What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Slydice

No, No, Yes. It was and still is one of the saddest films I've ever seen.

robisjack

Which one?

Littlekittylou

"La Belle Noiseuse" it's the title of the picture he is drawing it's about artistic creativity and rebirth.

Slydice

Sorry, I had an extra no. I'll edit it out.

I meant Grave of the Fireflies.

Pierce_1991

robisjack wrote: »

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Grave of the Fireflies is just a heart-breaking film that will stir a lot of emotions in the viewer. A genuine masterpiece of cinema, one of the greatest animations ever made in my opinion. It's an unforgettable and emotionally "haunting" film; it is beautiful and painful at the same time.


Have you seen these movies and if so what did you think of them?

Funny, I went to watch this one last night but I had downloaded it and there were no English subtitles. I'll have to route out a copy

Tipsy McSwagger

The Strawman Argument wrote: »

Shoah
AARRRGGH, I had a huge post typed up ranting and raving about the history channel and the browser crashed!
It's very, very good (good?). The whole thing was put together a lot more professionally than I expected (considering Lanzmann doesn't seem to have done much else); asides from some annoying subtitle stuff with translators and a disproportionately negative attitude towards the people of Poland (at least it seemed like he was out to get them in particular far more than anyone else), I thought it was a huge achievement and it totally justifies the reputation it has. Tested my patience far less than I expected it to as well (the last hour was a bit of a slog for some reason though).
Em, yeah, overall I think most everyone should give it a shot, especially if you've ever been at all interested in watching it.


Would love to hear other people's opinions on it too. Are Lanzmann's other Shoah-related releases worth checking out?


Also, not really related, but there's another holocaust documentary called A Film Unfinished that I watched a bit ago that I'd also recommend. It's much shorter and very focused on a much smaller thing (it's about the shooting of a propaganda film based in the warsaw ghetto).

I watched Part 1 last week and it's easily one of the best docs I have ever seen. There's no archive footage just people who were associated with the holocaust describing what happened. It's shocking that the Jews were still after 40 years being talked about in such a negative way by the people who witnessed them on their way to the concentration camps. It wasn't just the nazis who were a shower of horrible bastards. I mean that scene outside the Polish church with the one guy who survived the concentration camp was sickening.

Pierce_1991

It Follows (2015)

Went to the Odeon Screen Unseen tonight in Coolock. Once a month they show a movie thats not yet released but you don't know what it'll be until it starts. The last few have been Selma, Whiplash and Nightcrawler so I was kind of expecting Still Alice and was surprised when this came on. I love the genre yet at the same time there's just so many bad attempts these days I rarely bother watching new horror movies. For the first hour though I really thought this was one of the best efforts I'd seen in years. It was creepy, you never felt at ease thanks to some fine acting and a truly excellent score. Maika Monroe (who I thought was quite good in The Guest) holds the attention well in the lead role and I look forward to seeing more of her. The problem with the film comes in the final half an hour when it just gets a bit repetitive and doesn't seem to know where it's going. Disappointing in the end after promising so much but still, for any fans of horror this is probably worth seeing for the score alone, it gives a nice modern touch to classic theme songs like Halloween or Psycho. 6.5/10

SarahBM

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

It Follows (2015)

Went to the Odeon Screen Unseen tonight in Coolock. Once a month they show a movie thats not yet released but you don't know what it'll be until it starts. The last few have been Selma, Whiplash and Nightcrawler so I was kind of expecting Still Alice and was surprised when this came on. I love the genre yet at the same time there's just so many bad attempts these days I rarely bother watching new horror movies. For the first hour though I really thought this was one of the best efforts I'd seen in years. It was creepy, you never felt at ease thanks to some fine acting and a truly excellent score. Maika Monroe (who I thought was quite good in The Guest) holds the attention well in the lead role and I look forward to seeing more of her. The problem with the film comes in the final half an hour when it just gets a bit repetitive and doesn't seem to know where it's going. Disappointing in the end after promising so much but still, for any fans of horror this is probably worth seeing for the score alone, it gives a nice modern touch to classic theme songs like Halloween or Psycho. 6.5/10

I am a big fan of film scores, but not necessarily horror films. Who scored this film?

Pierce_1991

SarahBM wrote: »

I am a big fan of film scores, but not necessarily horror films. Who scored this film?

Rich Vreeland is down as the composer on imdb. I wouldn't know much about composers or the technical aspects of scores for films but just thought this was great. Really intense and a great tempo, it kind of gradually built up during each scene, really puts you on edge throughout.

The Strawman Argument

The Overnighters
The North Dakota oil boom is good enough of a topic that pretty much any documentarian who was willing to invest the time to do an overview of it could release something decent enough. Focusing on one pastor's mission to help house the legions of people coming in looking for work and his motives for doing so, this documentary tries to do something much more distinctive than that and succeeds admirably. The way the focus narrows as it proceeds is completely natural, as if it knew exactly what questions I needed answered (

unfortunately it seemed to answer most of them in the way I expected it too, all of which is quite foreshadowed too, you can kind of tell it's going to be a disaster from the get go. i.e. ****ing bleak as hell

).
Em, yeah, I'm pretty wary of spoiling this one. Immediate impressions make me think this is one of the best documentaries of the past few years. Low-ish IMDb score genuinely baffles me for once too, could some people think this wasn't good?

Looper007

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

It Follows (2015)

Went to the Odeon Screen Unseen tonight in Coolock. Once a month they show a movie thats not yet released but you don't know what it'll be until it starts. The last few have been Selma, Whiplash and Nightcrawler so I was kind of expecting Still Alice and was surprised when this came on. I love the genre yet at the same time there's just so many bad attempts these days I rarely bother watching new horror movies. For the first hour though I really thought this was one of the best efforts I'd seen in years. It was creepy, you never felt at ease thanks to some fine acting and a truly excellent score. Maika Monroe (who I thought was quite good in The Guest) holds the attention well in the lead role and I look forward to seeing more of her. The problem with the film comes in the final half an hour when it just gets a bit repetitive and doesn't seem to know where it's going. Disappointing in the end after promising so much but still, for any fans of horror this is probably worth seeing for the score alone, it gives a nice modern touch to classic theme songs like Halloween or Psycho. 6.5/10

This got 5 stars in Total film, but I saw that Trailer and it looks nothing special.

Pierce_1991

Looper007 wrote: »

This got 5 stars in Total film, but I saw that Trailer and it looks nothing special.

Looks set to be one that will divide opinion anyway!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I watched 20 Feet from Stardom tonight. It's not exactly hard hitting stuff but it's a nice little celebration of some amazing talents. Two main things I took from it were Phil Spector was always a dick and the music industry today is a cess pool of mediocrity. I knew that already but it confirmed it for me.

Liam McPoyle

I watched Housebound last night, a 2013 haunted house / murder mystery / comedy from New Zealand.

It was a complete blind viewing for me and I have to admit I enjoyed it. Some nice tense scenes in it, a couple of decent scares, lots of giggles throughout and some ok blood.

It's about 15 minutes too long but apart from that I'd recommend it for fans of fun horror comedy.

7/10

Liam McPoyle

I watched Housebound last night, a 2013 haunted house / murder mystery / comedy from New Zealand.

It was a complete blind viewing for me and I have to admit I enjoyed it. Some nice tense scenes in it, a couple of decent scares, lots of giggles throughout and some ok blood.

It's about 15 minutes too long but apart from that I'd recommend it for fans of fun horror comedy.

7/10

eviltwin

Still Alice

Julianne Moore plays a 50 yr old college professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and follows her deterioration over the next year or so.

Moore is excellent, totally deserves all her awards. Supporting cast is not so great, Alec Baldwin as her husband has zero chemistry, Kristin Stewart is playing yet another awkward character and is painful to watch at times.

The movie itself is a bit pedestrian. Its not dissimilar to the type of thing you would see on True Movies but Moore makes it watchable. What is great about it is that its the first movie about dementia I've seen that looks at the issue from the point of view of a healthy person who is slipping into the condition rather than one who is already there and it is dealt with very sensitively.

7/10

adox

eviltwin wrote: »

Still Alice

Julianne Moore plays a 50 yr old college professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and follows her deterioration over the next year or so.

Moore is excellent, totally deserves all her awards. Supporting cast is not so great, Alec Baldwin as her husband has zero chemistry, Kristin Stewart is playing yet another awkward character and is painful to watch at times.

The movie itself is a bit pedestrian. Its not dissimilar to the type of thing you would see on True Movies but Moore makes it watchable. What is great about it is that its the first movie about dementia I've seen that looks at the issue from the point of view of a healthy person who is slipping into the condition rather than one who is already there and it is dealt with very sensitively.

7/10

Although Moore was excellent in it, I found it very disappointing. The supporting cast of characters are paper thin and it just felt like a series of scenes with her deteriorating a little more every time, without any substance to it.

Poorly written I thought, with so many things brought up and in no way explored, even the ending was a nothing ending.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

eviltwin wrote: »

Moore is excellent, totally deserves all her awards. Supporting cast is not so great, Alec Baldwin as her husband has zero chemistry, Kristin Stewart is playing yet another awkward character and is painful to watch at times.

That's weird because they had great chemistry on 30 Rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij0_V-Vk9kE

FloatingVoter

Currently watching (ie. right now) The Proposal on RTE1. I'm in the mood for laughs and Sandra Bullock and Betty White never fail. No subtitles or life-changing moments guaranteed. Bring beer and popcorn.

ButtersSuki

Watched The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz which I recorded from BBC4 recently. I'd heard a bit about Swartz (but not that much), and next to nothing about this documentary

and certainly not the ending, although you know it ends tragically within the first few minutes

. Some very personal and intimate interviews are conducted with Swartz's family, exes and peers/academics etc., who all speak incredibly highly of a young man who is clearly incredibly gifted in his chosen field of work. Parts of many of Swartz's own interviews (including one with our own spunout.ie) are shown in the documentary too, all of which give an insight into the mind of a very articulate and intelligent man.

The documentary asks a lot of important questions re. information and access to it; and freedom of speech and thought and is a must see for anyone interested in those themes. Very moving and thought-provoking, it's made me spend the 2 hours since I watched it reading more about Swartz and his transition from internet genius/entrepreneur to political activist. It's a little one-sided, but in fairness the documentary makers repeatedly name those they asked for comment or interviews of and who all declined. A very strong 8.5/10.

Arghus

Fill The Void - Quietly impressive and powerful Israeli movie from 2012. A history maker because it's supposedly the first feature film directed by a woman living in the faith of Orthodox Judaism. Well that’s according to Wikipedia anyway. So it has to be true.

The central story is pretty straightforward- a young girl in a strict religious environment is faced with a difficult choice when her recently widowed brother-in-law is suggested as her own prospective future husband.

Worlds delineated by the strict rules of religious custom are a common enough sight in films, though usually, as best as I can recall, with a certain degree of condescension. The central point that we are not allowed to miss, is how the human spirit is invariably beaten down in such environments. Fill The Void stands as a type of counter programming to this slightly tired view. It has truthfulness and a humaneness that speaks of someone familiar with a culture trying to show us, the outsiders, how despite its particularities and seemingly alien ways, there is contained in microcosm the same essential issues that concern us all- family, tradition, free will, love, etc, etc.

That might all sound a bit weighty for an evenings viewing, but it’s not particularly heavy going. It has a grace and a lack of histrionics. No character is bad or evil, just people trying to do what’s right according to what they know. I felt that I’d seen a part of life that rang true even if it seemed sometimes like a million miles away from what I would call the day to day. Recommended

Sugarlumps

Warrior - This film was awful, I could of done with a puke bucket at hand. Maybe if I were still in my teen years it would have some appeal, but I’d like to think not.

Acting was garbage, typical American bullshít storyline. I can’t believe how this crap gets made? I actually had to fast forward many scenes because it was so hammy.

Some people said they had a tear in there eye near the end? Nolte as ever mumbled his way through, overrated and unremarkable.

The Strawman Argument

Citizenfour
Amazing that this got documented so intimately, obviously well worth seeing.

Snowpiercer
Woah, I love Memories of Murder and Madeo, was hugely disappointed by this. Unsure exactly how much the source material is to blame but it certainly didn't help at all, had no bother with the overall concept but things like

the horrifically obvious twist, the speech about eating babies (considering he was repulsed by the protein things earlier) and a lack of any emotional resonance to the deaths

. I'd say the graphic novel's absolute dirt.
Tilda Swinton was fun, the overall set design was great and I was quite into it at the start.

Dear White People
Is it a really bad idea to make a Spike Lee comparison? I'm not even sure how exact that'd be, it seems like it probably is, I shouldn't do that.
Unabashedly indie film with quite a Spike Lee vibe on the surface of this in terms of the constant preaching, but it was a lot more balanced than he usually is. This led to a weird situation where it seemed like it had a definite message to tell, but I wasn't super clear about what it was... maybe that was just me. The prioritisation of this debate-style dialogue meant the characters were underdeveloped, which made it kinda difficult to engage with.
Somewhere along the way I started to get used to the approach and overall enjoyed it. With some slight adjustments, there could've been a really funny and biting film in there.

Pierce_1991

Modern Times (1936)

Someone recommended this to me on here after I said I'd watched City Lights last week. Thoroughly enjoyed this although perhaps not quite as good as City Lights. I do love the elements of spoken word that are thrown in throughout, I believe this was the last silent film Chaplin made and the last big silent film in general so there's a great double barrel theme of moving with the times. The scene where The Tramp sings the song in the restaurant is absolutely fantastic. I always loved his beautiful co star Paulette Goddard. 8/10

run_Forrest_run

Exit Through the Gift Shop - Hilarious really, very good. Those hipsters and their street art :cool:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Boogaloo and Graham

Northern Ireland's Oscar nominated short. Some boys get some pet chickens then their parents change their minds and want to get rid of said chickens. That's pretty much it. Cute kids with Belfast accents saying funny things. Can't imagine the field was very strong this year at the BAFTAs if this won.

firestarter51

john doe vigilante
despite poor reviews i enjoyed the film

SarahBM

Nightcrawler - very different film. Gyllenhaal is brilliant in it. Very disturbing!

sadie06

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Boogaloo and Graham

Northern Ireland's Oscar nominated short. Some boys get some pet chickens then their parents change their minds and want to get rid of said chickens. That's pretty much it. Cute kids with Belfast accents saying funny things. Can't imagine the field was very strong this year at the BAFTAs if this won.

I have to agree. I was disappointed with it, and can't imagine the field was too strong. I love a well crafted short, but I felt nothing when watching this.

Schadenfreudia

Sons of Anarchy (Netflix) - I'm at episode 5 now - it's very watchable but I can't make my mind up whether it's actually good or not. Know what I mean