What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

jackrussel

Headhunters. Norwegian film with english subs. adapted from a novel. i got a real coen brothers feel off it, even though its not them. well worth watching

Rewatched Super and was once again blow away by it, it's the perfect film about what it would be like to don a suit and fight crime in the real world. It's a wonderfully bleak yet uplifting film with an incredibly likable lead performance and some genuinely tender and touching moments. It manages to succeed where films such as Kick Ass fall short, displaying the consequences of being a hero in the real world and as such, many of the fight scenes have real consequences with our protagonist repeatedly needing medical attention. That he requires it makes him far more likable and believable and results in there being genuine stakes in play. Guardians of the Galaxy may be James Gunn's superhero movie but it is in Super where he displays his heart. Super is pretty much everything that Mark Millar wants to say in his work but hasn't the intelligence to do so. That said there is one mild misstep in the film, that final scene as touching as it is really doesn't make sense unless

you believe that Frank died during that final assault and all that follows are the dreams of what he wanted as he slowly dies.

Tomagotchye

Watching 2012. It's awful...yet entertaining. I feel unclean.

Harry Palmr

jackrussel wrote: »

Headhunters. Norwegian film with english subs. adapted from a novel. i got a real coen brothers feel off it, even though its not them. well worth watching

Really liked that film, the lead character is someone you'd happily hit at the start but by the end you're cheering him on!

Deleted User wrote: »

Rewatched Super and was once again blow away by it, it's the perfect film about what it would be like to don a suit and fight crime in the real world. It's a wonderfully bleak yet uplifting film with an incredibly likable lead performance and some genuinely tender and touching moments. It manages to succeed where films such as Kick Ass fall short, displaying the consequences of being a hero in the real world and as such, many of the fight scenes have real consequences with our protagonist repeatedly needing medical attention. That he requires it makes him far more likable and believable and results in there being genuine stakes in play. Guardians of the Galaxy may be James Gunn's superhero movie but it is in Super where he displays his heart. Super is pretty much everything that Mark Millar wants to say in his work but hasn't the intelligence to do so. That said there is one mild misstep in the film, that final scene as touching as it is really doesn't make sense unless

you believe that Frank died during that final assault and all that follows are the dreams of what he wanted as he slowly dies.

as I said here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=92314023&postcount=4949 just felt wrong to me.

Looper007

Deleted User wrote: »

Rewatched Super and was once again blow away by it, it's the perfect film about what it would be like to don a suit and fight crime in the real world. It's a wonderfully bleak yet uplifting film with an incredibly likable lead performance and some genuinely tender and touching moments. It manages to succeed where films such as Kick Ass fall short, displaying the consequences of being a hero in the real world and as such, many of the fight scenes have real consequences with our protagonist repeatedly needing medical attention. That he requires it makes him far more likable and believable and results in there being genuine stakes in play. Guardians of the Galaxy may be James Gunn's superhero movie but it is in Super where he displays his heart. Super is pretty much everything that Mark Millar wants to say in his work but hasn't the intelligence to do so. That said there is one mild misstep in the film, that final scene as touching as it is really doesn't make sense unless

you believe that Frank died during that final assault and all that follows are the dreams of what he wanted as he slowly dies.

GOTG had plenty of heart Darko, one of the reasons why its still Marvel's bets film to date. so I disagree with you there and Kick Ass did have real consequences, Cage characters gets totured and ends up dying. So I disagree with you. Kick Ass is a far better film then Super, I liked Super but its getting over acclaimed by some. It drags a lot but I did love that

Ellen Page character gets killed off matter of factly and Rain Wilson character doesn't get back with his wife

. It's a bleak film and I do like it but it does get far too much love imo. GOTG is Gunn's true masterpiece.

KingBrian2

Watched Arabian Adventures together, gotta say I really liked that film.

Looper007

Looper007 wrote: »

GOTG had plenty of heart Darko, one of the reasons why its still Marvel's bets film to date. so I disagree with you there and Kick Ass did have real consequences, Cage characters gets totured and ends up dying. So I disagree with you. Kick Ass is a far better film then Super, I liked Super but its getting over acclaimed by some. It drags a lot but I did love that

Ellen Page character gets killed off matter of factly and Rain Wilson character doesn't get back with his wife

. It's a bleak film and I do like it but it does get far too much love imo. GOTG is Gunn's true masterpiece.

Where did I say that GOTG didn't have heart? If you read what I said you'd see that I say no such thing and much heart as there was in GOTG, sadly it was a film that felt less like a James Gunn film and more like a film made by the Marvel committee. Kick Ass and to a more extreme example it's sequel are films which set out to show the consequences of being a hero in the real world but fail miserably, they are films which have absolutely nothing to say and quickly turn into the most generic of superhero action films.

ButtersSuki

The Hardy Bucks Movie Recorded from RTE2 a few weeks ago. Not huge fan of the Bucks per se, I find their stuff on Republic of Telly and such like passable at best and was debating whether to watch this at all. It's one of those movies that with a couple of beers in you would likely have been funnier - which says something in itself. It's harmless enough, but also there's nothing hugely likable or hilarious in it. Glad I didn't spend money to watch it in the cinema however. 3/10

Arghus

Tom at the Farm- It's depressing to think that Xavier Dolan is younger than I am.

This petty irrational jealousy at the back of my mind makes me feel alternately happy and also crushingly dissapointed, at the same time, to report that I thought Tom at the Farm was pretty good.

The basic outline of the plot- City slicker Quebecois Tom travels, for the funeral of his recently deceased lover, to the rural bleak but beautiful countryside. What should be, in a perfect world, an opportunity to grieve and find comfort in the bosom of a home from home becomes, in reality, a slow burning nightmare. Tom finds himself at the mercy of Francis, the older brother of his dead boyfriend. A strange fish out of water situation develops. One in which our hero has to find a place for himself as part surrogate son and brother and part quasi subject of sexual obsession/victim of elliptical psychological terror and violence.

Dolan himself stars as our beleaguered sorta hero Tom and he's pretty solid. Obscured most of the time under a distractingly bad haircut, he has great onscreen chemistry with Pierre Yves Cardinal ,playing the mysterious and alternately tender and brutal Francis and who also steals the show.

It's a film that won't be to everyone's taste. Not so much on account of the subject matter- repressed homo-erotic love between two men, with a lot of faux incest, outpourings of violence and near Stockholm syndrome- but more because of the narratives purposeful impenetrability. Characters motivations and inner emotions are hidden from full view to a large extent, resulting in a story in which you can find it, at times, difficult to find your footing in. This pays off in the end with the film doing a good job of portraying the suffocating awfulness of a world in which understanding and openness is lacking and, as a result, human feelings are let loose indiscriminately and inappropriately.

Horns- You know when you see a certain type of film and, when someone asks you to sum it all up and try to articulate should they bother with it, you have to blow your cheeks out and think for a bit before coming up with a verdict? You know those ones? Horns is most definitely one of those ones.

Mirroring the struggle between good and evil in the film, is the struggle in my own brain between wanting to decide whether it was a load of old crap or whether I should give it some slack for it's uniqueness and, sometimes over abundance, of interesting ideas.

I'll be honest- I liked it more than I hated it. Which was a surprise. I'm no fan of Daniel Radcliffe, I think he's pretty plankish in most things, but I was able to finally accept him being on my TV for nearly two whole hours. It's a seriously long movie for what it is and, while I do think it could do with judicious trimming, I didn't find my attention wandering a great deal throughout. For the first hour I kept waiting for the movie to step into the realm of out and out awfulness but it constantly kept ahead of my cynicism by throwing a good scene, some unexpected craziness or a laugh into the mix forcing me to keep my dagger away from the movies neck.

That's not to say it's perfect. Jesus; far from it. It did keep me engaged two thirds of the way but, by the home stretch, its churning mix of horror, mystery, romantic drama and full blown religiosity had me feeling that I'd had my fill of what it had to offer. It was good, while the spell lasted, but it's essential silliness prevents it from earning the deep dark heart that it so desperately desires. The who-dunnit aspect of the plot is extremely forgettable and when that takes centre stage, the manic energy of earlier dissipates. There's a lot of clever ideas in the script, enough for two or three separate films, so when they're all shoved together they all don't get the attention they deserve. A for effort though all the same.

I'm going to damn it to forever obscurity by wagering that it may live on as a cult movie. Savaged by critics and ignored by the public at large. It's a wonder it got green lit at all- too violent and bizarre for the teenage romancers. Too earnest and god fearing, I'd imagine, for the horror fans.

e_e

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence:

Listening to a piece of music in Roy Andersson's absolutely sublime latest feature, a main character observes "it's so beautiful, but so horribly sad too". That almost describes the film itself, but minus the bit about it also being hilarious.

If you've seen an Andersson film before (well, one from his now completed 'human trilogy'), you know what you're in for: deadpan humour, long static shots, surreal imagery, vignettes etc etc. Yet it's a style so singular and confident it still manages to surprise, especially given the extended gap since You, The Living.

This is total cinema, the work of a director in complete control of his vision. It's not just the cinematography or pacing, but it's right down to the make-up - all the characters painted grey and zombie-like, balancing precariously on the periphery between life and death. Which suits many of the film's thematic preoccupations, these people trying to make sense of a dark, confusing world - although the film encompasses so many reflections on the human condition, an essay would be required to explore them in depth.

The film is hilarious, no question, with some of the finest deadpan humour to ever grace a cinema screen - Andersson is a master of absurdist understatement. He is also a master of the setpiece - several sequences in this are destined to be among the decade's finest (one involving an impromptu singalong in a bar, while another sees past and present collide with demented force). But there's an existential sting in the tale - while Andersson invites the audience to laugh at the often bleak situations that unfold, the tone carefully begins to fluctuate and shift as the film progresses. Towards the end, characters are forced to confront some disturbing realities and fantasies - one in particular right out of a nightmare. It's a cynical film at times, although one that eventually does end on a humorously ambivalent note that betrays a reluctant acceptance of all this horrible beauty. It's Wednesday again, after all.

Essential, brilliant filmmaking.

Great film and I'm stunned that IMC Dun Laoghaire of all cinemas is playing it. The manager must be a fan of long-take Swedish deadpan surrealism. :pac:

johnny_ultimate

Yep was baffled and delighted to see that when I checked the listings, would have gone to see it there just to support their showing it if I'd known before watching!

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX87rVZ0Vag

Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985)

4 Part Mini Series with George C Scott as Mussolini. Raul Julia as Galliazo and a young Robert Downey Jr and Gabriel Byrne.
Very much a romanticised portrait of Mussolini that focuses more so on his family matters, their lives and marriages before getting into his politics and relationship with Hitler. Often uses real footage from his speeches in Italy but its not cut well when they do that, and suffers from a little bit of bad direction and budget issues.
Overall its an interesting portrayal from Scott. Have started to watch Mussolini and I, made in the same year which has Bob Hoskins playing a much more irritable Mussolini, and Anthony Hopkins as galliazo. Very contrasting performances of the same characters indeed.

SarahBM

Blade Runner: weird film. Nothing like the book IMO. The only good thing about it was Harrison Ford :-)
Plus it was soooo 80's. The hair the shoulder pads :-) I LOL'd a couple of times

Looper007

SarahBM wrote: »

Blade Runner: weird film. Nothing like the book IMO. The only good thing about it was Harrison Ford :-)
Plus it was soooo 80's. The hair the shoulder pads :-) I LOL'd a couple of times

oh no you didn't :pac:. A masterpiece of Cinema which Ridley Scott has been living on ever since (He had a great start with The Duelists, Alien and Blade Runner after that you can either take or leave most of his films). One of the few films I gladly watch on a loop for 24 hours, yes even with Harrison Ford Voice over.

Looper007

e_e wrote: »

Great film and I'm stunned that IMC Dun Laoghaire of all cinemas is playing it. The manager must be a fan of long-take Swedish deadpan surrealism. :pac:

I love some Andersson but I might be shot down by you and Johnny on this but I still think his best film is A Swedish Love Story, still one of the best debut films by any director I've seen.

NIMAN

Interstellar.

Very disappointed.
Looked promising for so much of it, but I didn't enjoy the ending at all. Maybe I didn't understand it?

Expected better from Nolan.

A 6/10 for me. Although it seems to divide opinion. Some call it a masterpiece, others slate it.

Sugarlumps

Montage of Heck
They did a brilliant job mixing the animation in. Love will always be a cúnt, they lived in shít filled housing nodding off. Easily could of gotten clean, Adler & McKagan came through the other side with way worse addictions.

No one as far as I could see ever intervened, his mother is the image of Love, parents were dumb redneck hicks . On a selfish side I really wanted more music than what they left. Weird that Grohl didn’t feature, I presume he was still fighting with Love at the time.

Tony EH

SarahBM wrote: »

Blade Runner: weird film. Nothing like the book IMO. The only good thing about it was Harrison Ford :-)
Plus it was soooo 80's. The hair the shoulder pads :-) I LOL'd a couple of times

80's?

I just saw the 40's?

Rachael looks like she stepped out of a Dashiell Hammett novel.

Looper007

NIMAN wrote: »

Interstellar.

Very disappointed.
Looked promising for so much of it, but I didn't enjoy the ending at all. Maybe I didn't understand it?

Expected better from Nolan.

A 6/10 for me. Although it seems to divide opinion. Some call it a masterpiece, others slate it.

I'm in the masterpiece camp, best film of 2014 by a good distance after a few rewatches.

Tony EH

Me too. Probably one of the greatest sci fi films I've ever seen TBH.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Snowpiercer.

Damning indictment of the sorry state of blockbusters right now that this was such a big deal. It did significantly pick up after a (horrendously weak) start, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for the director's stuff, but there is so, so much wrong with this film. I'm not talking about plot holes; suspension of disbelief is part and parcel of action and sci-fi, and even inconsistency in a film's internal logic for the sake of narrative or theme is grand. I'm talking about everything else that was terrible about it.

Though I did fall hook-line-and-sinker

for the misdirect of "Wilford isn't going to be a real person"

Sugarlumps

Atari Game Over

Game Over is the Xbox Originals documentary that chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.”

As the story goes, the Atari Corporation, faced with an overwhelmingly negative response to “E.T.,” the video game for the Atari 2600, disposed of hundreds of thousands of unsold game cartridges by burying them in the small town of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

pixelburp

Tremors (1990)

Haven't seen this in years, and in light of the minor craze for intentionally-sh*t 'creature features' like Sharknado, films such as Tremors should become instructional on how to make a good-bad feature. It has just the right amount of self-awareness and revels in its B-movie heritage; both the script and actors know how silly the concept is but everything's carried off with a sparkle in peoples' eyes and all the better for it. The FX also hold up today, with some great use of puppets and animatronics; I doubt the same will be said of those CGI crapfests Asylum studios churn out.

Pierce_1991

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Atari Game Over

Game Over is the Xbox Originals documentary that chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.”

As the story goes, the Atari Corporation, faced with an overwhelmingly negative response to “E.T.,” the video game for the Atari 2600, disposed of hundreds of thousands of unsold game cartridges by burying them in the small town of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Was it any good? Been thinking of flicking it on at some point...

Sugarlumps

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

Was it any good? Been thinking of flicking it on at some point...

Very much so Pierce. If you ever owned a 2600, then this is for you. It's not nerdy, insightful and funny. I think the word programmer started with the Atari name, those guys were like rock stars.

Sugarlumps

Last Days in Vietnam
During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront the same moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate U.S. citizens only--or to risk treason and save the lives of as many South Vietnamese citizens as they can.

Amazing documentary, there's one part where a heroic Vietnamese helicopter pilot saved his family - and cheated death - by hurling his wife children onto a fleeing U.S. warship during the Fall of Saigon, then leaping into the sea as the aircraft disintegrates into the waters behind him.

Right Turn Clyde

The Last of Us

This is the first and last time that I'll list a videogame, but I feel that it should get an honourable mention on here because it's the only time that an 'interactive narrative' has really grabbed me by the balls. I haven't played a game in years, except for sports titles, so I've been blown away by how mature this piece of work is. It got me thinking that in future, when I hear that a videogame is being made into a film, I might not feel like throwing up on myself. I knew videogames were serious business since I first played Metal Gear Solid, but I had no idea that they'd evolved into stuff like this.

Pierce_1991

Right Turn Clyde wrote: »

The Last of Us

This is the first and last time that I'll list a videogame, but I feel that it should get an honourable mention on here because it's the only time that an 'interactive narrative' has really grabbed me by the balls. I haven't played a game in years, except for sports titles, so I've been blown away by how mature this piece of work is. It got me thinking that in future, when I hear that a videogame is being made into a film, I might not feel like throwing up on myself. I knew videogames were serious business since I first played Metal Gear Solid, but I had no idea that they'd evolved into stuff like this.

Think there' a movie of this on the way.

batnolan

Chef

This movie was heralded as a great independent film. It's not. It's average.

OldeCinemaSoz

KINGSMAN

A bit of a disappointment despite the hype if I say so myself. The kickass flicks were far more fun. The opening
with dire straits would really put you in the mood but what was all that queen of Sweden's bit about? Easily know the
BBFC had got their mits on it.

CARRY ON ABROAD

Now we're talkin'! Tradional great comedy fare. Fit for a bank holiday. Lovely. Not like that other stuff!