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What have you watched recently?
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Who Framed Roger Rabbit
For some reason this film came into my head and I realised I hadn't watched it properly for years. I still enjoyed it and marvelled at it's impressive production mix of live and animated footage. It's quite a clever film with it's nods towards film noir and some dark themes, certainly can't be brushed as a kids film.
I'd seen a lot of violent films growing up (advantages of an older brother :pac:) and they never really had an impact on me in terms of nightmares or scaring me as a kid. But, Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom just never stood well with me, especially when he gets run over by the steamroller and comes back with his bald head and glaring red animated eyes *shudders* and when he melts in the dip *shudders again*
Plus, that poor squeeky shoe at the start of the film
The sequel has been on & off for years (there's an impressive 1998 test footage for the sequel which blends Roger Rabbit with animation and CGI) but it's apparently still in the works. It's been said by Robert Zemeckis it'll also stay as an animated film like the original.0 -
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Who Framed Roger Rabbit
For some reason this film came into my head and I realised I hadn't watched it properly for years. I still enjoyed it and marvelled at it's impressive production mix of live and animated footage. It's quite a clever film with it's nods towards film noir and some dark themes, certainly can't be brushed as a kids film.
I'd seen a lot of violent films growing up (advantages of an older brother :pac:) and they never really had an impact on me in terms of nightmares or scaring me as a kid. But, Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom just never stood well with me, especially when he gets run over by the steamroller and comes back with his bald head and glaring red animated eyes *shudders* and when he melts in the dip *shudders again*
Plus, that poor squeeky shoe at the start of the film
The sequel has been on & off for years (there's an impressive 1998 test footage for the sequel which blends Roger Rabbit with animation and CGI) but it's apparently still in the works. It's been said by Robert Zemeckis it'll also stay as an animated film like the original.
I love that movie! I'd always loved it as a kid, but I saw it over Christmas and discovered how good it actually is. And yes, Christopher Lloyd's eyes - yikes! But UTV always used to disappoint by clumsily cutting that shot out.0 -
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!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!
‘The Prestige’
Like "Dman001" above, I watched ‘The Prestige’ recently, but unlike him/her, I came away with a different opinion. Nolan’s film is very good, as are most of his other film’s (including the over-rated ‘Batman’ movies) and it is shot extremely well, showcasing “Theatre” London from 1899 in a convincing way. The cast work well, with what they’ve got and even though it’s obvious that once the main characters are stripped of their obsessions, there wouldn’t be much left, they do well within the confines of the sketch. Christian Bale (Alfred Borden) and Hugh Jackman (Robert Angier) seem comfortable here in period costume and are supported nicely by Michael Caine, who is again basically playing himself. But, that’s ok in my book. Scarlet Johannsson pulls off a decent English accent and a surprising David Bowie makes an appearance as the real life Nicola Tesla, who is tasked by Robert Angier to create a special electrical device for his stage show.
All well and good so far and the story remains satisfying for the bulk of the film too. It’s gripping tale of two magicians who are enraptured and tormented by one another’s tricks and the bitter rivalry is convincing enough. The tricks are explained and it all remains within the realm of realism and therefore is very easy to buy into. That is, until the last act, when the film takes a left turn into the absurd and loses its audience, once it’s own “prestige” is revealed.
The magic presented in ‘The Prestige’ is shown as slight of hand. These men are after all showmen and the illusions they entertain their audience’s with are based on the real tricks that the likes of Houdini would have showcased around the same time, such as the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which in one show goes terribly wrong and sparks off the two main characters hatred for each other. The convincing display of “magic” helps draw the viewer in and want to know where the story is going to go. Unfortunately, the conclusion is such a switcharoo, that it’s impossible not to feel let down by it, as the preceding events were all rendered with such consummate realism. Put plainly, ‘The Prestige’ veers off into the ‘Twilight Zone’ in the final stages and presents us with a terrible deceit at the end, which requires the viewer to believe that Hugh Jackman’s magician is using a machine he funded Tesla to build to somehow CLONE himself night after night on stage, during his “Transported Man” act. The shtick at the centre of the two magician’s obsession. The ‘Transported Man’ act essentially shows a man being transported from one part of the stage to somewhere else. Borden originally conceived the trick and uses a double, which turns out to be his twin, in another of the film’s deceits (although it’s rather obvious midway through). Borden’s ‘Transported Man’ remains rooted in real world restrictions, but Angier’s ‘Transported Man’ is the stuff of cheap sci-fi comics and it’s incredibly out of place in the story and ends up destroying it, once it’s revealed. The nightly clone is despatched through a trapdoor into a water chamber (used in the Chinese Water Torture trick, where presumably he drowns each time) Apart from the fact that it’s just plain silly, it simply doesn’t live up to the previous 2 hours of storyline.
On top of that, we are required to believe that Borden’s twin brother, who as well as helping out on stage, lives a double life with his sibling sharing his wife, family and home! He also goes to his death, after a court finds him guilty of killing Angier during his last performance of the ‘Transported Man’ when “Borden” is caught backstage as one of Angier’s clones is found drowned.To believe that Borden’s twin brother would sacrifice his life for the sake of his twin brother’s trick is requiring the audience to REALLY stretch it and like Tesla’s electric cloning device, just wouldn’t work.
All this is a shame really, as ‘The Prestige’ is a really good film for the majority of its running time. But unlike most real “magic” tricks where once they are explained, the ingenuity of the trick can be its own reward, ‘The Prestige’ just get marred terribly once the cogs of it’s trick is revealed.
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!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!
‘The Prestige’
Like "Dman001" above, I watched ‘The Prestige’ recently, but unlike him/her, I came away with a different opinion. Nolan’s film is very good, as are most of his other film’s (including the over-rated ‘Batman’ movies) and it is shot extremely well, showcasing “Theatre” London from 1899 in a convincing way. The cast work well, with what they’ve got and even though it’s obvious that once the main characters are stripped of their obsessions, there wouldn’t be much left, they do well within the confines of the sketch. Christian Bale (Alfred Borden) and Hugh Jackman (Robert Angier) seem comfortable here in period costume and are supported nicely by Michael Caine, who is again basically playing himself. But, that’s ok in my book. Scarlet Johannsson pulls off a decent English accent and a surprising David Bowie makes an appearance as the real life Nicola Tesla, who is tasked by Robert Angier to create a special electrical device for his stage show.
All well and good so far and the story remains satisfying for the bulk of the film too. It’s gripping tale of two magicians who are enraptured and tormented by one another’s tricks and the bitter rivalry is convincing enough. The tricks are explained and it all remains within the realm of realism and therefore is very easy to buy into. That is, until the last act, when the film takes a left turn into the absurd and loses its audience, once it’s own “prestige” is revealed.
The magic presented in ‘The Prestige’ is shown as slight of hand. These men are after all showmen and the illusions they entertain their audience’s with are based on the real tricks that the likes of Houdini would have showcased around the same time, such as the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which in one show goes terribly wrong and sparks off the two main characters hatred for each other. The convincing display of “magic” helps draw the viewer in and want to know where the story is going to go. Unfortunately, the conclusion is such a switcharoo, that it’s impossible not to feel let down by it, as the preceding events were all rendered with such consummate realism. Put plainly, ‘The Prestige’ veers off into the ‘Twilight Zone’ in the final stages and presents us with a terrible deceit at the end, which requires the viewer to believe that Hugh Jackman’s magician is using a machine he funded Tesla to build to somehow CLONE himself night after night on stage, during his “Transported Man” act. The shtick at the centre of the two magician’s obsession. The ‘Transported Man’ act essentially shows a man being transported from one part of the stage to somewhere else. Borden originally conceived the trick and uses a double, which turns out to be his twin, in another of the film’s deceits (although it’s rather obvious midway through). Borden’s ‘Transported Man’ remains rooted in real world restrictions, but Angier’s ‘Transported Man’ is the stuff of cheap sci-fi comics and it’s incredibly out of place in the story and ends up destroying it, once it’s revealed. The nightly clone is despatched through a trapdoor into a water chamber (used in the Chinese Water Torture trick, where presumably he drowns each time) Apart from the fact that it’s just plain silly, it simply doesn’t live up to the previous 2 hours of storyline.
On top of that, we are required to believe that Borden’s twin brother, who as well as helping out on stage, lives a double life with his sibling sharing his wife, family and home! He also goes to his death, after a court finds him guilty of killing Angier during his last performance of the ‘Transported Man’ when “Borden” is caught backstage as one of Angier’s clones is found drowned.To believe that Borden’s twin brother would sacrifice his life for the sake of his twin brother’s trick is requiring the audience to REALLY stretch it and like Tesla’s electric cloning device, just wouldn’t work.
All this is a shame really, as ‘The Prestige’ is a really good film for the majority of its running time. But unlike most real “magic” tricks where once they are explained, the ingenuity of the trick can be its own reward, ‘The Prestige’ just get marred terribly once the cogs of it’s trick is revealed.
One thing.About one of the brothers going to his death - well one of them had to, coming clean about being twins would've still meant one of them had to go and the one who didn't had a daughter so the brother gave his life so that she could have a father.0 -
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'127 Hours'
Despite being essentially a one man show (starring James Franco as Aron Ralston), '127 Hours' remains a gripping tale. Franco's job is quite hard as he has to carry the load for almost the entire film. Not an easy task and he manages to do this very well. The story of Ralston itself is simple enough, involving a solo mountain hike in Utah. If you don't know about Ralston's story, then don't find out and let the film tell you. You'll enjoy it all the more. Clocking at just over 90 minutes, enough is told on screen, despite the initially perceived brevity of narrative.
I won't include the customary trailer for this one, as IMHO, it gives too much away.
'Black Hawk Down'
I saw 'Black Hawk Down' when it first came out in 2001.and remember thinking that it wasn't really a film I enjoyed terribly well. Not that I don't enjoy war movies, but "my" war interest lies in a conflict that ended over 60 years ago and "modern" conflicts tend not to interest me all that much, as they tend to focus way too much on American ops and the impact on Americans, as opposed on everyone else involved. 'Black Hawk Down' is no exception here. In fact, it leaves out HUGE passages regarding the political situation in Somalia and fails to successfully illuminate the reasons for the "Battle of Mogadishu" at all, that many people who watch the film have no idea what's going on. But, even when armed with some knowledge (I remember news footage of the bodies of the US soldiers being dragged through the streets in 1993, the first time I saw it the film), 'Black Hawk Down' is still obscure. That doesn't mean that the viewer won't "enjoy" the film of course. But, it's probably best to find out why the US launched a raid on Mohamad Adid's SNA headquaters in Mogadishu, before sitting down to the film.
Stripping the story down to it's basics, Scott has chosen to focus on the downing of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters during the "Adid" raid and the subsequent efforts to rescue the crews. Showing how a meticulously planned military action can quickly turn into a fiasco, despite the odds being in your favor.
'Black Hawk Down' must have been a very difficult film to make for Ridley Scott. I'd say his most difficult, in fact. The reasons being that it focus's almost entirely on the running battle in the streets of the Somali capital. Shot in Morocco, Scott manages to display, somewhat, the confusion and fear that a full on street battle would evoke and "Mogadishu" looks every part the ravaged city, so alien to the young US Rangers eyes. Although, I felt that there was the tendency in some areas of the film to be a little bit "gung ho". This can be due to the fact that many of the kids in the ranks of Delta Force were "green" and still full of silly bravado. It tends to give a "war is cool" impression over a "war is hell" one and the film suffers a little on that front. I suspect that producer Jerry Bruckheimer, better known for explosive action flicks (Top Gun, Pearl Habor, Con Air, etc), may have a little too much influence here and there.
Unfortunately, too, without proper focus on the Somali side, it comes across as if the whole city is coming down on the US soldiers and that's a severe weakness. Although Adid's militia forces were aided by some Mogadishu citizens, no effort is made to distinguish the combatants. An issue that caused some controversy at the time of the films release, along with the fact that no Somali's were involved with the making of the film at all. Also left out were the contributions made by Pakastani and Malaysian forces who were allies. An all too common trait in American war movies.
Technically, the film is made with a lot of care, but personally, I could have done without the oversaturated / high contrast picture. At times, it really was hard on the eyes and created a very unnatural appearance. The acting is, for the most part, handled well enough. But the choice of British/Scottish/Australian actors for some US soldiers is a curious one. Lead roles are taken by Ewen McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana and their accents slip noticeably in a number of scenes. Other parts are handled by Josh Hartnett, Sam Sheppard and Tom Sizemore.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4gHCmTQDVI![[Deleted User]](/applications/dashboard/design/images/defaulticon.png)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUJ6cxWdZwA
This discussion has been closed.
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