ok....Let The Right One In. 9/10. This was excellent and worth the wait. A beautiful antithesis to Twilight. (Thanks to those on here who brought it to my attention.)

[Dog]

If you ever get a chance to watch this movie 'Burn! *****es Burn!' then please do so, it is one of the best films I have ever seen.

[jeff leopard]

Devil's Backbone. 3/4. Very good. More European horror please....ok....Let The Right One In. 9/10. This was excellent and worth the wait. A beautiful antithesis to Twilight. (Thanks to those on here who brought it to my attention.)

 

I love The Devil’s Backbone. A couple of excellent Spanish horror films if you haven’t already – The Orphanage and [Rec] – and if you fancy something much darker where all the monsters are human and there are no heroes whatsoever – Funny Games and Irreversible.

 

If you ever get a chance to watch this movie 'Burn! *****es Burn!' then please do so, it is one of the best films I have ever seen.

 

I’m intrigued, what’s it called?

 

I watched

, early 80s rape-revenge film made by Abel Ferrara who went on to make King of New York and Bad Lieutenant. Despite the tiny budget, the film looks great, it wastes no time in getting the rape out the way (a mute girl gets raped twice in the same day – doh!), and adds lashings of black humour and bright red blood to the victim’s subsequent sexed-up killing spree through New York. Great exploitation fun, although not especially pc. 7/10

 

Nasty…dirty…sexy!

[saint_stevo]

Anti-Christ.

 

 

OMG

[Jillyanne]

Orphan.

 

I have Let The Right One In, but it is subtitled.

[Sheaf Saint]

Orphan.

 

I have Let The Right One In, but it is subtitled.

 

And......????

[LVSaint]

I love The Devil’s Backbone. A couple of excellent Spanish horror films if you haven’t already – The Orphanage and [Rec] – and if you fancy something much darker where all the monsters are human and there are no heroes whatsoever – Funny Games and Irreversible.

 

Seen The Orphanage but will look out for the others cheers.

 

 

I have Let The Right One In, but it is subtitled.

 

If it's DVD, there should be an English track on there....if you feel you must.

 

I could never watch anything like that dubbed, I even waited to get the copy of this film with theatrical subtitles as the US distributor decided for a time to cut costs and not bother buying the official track. They got some Swede off the streets and made a dog's dinner of the translation. (there is a website showing side by side comparisons of the two tracks and they are so far apart it changes much of the meaning)

[Dog]

I love The Devil’s Backbone. A couple of excellent Spanish horror films if you haven’t already – The Orphanage and [Rec] – and if you fancy something much darker where all the monsters are human and there are no heroes whatsoever – Funny Games and Irreversible.

 

 

I’m intrigued, what’s it called?

 

I watched

, early 80s rape-revenge film made by Abel Ferrara who went on to make King of New York and Bad Lieutenant. Despite the tiny budget, the film looks great, it wastes no time in getting the rape out the way (a mute girl gets raped twice in the same day – doh!), and adds lashings of black humour and bright red blood to the victim’s subsequent sexed-up killing spree through New York. Great exploitation fun, although not especially pc. 7/10

 

Nasty…dirty…sexy!

 

 

http://www.newsfilter.org/video/57578/Run_*****_Run_is_a_killer_movie_about_a_girl_who_was_raped_and_grows_up_to_kill/

 

NSFW

Edited 28 January, 2010 by Dog

[jeff leopard]

http://www.newsfilter.org/video/57578/Run_*****_Run_is_a_killer_movie_about_a_girl_who_was_raped_and_grows_up_to_kill/

 

NSFW

 

denied! oh well, i'll check it out at home.

 

 

The Road

 

In the opening voice-over of The Road, the father states, with a world-weary matter-of-factness, “Each day is greyer than the day before and growing colder, as the world slowly dies”. The line hits like a sledge-hammer and sets the scene perfectly for a very impressive version of Cormac McCarthy’s incredible book.

 

The film’s had a bit of a kicking from lots critics who compared it unfavourably to the book. And whilst it softens certain aspects (the whole culture of baby-eating is removed, which is a shame as it’s a great metaphor for the ‘end of humanity’) it is probably the bravest and bleakest Hollywood film I’ve ever seen. The scene where the father teaches his son the best way to kill himself if he’s about to get caught by bad guys is shocking, again, in the matter-of-fact way it’s played. It’s only in the last 20 minutes or so when you feel like the filmmakers are turning the emotional screws on you, I must admit my eyes did get a bit sweaty, but like a real man, a did all my sobbing deep inside.

 

To its credit it doesn’t attempt to explain why society collapsed, or ram the environment message down the audiences throats. But it’s an all too believable warning from the future. And whilst doesn’t quite maintain the constant level of dramatic tension that makes the book so compulsive, it does a better job than I dared hope.

 

And the scene where the boy, and his new best friend, ‘the puppy of hope’ travel back in time to convince all the world’s leaders to start being nice to the planet and make everything better works surprisingly well.

 

 

8/10

[Redbul]

A Prophet

 

Set mainly in a prison somewhere in France, a young 19 year old Arab, Malik el Djebena, is banged up for 6 years for (alleged....) violence against police.

 

He is illiterate and seems easy prey for the kingpin in the the prison, a Corsican called Cesar Luciani who recruits him to carry out the assassination of Rayeb, a star witness in an upcoming trial. Malik commits the murder and is consequently protected inside by Luciani.

 

Luciani begins to entrust more responsibility to Malik, getting him to use leave days from prison to carry out various unscrupulous activites for him on the outside. However, Malik has taught himself to read and learn Corsican thereby learning the ins and outs of Luciani's business and also seems to take some guidance from the ghost of Rayeb who appears to him periodically and seems to offer guidance. Malik therefore starts doing a bit of business for himself on the outside with the help of a friend, Ryad, he befriended on the inside and who is later released but keeps in touch.

 

The missions get more and more dangerous until Mailik is tasked with assassination of Luciani's boss, Magacci (sp), on the outside. Malik sees this as the opportunity to rest power from Luciani and after killing Magacci's henchmen, tells him what the plot was all about. This leads to a turf war which effectively strips all power from Luciani.

 

This is quite a long film and the above synopsis does it no justice at all; the relationships between Malik, Luciani, Ryad and even Rayeb are meticulously carved out; the relationships in the prison between the French and Arab inmates is studied; the plots and sub plots and how they all revolve and resolve towards the denouement are really quite intricate. There is also a very human and moving sub story in film that involves Malik, Ryad and Ryad's wife and child which isn't resolved until the very end.

 

Also, as this a prison drama expect to see violence, not too much, it's not over the top or gratuitous, but there is some and it's quite strong.

 

As for the title of the film, Malik is attributed with powers of prophecy following a car crash which he has foreseen.

 

I see the Mesrine box set is now released and much as I liked those films, A Prophet is much more visceral, primal or feral. It's a story of survival and survival of the fittest and strips away the veneer of civilisation to expose human nature for what it really is.

 

Outstanding cinema.

 

8.5/10

Edited 28 January, 2010 by Redbul

[dubai_phil]

The Boat that Rocked.

 

Great Cast. Almost hard to recognise Philip Seymour Hoffman from Charlie Wilson's War!

 

Anyone old enough to have tuned in their tranny at night to listen to Radio Caroline, or anyone who has a friend who has worked in radio would spot the amalgam of characters in the movie. Bill Nighy overacting superbly one moment and then spot on the next, Simple Simon and Whispering Bob Harris (well who else could it be?).

 

Really entertaining couple of hours, didn't really lol (like Superbad) but just had a happy smiley face all the way through.

 

Not a wonderful critical or cinematic masterpiece but a really nice way of remembering a part of how our culture grew up.

 

Well worth the effort after a few glasses of vino. DVD has now been moved from my bulk folder to my happy to watch regularly folder

[dubai_phil]

Rubbish TV last night so a visit to the DVD collection was very much in order . My hand was mysteriously guided to Stanley Kramer's seldom shown 1963 cold war gem 'On The Beach' and difficult viewing as it undoubtedly is I can't say I regretted it . For those unfamiliar with it the premise of this film (a faithful version of Neville Shute's fine novel) is that a devastating nuclear war has destroyed all human and animal life in the Northern Hemisphere and that the resulting cloud of deadly radiation 'Fallout' is now making its remorseless way south to kill off the surviving population in southern areas (Australia in our story) - Humanity is facing its extinction .

 

I first saw this back in the early 70's and it made a profound impact on me at the time that has never quite left me . We've all seen modern movies dealing with threats to Humanity but let me assure you this is very different to the Hollywood special effects blockbusters you may be familiar with - everyone's life expectancy is now 5 months and no act of daring do or heroic sacrifice is going to change anything in this world .

 

The main leads are Gregory Peck as 'Captain Dwight Towers' commanding the USS Sawfish (the last US submarine) and 'Moira' the desperately needy Aussie girl he falls for (Ava Gardener) . This touchingly portrayed relationship is not only doomed by the approaching apocalypse but also by Dwight's refusal to 'betray' his (now dead of course) US wife and children . The integrity with which Peck & Gardener play this is out (along with Mockingbird) is perhaps the summit of Peck's distinguished career . Strong support is on offer by 'Psycho' star Anthony Perkins and the surprising good Fred Astair - both American actors playing Australian roles presumably to appeal to the US box-office . The highlight of the film for me is when Towers takes his Nuclear sub north for one last mission to check out radiation levels off the Baring Straight and investigate an unexplained Morse Code radio transmission from supposedly lifeless San Diego - I won't say what they find but rest assured you'll never forget it .

 

And so to the end and what a hard ending it is - those who have read the book may say the film pulls some of it punches in the final scenes but I'd say that's because in some ways this part of the book is quite unfilmable , I'll just leave it to your imaginations what scenes dealing with loving parents having to cope with euthanising their own children are like . You won't leave this film feeling joyous for sure , but maybe you will have been made to really feel something - and just how many modern films can claim that ?

 

9/10 .

 

Great review CeC.

 

I first saw that movie when I was a kid and I swear even today I remember the emotions it creates, you mentioned the Morse Code signal - I could picture that scene instantly all these years later.

 

How true that these days movies rely on the "sudden" shock factor to leave an impression rather than the whole film building to that one moment. Was the emotion despair, depression or a sudden awakening as th the reality of the world?

 

Nearest thing I came across to the movie & the book was the Novel "Down to A Sunless Sea" by David Graham, clearly follows the concept of On The Beach but with a more modern take

Must dig that out again

[Redbul]

Nearest thing I came across to the movie & the book was the Novel "Down to A Sunless Sea" by David Graham, clearly follows the concept of On The Beach but with a more modern take

Must dig that out again

 

I remember that book. David Graham is a local writer (to Southampton), he did another book called Sidewall about a futuristic new design for a ship that was designed and built in the Southampton/Solent area. Good old industrial espionage tale that culminated in Fawley Refinery going up. But Down To A Sunless Sea was an excellent post apocalyptic read. I too must dig that out again if I can find it.

[jeff leopard]

A Prophet

 

Mmmm, i wanna see this. I currently trying to write about French revenge cinema, which is all about exposing the very precarious fault-lines in French society, and how phuqed up the country is. And it sounds like the prophet is set on the front line of Frances cultural crisis. Remember kids, if in doubt, persecute an Algerian.

[Redbul]

Mmmm, i wanna see this. I currently trying to write about French revenge cinema, which is all about exposing the very precarious fault-lines in French society, and how phuqed up the country is. And it sounds like the prophet is set on the front line of Frances cultural crisis. Remember kids, if in doubt, persecute an Algerian.

 

 

Yep, that cultural divide is all to evident and present throughout the film but it's not the central theme.

[Nineteen Canteen]

Watched a 1970's cultural masterpiece yesterday afternoon on C4. It really portrayed life in Britain in the 1970's and how as a nation we were dependent on the nuclear family, the stereotypes, the message that Britain was as pure as the driven snow and our humour was more Chaplain than Marx but we were already well aware of the fight against pollution. A fine piece of cinema and hunting through the awards I'm surprised this fine film full of kitsch and pathos did not receive a single gong.

[Dog]

Nasty…dirty…sexy!

 

 

 

=D>

[St Landrew]

You're in the wrong thread, Dog.

[St Landrew]

Walk The Line

 

I've had a copy of this for over a year and never got around to watching it. Finally, last night, I was bored enough/in the right mood to give it a go, and I found it good viewing. Slightly disappointed the biopic ended when it did [around 1969], but I felt that was a good reaction, because I obviously wanted more. Joachim Phoenix seemed to play Cash slightly mumbly/fumbly, and without the gruffness/toughness that Cash always publicly portrayed. Perhaps that was a purely public image. JP did his own singing, I understand, and gave a very good account of himself. Reese Witherspoon though, was excellent as June Carter, but the film itself didn't quite convince me why Cash was so obsessed by her. Pretty good though. 7/10.

[saint lard]

Sherlock Holmes....

 

Not a bad film in general,the story is very thin and the ending leaves it open for a sequel.

 

However the portrayal of the relationship between Holmes and Watson is brilliant.

You get the impression that Holmes really was a flawed genius bordering on madness and has many demons.

Downey Jnr and Jude Law both give good preformances.

Visually the film is outstanding,imo.

A good watch, 7/10.

Edited 31 January, 2010 by saint lard

[St Landrew]

Anatomy of a Murder

 

Never seen it before, never wanted to. It was definitely off my radar, so to speak. Well, it turned out that after Saints had appeared on the Football League show, I did some channel flicking before intending to turn off the TV. A good job I did, because this film was just starting. Don't know why I stuck with it initially, but over two and a half hours rushed by, and I didn't want it to end. This is a courtroom drama film, about a murder and a rape, and like all the good courtroom dramas, it is pure theatre and a chess game, rolled into one. It also had a slightly quirky quality all of its own, because of a certain character.

 

James Stewart is probably better than I've ever seen him, and there are excellent performances from all the supporting cast. Duke Ellington made a cameo appearance and wrote the film soundtrack too. The quirkiness was down to the judge, a certain Joseph N. Welch, in real life, and he was great in his role. The other trivia of note was the controversy the film caused, in 1959 America, by mentioning the words panties and spermatogenesis. Innocent enough today, and the film neatly deals with their usage.

 

I know this film won't appeal to everybody, and the simple fact that it is in black & white, and was made in the late 50's would be enough for many to pass it by. It's probably why it has got past me all these years. But as a story it is better than 99% of films written after it, and made in the best traditions of US liberal cinema, alongside for example 12 Angry Men, in 1957. Highly recommended, 9/10.

[Seany S]

Precious

 

Went along to Harbour Lights last night to see this. It tells the story of an illiterate, obese 16 year old black teenager in 1987 Harlem, who is routinely abused both physically and verbally by her mother, sexually abused by her absent father, and picked upon and teased by her peers. She has a child with Downs Syndrome by her father, and is pregnant again with her second child.

 

Thanks to a kindly headmistress, Precious enrols in an alternative education programme, where she meets other troubled teenagers with whom she forms a bond and starts to come out of her shell. Meanwhile, a concerned social worker digs into the girl's troubled home life and this leads to a shocking final scene in which the mother tries to explain why she resents her daughter and allowed the horrendous abuse to take place.

 

While the subject matter is pretty horrific and relentless, there is a soft core to the film and I found myself chuckling at the antics of the teenagers in their class. There are very likeable turns from Paula Patton (playing the protagonist's kindly teacher), Lenny Kravitz as a conscientious and caring male nurse, and Mariah Carey - the latter goes a long way toward banishing the memory of Glitter with her understated performance here.

 

In her movie debut Gabourey Sidibe shines in the lead. She plays the part with incredible intensity and instantly from the get go she has our sympathy.

 

But Precious is all about the performace of Mo'nique in the role of Mary, the abusive mother. An incredible, hateful tour de force, she will stay with you for a long time. I for one spent a while lying in bed last night thinking about what I had just seen. The film concludes with a scene of immense power (and bravery on the part of the actress) and quite frankly I think the Best Supporting Actress Oscar is now nailed-on. Previously the actress has appeared in crap like Soul Plane and Half Past Dead. Her killer switch to serious drama reminded me of how Marlon Wayans stepped up his game for Requiem For A Dream. Her time on screen is astonishing.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this moving, excellently acted film.

 

8.5/10

 

Oh and prior to the film was a trailer for A Prophet - which I am going to go and see asap!!

 

Also, the new Miyazaki film - called Ponyo - looks completely ace. Can't wait til that comes out!!!!!!

[Redbul]

Precious

 

Powerful book too....

[jeff leopard]

Time of the Wolf (2002)

 

The truly shocking thing about The Road was that, unlike other post-apocalyptic films, humans weren’t turned into monsters by powerful viruses created in labs, or radiation from passing meteorites, or nuclear war. Instead, the monster was always inside the man and all it took was hunger and fear to bring it back to the surface. This is all present in Time of the Wolf, made by Michael Haneke (Funny Games/Hidden/The White Ribbon) at the start of the last decade.

 

Whilst The Road was set ten years on from the end of society, where everything had been stripped to the bone and buried in dust and ash, Time of the Wolf is set in the immediate aftermath of an unspecified catastrophe. What makes it so unsettling is that everything appears to be normal, but just beneath the surface everything is already changed, the notion of society has dropped away and within a matter of days civilisation has been replaced by mob rule, blood sacrifice and crazy religious beliefs.

 

Set in rural France, a wealthy middle-class family flee to their summer house only to find it occupied by strangers pointing a rifle at them. After a typically Haneke-ish act of sudden, off-screen violence, the surviving family members are left roaming the countryside, trying to stay alive. As in The Road, the protagonists bet everything on the vaguest and flimsiest of plans, they wait in a railway station with other refugees, in the hope that a train will come and they can somehow bribe their way onboard. There is nothing to suggest that anywhere has been untouched by the crisis, or that the situation is going to do anything other than get increasingly worse. The people waiting form a microcosm of society, and this being a French film, the group soon splits along racial and national divisions.

 

Like Lord of the Flies with adults, Night of the Living Dead without the zombies, its ultimately a thriller without too many thrills, but a fascinating art-house companion piece to The Road, nevertheless.

 

7/10

[Hamilton Saint]

I watched The Filth and The Fury last night. It's a documentary by Julien Temple that tells the story of The Sex Pistols.

 

I've always had an intense ambivalence about this band. The film does an excellent job of mixing great live performances with informative historical material. The emergence of the band is set in the wider context of the social and political conditions in Britain in the 70s.

 

Malcolm McLaren comes across as a manipulative exploiter, Sid Vicious is a troubled loser, and Johnny Rotten provides honest, thoughtful reflections on the band's short, tumultous career.

 

"It's better to burn out, 'cause rust never sleeps ..."

[RonManager]

Saw Avatar last week - the 3D was much better than I expected (I successfully dodged a gas canister), almost more 3D than the real world we live in.

 

What I enjoyed most was the sheer imagination of the CGI sets.

 

The story is - well - you've seen it a hundred times under different titles over the years.

[tttdcs]

Saw Avatar last week - the 3D was much better than I expected (I successfully dodged a gas canister), almost more 3D than the real world we live in.

 

What I enjoyed most was the sheer imagination of the CGI sets.

 

The story is - well - you've seen it a hundred times under different titles over the years.

 

For a different view, I thought the film was ok but the 3D disappointing