What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

MadDog76

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

You don't read reviews but read posts in a thread where people review things they've just watched?

On a Forum with a Charter Rule about the use of Spoiler Tags .......... pity it's not enforced though.

Perhaps the Spoiler Usage Rule in the Charter should be amended/updated to include "sometimes" or "maybe" or "depends how the Mods feel about the Rules that day" .......... either way, I probably won't be reading anymore "reviews" on this Forum until there's a few changes, ie. new Mods or a bit more clarification about which Rules are really Rules and which Rules are kinda like, but not really real, "rules" etc.

johnny_ultimate

MadDog76 wrote: »

On a Forum with a Charter Rule about the use of Spoiler Tags .......... pity it's not enforced though.

Mod note: Actually, we enforce the rule quite strictly. But, as two mods have now pointed out, referring to the real-life death of a prominent actor is not a 'spoiler' even in the case of a documentary about his struggle.

Anyway, let that be the end of this discussion and let's get back on topic please.

briany

Who Took Johnny? (2014)

Documentary about the Johnny Gosch case. Johnny Gosch was a 12 year old boy from West Des Moines, Iowa, who went missing on a Sunday morning November, 1982, while delivering papers, apparently without trace. One of the original milk carton kids, his case went on to be the subject of tabloid sensationalism, revelations about human trafficking rings, police corruption and ineptitude, a few bizarre and disturbing developments, and was arguably the catalyst that led to a moral panic over abductions that has influenced how parents treat their kids today.

Creepy as hell, in my opinion. Just the fact alone that a child can go missing like this with very few leads is disturbing enough and probably every parent's worst nightmare. Beyond that, though,

the suggestion of pedophile rings that deal in human slavery, the testimony of Paul Bonacci, a confessed accomplice in Gosch's kidnapping, who was able to lead the police to a hideout where children's initials were scrawled into the wall, the dollar bill with the 'help me' message on it, the claim by Gosch's mother that Johnny had visited her late one night in 1997, but fearing for his life, unable to stay, and the photographs that surfaced, allegedly showing Gosch bound and gagged

. A lot of this stuff gave me the absolute cold chills to think about, although I realise that how much of it is fact and how much is fiction is anyone's guess. But the idea it could be true, though....brrrrrr.

Tony EH

'Jackie'

7/10

A good, if sometimes more curious than truly entertaining, look at the period in the life of Jackie Kennedy immediately following the assassination of her husband and President of the US, John F. Kennedy. Pablo Larrain's 'Jackie' joins a pretty long list of "Kennedy" films, but this time focus is almost entirely on the former First Lady and her coming to grips with the horrific events that ruined/shaped her life in 1963.

This has its upsides and downsides, as the weight of the film rests on acting abilities of Natalie Portman, who (to most people) wouldn't be considered a cinematic slouch be any yardstick. But, she's doing an impression of Kennedy that at times threatens to border on the camp. That is until you look at the real (or reel) footage that the film emulates. Forgetting what her voice sounded like in life, I watched the true footage of 'Jackie Kennedy's White House Tour' from 1962 and it showed that Portman went to some length to get it right and in many respects, she did.

Portman's attempt to copy Kennedy's whispy, breathless, affected accent - which is at once a declaration of the moneyed and almost an imitation of another woman that had been tied to JFK, Marilyn Monroe - is quite admirable and shows a dedication that's absent in many of her contemporaries, even if it does come across as kind of distracting at times.

Flaws and all, Portman still remains more on the money, as it were, than her co stars. Particularly weak is Peter Sarsgaard as Robert Kennedy (Steven Culp in 'Thirteen Days' being a hard act to follow) and he just doesn't fit as JFK's younger brother. Greta Gerwig plays an unlikely Nancy Tuckerman but, like everyone else fades into the background, although perhaps not as completely as the others in the cast. Elsewhere there are familiar faces (if not names) of John Carrol Lynch and Beth Grant as LBJ and wife. The late John Hurt shines briefly as an Irish (sort of) priest whom Jackie confides in, but their scenes are thoughtful more so because of Hurt's obvious frailty and the fact that he died not too long after filming.

'Jackie' is never boring and contains some scenes of extreme power. For instance, the segment in the Dallas motorcade is filmed as never before, close enough to almost understand the feeling that Mrs Kennedy went through as the bullets struck her husband and lending a gravitas that is absent from the famous, and often seen, Zapruder film. There's also an aftermath sequence of Jackie's clean up, where Portman delivers her finest few minutes of screen time. The close up shot of her wiping John's blood off of her face is mesmerising, pathetic and utterly sorrowful.

All in all, 'Jackie' is worth a look, if you're interested in the period, people or events. It's not earth shattering and it betrays its HBO miniseries origins once or twice, but it keeps the interest and the central performance was probably one of the best of the year.

Jan_de_Bakker

Trainspotting 2 - amazing, surprised how much I loved it really ... ever watch a film that you liked so much you miss it ???

maybe thats the nostalgia .. but yeah, great film.

Walter E GO

^^^^
I thought it was a mature and thoughtful ending to the trainspotting story.
Loved it.

ButtersSuki

Haven't posted in a while as been travelling a lot with work and generally been quite busy but scratched two off my list that I'ce been meaning to watch for a long time. I'm going to keep these shorter than usual as I'm tired (:rolleyes:).

Casino on blu ray. It's got a lot going for it but I didn't feel the end result reflected the sum of its parts. It's entertaining, but perhaps overly long. Good soundtrack too. 7/10.

Filth also on blu ray. Very impressed with this, James McAvoy delivers in spades and is ably supported by an understated Jamie Bell and the always excellent Eddie Marsan amongst others. Read the boom years ago but can't believe it's almost 4 years old, seems like yesterday when I bought it. Excellent soundtrack that really adds to the experience too. Worth watching for McAvoy's performance alone - I know he won some UK awards for this, but he should have been in the running for an Oscar (though I suspect the subject matter and the accents didn't help!). 8/10.

MrKingsley

Watched Green Room the other night. A thriller about a hard rock band that witness a crime scene in the back end of no where and are kept against their will until the owner of the concert hall decides what to do with them. Not really what I was expecting from the trailers and reviews I'd seen. Thought it would be a lot more tense.

But really enjoyed the film overall. Anyone whose up for a bit of over the top violence and gore this may be for you. 7/10

Another one I saw the other week was eye in the Sky. It follows the surveillance and decision making process behind a drone bombing in a residential area of Kenya. Its told from the perspective of the surveillance team on the ground, an operations room run by Helen Mirren, the pilots of the drone and some government figures in London.

Whilst I love the idea of the film and some of the performances were great I thought it dragged on too long as the whole plot revovles around one singular decision which is whether to bomb the house known to have terrorist subjects in it or not.

6/10 for me

MilesMorales1

The only bad part about Logan is that it took so long to get here. To get one amazing 'X-Men' film, far as Logan can even be referred to as such, it took all those bad to ok ones to get here! Nearly two decades, in fact. But it's here now, and its pretty incredible. To say I was surprised, considering I was expecting the usual X-Men rubbish, was an understatement. Incidentally, despite being vaguely based on the Old Man Logan story, this film is much closer to DC's The Dark Knight Returns, just as a point of interest.

I don't really follow the X-Men time travel stuff, but its the future, Logan hasn't acknowledged the Wolverine persona in years, he's caring for a dementia addled Charlies Xavier in the Mexican desert, whilst also being sick himself and slowly aging whilst also drinking himself into oblivion. Despite having given up being a hero for a long time, he reluctantly finds himself being given one last chance to be the guy people seem to think he is when he's charged with delivering a young girl with powers similar to his own to a safe haven from the people she's being hunted by.

It's a pretty simple set up, but the best stuff it does is all in the show don't tell, and the fact this film isn't afraid to dissapoint you, in the best way. There's no surprise X-Men popping up to add levity to proceedings, there's no happy ending, there's no continuity nods to the X-Men films.

And like I said, I loved it. It's dark, its violent, it's not afraid to go places maybe other superhero films couldn't or maybe couldn't go. It's much more effective at being dark and gritty and grim than anything Zack Synder has attempted to churn out.

Big part of that is of course, the age rating, which means we finally get claw fights with blood and gore, but Logan doesn't revel in the violence at any point of the film, and every action scene and death shows the pain of fighting and violence on those participating in it. This ties into a bigger theme of the film which genuinely elevates it above other superhero films trying the same shtick, say, Watchmen, Batman V Superman, whatever. I don't include the Marvel films there cos I think they're going for different things than Logan or what DC tries and fails to do, incidentally

Fact is, Logan isn't a superhero film at all. You could easily watch this without having seen a single one of the original X-Men or Wolverine films and enjoy it just as much with only a cusory knowledge of these characters and setting. Logan is about dissapointment, its about failing to live up to a legend, its about the lies we tell ourselves to make life more palatable, and its about how we do things we can't take back, and how we live with those things, it's about growing old and having to deal with that. The line from the film, 'There's no living with the killing. Right or wrong, its a brand.' sums that pretty well.

The acting is absolutely terrific. I hope this is Jackman's last turn as Logan, cos he absolutely kills it (no pun intended) Patrick Stewart does a great job in his last stand (that pun was intentional) as Charles Xavier, playing a difficult role as someone whose distressed at the state of the world and his world in particular, yet lacks the ability to change anything, and Stephen Merchant plays an unusually well acted and understated role as Caliban. And of course, Dafne Keen does a fanastic job as X-23. It's more than a little interesting, and feels unique to have a child actor playing a violent role thats not played for comedic laughs or in an ironic sense, e.g Hit Girl.

The film also looks fabulous, displaying a world that we'd recognise yet thats falling over an almost invisible edge, and the musical score and sound effects of the film are magnificent. Visual effects have been mentioned, but really, Wolverine should have got that 15 age rating a long time ago, cos it just fits like a glove.

There we go, I adored Logan. Far more than I expected, to the extent its actually diminished those other terrible comic book films that tried so hard to be grim and dark and edgy yet just missed the point completely, whereas this, nails it. Highly reccomended.

Looper007

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Still my favourite Edgar Wright film and the best film out of the Cornetto trilogy, think The World's End is a underrated gem although the ending lets It down imo. Pegg does the straight role and action hero very well, Nick Frost steals the show. The mix of Wicker man and 80's action cinema works well, I think Pegg/Frost partnership is at it's best in this. The action and gore is well done. I love the third act to this even though it was criticised at the time. Great to see Timothy Dalton on the big screen, and a amazing cast of Olivia Coleman, Paddy Considine, Jim Broadbent, Edward Woodward etc... 9/10

Del.Monte

"Where Eagles Dare" (1968) - Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XKGhG0W0LQ

.

One from way down in the archives from a simpler time when everything was black and white - the Germans were the baddies and the British and Americans the good guys. As such the Germans seem unable to hit anybody when they fire at them and Clint Eastwood works his way through a cast of evil huns.

Stands up well as a classic war movie and the plot, based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, is simple while still containing a few surprises. Filmed on location in Bavaria and Austria there are some memorable action sequences.

Definitely of the greatest movie themes ever.

Worth a watch if you haven't it and stands a rewatch every few years/decades. 9/10

Harry Palmr

The House on Haunted Hill 1959 Dir William Castle

Hang on, shouldn't that be the Haunted House on the Hill? Typical poverty row chiller which in selected cinemas featured one of Castles chintzy scare tactics called "Emergo" which is too tacky to even laugh at. Vincent Price is of course suavely intimidating and the younger female lead has a fine set of lungs on her - but there is something comical about screaming out four or five times in a row. At only 75 mins you don't quite have time to get bored.

Amazingly "House..." was a commercial inspiration for Hitchcock who noted how a quick, cheap thriller set in one location could make a hefty profit and that he already had the rights for a story which would fit the bill nicely...the rest is history.

Tony EH

Del.Monte wrote: »

"Where Eagles Dare" (1968) - Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XKGhG0W0LQ

.

One from way down in the archives from a simpler time when everything was black and white - the Germans were the baddies and the British and Americans the good guys. As such the Germans seem unable to hit anybody when they fire at them and Clint Eastwood works his way through a cast of evil huns.

Stands up well as a classic war movie and the plot, based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, is simple while still containing a few surprises. Filmed on location in Bavaria and Austria there are some memorable action sequences.

Definitely of the greatest movie themes ever.

Worth a watch if you haven't it and stands a rewatch every few years/decades. 9/10

As a kid, one of my favorite films. Myself and the old man would sit and watch it every time it waws on TV. Still like it today as a good old adventure.

Always thought they gave the Gerries a good shake though, even if the heroes have plot armour so thick it's a wonder they can move. They presented them largely as an army and not goose stepping nazi stereotypes, for the most part. Even Anton Differing's Waffen-SS officer is an army man first and foremost and Ferdy Mayne plays his character as an upper class Prussian type. Of couse, everyone hates the Gestapo guy, played brilliantly by Derren Nesbit.

The story is complete bunkum, of course, but it's impossible not to enjoy.

Del.Monte

Amazingly Derren Nesbitt who according to IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0626352/ started his career as far back as 1957 is still going strong and has the lead role in an independent production "Jackie" about a 74 year old drag queen - the Gestapo connection again?

johnny_ultimate

Certain Women - some rare films have that special something. They're not showy, and that 'something' isn't particularly overt. But there's something about them that allows them to rise beyond and become something remarkable. Certain Women is one such film. Kelly Reichardt's finest film to date is modest, unassuming and reasonably straightforward. Yet it is an uncommonly thoughtful and artful piece of work.

Broken up into three mostly distinct stories that are primarily about four women (although that's not to dismiss the stellar work of the men, especially Jared Harris), the film follows each story in full (a series of short postscripts aside) before moving onto the next. Reichardt fully and beautifully develops each of the characters and situations. With one notable exception in the extended climax of the first segment (although even that plays out in understated fashion), each of the stories are militantly small-scale. The revelations are instead in the moments where the camera captures the characters' often fleeting expressions or emotions - a brief glance of unease; someone clearly not saying what they want to say; or even just a moment of genuine but silent understanding. It is thematically rich material - stories inherently about gender relations, class divisions, and the death of traditions - but they're always explored with the calm understatement they deserve.

Reichardt, as is her way, conjures a meditative pace, clearly established by a lengthy opening few shots that encourage the requisite patience. But she always allows for a cut or change of scene when needed, so the film never gets stuck over-analysing or overstating a particular moment. Of course, it would all be for nothing if it wasn't for a cast led by some of the most talented actresses of our times. The ever splendid Laura Dern is, well, splendid as ever; there's reliably great work from Reichardt's regular collaborator Michelle Williams; Kristen Stewart yet again proves herself as a marvelous performer (serious double whammy with this and Personal Shopper); and a particularly strong performance comes from the mostly-unknown Lily Gladstone. The beyond capable cast & crew have created this uniquely alchemical mixture that has resulted one of the most absorbing films of recent years.

Right Now, Wrong Then - ****ing finally. My increasing enthusiasm for Hong Sang-soo's work - easily one of my absolute favourite contemporary directors - is regularly challenged by the sheer difficulty of actually getting to see his films. It seems Nobody's Daughter Haewon was an aberration, as his work since has failed to receive any meaningful release in Ireland. Thankfully the Korean company Plain Archive gave this one the lavish region-free disc release it deserves.

As expected, Right Now, Wrong Then will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever watched a Hong film - the same basic characters and themes recur again and again. And yet his formal ingenuity and structural / temporal invention always ensure each go around remains remarkably fresh and insightful. This time the same encounter between an arrogant filmmaker (but of course) and a young woman plays out twice - the minor variations in conversation and characters, however, contrast & compare in a number of increasingly satisfying ways. It's a simple trick and indeed similar to one Hong has used before in The Day He Arrives. But his absolute commitment to the concept and his utter formal rigour means this is as magnificent as ever. Other directors revisit familiar ground so regularly eventually run out of steam. Hong Sang-soo gives the impression he could do it for years.

Early word seems to be that his latest film On the Beach at Night Alone is among his finest yet. I look forward to desperately wanting to watch it for the next year or two.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Glorious 39
What a weird film. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this but it was pretty much nuts! I thought it was about spies but it's about a woman who discovers a family secret just as WW2 is about to break out and then $hit gets weird.
The overall story isn't bad but it's so bloody long I lost interest a number of times. It just felt like it could have been a lot tighter and it could have been an excellent thriller. I do love Romola Garai though.

Arcade_Tryer

American Honey - 9/10

Think this will turn out to be a cult classic. Watching both this and Moonlight in the same week has restored my faith in US movies. Also, Shia LaBeouf is bloody brilliant.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

American Honey - 9/10

Think this will turn out to be a cult classic. Watching both this and Moonlight in the same week has restored my faith in US movies. Also, Shia LaBeouf is bloody brilliant.

Is American Honey a US movie? It was written and directed by a British woman.

Arcade_Tryer

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Is American Honey a US movie? It was written and directed by a British woman.

Yes. Set in the US. Characters are American.

That she is a British woman makes it all the more impressive. Reminded me a bit of Dazed and Confused but much more raw and less refined. According to one review, "American Honey is Spring Breakers shot through with Terrence Malick".

Sad Professor

American Honey was a British-US co-production.

I can't think of many American filmmakers concerned with the working class, so it's probably closer to British cinema in that respect. I recently saw Tomato Red which explicitly deals with US class division (somewhat inauthentically I thought) and was an Irish-Canadian co-production not even shot in the US. Serious blindspot there.

Chain Smoker

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Certain Women - some rare films have that special something. They're not showy, and that 'something' isn't particularly overt. But there's something about them that allows them to rise beyond and become something remarkable. Certain Women is one such film. Kelly Reichardt's finest film to date is modest, unassuming and reasonably straightforward. Yet it is an uncommonly thoughtful and artful piece of work.

Broken up into three mostly distinct stories that are primarily about four women (although that's not to dismiss the stellar work of the men, especially Jared Harris), the film follows each story in full (a series of short postscripts aside) before moving onto the next. Reichardt fully and beautifully develops each of the characters and situations. With one notable exception in the extended climax of the first segment (although even that plays out in understated fashion), each of the stories are militantly small-scale. The revelations are instead in the moments where the camera captures the characters' often fleeting expressions or emotions - a brief glance of unease; someone clearly not saying what they want to say; or even just a moment of genuine but silent understanding. It is thematically rich material - stories inherently about gender relations, class divisions, and the death of traditions - but they're always explored with the calm understatement they deserve.

Reichardt, as is her way, conjures a meditative pace, clearly established by a lengthy opening few shots that encourage the requisite patience. But she always allows for a cut or change of scene when needed, so the film never gets stuck over-analysing or overstating a particular moment. Of course, it would all be for nothing if it wasn't for a cast led by some of the most talented actresses of our times. The ever splendid Laura Dern is, well, splendid as ever; there's reliably great work from Reichardt's regular collaborator Michelle Williams; Kristen Stewart yet again proves herself as a marvelous performer (serious double whammy with this and Personal Shopper); and a particularly strong performance comes from the mostly-unknown Lily Gladstone. The beyond capable cast & crew have created this uniquely alchemical mixture that has resulted one of the most absorbing films of recent years.

Right Now, Wrong Then - ****ing finally. My increasing enthusiasm for Hong Sang-soo's work - easily one of my absolute favourite contemporary directors - is regularly challenged by the sheer difficulty of actually getting to see his films. It seems Nobody's Daughter Haewon was an aberration, as his work since has failed to receive any meaningful release in Ireland. Thankfully the Korean company Plain Archive gave this one the lavish region-free disc release it deserves.

As expected, Right Now, Wrong Then will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever watched a Hong film - the same basic characters and themes recur again and again. And yet his formal ingenuity and structural / temporal invention always ensure each go around remains remarkably fresh and insightful. This time the same encounter between an arrogant filmmaker (but of course) and a young woman plays out twice - the minor variations in conversation and characters, however, contrast & compare in a number of increasingly satisfying ways. It's a simple trick and indeed similar to one Hong has used before in The Day He Arrives. But his absolute commitment to the concept and his utter formal rigour means this is as magnificent as ever. Other directors revisit familiar ground so regularly eventually run out of steam. Hong Sang-soo gives the impression he could do it for years.

Early word seems to be that his latest film On the Beach at Night Alone is among his finest yet. I look forward to desperately wanting to watch it for the next year or two.

I recall reading Reichardt talking about the extreme difficulty she had attracting funding for certain women and after seeing the film I couldn't help but feel like it could've been a minor prestige miniseries. Netflix, HBO and Amazon all would've probably been interested in the notion of a miniseries by a director with her rep.


RE: Hang Sang-soo, I assume his films are so cheap to produce that he really doesn't need to care about them getting wide releases?

david75

The young offenders

Such a fun heartwarming romp. Haven't seen screwball comedy done right in years and normally am allergic to it but when this goes there it really works. Can't recommend it enough.

johnny_ultimate

Sad Professor wrote: »

I can't think of many American filmmakers concerned with the working class, so it's probably closer to British cinema in that respect. I recently saw Tomato Red which explicitly deals with US class division (somewhat inauthentically I thought) and was an Irish-Canadian co-production not even shot in the US. Serious blindspot there.

There certainly isn't the same history of social-realism in the US - especially odd since it's among the most wildly unequal societies in the western world - but it's not quite non-existent either. Kelly Reichardt is certainly one director who explores working class America with compassion and intelligence. Ditto David Gordon Green when he's not ****ting out stoner comedies. David O Russell, for all his faults, also is quite refreshingly focused on working class characters and families (even if the execution is sometimes shaky). Shame Killer of Sheep and the like didn't quite spawn the sort of movement seen elsewhere, and it's really documentarians like Frederick Wiseman who have done some of the best work across class barriers.

In a sense, one of the things that makes American Honey unique is that it definitely feels like an outsider made it. At times it feels like it's filtered through a dream-like filter that embraces, repurposes and subverts some familiar American iconography but with a very different tone & attitude. It's as much pantomime as social realism: a strange mix but a mostly beguiling film.

Chain Smoker wrote: »

I recall reading Reichardt talking about the extreme difficulty she had attracting funding for certain women and after seeing the film I couldn't help but feel like it could've been a minor prestige miniseries. Netflix, HBO and Amazon all would've probably been interested in the notion of a miniseries by a director with her rep.

Certainly structurally would easily lend itself to such an approach, even if I'd perhaps stubbornly prefer to not see the prestigious directors migrating to TV Kind of a grim omen though that an acclaimed, major director like Reichardt can't raise the Hollywood pocket change needed for something like Certain Women

RE: Hang Sang-soo, I assume his films are so cheap to produce that he really doesn't need to care about them getting wide releases?

Well, I'm not surprised that his films are so hard to come by - like they're super-niche even by modern arthouse standards. They're the sort of films I'd like to see places like Mubi picking up - I can't imagine they're too costly rights-wise, and if a cinema release is out of the question (and, well, I can kinda see the financial logic behind that) then at least digital could pick up the slack.

As for Hong himself, he's prolific and busy enough that I'm sure he devotes little time to actual distribution :pac:

Chain Smoker

The Conversation
First time I've seen this since I was like 12, still pretty great.

Enemy of the State
It's so weird to watch an irrelevant blockbuster from my childhood in a cinema. Way too long, and took a stupid length to get going.
While the goofy fake tech (including the funniest 'let's enhance that shot' moment ever) is extra goofy now, it's charmingly dumb. The actual biggest problem with this film's age is how meek the quick cuts are in a post-Paul Greengrass world.
Still, Gene Hackman's good and the cast is absolutely stacked with dudes who are very good at the very limited thing they've been given.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Certainly structurally would easily lend itself to such an approach, even if I'd perhaps stubbornly prefer to not see the prestigious directors migrating to TV Kind of a grim omen though that an acclaimed, major director like Reichardt can't raise the Hollywood pocket change needed for something like Certain Women

Well, I'm not surprised that his films are so hard to come by - like they're super-niche even by modern arthouse standards. They're the sort of films I'd like to see places like Mubi picking up - I can't imagine they're too costly rights-wise, and if a cinema release is out of the question (and, well, I can kinda see the financial logic behind that) then at least digital could pick up the slack.

As for Hong himself, he's prolific and busy enough that I'm sure he devotes little time to actual distribution :pac:

I dunno, it just seemed like stubbornness for me with this project in particular. Could've easily lent itself to that format with the director stating that the goal is to be watched back to back, probably be able to wrangle a theatrical run out of it in other territories.
Her film career seems to be dependent on Michelle Williams's patronage, making a film with three fairly big names on a relatively modest budget that still underperforms isn't gonna help.

Can't blame her for sticking with (I think) 16mm film though, the film looks f*cking gorgeous.



RE: Social Realism in the US, it's largely because it's such an unequal society, isn't it? Along with the sheer size of the country. There aren't exactly gonna be that many filmmakers coming from low income backgrounds in Mississippi, even the people who have raw talent and a genuine passion have next to no chance of encountering anyone who can help build that potential until they leave there. When they finally do leave, there's a not unreasonable chance they'd be a bit weirded out by how different those parts of LA or wherever they wind up are.

The lack of a public broadcaster with significant funding for their own dramatic projects probably had an impact too, like, how much of England's film scene up to this day is built upon things like Play For Today?

Going a step further back again you can attribute it to the two wars not actually touching american soil heavily to how differently the two world wars were shot and documented on both sides of the atlantic.

Harry Palmr

Chain Smoker wrote: »

The Conversation
First time I've seen this since I was like 12, still pretty great.

What on earth did you make of it as not even a teenager? Or were you very precocious

david75

I didn't like what I was thinking after seeing Get Out. Or how it made me feel.

I'm hearing it's meant to have an element of satire. That passed me by totally.

Suffice to say you couldn't make that film but from the opposite perspective and have it be lauded and getting all these rave reviews.

Apart from all that it's built in weirdness just didn't really work. Hammered home far too much. Possibly in the name of satire. That's maybe what I was missing. It made heavy work of its premise when it should have either been much more subtle or really gone at it full tilt instead of suggesting for so long then going over the top with the conclusion.

It's uncomfortable viewing and that's the point it's trying to make but it's not uncomfortable for that reason.

johnny_ultimate

Chain Smoker wrote: »

The lack of a public broadcaster with significant funding for their own dramatic projects probably had an impact too, like, how much of England's film scene up to this day is built upon things like Play For Today?

One thing the US definitely lacks is a system for less commercial projects. Most European countries do have a culture of robust arts funding which has encouraged the sort of experimental & auteur works you only really find in the no-budget sphere of American cinema. Which is not to say a few great artists haven't made it work with the US, but the Hollywood system has ensured an almost entirely commercialised production model (which isn't surprising, given a significant chunk of the population's aversion to public funding of ****ing healthcare). Whereas in Europe you have your BBC, MEDIA, hell even the IFB despite its limited purview. Always worth giving some credit to European producers too - the sorts of mental co-production deals they manage to wrangle to get something made is an artform in itself :P

Harry Palmr

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Always worth giving some credit to European producers too - the sorts of mental co-production deals they manage to wrangle to get something made is an artform in itself :P

Have you seen the finance, production and distribution credit list for The Team on More4? :eek:

Arcade_Tryer

Captain Fantastic - 7/10

Viggo Mortensen - 9/10

This is an enjoyable movie. There's a great movie in there somewhere. Unfortunately the final cut doesn't quite provide it. Reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine somewhat and I probably found Captain Fantastic more entertaining if honest. Mortensen is easily one of the most accomplished actors around. Amazing performance.

david75

Kong

Leave your brain at the door.

Actually leave it at home. Even better ship it to Australia. Otherwise You'll have a few weeks headache wondering how and why Samuel Jackson still gets cast in films. doing exactly the same thing he does in every single film he's in.

Token black guy needs to die in one of these films.

For what it is though I'd go 7/10.