What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Looper007

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Breaking the Waves - can't believe I haven't seen this until now (considering how much I liked Dancer in the Dark).
I was pretty much left disappointed initially but as I thought about it and did some reading up on the metaphors (I was tired:o) turns out it's another clever piece of work from mad old Lars. I should know by now never to take his movies at face value

along with Dogville still my favourite Von Trier film (although it has its critics especially Mark Kermode who hates the film with a passion), still the best performance Emily Waston has given (to think Helena Bonham Carter was first choice but turned it down cause of the subject matter) and she hasn't come close to topping it since, Stellan Skarsgard and the late great Katrin Cartlidge give very good performances. Its a long ass film and it does get damn depressing but its as gripping and heartbreaking as Von Trier has ever got an the soundtrack is brilliant.

Looper007

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I watched The Water Diviner recently, dreadfully disappointing. Not necessarily terrible and on the contrary very watchable but just so utterly far fetched, ridiculous, and cliche when I would have expected so much more from Crowe.

I enjoyed this, thought it was a solid first time directorial feature from Crowe. It was actually based on a true story so it wasn't too far fetched Terror, a few things in the film didn't sit right with me

The whole storyline about Olga Kurylenko Turkish widow and her son could have been cut and it wouldn't have harmed the film one bit, plus the fact his wife just killed herself Crowe's character did seem to move on very quickly. Would have made the film more powerful if Crowe was just all about finding his sons instead of romancing the local Turkish widow

. The film could have done with more work around setting up Crowe's relationship with his sons a lot better too but I did find the

The scene with his sons on the battlefield and the assisted suicide of the young brother very powerful and moving

. Not a great film but a solid film 6/10

Virtanen

Fast & Furious 7

Had everything I expected for an action movie based around sports cars, plenty of cheesy dialogue and over-the-top stunts. Just what the doctor ordered. The Abu Dhabi scenes had me grinning like a little kid, as did the opening scene with Statham

I was surprised how much they played up the whole "we don't want any more funerals" angle, especially given Walker's death half-way through filming. The memorial montage at the end was a nice touch

Harry Palmr

Milius (2013) Affectionate biographical tribute to Hollywood's resident semi-detached iconic rabble rouser and tellers of tales. Essentially chronological with the big shock near the end for those who didn't know what happened to him in 2010. The span of the film also shows just how the business of film has changed in Hollywood beyond all recognition. he'd not stand a chance if he were 30 now.

If he didn't exist someone like John Milius would have had to invent him!

Faith+1

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Milius (2013) Affectionate biographical tribute to Hollywood's resident semi-detached iconic rabble rouser and tellers of tales. Essentially chronological with the big shock near the end for those who didn't know what happened to him in 2010. The span of the film also shows just how the business of film has changed in Hollywood beyond all recognition. he'd not stand a chance if he were 30 now.

If he didn't exist someone like John Milius would have had to invent him!

Thanks for the heads up!

FloatingVoter

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Milius (2013) Affectionate biographical tribute to Hollywood's resident semi-detached iconic rabble rouser and tellers of tales. Essentially chronological with the big shock near the end for those who didn't know what happened to him in 2010. The span of the film also shows just how the business of film has changed in Hollywood beyond all recognition. he'd not stand a chance if he were 30 now.

If he didn't exist someone like John Milius would have had to invent him!

....Just watched it. Never knew he was responsible for so many great cinema moments. I'd probably wind up in a bar fight with the chancer but we'd tell tall tales util the wee small hours afterwards.
Here's Robert Shaw reminding us what a bull**** artist and a drunk can achieve when the camera rolls.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9S41Kplsbs

gerardk55

Watched American Sniper, I thought Bradley Cooper was decent in the role, but the storyline didn't really hold my attention. Not sure what the goal of the film was, other than obviously telling the story of Chris Kyle, but if there was supposed to be an under current about the ravages of war then I think they missed the point where other films in the genre have nailed it.

Tony EH

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Milius (2013) Affectionate biographical tribute to Hollywood's resident semi-detached iconic rabble rouser and tellers of tales. Essentially chronological with the big shock near the end for those who didn't know what happened to him in 2010. The span of the film also shows just how the business of film has changed in Hollywood beyond all recognition. he'd not stand a chance if he were 30 now.

If he didn't exist someone like John Milius would have had to invent him!

All the greats if the late 60's and 70's probably wouldn't get a sniff of a film these days. There'd be no Peckinpah, Coppola, Scorsese, Kubrick or Friedkin. Plus many, many others.

They might be operating in indie cinema, but studios wouldn't go near them today, or they'd be forced to make rubbish they hate.

The 70's was the true golden age of cinema, that has yet to be equaled (and probably never will IMO). It's a treasure trove of classics, because studios were willing to take risks with films.

These days we get endless remakes and shite film series like 'Transformers'.

Mind you, we also have to remember that John Milius also gave us crap like 'Red Dawn'. :pac:

Arghus

Straight Time(1978)- Dustin Hoffman gives one his most sniffle and tic devoid performances as life long con trying to make it on the straight and narrow after a stretch in the big house.

Perhaps this is the only time I'm going to say this- but Dustin reminded me a great deal of Ryan Gosling in Drive here. It's probably the other way around in actuality. Ryan probably studied Dustin on repeat, both performances have that same quality, of a guy who has seen some **** in his time, but who is still nursing a battered and emotionally vulnerable core.

Drive is flashier and more nihilistic, but does have some redemptive arc for it's hero. Straight Time is more naturalistic and a great deal more bleak in it's portrait of a man trying to act outside of his true nature, playing with a bad hand and ultimately succumbing to what makes him himself.

It lost me a bit by the end, it becomes increasingly outlandish. Still though worth watching for Hoffman. He's great here, maybe the best I've ever seen him as he completely dials back the histrionics and gives a very subtle, oddly calm performance. M. Emmet Walsh is also fantastic, as a magnificently repugnant parole officer. When you wanted someone to really nail a manifestation of a human skid mark, no-one did it better.

The Black Oil

Tremors

Old school 90s flick. Small town America attacked by something unknown. The populace starts to disappear. The pole vaulting was bloody brilliant. Finn Carter's seismologist, Rhonda, was competent and had perhaps the coolest head of all. Also starring The Bacon. Pardon my French.

cursai

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Milius (2013) Affectionate biographical tribute to Hollywood's resident semi-detached iconic rabble rouser and tellers of tales. Essentially chronological with the big shock near the end for those who didn't know what happened to him in 2010. The span of the film also shows just how the business of film has changed in Hollywood beyond all recognition. he'd not stand a chance if he were 30 now.

If he didn't exist someone like John Milius would have had to invent him!

Where is this available. Cant find it on netflix or for download '

Harry Palmr

I saw it on Film4, I can't see any repeat

Padjooshea

i like paranormal.
I was thinking of setting up a site with paranormal stuff on it. Anyone interested. This is a link to a ghost.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYgXMGnQ0-s
any suggestions?

Birneybau

Padjooshea wrote: »

i like paranormal.
I was thinking of setting up a site with paranormal stuff on it. Anyone interested. This is a link to a ghost.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYgXMGnQ0-s
any suggestions?

Wrong thread and all but there's no such thing.

Harry Palmr

Escape From Planet of the Apes (1971) Dir Don Taylor

The third of the original series and the best of the sequels. Its not often you get the concept of infinite regress outlined by a character who is speaking to the general public on a tv - that writer Paul Dehn got that scene shot and kept in the final edit is maybe testament to studios still having some faith in their audience. One suspects the philosophical points in the script in any remake version would be considered too weighty now.

Son of Rambow (2007) Dir Garth Jennings

Lovely, just lovely!

Decuc500

The Sacrament

Two journalists accompany a guy to visit his sister who is living in a religious cult’s commune in a remote location. It’s essentially a found footage film from the perspective of the footage shot by the journalists.

I thought it had an intriguing first half with a slow, atmospheric build up. The second half though was a bit too predictable and more interested in shocking than actually giving any answers as to why people are so susceptible to being brainwashed by a charismatic leader

Still though, Ty West is a consistent and interesting horror film director.

Mizu_Ger

Hickey & Boggs
Noir type story of 2 private detectives (Robert Culp and Bill Cosby) trying to find a girl. The focus of the story is as much on their private lives as it is on the story. Found it a bit disappointing really. The whole thing is a dreary affair, with a lacklustre plot that doesn't hold the attention. I love Robert Culp in almost anything, but this was too low key.

Mizu_Ger

The Drop
I'll probably watch this again at some stage. Tom Hardy's performance was a bit annoying and didn't ring true for me

but after that ending maybe that was the point of his character

, so I'll give it another go. Otherwise it was a decent thriller.

Interstellar
Watched it at home after seeing it in the cinema. I liked it more this time. I was more willing to ignore all the silly bits as I knew they were coming and just take it for a huge spectacle with a soppy core. I liked Zimmer's score better this time too.

Del.Monte

"Full English Breakfast" (2014) on Netflix.

Standard English gangster movie - think "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" without the plot, any of the action, humour or actors and you just about have it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmlUiwiq4w

Directed and written by Manish Patel better known as maker of British National Health Service documentaries.

Everything about this movie sucks and there are some seriously puzzling flaws in the filming. Gangster Dave Bishop's 'big' house in the movie is supposed to be in the south of England (according to Imdb it's in Kent) but unless Kent has moved nearer to the equator the background noises in the garden are dubbed in from somewhere like Spain - crickets etc. Small in this disaster of a movie but symptomatic of its careless production. The amateur special effects - blood etc. are like like something from a cheap Indie Zombie movie.

This pile of steaming......apparently cost $3.3 million to produce. That sort of money in the hands of a good director could have produced something really worthwhile. Some of the comments on Imdb are worth reading: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3477732/

0/10 - avoid unless you want to learn how not to make a movie.

Birneybau

Del.Monte wrote: »

"Full English Breakfast" (2014) on Netflix.

Standard English gangster movie - think "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" without the plot, any of the action, humour or actors and you just about have it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmlUiwiq4w

Directed and written by Manish Patel better known as maker of British National Health Service documentaries.

Everything about this movie sucks and there are some seriously puzzling flaws in the filming. Gangster Dave Bishop's 'big' house in the movie is supposed to be in the south of England (according to Imdb it's in Kent) but unless Kent has moved nearer to the equator the background noises in the garden are dubbed in from somewhere like Spain - crickets etc. Small in this disaster of a movie but symptomatic of its careless production. The amateur special effects - blood etc. are like like something from a cheap Indie Zombie movie.

This pile of steaming......apparently cost $3.3 million to produce. That sort of money in the hands of a good director could have produced something really worthwhile. Some of the comments on Imdb are worth reading: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3477732/

0/10 - avoid unless you want to learn how not to make a movie.

Why on Earth would you even watch something like that?

Del.Monte

Well, I liked Lock, Stock... and the first few minutes seemed promising. Okay, there's no excuse really.

Arghus

The Voices- Thoughts of the "darkest film to labelled a comedy" thread fill my head while I try to pull my head around this one. Up until now I would have said James Gunn's Super was the most pitch black thing I've seen labelled as a laugh-a-minute. After The Voices, I'm not too sure. This is one dark, dark, wretchedly black experience. I would also have some misgivings about the tone and attitude of the film towards its characters.

To give praise where it's due though, first of all- Ryan Reynolds. He's good. He's appeared in reams of crap over the years without making me want to puke in my mouth every time I see his face. He's got something. I think it's because he seems like a game lad, willing to send himself up from time to time and sometimes sneaking in the odd solid performance. The Voices goes a long way to proving that something of the quality of his performance in, let's say Buried, wasn't a total fluke. He's given a lot to do in the film and really rises to the challenge. He proves equally good at farce, serious drama and oddball intensity. And it turns out he's a nifty accent guy as well. If I was to view The Voices just on the terms of a veichle for a star to prove just what they've got in them, then I'd have to say it's a success. It's a brave move for him. Every star loves being given something off message to play around with, but very few would be willing or able to pull off lunacy of this calibre. While I'm also being praiseful- Props have to go the set design and cinematography, which help give proceedings this weirdo almost Lynchian feel, adding to the addled messed up fairy tale atmosphere, which main performance aside, is the main plus point of the whole thing.

Elsewhere, things are more problematic. While I don't want to be totally down on this movie, I think those who like their comedies jet black may throughougly enjoy it, I can't help but have a few reservations. The main thing that I had difficulty getting past was it's stance on it's central character- a deranged, homicidal serial killer of unfortunate women. We're encouraged to sympathise with our man, to see him as a poor schmuck who just can't help himself from killing those pretty ladies. I know things of this type have been done before but I thought in this context- where mental illness is reduced into skindeep motive, where the violence and gore is at times unneccesarily brutal and where actual "daring" in storytelling, as opposed to cheapish shock value, is largely absent- it was all somewhat distasteful. I don't know if what it had to say about any of it's supposed concerns- mental illness, perception versus reality- was meaningful in any real way. I think this was the movie with the talking pets, not the one that used laughs to say something deep about the tenuouness of sanity. I think that's a bit of a shame.

I'd also, while I'm unpacking all the negative, have to call out the films wild shifts in tone. It felt like it had less to do with keeping the audience on our toes, than it had to do with just a lack of a sure footing in how to present what was happening in the film. Somebody can probably come on here after this and say I have it wrong and maybe I do, but one of the first adjectives I would use in describing the film would be uneven.

It might sound comical to say after a longish rant like above that I don't really hate this movie. I might even recommend it to a particular type of viewer, who won't be knocked sideways by its off-kilter bleakness. I just feel that it has some rather big flaws that prevent it from being a much better film and those same issues see it reduced to another example filled with borderline misognistic on screen violence, rather than being something genuinely refreshing.

Kane and Abel 1985

Miniseries based on Jeffrey Archers book. 3 Ep's about 6 hours long in total. This is one of my favourite tales ever about 2 men who grow up in very different backgrounds, one from poland escaping the Nazi's and another from a banking family. They become enemies in their respective rises to the top of business and battle it out in various ways.
Its a little bit dated in terms of the pace, and the first 30 mins is pretty poorly executed, but after that the story takes hold and makes up for some of the flaws. Peter Strauss settles into his role as the Polish Baron very well and Sam Neill does a great job too. Fantastic score, worth a watch if you can find it.

Looper007

Del.Monte wrote: »

Well, I liked Lock, Stock... and the first few minutes seemed promising. Okay, there's no excuse really.

"You Cheeky Little Monkey" :pac:

Complete trash, whoever the promotions guy for this film who mentioned "Scarface" and "GoodFellas" should be burned at the stake, I somehow think some of those quotes are made up by the producers. Guy Ritchie and his laddish Cockney gangster lark has a lot to answer for nearly 20 years on (I love Lock,Stock... and Snatch, very enjoyable films) but U.K film scene have been churning out this laddish cockney gangster crap for the last few years in serious amounts. Someone must be watching it for so many to be made.

Loved the IMDB review page, all these five star reviews made on the same day :pac:. I think the director and his crew and all the actors were hard at work writing those up. The female lead would make a wooden table jealous, awful stuff and the sound effects, even a student film wouldn't use them. I'm taking all this from the trailer.

Birneybau

Looper007 wrote: »

"You Cheeky Little Monkey" :pac:

Complete trash, whoever the promotions guy for this film who mentioned "Scarface" and "GoodFellas" should be burned at the stake, I somehow think some of those quotes are made up by the producers. Guy Ritchie and his laddish Cockney gangster lark has a lot to answer for nearly 20 years on (I love Lock,Stock... and Snatch, very enjoyable films) but U.K film scene have been churning out this laddish cockney gangster crap for the last few years in serious amounts. Someone must be watching it for so many to be made.

Loved the IMDB review page, all these five star reviews made on the same day :pac:. I think the director and his crew and all the actors were hard at work writing those up. The female lead would make a wooden table jealous, awful stuff and the sound effects, even a student film wouldn't use them. I'm taking all this from the trailer.

Interesting article:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/02/gangsters-geezers-and-guns-the-men-behind-britains-booming-low-budget-crime-flick-industry

johnny_ultimate

While We're Young - conflicted on this one. It's better than the trailer, anyway, which suggested a very broad 'generation gap' comedy. There's quite a bit of that here for sure, but in the second half particularly Baumbach's script morphs into something slightly trickier and ambiguous. The characters become more multi-layered - Stiller's character, for example, has the interesting habit of being self-aware and actively critical of his own failures and neuroses, especially after really indulging them. All the cast fare well.

That said, the film also grows more confused as it drifts away from its broader humour - while there's some surprisingly lively discussions had on issues like documentary-filmmaking (Baumbach perhaps commenting on the younger generation of 'realist' indie filmmakers?) it all becomes something of a muddle, lacking in thematic and tonal coherence. Overall it's undoubtedly a weaker film than Frances Ha - both Baumbach's script and direction lack that film's spark, and nobody matches up to Gerwig's dominating performance - but not lacking in interesting ideas, even if there's the impression the film feels a few drafts away from realising its potential.

Begin Again - sometimes a film just feels inauthentic. Begin Again is one of those films. Carney attempts to replicate the feel and hybrid between romanticism and realism that made Once such a surprising success, but here the balance is way off. One of the big problems is that the music is simply not as good - hard to buy into the whole idea of this amazing, passionate concept album when the performers all seems so thoroughly mediocre. I've rarely seen a film with such bizarre pacing. The film attempts to offer resolutions that are slightly different than your usual feelgood indie film, which is generally admirable, although the ending is fudged (an overwrought epilogue during the credits comes across as particularly redundant). If the film manages on occasion to charm, it's usually undone by that aforementioned lack of authenticity. Credit is due, however, to Kiera Knightley, who has become a genuinely charismatic, lively actress. Ruffalo tries, but the over-egged 'drunken mess' performance he offers in the film's first half is a case where less would definitely have been more.

The One I Love - A mostly enjoyable, witty and well-performed little film that only falls apart when the filmmakers haphazardly attempt to explain the film's high-concept 'gimmick'. The mechanics don't matter, retaining mysteriousness is if anything more important when asking the audience to buy into a fantastical, metaphysical concept. Here, it all works absolutely fine until the immensely pointless, half-hearted and ultimately unsatisfying attempts at explaining the improbable. Not to hate on it too much, because for the most part this is a solid relationship drama with a delightfully playful twist.

Couer Fidele - Wonderful. A silent melodrama up there with the best of 'em, and favourable comparisons could be drawn with Sunrise. Here the setup is simple, with a love triangle between three main characters - the boy, the girl, and the asshole. Broad strokes all around then, but handled with genuine honesty and compassion. But it's the form that makes the impact - an exhilarating impressionistic film that is just about as purely visual as cinema comes. Those ravishing, extended close-ups! That giddily energetic carousel sequence! The lens distortion, overlays and more! Perhaps more than any of its contemporaries, it's the editing that gives Epstein's film such a distinctive tone and rhythm - deliberate and sedate when needed, and employing much faster, dynamic montage editing when appropriate, it's a film that still feels uniquely dynamic and urgent more than 90 years later.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Begin Again - sometimes a film just feels inauthentic. Begin Again is one of those films. Carney attempts to replicate the feel and hybrid between romanticism and realism that made Once such a surprising success, but here the balance is way off. One of the big problems is that the music is simply not as good - hard to buy into the whole idea of this amazing, passionate concept album when the performers all seems so thoroughly mediocre. I've rarely seen a film with such bizarre pacing. The film attempts to offer resolutions that are slightly different than your usual feelgood indie film, which is generally admirable, although the ending is fudged (an overwrought epilogue during the credits comes across as particularly redundant). If the film manages on occasion to charm, it's usually undone by that aforementioned lack of authenticity. Credit is due, however, to Kiera Knightley, who has become a genuinely charismatic, lively actress. Ruffalo tries, but the over-egged 'drunken mess' performance he offers in the film's first half is a case where less would definitely have been more.

I would say the opposite. I didn't really enjoy Once that much. Falling Slowly is a decent song but I can't even tell you what any of the other songs were, other than the broken hearted hoover fixer man one....
I've listened to quite a few of the Begin Again songs since seeing the film. I thought the film was about making music for the sheer joy of it and while it may have been less than subtle at times I still thought the joy of music came across pretty well.
Just my opinion though, each to their own.

SarahBM

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I would say the opposite. I didn't really enjoy Once that much. Falling Slowly is a decent song but I can't even tell you what any of the other songs were, other than the broken hearted hoover fixer man one.....

I thought the Once soundtrack was better than the film :rolleyes:

Watched a film called the Echelon Conspiracy at the weekend. Shane West and Martin Sheen.
A bit like a low budget 24 wannabe, but I liked it. Had way more potential. and my mam got more confused than usual LOL

Looper007

SarahBM wrote: »

I thought the Once soundtrack was better than the film :rolleyes:

I think if you ask a lot of people they would say the exact same thing, I return more to the soundtrack then to the film. I really think Cillian Murphy (who was director's John Carney's first choice for Guy) would have been a perfect fit, nothing agaisn't Glen Hansard's performance (he's not bad) but I just felt it needed a top actor in that role.

But that's just me many found Once charming for that I suppose. Saying that I don't think the film is bad just I don't understand the praise thrown upon it.

I think John Carney's best film to date is On The Edge from 2001, that's a really underrated gem and its got a great performance from the always brilliant Cillian Murphy.

Looper007

Hyena (2014)

This British corrupt cop thriller got a short release in Irish cinemas a month or two back, When I first saw it you could see the influence of Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher Trilogy especially the darkest one Part 3 all over this, the film is certainly flawed story wise but the nastiness is what makes this stand out from the Geezer type gangster/cop films, no funny Russian ganagsters here or chirpy cockney wideboys.

First off this isn't for the faint of heart, some pretty violent scenes in this especially

The brutal death of Stephen Graham's violent corrupt cop, been stabbed repeatly and then been cut too pieces in a bath tub by Albanian gangsters is one grisly moment

and the director Gerard Johnson (who's brother Matt Johnson of The The supplies the soundtrack) doesn't spare the severed limbs. A great central performance from Peter Ferdinando (from a Field in England but massively bulked up here) really delivers as the cop on the edge who's willing to throw it all away just to save a Eastern European girl from the sex trade. The female characters are sadly underwritten especially MyAnna Buring (from Ben Wheatley's brilliant Kill List) as the girlfriend and Elisa Lasowski (from Shane Meadow's Somers Town) as the girl Ferdinando wants to save. Richard Dormer (from Good Vibrations) is brilliantly slimy as the cop out to take down Ferdinando's corrupt cop by any means.

The Ending will cause a lot of debate

Does he or doesn't he go back and save his girlfriend and the young girl from the Albanian gangsters holding them hostage, it ends with him sitting in the car (which goes on for a few minutes)

I suppose its left up to the viewer. It's not a classic and the story has been told before but I liked its bleakness and along with a great central performance its least worth watching once 6/10.