What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

DazMarz

Skyfall. Went to see it in the cinema last night.

Cracking film. One of the best Bond films of the series. Plenty of action, a chilling plot (the omniscient and invisible enemy vibe who's always one step ahead), superb acting (Bardem is on fire as the primary antagonist) and the ending so neatly sets everything up for the future of the series.

The opening scenes in Turkey with the high-octane chase (loved the subtle little dig at the Germans, with the British Land Rover upending the German Audi; proper essence of substance giving style a good seeing to) are a brilliant prelude to the slow-burning plot. Everyone gives a stellar performance, and this is Bond as human, as vulnerable and showing as much fragility as we've ever seen (apart from maybe On Her Majesty's Secret Service; this is only the second ever Bond film where Bond openly cries, the other being the aforementioned OHMSS).

There are moments that are genuinely put in there for Bond afficianados, with nods to previous films in the series and little in-jokes. Some that struck me included

Bond being shorn of all manner of hi-tech gadgets and being sent into the field with only his Walther PPK and a radio transmitter is a nod to Dr. No, the moment when Bond and M walk into the garage and THAT car sits there in all its unyielding majesty, etc.

.

Any film that pitches good against evil is usually more memorable for its villain more than anything else. Cinema's rogues gallery is full of memorable, brilliant characters.

Javier Bardem's Raoul Silva (aka Tiago Rodriguez) can rightfully take his place amongst them. Chilling, cold-blooded and merciless and with a gift for playing a taut game of cat-and-mouse with MI6, he is not so much a great Bond villain, but simply a great villain.

Unlike most Bond films, there is not plot to take over the world, to steal lots of money, to wipe out the population of the earth, etc. He is merely out for revenge against MI6 and is just conducting a vicious and very personal vendetta. This makes him all the more dangerous. MI6 are not just there to spoil his plan (as is the case in most Bond films); they are the very targets of his plan and they have to learn to adapt very quickly, lest they find themselves being wiped out. There is also a domestic enemy for MI6; the very government they have sworn to defend wants to close MI6 and consign men like Bond to history's dustbin.

But after an action fuelled romp through Turkey, London, Macau and Shanghai, the final showdown in the moors is highly appropriate. It is not glitzy, glamorous or filled with technology. It is an older time. The haunting beauty of the fog-filled moors lends to the sense of calm before the storm.

There is a real shocker towards the end (possibly enough to jerk a tear or two), and everything is set up beautifully for more adventures.

The film's end credits tell us: "James Bond WILL Return!"

I can't bloody wait!!!

MiloYossarian

Ip Man 2

Stop reading this post you white devils....

Sorry I got a bit in to the film. I've been screaming at white people all day.

I'm glad I left a period of time between watching the first one and the second one because they're fairly similar. It's like the same film really.

Also I read up a bit on Yip Man after this and he's quite a bit different than he's portrayed here. He's a rich, police man opium addict.

But the characters in the film are great. They're really well drawn, have genuine conflict between them and within them. It means you understand everything they do and why the do it. The main ones anyway. Yip Man in the film is a really sweet, good man with great integrity and skill.

It is a little less than the first one, it doesn't have that great Chinese fighting arean moment, but then again what film has reached that height? It's one of the best bits in any film I've seen in the last few years.

Tindie

V/H/S (2012)

This was really good idea for a found footage movie to make it anthology

I really enjoyed some segments,

First segments was s really good one, the a lot fun to it and then was twist, the make up effect was not bad but it's could have been better

Second one was too boring, I Don't remember much of that all, only the last min of that part!

Third - Not bad, this was good ones, very nice story about Killer in the woods, with some twist near the end but could have been more fun,

Fourth - Not bad at all, Felt a bit like a short version off PA 4 , it started of really well, Enjoyed most of it until that really bad twist end.

Fifth - This was not bad, Had some good moment in this but it felt to short and bit rushed

Overall, I thought was Descent found footage movies. 5 out of 10

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Just watched the most recent Disney version of A Christmas Carol from a few years ago. Jim Carey as Scrooge, utter garbage. I hate this motion capture animation stuff. If you want to make a cartoon make a cartoon, if you want it to look like real people use real people, simples!

GAAman

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Just watched the most recent Disney version of A Christmas Carol from a few years ago. Jim Carey as Scrooge, utter garbage. I hate this motion capture animation stuff. If you want to make a cartoon make a cartoon, if you want it to look like real people use real people, simples!

I am the complete opposite, I was blown away by the visuals and I think Carey was the perfect choice he can put on a decent booming voice when he needs to and played the different roles very well.

I am only raging I didn't see it in the cinema as I would say it looked so much better on the big screen!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

GAAman wrote: »

I am the complete opposite, I was blown away by the visuals and I think Carey was the perfect choice he can put on a decent booming voice when he needs to and played the different roles very well.

I am only raging I didn't see it in the cinema as I would say it looked so much better on the big screen!

I didn't really have a problem with Carey in the role of Scrooge, or all the other characters he played, he was quite good, I just don't like this kind of animation. Each to their own, I guess.

Moving on..... Started to watch "The Invention of Lying" last night, had to turn it off half way through. I don't get Ricky Gervais at all, he's basically just the same person in every role he plays. Also, the basic premise of this film is that the human race has evolved without the ability to tell lies, everything they say is the truth. Fine, I can work with that, but they seem to also be incapable of censoring their thoughts, they just blurt everything out. The first scene Jennifer Garner keeps telling Gervais how she was just masturbating. He didn't ask her what she was doing. She just blurts it out, and this happens a lot throughout the bit I watched (not the masturbating, the blurting stuff out randomly). It just didn't make sense to me. It's an interesting idea and I think it could have made a very interesting film if it was in the right hands and they hadn't of tried to make it a romantic comedy.

krudler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Just watched the most recent Disney version of A Christmas Carol from a few years ago. Jim Carey as Scrooge, utter garbage. I hate this motion capture animation stuff. If you want to make a cartoon make a cartoon, if you want it to look like real people use real people, simples!

What I dont get is like in Beowulf you have animated character who look like the actual actors, either do it one way or the other

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

krudler wrote: »

What I dont get is like in Beowulf you have animated character who look like the actual actors, either do it one way or the other

That's my point exactly. In A Christmas Carol for example the nephew Colin Firth was voicing was clearly Colin Firth, looked just like him, so I assume they have to get the actors in to do all the motion capture of their faces and what not, so why not just get them to act it normally?
I suppose it costs less to get an actor in for a day to do that than to have them on set for weeks/months, plus there's no costume department, hair and makeup, set design, location shooting, etc. etc.
It's just personal taste I suppose, if I'm watching an animated film I like it to look like an animated film, I find this new stuff kind of distracting, it takes me out of the film, if you know what I mean.

Mickeroo

krudler wrote: »

What I dont get is like in Beowulf you have animated character who look like the actual actors, either do it one way or the other

I thought Beowulf wasn't too bad in that regard. In fairness, Jolie's character would have had to be largely CG for some scenes anyway and Ray Winstone is not a tall blonde ripped viking, the only one who totally looked like the actor was Gleeson I thought.

I'm not a fan of that type of animation either though. Still not seen Christmas Carol, though I would like to.

Tony EH

The worst thing about the animated "A Christmas Carol" is the candle's voice and some of the animation during Fezziwig's party.

Other than that, it was great. Although the definitive version is still the one with Alistair Sim.

As to the complaint, rotoscoping or "motion capture" has been around for years. It's an industry standard. I understand the complaint, but if 'Beowulf' and 'A Christmas Carol' had been made as live action, much of the charm would have been lost and the budgets probably would have been too prohibitive for the films to have been made in the first place.

Mickeroo

Tony EH wrote: »

Other than that, it was great. Although the definitive version is still the one with Alistair Sim.

Naw, Muppets ftw!

8mv

I watched The Machinist with Christian Bale last night. (Christian Bale was in the film, not watching with me!) Pretty good. Low budget but remenisient of Memento or Fight Club. Some visual clues scattered throughout that were hard to miss. Bale put himself through a horrendous diet to make himself skeletal thin for the role.

bnt

I watched The Invention of Lying - all the way to the end. It's one of those films that depends on what you bring to it. I don't mind Ricky Gervais, haven't been over-exposed to him in the past. I thought he and his crew took on an incredibly difficult job in this film, taking some truly fundamental philosophical questions and making a human-scale comedy about them.

Some critics said he "blew it" by focusing on the "rom-com" aspect of it, but I thought it was a way of exploring the real-world issues associated with rationality and humanism. He may be an atheist, but based on this film, he's not an "angry atheist", whatever that's supposed to mean.

(The pizza boxes were a particularly nice touch, too.)

hobbit_king

watched predators last night on channell 4

pretty poor and i say that as someone who is a fan of the series , inferior to alien v predator which wasnt much cop either ( though i quite liked it )

adrian brody doesnt cut it as an action hero at all

hobbit_king

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Just watched the most recent Disney version of A Christmas Carol from a few years ago. Jim Carey as Scrooge, utter garbage. I hate this motion capture animation stuff. If you want to make a cartoon make a cartoon, if you want it to look like real people use real people, simples!

most of the charechters sounded oirish at times , didnt like it either

hobbit_king

krudler wrote: »

What I dont get is like in Beowulf you have animated character who look like the actual actors, either do it one way or the other

the only movie of this kind ive really enjoyed so far is beowulf although i doubt ray winstone really shed his beer gut for the role and developed a six pack

johnny_ultimate

A flowery double bill...

Late Chrysanthemums - Thoughtful, compelling character study from Mikio Naruse about several 'retired' geishas in post-war Tokyo. A considered reflection on the aging process. Characters reflect on past mistakes, decisions made and future hopes. Cynical at times, surprisingly joyful & optimistic at others, it's a thematically rich story. Naruse's films tend to be shot and edited in a more straightforward way than his mid-century Japanese peers, but the man could tell a great story.

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum - pre-war Mizoguchi film about a young actor living in his father's shadow. Said young actor falls for his infant nephew's nurse despite the objections of society and his family. The film is relatively epic, taking place over the course of nearly a decade. As stylish and elegantly made as any of the director's late masterpieces, full of stunning tracking shots and beautifully considered long-takes. The story has some fascinating themes and social insights, albeit in a more melodramatic way and not quite with the same hypnotic prowess as his post-war work. A fully-formed, expertly crafted film from one of cinema's true greats nonetheless.

krudler

hobbit_king wrote: »

the only movie of this kind ive really enjoyed so far is beowulf although i doubt ray winstone really shed his beer gut for the role and developed a six pack

Next you'll be telling me Tom Hanks isnt actually a cowboy doll.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

krudler wrote: »

Next you'll be telling me Tom Hanks isnt actually a cowboy doll.

Not the same thing. Toy Story is computer animation, not motion capture. A better example would have been "next you'll tell me Tom Hanks isn't a conductor on the Polar Express."

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

bandage

japanese film (produced by shunji iwai, got the idea to watch it after posting in the 'best movie no one's seen' thread) about... well.. i'm not entirely sure.
there's something about an indie band trying to make it and all the tensions/frustrations that brings, there's something of a love story I guess between the bands singer and the ( I think ) main character. it jumps forward in time a couple of times, 8 months, 7 months, 2 years and the whole way through the movie I got the impression that I was just seeing short snapshots into the overall story as opposed to the movie having a beginning-middle-end plot of some sort. I'm not sure if I just missed an awful lot or if the experience would be different with official subtitles instead of the fansubbed mess my copy had.

I'll have to watch it again. I did like it I'm just not entirely sure why. Might have been something to do with all the asian women.

Tony EH

Mickeroo wrote: »

Naw, Muppets ftw!

Eh yeh...that goes without saying.

I was erm...only counting live action films.

LiamMc

Tony EH wrote: »

Eh yeh...that goes without saying.

I was erm...only counting live action films.

Muppets is live action. Roll Camera, Rolling, Action, Cut, Print.

Tony EH

Michael Caine isn't alive.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Watched Submarine on Film 4 just now. Not sure about it. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. I imagine lots of hipster teens watching it over and over and loving it.
Some interesting/weird choices from Ayoade at times. A lot of it was quite fast or blunt too? Like the dialogue was very to the point and it just jumped from scene to scene very quickly, like it was a series of montages or something.

I did like the overall story line though, and I suppose the unusual choices and style made it different to a lot of other coming of age/first love/adolescent films that deal with the same basic themes.

Not the worst film I've ever seen, not the best either. Somewhere in the middle, not sure I'd be in a hurry to see it again any time soon.

mrmorgan

I seen Silver linings playbook recently.

i'm normally not into that mumbo jumbo but I thought this was a great flick

Marty McFly

Troll Hunter: Have to say I really enjoyed it, at times its was full of suspense. But also had some good comedy momments with splashs of action and the special effects were just perfect and not overdone , it also showed some beautiful scenery in Norway.


Im not normally a fans of jerky documentary style camera work, but in this film I think it worked perfectly. A film id certainly recommend to people. Hans the Norwegian superhero .

Biutiful: Having just finished viewing it im not entirely sure how I feel about it, its certainly one for the bleakest film thread thats for sure. Shows Barcelona in a different darker light than I think anyone is used to seeing it, and a man who is so conflicted its ridicilous in that he trys to care and show care towards the people he himself exploits, his family is a mess his world is a mess but its you cant help but watch it. A film id watch again just maybe not one for a hungover Sunday easy type film .

JP Liz V1

aidankkk wrote: »

Guilty Pleasure "Pitch Perfect" , Hangs head in shame...:o

Watched this long episode of Glee also recently, the male lead reminded me so much of Dane Cook who is annoying but overall ok and I enjoyed some of the mash ups

Andersonisgod

I rented and watched Blue Valentine tonight. Powerful movie, yes the plot is a bit bland and not an awful lot happens but it's a character driven piece and the two leads (Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams) deliver, each giving real depth to their respective characters. It's not a fun watch by any stretch of the imagination, the cinematography, for the most part, reflects the mood of the movie and the soundtrack is subdued though apt. Switching between the deterioration of their marriage to when they first met and fell in love, it's all very realistic, never overly dramatized and the dialogue hits the right notes as it flows rather than feeling forced, almost ad-libbed rather than scripted.

Probably not one you'd usually check out over the Christmas period but a gritty, impactful film that demands to be seen, particularly for the performances of the two leads, in particular Gosling, if there is a better leading man in America right now I haven't seen him.

Judgement Day

"Half Moon Street" (1986) Daily Mail promo DVD - 50c from a charity shop. Sigourney Weaver and Michael Caine star. Harmless thriller with little thrills except for regular views of a topless Sigourney Weaver. Set in London, and against the background of delicate Middle East peace negotiations, Weaver is a researcher at the Arab-Anglo Institute who becomes an escort to supplement her meagre salary and falls for a client, Lord Bulbeck (Michael Caine), who is involved in the peace negotiations. 6/10 for titillation - sorry.

Birneybau

Judgement Day wrote: »

"Half Moon Street" (1986) Daily Mail promo DVD - 50c from a charity shop. Sigourney Weaver and Michael Caine star. Harmless thriller with little thrills except for regular views of a topless Sigourney Weaver. Set in London, and against the background of delicate Middle East peace negotiations, Weaver is a researcher at the Arab-Anglo Institute who becomes an escort to supplement her meagre salary and falls for a client, Lord Bulbeck (Michael Caine), who is involved in the peace negotiations. 6/10 for titillation - sorry.

No Irish connection?