What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

ButtersSuki

American Sniper

Clint Eastwood directs a beefed up Bradley Cooper as "the best of the best" sniper in the US military and their efforts in Iraq. Similar to Zero Dark Thirty, there's too much US jingoism and flag waving for my liking and not enough delving into the character. Clearly he's troubled and torn and that's actually the more interesting side of the story, but there are themes and narratives that could have been better developed I felt, such as

his sniper training, or was he just an especially gifted shooter?

Also, IMO,

the ending is somewhat ruined by not showing how he died, on US soil, at the hands of a US soldier he was helping

Surely that would have been interesting? To paraphrase Eamon Dunphy, it's a good film, but not a great film. Cooper is very good in it though, and similar to his role in Silver Linings Playbook, he channels 'troubled" well. I just felt it could have been such a better movie A disappointing 6/10.

Harry Palmr

The Guard 2011 Dir the Other McDonagh fella

As arch as a very arch thing, very playful and clever-clever which ought to be a story killer but in fact the Guard thrives on its own "smartness" with everyone and everything pitched at just the right level while not hanging about to admire its own literary skill.

Nerdlingr

Foxcatcher

I so wanted to love this. The one review I read of it spoiled the film for me, so was a bit peeved off with that but every rating i'd seen had given it high marks so was looking forward to a descent into madness!
I liked it, but I dont think I liked it enough. The performances are all excellent in this - obviously Carrell with take the limelight but Tatum and Ruffalo are fantastic as well. I just felt the film took too long to get to the heart of the matter. It was ponderous in places and seemed just to meander along for a bit. As much as i wanted to root for the Schultz brothers, in the end I didnt really connect with either of their characters. It starts as Marks story, changes to John's then we get David's outcome. Maybe if told from David's perspective I might have felt more attached.

4/5 for me. Would have been less only for the performances .

eviltwin

Imitation Game

Decent enough film, some good performances but nothing amazing. I'm not sure why its getting so much attention as an possible Oscar contender. Its good but not that good. Cumberbatch was the best thing in it. Keira Knightly is a really good actress but she's just playing the token female in this and deserves better.

Looper007

JOHN WICK

Can't believe how long they are waiting to release this very cool and stylish B-movie with a great action turn from Keanu Reeves (its just a week or two away from its DVD release in the States after its cinema run in October yet we don't get a Cinema release until April). Anyway this will be a cult classic I have no doubt about it, the fight/shoot 'em up scene in the nightclub is one of the best action scenes you see in years. Anyone wanting a deep character study or a proper storyline need to go somewhere else, this is pure balls to the wall action. Reeves is really in his element in these roles, he's got a great cast in this too William Dafoe, Ian McShane, Michael Nyqvist. But this is Reeves film, this will join Point Break, Speed and the Matrix perfectly in his action canon. 8/10

THE GUEST

This seems to be splitting opinion on here (far too many serious people), but for me one of the finds of 2014. Rewatching it even makes me love it more. Dan Stevens gives a star making performance and the last third of this is complete bonkers and laugh out load funny. The Soundtrack is one of the best too.

Mizu_Ger

The Rover
Post-apocalyptic Australian answer to "Dude Where's My Car?"!!!
Very downbeat atmosphere and not a whole lot of story to talk about. The setting is effective and Guy Pearce & Pattinson are both very good. With films like this I spend most of the time wondering what it's all about! The devaluation of human life?? The recent news would give credence to this

along with the final scene: the dog is the only thing in the film that deserves a burial

.
I haven't seen Animal Kingdom yet. I'm expecting a similar atmosphere.

Witness for the Prosecution
Agatha Christie story from Billy Wilder. Felt a little "Saturday afternoon", but it's all played very well (always like watching Charles Laughton). Plenty of twists and turns right the way through makes for an entertaining 2 hours.

The Boxtrolls
Watched this with the kids and we all loved it. There's comedy, menace, thrills etc all in there. The animation is amazing at times (some extremely complex looking shots). Well worth seeing.

Looper007

Jimmy Iovine wrote: »

Con Air for about the tenth time. It's pure cheese, but I love everything about it.

Even Cage's dodgy accent and that horrible song that is played throughout :pac:

I have a soft spot for Con Air too even though you can clearly see John Cusack uncomfort in been in the film (he did it for the money so he could do Gross Point Blank) even though its probably the film most people know him from. I think Cage should have left the action roles after this cause he never got better then this (although I like Face Off) and John Malkovich eats up the scenery as the villain while I love the little role for the brilliant Dave Chappelle. Steve Buscemi adds a little dark comedy in there too. It's not perfect, it probably outstays its welcome in the end with the last chase. But overall a great popcorn film.

Tony EH

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

The Rover
Post-apocalyptic Australian answer to "Dude Where's My Car?"!!!
Very downbeat atmosphere and not a whole lot of story to talk about. The setting is effective and Guy Pearce & Pattinson are both very good.

I thought 'The Rover' was great and was very surprised by Pattinson, who turns in a very good performance.

BTW, I don't really think the film is supposed to have that much of a point, other than life is shite in the apocalypse.

Looper007

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

The Rover
Post-apocalyptic Australian answer to "Dude Where's My Car?"!!!
Very downbeat atmosphere and not a whole lot of story to talk about. The setting is effective and Guy Pearce & Pattinson are both very good. With films like this I spend most of the time wondering what it's all about! The devaluation of human life?? The recent news would give credence to this

along with the final scene: the dog is the only thing in the film that deserves a burial

.
I haven't seen Animal Kingdom yet. I'm expecting a similar atmosphere.

Animal Kingdom is a better film although I liked The Rover, it's kind of slipped by my attention when it came to my top 20 of the year for 2014, it got a lot of sniffy reviews but it was a fine film. I think it has one of the most downbeat endings of 2014,

All that death and mayhem for his dead dog so he could bury it

. Guy Pearce was excellent as per usual. Pattinson shows he has some acting chops and I thought he was very good. Scoot McNairy was wasted though. It could have done with some editing and the bleakness does grind you down a little but its a fine film that doesn't reach the heights of the directors debut Animal Kingdom.

Tony EH

I really liked the bleakness and appreciated it's no nonsense approach.

It was like a more realistic 'Mad Max'.

Haven't seen 'Animal Kingdom' yet though.

Mizu_Ger

Looper007 wrote: »

Animal Kingdom is a better film although I liked The Rover, it's kind of slipped by my attention when it came to my top 20 of the year for 2014, it got a lot of sniffy reviews but it was a fine film. I think it has one of the most downbeat endings of 2014,

All that death and mayhem for his dead dog so he could bury it

. Guy Pearce was excellent as per usual. Pattinson shows he has some acting chops and I thought he was very good. Scoot McNairy was wasted though. It could have done with some editing and the bleakness does grind you down a little but its a fine film that doesn't reach the heights of the directors debut Animal Kingdom.

Tony EH wrote: »

I really liked the bleakness and appreciated it's no nonsense approach.

It was like a more realistic 'Mad Max'.

Haven't seen 'Animal Kingdom' yet though.

I did like it too. But you need to be aware of the bleakness going in. It could easily be too much depending on what mood you're in. I liked that it didn't try to explain itself, especially around "The Collapse"

whatever it was and how it affected the world outside of what we see in the film, it could almost be set in the present day

, but the film is really about Pearse and Pattinson

and why the former latches on to the latter when it's so easy to just kill someone who rubs you the wrong way

.

Looper007

BATMAN: The Animated Series

Along with Nolan's Batman Trilogy, this is highpoint of the Batman character. A cartoon that was actually dark and tragic and actually treated its characters with respect, Kevin Conroy's Batman is considered one of the best around and its hard to argue watching this. He gives both Bruce Wayne and Batman their own characters. Plus the Batman voice is nailed perfectly, no growling in this. I love their version of Harvey Dent/Two Face and Mr Freeze, none of the films have quite reached the heights with those backstories. I loved how in the cartoon that Dent always had the split personality and was fighting with it. Plus Mark Hamill's Joker is pure brilliance, I still go for Heath Ledger's version but Hamill is excellent. Plus the making of Harley Quinn is pure genius. so many excellent episodes "Heart Of Ice", "The Laughing Fish", "I Am The Night" and far too many others to mention. Got two dvd set with every episode, not one is truly a stinker. But I'm surprised at how dark and downbeat it is watching it again.

pixelburp

Next Goal Wins (2014)

The story of the international football team of American Samoa, bottom of the world rankings and named 'worst football team in the world' after making the headlines for losing a record-breaking 31-0 to Australia in 2001. This documentary followed the fortunes of the entirely amateur team of islanders in their desperate attempt to regain a shred of respect and dignity, for the sake of their island and themselves.

Whether you follow football or not is immaterial in recommending this, as the focus of this film was more about dedication, passion, and what even the smallest of victories can mean for a closely-knit community on the other side of the world. You got a sense of the hurt that genuinely needled those in Samoa, and also the unbridled joy when their attempts to raise their spirits bares fruit.

It was also a fascinating look at cultural differences; specifically, as much as we like to think of our Western culture as the more progressive and liberal compared to others, the film demonstrated how Samoan culture simply accepts transgender people as part of the community, no different to anyone else on the island(s) and no big deal really. The film often focused on the perspective of a squad member who is a transgendered person, and made for a fascinating perspective.

Watching news of the endemic, sometimes life-endangering corruption that pervades FIFA and its World Cups, it's heartening and genuinely uplifting to see how much these matches mean to those at the other end of the tournament, those who simply play for pride.

WHIP IT!

Looper007 wrote: »

BATMAN: The Animated Series

Along with Nolan's Batman Trilogy, this is highpoint of the Batman character. A cartoon that was actually dark and tragic and actually treated its characters with respect, Kevin Conroy's Batman is considered one of the best around and its hard to argue watching this. He gives both Bruce Wayne and Batman their own characters. Plus the Batman voice is nailed perfectly, no growling in this. I love their version of Harvey Dent/Two Face and Mr Freeze, none of the films have quite reached the heights with those backstories. I loved how in the cartoon that Dent always had the split personality and was fighting with it. Plus Mark Hamill's Joker is pure brilliance, I still go for Heath Ledger's version but Hamill is excellent. Plus the making of Harley Quinn is pure genius. so many excellent episodes "Heart Of Ice", "The Laughing Fish", "I Am The Night" and far too many others to mention. Got two dvd set with every episode, not one is truly a stinker. But I'm surprised at how dark and downbeat it is watching it again.

Sounds great - my finger has lingered over the 'play' button a couple of times on Netflix... but I think i'll definitely give it a watch now...

JaseBelleVie

Looper007 wrote: »

BATMAN: The Animated Series

Along with Nolan's Batman Trilogy, this is highpoint of the Batman character. A cartoon that was actually dark and tragic and actually treated its characters with respect, Kevin Conroy's Batman is considered one of the best around and its hard to argue watching this. He gives both Bruce Wayne and Batman their own characters. Plus the Batman voice is nailed perfectly, no growling in this. I love their version of Harvey Dent/Two Face and Mr Freeze, none of the films have quite reached the heights with those backstories. I loved how in the cartoon that Dent always had the split personality and was fighting with it. Plus Mark Hamill's Joker is pure brilliance, I still go for Heath Ledger's version but Hamill is excellent. Plus the making of Harley Quinn is pure genius. so many excellent episodes "Heart Of Ice", "The Laughing Fish", "I Am The Night" and far too many others to mention. Got two dvd set with every episode, not one is truly a stinker. But I'm surprised at how dark and downbeat it is watching it again.

I'm a big fan, as evidenced by the below!

JaseHeath wrote: »

Re-living my childhood a bit, but a friend of mine bought me the complete collection of Batman: The Animated Series for Christmas. I'm stunned at how well it has aged (it made its debut in 1992) and at how actually awesome it is! The intro scene alone is just amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEx9r5enZsk

And, of course, this is the origin of the most epic of epic superhero lines:

"I am vengeance! I am the night!!! I AM BATMAN!!!"

What better time to relive your childhood than Christmas?!

Totally agree with you. This was way more than just a kids' show. It was epic and amazing.

Looper007

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Sounds great - my finger has lingered over the 'play' button a couple of times on Netflix... but I think i'll definitely give it a watch now...

Watch it trust me you won't be disappointed. It's without doubt the best cartoon series ever made (I hope that's not a grand big statement). Brilliant writing, voice work (they were in the same room as they were recording) and actually some rather downbeat and tragic stories. You can see Nolan was influenced by this. "Heart of Ice" is one of the most tragic comic book tales ever.

Looper007

JaseHeath wrote: »

I'm a big fan, as evidenced by the below!





Totally agree with you. This was way more than just a kids' show. It was epic and amazing.

How epic is that opening, no need for any credits and the ending with Batman standing a top of the building is the best Comic book pose ever. With Danny Elfman score too. Pity Tim Burton didn't take notice of how to do a Batman film (sorry I'm not a fan of Burton's films, he sidelines Batman far too much for my liking)

The Strawman Argument

Clean, Shaven
Woah, this film's incredibly disturbing, would have loved to have seen it in a cinema or something. Obviously I don't know what it's like to be schizophrenic but this felt very real between the sound editing and consistently disorienting shots. In terms of plot there isn't a huge amount going on and it's all fairly obvious what it's going at, but that's quite irrelevant. Well deserved entry in the Criterion collection imo.
Loved it and am hugely looking forward to checking out Damian Lewis in Keane now.

Sundays and Cybele
Another Criterion entry, eh... I'm not sure. Overall I don't think it held up but there was plenty which I either liked or was praiseworthy.
Spent a good deal of it a bit unsure if it was even aware how strange it was getting between the two characters but it mostly rectified it neared the end. Both leads were absolutely brilliant (the girl who played Cybele was exceptional, but it's always f*cking creepy to see a child acting like an adult and I think they missed the mark with the character,

her dialogue definitely didn't lend itself well to the notion that she was only in love with him in a platonic way

). The contrast (exposure?) between the black and white was really extreme in the version I watched, no clue if it was intentional but it really helped soften some of the potential weirdness going on, plus that always looks f*cking great in areas with loads of trees.

The Exploding Girl
Half-watched this standard enough indie dealio, was exactly what I expected. Good enough at it that I'll probably half-watch other stuff by the two of them (Kim So Yong and Bradley Rust Grey) but not good enough that I'll be expecting any more from any of them.
...I really like Zoe Kazan though, so five stars!

david75

American sniper

Heavy going. I'm normally allergic to this guy but he plays this part really well. Spate of these films about the US presence in the Middle East. It's blatant propaganda but at least this one shows the cost and the toll without glorifying it all. And it's a true story.

david75

Inherent vice is so awesome.
Can't recommend it enough.

kryogen

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Rope (1948) Dir Alfred Hitchcock

One of Hitches most interesting exercises in technique. 80 mins with no edits until the reel needed changing so stage acting levels of memory required from the cast and careful camerawork and set tweaking from the DP and the Art Directors team. Those solid looking walls were on rollers as were various items of furniture so to allow the large Technicolor camera to roam around the apartment set. I had assumed there was no cameo in this for obvious reasons but in fact you can see Hitchcocks profile as a neon light outside. I had assumed the discussion that takes place at one point as two characters try to recall the name of "that recent film with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman" (Notorious 1946) was actually standing in as the self reference.

Very possibly my favourite Hitchcock film, will still throw it on once or twice a year even now

At this time of the year I always feel a little sorry for all those "film fans" who watch the screeners and then talk about the film. Watching a compressed to hell, sup par representation of a film such as Inherent Vice or American Sniper is not how you experience those films or any for that matter.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

[Deleted User] wrote: »

At this time of the year I always feel a little sorry for all those "film fans" who watch the screeners and then talk about the film. Watching a compressed to hell, sup par representation of a film such as Inherent Vice or American Sniper is not how you experience those films or any for that matter.

Are screeners not the full films?

MagicMarker

[Deleted User] wrote: »

At this time of the year I always feel a little sorry for all those "film fans" who watch the screeners and then talk about the film. Watching a compressed to hell, sup par representation of a film such as Inherent Vice or American Sniper is not how you experience those films or any for that matter.

Ever hear of vhs?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Are screeners not the full films?

They are but they're compressed to hell and look and sound like garbage and many look like VHS.

R P McMurphy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

At this time of the year I always feel a little sorry for all those "film fans" who watch the screeners and then talk about the film. Watching a compressed to hell, sup par representation of a film such as Inherent Vice or American Sniper is not how you experience those films or any for that matter.

I think american sniper would probably be better watched on a betamax

jcsoulinger

[Deleted User] wrote: »

At this time of the year I always feel a little sorry for all those "film fans" who watch the screeners and then talk about the film. Watching a compressed to hell, sup par representation of a film such as Inherent Vice or American Sniper is not how you experience those films or any for that matter.

People have being enjoying films long before the production quality we experience today existed, do you feel sorry for them as well? Get over yourself.

jcsoulinger

jcsoulinger wrote: »

People have being enjoying films long before the production quality we experience today existed, do you feel sorry for them as well? Get over yourself.

Sure why not watch Interstellar on VHS then or better yet a cam rip, won't it be the same experience as seeing it in the cinema. If you have the option to experience a film as the director intended, on the big screen then you should embrace that and not go out and steal the film. I'm sure that I won't get to see all the big films I want to see in the cinema this year so I'll wait for the Blu-Ray release so as to experience in the best possible manner.

Birneybau

Deleted User wrote: »

At this time of the year I always feel a little sorry for all those "film fans" who watch the screeners and then talk about the film. Watching a compressed to hell, sup par representation of a film such as Inherent Vice or American Sniper is not how you experience those films or any for that matter.

Well, if they're good enough for members of the Academy...

Birneybau

Birneybau wrote: »

Well, if they're good enough for members of the Academy...

I know of a few members who receive the screeners and refuse to watch them given that the quality is deliberately downgraded and as such not representative of what the director intended. As one said to me 'how can you judge the cinematography when the version you are sent looks like dog ****.'