Films you've seen recently and would unreservedly recommend:

B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
might go and see sightseers then. I was also a bit worried it would be too Simon Pegg-ish (not that I hate him myself, but Shaun of the Dead is absurdly overrated for an averagely good film), and would be a big let down after the darkness/weirdness of Kill List.
 
R

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
ive still not seen down terrace so i wonder how it compares to that, but this is def better than kill list. much more nuanced and just better written actually. i think it might be cos he didnt write this one himself. it was weird as all the posters make it seem like a 'great british comedy' so i was thinking along the lines of full monty and hot fuzz, but its not actually HAHA funny, its not even haha funny that much either. its more like a sick dramedy.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I watched a film called A Day at the Beach the other day. Screenplay by Polanski (and some confusion cos some people seem to think he directed it). Anyway, it would make a good companion piece for Wake in Fright as recommended by Baboon - another story about pointless alcoholism. Basically a guy visits his estranged wife and new husband to take his daughter for a day at the beach, it quickly transpires that he is really only doing it to get some money from her new family, ostensibly to buy her some stuff, but really so that he can get pissed. Which he does in various bars and cafes by the bleak, grey sea, often leaving his young (maybe eight year old) daughter standing outside in the rain for hours while he does so. And that's pretty much it really, no explanations or false sympathy or anything but an enjoyable if relentless watch. Not too bleak but without any real redemption.
One weird thing, it seems to be set in Denmark or somewhere but all the actors are very English (or Welsh) and Peter Sellers has a cameo. Not sure why this is.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Down Terrace I found disappointing - it seemed quite cliched to me. Kill List I loved for the atmosphere. Thought the writing was pretty good too tbh; stilted in just the right way to add a weird feeling to proceedings
 
R

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
i loved the hunt. and not just cos i saw it at the pcc for a mere 2.50. i dont often use the phrase 'it had me on the edge of my seat' but it really did. taps into so many tabu things we automatically assume about child abuse allegations, and shows how inept ppl in positions of authority often can be when it comes to knowing how to deal with it properly rather than just allowing their kneejerk prejudices kick in. also, and this might be more my reading than that of the director, but it also seemed to be saying something about what it is to be a man working in an all female field, caring for young children, in an era when men in contact with small children are almost automatically treated as being somewhat suspicious. it really is superb though. i was sceptical as posters with a million 4 star review quotes on them no longer have much effect on me but it really was bloody gruellingly brilliant. far better than haneke's supremely overrated amour (which like the master, basically labours a few points it wants to make, but ultimately only has a few bullets in its chamber, whereas the hunt has many).
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Watched ''Tintin'' yesterday - hardly an unreserved recommendation (that type of animation just can't help looking sinister, its too close to realism without looking real, esp. with the big cartoon noses on characters) but I really loved the dynamism of the direction from Spielberg (and not just in the action sequences - I mean the camera movement throughout). The action sequence in which they chase the falcon down to the docks in one lonnnnnnnng continuous shot is just fantastic.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Funny, I watched Tintin in France with a big Tintin fan. I know it's Belgian but I think that the French have a big investment in it too... anyway, I thought the film was ok, it's the first 3d film I've seen, but he went mental, when we went home he just sat there watching the eighties tv cartoon repeatedly trying to clear this new aberration from his mind, he was practically in tears, he wouldn't talk again until he'd watched hours of that and slept and we'd kinda tacitly agreed to never talk about it again.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
IdleRich said:
Funny, I watched Tintin in France with a big Tintin fan. I know it's Belgian but I think that the French have a big investment in it too...
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I was expecting it to be shit, so that probably helped.

It was very well done in my opinion, at least as a standalone film - not sure it replicated the spirit of the comics. As I said, the style of animation is problematic, especially as they tried to make it a hybrid of comic-book and realistic... It was the visual invention of it that I enjoyed.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
It's the eternal problem with adaptations I think. There is always a tussle between staying true to the source material and making a film that is a new piece of art in its own right. Personally I think that people should make more effort to stay faithful to the original, if you buy the rights to Tintin and expect to make loads of money doing it you're hoping that fans of the original will come along but if you're gonna take such huge liberties that they won't enjoy it then why not just do your own thing to start with? Obviously cos they want the fans, it's a kind of having your cake and eating it thing. I was pleased to see that the Philip Pullman adaptations which edited about the controversial bit about killing God (in other words removing the entire point of the story) sank without trace.
The main problem with adapting books is that they are so much longer than films and so something has to be missed out - and once you've started changing why stop? It's interesting that Brokeback Mountain and No Country For Old Men were based on very short novels so the films could retain all the story. Both were very successful.
 
nochexxx

nochexxx

harco pronting
HMGovt said:
Watched this about a week ago and really enjoyed it - the music, grotty still bombed out London and the fine hammy performance by the evil sorceress. I'd never heard of it and will watch the witchfinder general again in light of it.
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yeah, Karloff & co rocked it. definitly Reeves best film imo. Witchfinder is a little too straight for my taste, but still decent. i also love the absurdity of The She Beast
 
nochexxx

nochexxx

harco pronting
there seems to be a lot of recent adaptations of classic exploitation films (Maniac, Last House on the Left) . I’m guessing they’re all shit?
 
HMGovt’s Glorious Return!

HMGovt’s Glorious Return!

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I had a chance to see Cloud Atlas this week. It made sense of the book very well - David Mitchell's novel left me a little cold but the most interesting parts of it - the Korean future and UK present day ghastly ordeal of Timothy Cavendish, were excellent. The cast - Jim Broadbent, Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, etc, etc, re-incarnate in each of the narrative threads. Some dodgy makeup in certain cases, impressive transformations in others. There are one or two spectacular scenes and as many touching ones. I enjoyed it, millions won't.
 
empty mirror

empty mirror

remember the jackalope
Did I miss the Trollhunter discussion?

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Really liked this one.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
yeah, it's from that uncine thing that you told me about in fact (the 'Wolven' one). The next film at the venue is an uncine event, but I don't know if there's a regular connection between the two
 
T

tox

Factory Girl
Watched Sakuran last night, an adaptation of a manga of the same name, which was very enjoyable. If required to give a glib description I would say it's a mix of Memoirs of a Geisha and Marie Antoinette, but the end result is better than that sounds. The story is of a young girl sold into a brothel, who though a bit of a rebel, ends up becoming the Oiran - a high ranking prostitute with near celebrity status. While set in feudal Japan, the film has a contemporary feel to it due to the soundtrack and visual style.

Looks like the whole thing is on youtube here:
Incidentally, the director, Mika Ninagawa, is a photographer, and well known in Japan for doing pop videos for the J-Pop group AKB 48. The film definitely has a bit of a stylish pop video vibe to it.

Ninagawa had a film called Helter Skelter at the London film festival last year. Also nicely shot, although the story line, concerning a Japanese celebrity idol's fall from grace, was slightly too confusing and drawn out for me.
 
R

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
orphans by peter mullan. really tense film about a family coming to terms with the death of their mum and not knowing how to deal with grief so they find ever dangerous, self destructive, and outwardly destructive ways to express it. still unsure if some of the comic touches made it better or took away from the mounting intensity but i loved it overall. but i loved neds too so not really surprised. keep meaning to see tyranosaur with mullan in it but i think paddy considine is a smug cunt so keep putting it off.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
saw Orphans a while back so can't recall too much of it. I was really disappointed with Neds though - expectations can be really problematic, best not to read any reviews beforehand.

Paddy Considine may be a smug cunt, but he's also a hell of an actor on his day.
 
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