What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Birneybau

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Prometheus

Let me preface this by saying I've never seen any of the original Alien films :eek: so I wasn't expecting anything from this.

If you liked that piece of crap, get thee watching the originals (ok, the first 2) which are stone cold masterpieces!

I have actually never been angrier leaving the cinema than I was after seeing "Prometheus".

Baked.noodle

I prefer Alien to Aliens as it is less cheesy, visually accomplished, creepier and as an original concept it is great overall. I like Aliens but I think the third film is better as it returns to its roots with one formidable alien, and the characters and setting are far more interesting. Prometheus was interesting, and I thought Fassbender was great as the android, but the film had many ill-defined and underdeveloped ideas and was disappointing overall. I am looking forward to the next instalment and I'm delighted they are redesigning the visuals and exploring new concepts in the Alien universe.

Mickeroo

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I just read on the trivia bit on the Prometheus page of imdb that she worked with a dialogue coach everyday on set to get the closest to an English accent she was capable of Not that close, obviously.

Hah I had no idea, just assumed it was her normal accent. Don't know why her character couldn't just have been Swedish in that case!

Was looking through the new on demand releases and saw that the extended cut of The Counsellor was available so I decided to give it a go. I had planned to head out for a few beers and watch it when I got home but when torrential rain started just as I was about to leave I thought I'd check out a few minutes of the film and hope it cleared up but instead found myself transfixed by what was unfolding before my eyes.

The Counsellor is one of the most critically derided and universally hated films of the past year and appeared on far more worst of lists than it did best of and honestly I'm struggling to understand why. Cormac McCarthy's first original screenplay is one of those rare films which manages to keep you enthralled throughout even though what is occurring onscreen can best be described as gibberish nonsense.

The film is a hypnotic and mesmerizing trip that is feels like something ripped directly from The Twilight Zone through some nightmarish barren, lifeless pulpy noir tale. It brings to mind the works of Jim Thompson and shares with his work a dream like quality. The set up could not be more simple, the counsellor enters into a drug deal while dismissing the warnings of his friends and associates and when things go wrong he ends up on the losing side.

There's really not a whole lot going on here though McCarthy hints at so much more through the layered dialogue and it's obvious that this is a film written by a man in love with the English language and all her mysteries. From the very start this is not a film that offers easy answers and with scene after scene existing free of any context and having little bearing on the overall plot it feels more like some drunks random drunken observations than it does a traditional narrative. There is literally nothing here that should work let alone make a bit of sense but by stripping the narrative to the bare bones, McCarthy and Scott have taken an number of risks with a film that prefers to tell than to show. It's a brave move and while it's not entirely successful it's certainly something a little different.

Fassbender is the star here and outshines everyone else on screen. Given little to work with he manages to create a convincing descent into hell. Pitt and Bardem can do this type of material in their sleep and both prove adept at playing conniving yet likeable. Less successful are the female leads. Penelope Cruz has the thankless role of victim and it's hard to muster up much sympathy or feeling toward her. Diaz is the weak link in the film. Her femme fatale never really convinces and in her most important scene she seems complexity out of her depth delivering dialogue with all the emotion of a secretary ordering lunch. There is an argument to be made that her delivery is deliberate, as if her actions have left her an emotional vacuum but honestly it just stinks of an actress out of her depth. That said one of cinemas all time wtf? moments features her having sex with a car windscreen which is sure to haunt viewers for years.

The Counsellor hasn't so much divided audiences as had everyone gang up on it yet it's a far more satisfying film that the reviews let on. It's an absorbing thriller that repeatably defies genre conventions and features some of the most interesting and vivid characters imaginable. It's also one of those rare films that's jam packed with cameos from some of cinemas most interesting character actors meaning that even if you despise it, you're never more than a few minutes away from a "it's that guy" moment.
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charlie_says

Filth

Irvine Welsh novel adaptation about a hedonistic and career driven murder detective in contemporary-ish Edinburgh. If you like Irvine Welsh stuff, then this is a total hoot. Crazy off the wall drug taking, brilliant dialog and just totally over the top insane Scotland nutters abound throughout the film. McAvoy, the lead, is just brilliant to watch in his constant scheming scheming against his work mates and potential top job competitors, his spiraling out of control into drug fueled hallucinations due to his troubled past and present.

Kinda reminded me of a sharper Scottish version of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which was a decent enough romp anyway.

A great laugh. Really enjoyed it

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Birneybau wrote: »

If you liked that piece of crap, get thee watching the originals (ok, the first 2) which are stone cold masterpieces!

I have actually never been angrier leaving the cinema than I was after seeing "Prometheus".

I don't get the hate. I feel glad that I wasn't one of those people who went in expecting.... whatever it was they were expecting that made them so damn mad about it.

MilanPan!c

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't get the hate. I feel glad that I wasn't one of those people who went in expecting.... whatever it was they were expecting that made them so damn mad about it.

You are.

The hate is well deserved.

Tony EH

To me 'Prometheus' has nothing really to do with the Alien franchise, except for some uneasy, tacked on, narrative that is completely superfluous. The film would have been ok without the need to do that and in the end it just wrecks the Alien franchise even further. There's never been a more abused series.

However, there are just too many stupid things going on in the film to let go. Like

having a young guy (Pierce) unconvincingly play and old guy (Pierce)

or,

the chap who's fearful of everything decides to go talking to the first alien he meets, despite the obvious consequences

, or,

Naomi Rapeface having her stomach and womb ripped open, an object removed and then sutured back up in the most awful way during her alien abortion...and then running around in the next scene, like feck all happened

and, of course,

both her and Charlize with their inability to turn left OR right and avoid being squished by the alien spaceship..."No, no, no, no" splat.

:rolleyes:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Tony EH wrote: »

To me 'Prometheus' has nothing really to do with the Alien franchise, except for some uneasy, tacked on, narrative that is completely superfluous. The film would have been ok without the need to do that and in the end it just wrecks the Alien franchise even further. There's never been a more abused series.

However, there are just too many stupid things going on in the film to let go. Like

having a young guy (Pierce) unconvincingly play and old guy (Pierce)

My understanding of it is that they wanted to make 3 or 4 Prometheus films that would eventually catch up to the Alien timeline but Prometheus itself wasn't supposed to be that connected to them. Having not seen any of them myself I don't know what references were in there, I know the basics like the sleep pods, the android, the "alien" thingy at the end..... but without the knowledge of this other franchise it's just an enjoyable popcorn movie.

As for Guy Pierce..... there were supposed to be scenes where David was reading his dreams the way he did with Shaw's and yer man was supposed to be young in them, hence Guy Pierce, but then they cut them at the last minute but it was too late to get rid of Pierce then so they ran with it.

Judgement Day

Haven't seen Prometheus myself but with all the negativity surrounding it I'll have to give it a lash.

Just watched "Enemy of the State" and "Predator" - again - two excellent action movies.

Mickeroo

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

My understanding of it is that they wanted to make 3 or 4 Prometheus films that would eventually catch up to the Alien timeline but Prometheus itself wasn't supposed to be that connected to them. Having not seen any of them myself I don't know what references were in there, I know the basics like the sleep pods, the android, the "alien" thingy at the end..... but without the knowledge of this other franchise it's just an enjoyable popcorn movie.

As for Guy Pierce..... there were supposed to be scenes where David was reading his dreams the way he did with Shaw's and yer man was supposed to be young in them, hence Guy Pierce, but then they cut them at the last minute but it was too late to get rid of Pierce then so they ran with it.

they originally intended a direct prequel then changed their mind. This film was supposed to end in a way that would directly set up Alien but they decided to change it make more money and further convolute the mythology. The canisters and black oil stuff was absolute nonsense.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Mickeroo wrote: »

they originally intended a direct prequel then changed their mind. This film was supposed to end in a way that would directly set up Alien but they decided to change it make more money and further convolute the mythology. The canisters and black oil stuff was absolute nonsense.

The canisters were the baby aliens from the other films, no?

Mickeroo

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The canisters were the baby aliens from the other films, no?

No there's no canisters or black goo in the other films just eggs which hold facehuggers(basically small versions of the vagina monster in this), in the original draft of Prometheus as far as I know they just had the eggs too.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Mickeroo wrote: »

No there's no canisters or black goo in the other films just eggs which hold facehuggers(basically small versions of the vagina monster in this), in the original draft of Prometheus as far as I know they just had the eggs too.

Well you see... this is where not having watched Alien(s) the canisters were baby alien monsters in the Prometheus universe and it all makes perfect sense

McGrath5

Gravity

I am actually quite regretful I did not go see this in the cinema.

The whole vastness and emptiness of space was captured so well, and the soundtrack tied in beautifully.
Pacing, tone were all spot on IMO, a must see.

hedgehog2

Dallas buyers club
Great movie,Mmc did a super job playing the redneck cowboy and showed how a person can change their views and life when they really need to.
He has left those awful romcom movies to leap into gritty roles and done a fine job with them.

Baked.noodle

Shackleton (2002)
The story of Shackleton's voyage to the Antarctic with a team of men at the outbreak of WW1. Kenneth Branagh does a great job as Shackleton and the quality of the film in terms of production and historical accuracy makes this film worthwhile. It is made for TV however, so it is split into two parts and each approximately an hour and three quarters. Although it does take a while to get going it's a great story and worth viewing.

The Endurance (2000)
A more factual documentary on Shackleton's voyage narrated by Liam Neeson. If you think the film above was an amazing story, it is only when we look a little deeper do we find just how amazing the expedition was. Defiantly watch this at least, but I do think both films are great overall.

johnny_ultimate

The Color Wheel weighs in at around 80 minutes. If you're going to consider watching it, make sure you set that modest amount of time aside, because director Alex Ross Perry and his co-writer / co-star Carlen Altman need it.

For three quarters, if not possibly more, of its running time The Color Wheel confused me. I'd only heard about it the other day because of Letterboxd, where some commentators were hailing it as a key, misunderstood text of modern American cinema. Seriously? What I seemed to be watching was something of a hybrid between the ironic scripting of Noah Baumbach or Woody Allen and the low key naturalism (let's avoid the 'm-core' word) of Andrew Bujalski or Aaron Katz. It, to me, the mix didn't quite work. Outside of the lead two actors, the cast were too amateurish to convince. The film was occasionally pretty funny and the odd burst of quirk (most notably during a lengthy party scene), but overall something about the tone and attitude came across as shrill and cynical, maybe even mean-spirited. Where, I could only wonder, is this going? There was clear, sometimes provocative, chemistry between the two siblings at the centre of the drama (enthusiastically brought to life by Perry and Altman), but it was unclear if this was leading anywhere interesting other than your bog standard sibling bonding narrative. The 16mm photography fell short of inspiring, struggling to offer much justification for that aesthetic choice.

Then the last fifteen minutes happen. The film takes something of a radical tonal shift (albeit one you realise had been signposted throughout), and in the space of two beautiful, careful, extended shots (and a simple edit from close up to extreme close up) Perry manages to articulate something darker, much deeper, much stranger, much more powerful. Indeed, what happens actually casts the whole film in an entirely different light, elegantly deconstructing the detached smarminess of what came before - and, by extend, critiquing many of the traits that have dominated independent American cinema over the last decade. It's a startlingly, moving and sudden conclusion to a work I was ready to dismiss as a vaguely enjoyable trifle: and this from a viewer who has an unusually high tolerance for the films it initially appears to haphazardly emulate. It goes where it hadn't seemed interested in going, becoming more cinematically verbose in the process, and features character moments that set the mind and heart racing. I can only confess I was caught off guard.

80 minutes, so: The Color Wheel needs you to give it all 4,800 of those seconds, irregardless of whether the film starts off rubbing you the wrong way. It's a rare film indeed that provides such a radical, perception altering u-turn, the sort that might even inspire you to hit play again immediately.

Tony EH

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

My understanding of it is that they wanted to make 3 or 4 Prometheus films that would eventually catch up to the Alien timeline but Prometheus itself wasn't supposed to be that connected to them. Having not seen any of them myself I don't know what references were in there, I know the basics like the sleep pods, the android, the "alien" thingy at the end..... but without the knowledge of this other franchise it's just an enjoyable popcorn movie.

As for Guy Pierce..... there were supposed to be scenes where David was reading his dreams the way he did with Shaw's and yer man was supposed to be young in them, hence Guy Pierce, but then they cut them at the last minute but it was too late to get rid of Pierce then so they ran with it.

You should definitely watch 'Alien' and 'Aliens'...and maybe the director's cut of 'Alien 3'.

Then call it a day.

Or, if you're not that interested, just watch 'Alien'.

As for Guy Pierce, a real old man would have worked much better, despite the intended flashbacks. For those get a younger guy that looks a bit the same.

Jesus...even crap shows like 'Cold case' can manage that.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Tony EH wrote: »

As for Guy Pierce, a real old man would have worked much better, despite the intended flashbacks. For those get a younger guy that looks a bit the same.

Jesus...even crap shows like 'Cold case' can manage that.

I agree completely. Unless there was going to be a huge chunk of time given over to the younger version I don't see why they needed to cast specifically for that age. Makes far more sense to cast for the age that gets most screen time.

Hande hoche!

Saw Grudgematch earlier today. Wasn't too bad. A few good laughs here and their. DeNiro seems to be making a bit more on an effort than last few times I have seen him. Wouldn't recommend breaking down doors to see it but a solid watch.

Mike Litoris

Tony EH wrote: »

You should definitely watch 'Alien' and 'Aliens'...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO, you're in for a treat ya bastid. I'd love to watch them for the first time again. Throw in John Carpenters The Thing while your at it. A triple bill of Sci-fi/Horror of the highest quality.

BTW I loved Prometheus too despite a couple of cringe worthy moments.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Mike Litoris wrote: »

TICKLE_ME_ELMO, you're in for a treat ya bastid. I'd love to watch them for the first time again. Throw in John Carpenters The Thing while your at it. A triple bill of Sci-fi/Horror of the highest quality.

BTW I loved Prometheus too despite a couple of cringe worthy moments.

I dunno, Sci-fi and Horror are two genres I've never had any interest in. I haven't made a conscious decision not to watch Alien(s), they're just not ones I'd go and put on and nobody's ever forced me to watch them. I'll probably get around to it eventually.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Watched A Good Year there on Film 4 tonight.

It's not very good at all. It probably could have been an okay throw away grown up Rom Com type thing if only they'd cast anyone, literally anyone, other than Russell Crowe. He seemed so out of place here, and not just because of his abysmal attempt at an English accent. The character he's playing, I think, is supposed to be charming, bit of a dick, but charming, Crowe just plays him as cartoon playboy asshat that is extremely unlikable and I don't know why anyone bothered with him never mind the lovely Marion Cotillard!

I watched A Belfast Story so you didn't have to.



A Belfast Story hit the headlines a matter of weeks before it hit our screens thanks to a rather poorly thought out marketing campaign conceived by the filmmakers. In order to promote their film, the producers and director sent out press kits containing nails, balaclavas and Duct tape. A move which managed to spark some mild controversy and a few tabloid inches about the film. Sadly, this is about the only interesting thing about the film, a film so dull and plodding that you may well be asleep before the 10 minute mark.

Colm Meaney plays a Belfast copper whose tasked with investigating the murder of an ex-IRA member who has been killed in a nail bomb attack. Like most of cinemas least interesting cops, Meaney's detective is working his "One Last Job" and as such, every cliche possible is in play. It's not long before a series of murders occur and Meaney finds himself at the center of a spate of comical murders and killers with a motivation that will have you falling on the floor with laughter.

Meaney is joined in his investigation by an intrepid rookie cop who is really there to report back to the higher ups who are trying to sabotage the investigation even thought hey repeatedly state we're not going back there". As the bodies pile high, Meaney scowls a lot and everyone else looks lost.

A Belfast Story is one of those sad attempts at a narrative where absolutely nothing works. The death scenes, which should be central to the films themes come across more comical than terrifying. The death by chips moment has to be seen to be believed and is up there with cinemas most poorly conceived set pieces. There's not a single moment in the film that words and the few interesting ideas in play are so poorly implemented that one assumes they were hit on accidentally.

The acting ranges from abysmal to comical with not a single member of the cast escaping with their dignity. Even Meaney looks embarrassed to be here and one would assume that he did this for the pay check though considering that the whole thing looks like it was shot over a weekend with change found in various phone boxes around the city.

A Belfast Story is a truly terrible film. One that strives desperately to be adult and important but comes across as amateurish and insulting. Scenes exist without context or meaning and as the film stumbles from one poorly conceived moment to the next you can't help but hope that the whole thing was conceived as some sort of insomnia cure.

What's most disgusting and insulting about the whole affair is the sentiment that creeps in during the final minutes where the film presents the message that it's better to live in a world without peace so that a child can easily tell good from evil. A Belfast Story is not only a terrible piece of crap but it's an insensitive and dangerous piece of propaganda that doesn't deserve to exist.

e_e

^Ah, that film that had a gigantic poster outside IMC Dun Laoghaire yet nobody seemed to go and see it.

krudler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Prometheus

Let me preface this by saying I've never seen any of the original Alien films :eek: so I wasn't expecting anything from this. I remember all the hoopla over it's marketing campaign and people analyzing every second of footage from the trailers and what not. None of that meant a jot to me. So basically I was going in expectation free.

I enjoyed it for what it was. I should probably have also prefaced this with "I don't watch a lot of sci-fi films either" so again maybe it's all been done before but for me it was relatively new. I liked the basic plot idea, they didn't really answer any of the questions there though, but clearly they were setting up for a sequel. Visually it was pretty great, not too much CGI and where it was used it worked well. I loved the scene of David standing in the star map thing. Lovely.

Problems I had with it...

1 - Noomi Rapace's accent. Was she supposed to be English as the child in her dream was? Or was she supposed to be a bit of a gypsy with bits of different accents? It felt like she was trying to be just English but it was all over the place. I have a thing about accents though so this probably just annoyed me.

2 - They killed

Charlize Theron off!! How dare they! What I was most interested in was the interaction between her character and David. Clearly she resented the crap out of him and he seemed well aware of it and seemed to take some pleasure (if a robot is capable of that) out of flaunting his status as #1 son. Theron and Fassbender are great actors and the few scenes they shared were so many levels above most of the other interactions between characters. I could have watched a whole movie of just the two of them. So it really annoyed me when they killed her off, we could have had a sequel of her and David flying around space resenting each other
The fact that they didn't explore that relationship a bit more made Theron's character pretty pointless really.

3 - And this was the one that really took me out of the movie.... when

Vickers and Shaw are running from the crashing ship near the end, and it's falling in exactly the direction you'd expect something of that shape to fall.... they keep running in the direction it's falling in. Why not go left or right and get out of it's way? Position yourself in the middle of the semi circle so even when it stops and falls over sideways you're not standing under it!

I realise how silly that sounds but it really did take me out of the film completely.

But all in all I liked it

If you liked Prometheus watch Alien, it's literally a hundred times that movie is. "classic" gets bandied around a lot, but Alien is truly a classic film.

Ole Rodrigo

Transsiberian on Netflix - good old fashioned train thriller, solid performances from Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800241/

Netflix is such a good platform that its great when you find something decent to watch on it

hedgehog2

Casuslties of war with Michael J Fox snd Sean Penn.
Great movie but very sad and shows how siht war is on all concerned.
My inlaws were on the otherside during this war.Some bad things happened but this really brings it home.

MilanPan!c

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I dunno, Sci-fi and Horror are two genres I've never had any interest in. I haven't made a conscious decision not to watch Alien(s), they're just not ones I'd go and put on and nobody's ever forced me to watch them. I'll probably get around to it eventually.

Can I ask how old you are?

It's AMAZING to me that you've never seen them if you're over say 30.