What have you watched recently?

dark crystal

I Heart Huckabees.

Possibly in the top 3 worst films I have ever seen in my life.

Skerries

A Serbian Film (curls up into a ball and starts rocking)

Voodu Child

71: Into the Fire
Decent war film, a bit cheesy but beautifully shot, with some great battle scenes and sound effects.

krudler

Skerries wrote: »

A Serbian Film (curls up into a ball and starts rocking)

One of the worst films I've ever seen, trying so hard to be shocking it just wound up being ridiculous and funny

Basq

For a bit of nostalgia, I bought "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" on DVD for €2.50 off Play.com and watched it last night.

Still entertaining albeit particularly 80's and more corny than I remember in parts (isn't that always the way?).

It was released in 1989 so I was 6 when the film came out and I remember watching it religiously as a young un'.

As I'm now much older and slightly (debately) more mature, I picked up on a couple more jokes/references this time around (e.g Ted's "dust in the wind dude!" obviously being a reference to the Kansas song).

Still, good cheesy fun.. and might give 'Bogus Journey' a watch tonight!

James T Kirk

dark crystal wrote: »

I Heart Huckabees.

Possibly in the top 3 worst films I have ever seen in my life.

Well don't tell the director that, whatever you do.

Bit of a hothead, I've heard.

irishh_bob

watched hot tub time machine last night , very funny , best laugh i had in a while , stupid enjoyable movie

Up-n-atom!

^^ It's a giggle alright, and a very random premise into the bargain.

I saw His and Hers for the first time last night after wanting to watch it for ages - maybe should've saved it for Father's Day rather than Mother's Day Eve, but it was touching and very sweet. The cinematography has been praised, but I found it a bit same-y in that regard - though that's a pretty small hole to pick.

Also watched Let Me In, after adoring the original Swedish version. It wasn't bad but I don't see the point of remakes of perfectly good films for the sake of language...what's wrong with subtitles every now and again?! Also, I liked the vampire character better in the first film, for whatever reason - she was a bit more sympathetic and ethreal-looking, without the need for CGI to reinforce her other-worldliness.

dark crystal

James T Kirk wrote: »

Well don't tell the director that, whatever you do.

Bit of a hothead, I've heard.

Ooh yeah....saw that clip a few years back! Apparantly he tried the same sh*t with George Clooney on the set of Three Kings, but Clooney wasn't having any of it. David O Russell seems like a right knob alright.

Would love to see him and Christian Bale make a movie together...:D

adamski8

Up-n-atom! wrote: »

Oh, and Submarine the other week - loved it, was refreshing and fun. The Wes Anderson comparisons are justified, but think this will be slightly less annoying for some people!

i can see why people like it i guess, but feels like ive watched it a million times before, a bit boring and seemed to go on too long.

johnny_ultimate

adamski8 wrote: »

i can see why people like it i guess, but feels like ive watched it a million times before, a bit boring and seemed to go on too long.

Yeah thought it was a little overrated myself. Don't get me wrong, I mostly liked it, but it wasn't the great saviour of British cinema some heralded it to be. I think a Welsh Wes Anderson film is the best description, albeit more bittersweet than typical Anderson. Liked it, but wouldn't be in much of a worse to sing its praises. More Considine and Hawkins though please!

Das Kitty

Watched Never Let Me Go last night. I really enjoyed it. I liked how it never got overly dramatic considering the subject matter. A nice bit of food for thought in it and great performances from the actors (I did find Andrew Garfield's character a bit annoying and weak).

Watched Rashomon on Saturday night. I always find with these films that defined a genre or a device that it's hard to be blown away by them if you've seen things that have been inspired by them first. I could see why this film was special and I did enjoy it but I felt that having seen films like Hero before it had spoiled it a little for me.

Basq

Last night, I watched Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (picked up on Blu-ray for a fiver from Sendit) which really doesn't hold up tremendously. Don't get me wrong - it's got some great scenes (the bar scene and the motel scene) but it's got possibly the most hokey unbelievable romance EVER committed to film. Bill Paxton is "80's obnoxious overexcited Bill Paxton" as per usual. It's a decent 80's vampire movie though.. you could do a lot worse!

I also watched Battle Los Angeles which was awful dreck. Probably the last 10 minutes were the most exciting thing about it - the aliens looked like ED-209 (from Robocop) mixed with Alien. Godawful performances, wafer-thin characters and dire script.. really not a whole lot to recommend. I'm up for a balls-out action flick, but by 40 minutes in.. I was just getting really bored. Avoid!

Also watched The Green Hornet which I actually quite enjoyed. I was fully expecting to hate it but Seth Rogen adds enough comedic value to the movie. It's actually quite a witty script for a comic book movie, as I didn't realise it was written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who also wrote 'Superbad'). Christoph Waltz was goddamn awful though, which was a shame after his performance in 'Inglourious Basterds'. As comic book movies go.. if you split them all down the middle in terms of good gun, it'd definitely rank in the better half.

crazygeryy

dark crystal wrote: »

I Heart Huckabees.

Possibly in the top 3 worst films I have ever seen in my life.

couldnt agree more.that and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind oh jesus jim what were you thinking.

watched UNKNOWN and battle LA.

i was dissapointed with unknown i was expecting another taken which was brilliant.
and battle LA is ok.i think it tries to hard to be district 9 which is also brilliant.

bryaner

Watched Stone last night, pants fest!

crazygeryy

krudler wrote: »

I light a candle every night in hope that someone will convince him to make Ace Ventura 3 :pac:

yes definitely.i remember when i saw the first one jesus i nearly wet myself.it was brilliant.

old hippy

Waltz with Bashir; an incredible animated doc about the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982 and how years later a former IDF soldier has blocked it from memory.

jester77

"I saw the Devil" is one of the better movies I've seen recently. Police Chiefs daughter is murdered by a serial killer and her boyfriend, who works in the secret service, decides to get revenge. Very well done with some excellent acting, especially by the guy portraying the serial killer.

dark crystal

crazygeryy wrote: »

couldnt agree more.that and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind oh jesus jim what were you thinking.

Aww, I really liked Eternal Sunshine!

The thing with I Heart Huckabees is that it's supposed to be a very clever existensial 'comedy'. Now, if there was comedy in there anywhere, I failed to see it.

It was all over the place - the plot (or what was masquerading as a plot), was meandering and confusing, the characters badly written (none of the dialogue makes any sense whatsoever) and unlikeable and it's desperation to be all out weird, strangled any semblance of life out of the whole film.

How anyone could enjoy this steaming pile of prententious ****e is beyond me. Shame, as there were a lot of really talented actors, whom I usually love, involved.

johnny_ultimate

crazygeryy wrote: »

couldnt agree more.that and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind oh jesus jim what were you thinking.

In relation to Eternal Sunshine. Ahem. Here's something I wrote a while ago on why I think it's the greatest film of the last decade. TL;DR? It's damn near perfect. Spoiler:

“Random thoughts for Valentine's day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap”

Eternal Sunshine opens on a cynical note, and yet is far from a cynical film. Perhaps some of the conclusions you will draw from the film won’t exactly be optimistic – especially with a final looping image that suggests a constant, repetitive cycle. But it isn’t a cynical film. Cynicism is just one part of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman’s sublime deconstruction of a relationship. There are moments of sadness, moments of anger, moments of excitement and moments of pure joy. Mostly, though, just moments.

Eternal Sunshine was released in 2004, a year after Lost in Translation. The latter is a superb tale of an almost too brief relationship. Eternal Sunshine is about a much longer romance. Having seen them in relatively close proximity, I always put the two together, almost as companion pieces – defining fictional accounts of relationships and the people in them. Eternal Sunshine is certainly an entirely more ambitious undertaking; not surprising from a writer who had just put out two of the most bizarre, unusual and fresh films of contemporary times.

It’s 20 minutes in before the opening credits role. Before that, we get to witness the ‘first’ meetings of Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski. We then suddenly jump to what appears to be a breakup, with a mysterious van following Joel. It’s initially a confusing jolt, and it’s the first significant time distortion in an inventive structure. We then jump around in space and time, examining the memories of Joel and Clementine’s relationship as they are deleted from the most recent to the oldest.

You could almost call the film a romantic comedy – the basic structure is there, albeit severely disjointed. There’s a meeting, a relationship, a complication and a reconciliation (of sorts), although not in that order. It’s also very funny. But it’s the central structure that makes the film work, and ultimately something far more memorable than the typical relationship drama. A sci-fi film that is purposefully cheap and down to earth (apparently Lacuna is like a dingy dentist’s office, in a delightfully playful touch), it’s a twist and plot device that allows Kaufman and Gondry to brutally dissect Joel and Clementine’s relationship. Full of moments of great truth, but also surreal imagery – bolstered by Gondry’s admirable insistence on using old fashioned, almost homemade special effects.

The successful mesh of the realistic and fantastical is never more evident than in my personal favourite scene: the climatic sequence in the beach house. Subverting the concept of the voiceover (like Kaufman’s fictional rendition of himself did in Adaptation after listening to a particularly vitriolic Robert McKee seminar), Joel heartbreakingly tells his memory of Clementine his real feelings. Meanwhile, the house – and, sadly, Joel’s final remaining memory of Clem – violently collapses around the pair. “I wish… I wish I stayed” Joel reflects as he leaves the house and Clem behind. It’s the beginning and end of a relationship beautifully combined and captured in one surreal, memorable scene – which pretty much defines the film as a whole.

Never one to pass up the opportunity to make the most out of a complex plot device, Kaufman even injects the subplots with complex characters and themes. The ensemble cast help; the always reliable Tom Wilkinson and Mark Ruffalo, a suitably creepy Elijah Wood and a surprisingly effective Kirsten Dunst (playing up her innocent, youthful charm). The sequences involving the staff at Lacuna explore themes and ideas that don’t quite fit into Joel and Clementine’s story, and ensure the moral ambiguities and complexities of memory deletion are explored in great detail. They’re funny too, which helps.

Yet it is Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey’s performances that truly bring this film to life. From Winselt, it’s to be expected. Her portrayal of Clementine is a definitive kook, her bubbly actions a mask for deeper insecurities. Like her hair (I personally prefer tangerine), she’s hard to conclusively define. Carrey surprises more though. Winslet has shown herself to be a great actress on a number of occasions, but Carrey is sometimes harder to like. Here, he is fantastic playing a muttering, awkward character – which is pretty much the polar opposite of a typical Carrey character. He’d shown himself as a capable actor in The Truman Show – almost playing a parody of his comedic persona – but here he proves he has range. Winslet and Carrey both give Clem and Joel the depth the film relies on – two very different characters destined to be together (at least temporarily).

When Joel’s memories are finally deleted, the jigsaw pieces click into place. The ingenious structure is clear, and a relationship has played its course, only to begin again. This is a film that benefits from a second screening, with any confusion eliminated. Then you can appreciate the small touches and the little character moments – book titles disappearing on a shelf, the other occupants of Lacuna reception and their respective best-forgotten memories. It also ends ambiguously, the looping image of Joel and Clem running along a beach. For me, it’s a summary of the film to date – a happy moment, but one that will only happen between moments of pain and anger. Oddly, the Joker at the end of the Dark Knight pretty much sums it up best: “I think you and I are destined to do this forever”.

Yeah, so with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and their cast & crew created an almost definitive romantic comedy-drama. Other films have been similarly successful without any of the complications, but it is the wild ambition, humanity and inventiveness of this film that makes it work. Michel Gondry went on to make an equally imaginative, although slightly colder, film with The Science of Sleep. Charlie Kaufman, appropriately, went on to make a film about, well, everything, trying to capture an entire life with the insanely ambitious (and, for the most part, insanely successful) Synecdoche, New York. As good as their follow-ups have been (shame about Be Kind Rewind, though), it’s the warmth, characters and honesty that makes Eternal Sunshine so worth experiencing again and again. Personally, I’ve watched this film a silly number of times.

Although the film opens (and arguably closes) on cynical notes, it’s the happier scenes in this film that always hit hardest. Like Clem and Joel stumbling upon an elephant parade, as Kirsten Dunst recites the Alexander Pope (or is that Pope Alexander?) poem that gives the film the memorable title: “How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd”. So Joel reflecting on the shallowness of Valentine’s Day is an apt beginning; because, after all, this is a film that succeeds in capturing the realities of romance and relationships, and does so far more honestly than a Hallmark card.

Nolanger

ESOTSM is complete and utter SH*TE. Nothing worse than seeing actors 'enjoying themselves' and playing along with the gags. And 'greatest film of the last decade' is no recommendation either.

krudler

crazygeryy wrote: »

couldnt agree more.that and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind oh jesus jim what were you thinking.

watched UNKNOWN and battle LA.

i was dissapointed with unknown i was expecting another taken which was brilliant.
and battle LA is ok.i think it tries to hard to be district 9 which is also brilliant.

thinking about giving the best performance of his career?

johnny_ultimate

Nolanger wrote: »

ESOTSM is complete and utter SH*TE.

No, it isn't.

krudler

Nolanger wrote: »

ESOTSM is complete and utter SH*TE. Nothing worse than seeing actors 'enjoying themselves' and playing along with the gags. And 'greatest film of the last decade' is no recommendation either.

its not exactly a laugh out loud funny movie tbh, its pretty melancholy for the most part.

johnny_ultimate

krudler wrote: »

its not exactly a laugh out loud funny movie tbh, its pretty melancholy for the most part.

I wouldn't even bother trying to get involved with that argument alas.

Yes, everything comes down to opinion, but there are qualities in a lot of films like ESOTSM that I find it hard to believe people can outright ignore for whatever reason. Hey, if people don't like it, they're entitled to their opinion. Always looking to hear well reasoned responses though.

mikhail

Nolanger wrote: »

And 'greatest film of the last decade' is no recommendation either.

A decade of filmmaking hasn't produced a single great film? Sometimes I catch one of your quotes in someone else's post, and I can't help but smile at the my wisdom in putting you on my ignore list. You have nothing constructive to say. You're either a troll or a very sad, bitter individual. I hope you're a troll.

Sad Professor

Keep it friendly please. Don't call another user a troll. If you think someone is trolling, please report them.

Back on topic please.

/mod

krudler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I wouldn't even bother trying to get involved with that argument alas.

Yes, everything comes down to opinion, but there are qualities in a lot of films like ESOTSM that I find it hard to believe people can outright ignore for whatever reason. Hey, if people don't like it, they're entitled to their opinion. Always looking to hear well reasoned responses though.

The first time I saw it I didnt like it but that was more to do with the fact I watched it with 3 other people and they wouldnt bloody shut up during it so I was missing most of what was going on. Watched it again on my own and loved it.

splashthecash

McPlato wrote: »

Just watched EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. Didn't know what to expect of it but its dam good. I think the little you know about it beforehand, the better. Definatley the most original film ive seen in 2011!:D:D

Watched this film yesterday - I absolutely LOVED it!!

Brilliantly made and well structured. I completely agree that the less you know about this the better...I've heard of

Banksie and the whole street art movement

but not too any great extent.

I love these kinds of documentaries, does anyone have any silimar ones that they would recommend?

Basq

Rewatched The Prestige' for the 3rd or 4th time on Blu-ray - and am still spotting new little "bits and pieces / nods" even now. Still as fantastic now as the time I saw it fresh.