What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Tony EH

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Patton (1970)
I'd avoided this as I'd assumed it was a jingoist war epic that would have dated very poorly.
Actually the script, co-written by Coppola, is extremely fresh and the film functions best as a timeless character piece with George C Scott brilliantly portraying the very strange but compelling General Patton alongside Karl Malden playing General Omar Bradley as the straight man (actually pretty much every other character plays the straight man to Patton's brash oddness).There's a surprising amount of humour, particularly in the constant wrangling between Patton and Montgomery for primacy in Allied planning.
The battle scenes have aged badly though, with far more versimilitude in battle scenes filmed since. For example all the tanks are post-war US designs alternately painted in German or US colours.
For a film that won 7 Oscars it seems to have gone under the radar in retrospectives on great films of the time, maybe because it's tone was deeply out of place in the Hollywood zeitgeist of the early 70's.
9/10

I'd actually argue that 'Patton' was well within the boundary breaking, revisionism, that gripped Hollywood for the 70's, in both it's critical portrayal of an allied officer and it's refreshing view of the Germans. Two aspects that make the film very watchable to this day.

Much like the way that the revisionist western was the order of the day, where Indians were given a fair shake of the stick after decades of being portrayed as the "bad" guys. Producers of war movies tried to move away from the confines of cliche that had trapped the genre nearly 30 years and 'Patton' did a lot to demolish the post war reconstruction of the man. A man who, during the war, wasn't that well received by the men under his command.

I think it's one of the best character studies that has been put on the screen, with Scott's all in performance being a true joy and it's arguably pretty scathing at times. Strangely enough, when I first saw the film it had the rather disparaging title of 'Patton: Lust for Glory'. The part after the colon seems to have been dropped subsequently.

It's unfortunate, as you say, that the armour being used was subject to less rigorous scrutiny than the other elements that are on the screen. Those M48's just don't cut it any more. They never really did. But, then, it's understandable as the producers wouldn't have access to Panzer II's, III's and IV's. It odd though that they never bothered requisitioning some Sherman's for the Allied side, which were ten a penny at the time.

At least they had a couple of Heinkels in the air, even if they were the post war Spanish types.

CrankyHaus

Tony EH wrote: »

I'd actually argue that 'Patton' was well within the boundary breaking, revisionism, that gripped Hollywood for the 70's, in both it's critical portrayal of an allied officer and it's refreshing view of the Germans. Two aspects that make the film very watchable to this day.

Much like the way that the revisionist western was the order of the day, where Indians were given a fair shake of the stick after decades of being portrayed as the "bad" guys. Producers of war movies tried to move away from the confines of cliche that had trapped the genre nearly 30 years and 'Patton' did a lot to demolish the post war reconstruction of the man. A man who, during the war, wasn't that well received by the men under his command.

I think it's one of the best character studies that has been put on the screen, with Scott's all in performance being a true joy and it's arguably pretty scathing at times. Strangely enough, when I first saw the film it had the rather disparaging title of 'Patton: Lust for Glory'. The part after the colon seems to have been dropped subsequently.

It's unfortunate, as you say, that the armour being used was subject to less rigorous scrutiny than the other elements that are on the screen. Those M48's just don't cut it any more. They never really did. But, then, it's understandable as the producers wouldn't have access to Panzer II's, III's and IV's. It odd though that they never bothered requisitioning some Sherman's for the Allied side, which were ten a penny at the time.

At least they had a couple of Heinkels in the air, even if they were the post war Spanish types.

Fair point about it being more of its time than I thought.
I was trying to make sense of it's absence from many best-of roundups of the period. Nixon apparently loved it and watched it on repeat while facing down Vietnam-war protestors and the whole 60's progressive wave they represented.

Regarding the tanks I recall that Cross of Iron made only a few years later had plenty of T-34s for added realism. I think Peckinpah used the Yugoslavian army. Maybe private collections at the time were not at the level they are now and you took your chances with the army you hired for equipment, the Spanish one in Patton's case I think.

Tony EH

CrankyHaus wrote: »

Fair point about it being more of its time than I thought.
I was trying to make sense of it's absence from many best-of roundups of the period. Nixon apparently loved it and watched it on repeat while facing down Vietnam-war protestors and the whole 60's progressive wave they represented.

Regarding the tanks I recall that Cross of Iron made only a few years later had plenty of T-34s for added realism. I think Peckinpah used the Yugoslavian army. Maybe private collections at the time were not at the level they are now and you took your chances with the army you hired for equipment, the Spanish one in Patton's case I think.

I think it was very well regarded at the time and I've seen it in many "best ofs" over the years myself, I have to say. Maybe today, people know less about it, outside of film/war movie buffs etc. I dunno. I spose I just have a different perspective.

On 'Cross of Iron', that was made in Eastern Europe and at the time there were T-34's all over the place. But, even 'Cross of Iron' doesn't get the actual sub type correct. It may feature T-34's, but they were T-34/85's, when the period in question saw the T34/76 in use with the Red Army. The former, which featured and 85mm gun and a larger turret, appeared in 1944. The film takes place in the Kuban in mid 1943.

It doesn't really take from the film in any real way though and the majority of the audience would notice, or probably care either way.

One thing about 'Cross of Iron', though, is that Peckinpah had access to just two tanks IIRC. But through good use of cuts, he made it look like many more were attacking the Germans.

al87987

Shot Caller- 7.5/10

Good prison flick about a rich dude going to jail and doing all he can to fit in and make it through. Jamie Lannister plays the role well and its got a lot of recognisable faces in it too. Surprised it wasn't a bigger release but its kind of violent.

Sing Street - 8/10

Been meaning to watch for ages and didn't disappoint. Like a young commitments, musics great, young actors are very good and really enjoyed it overall. Can't think of too many, if any, better Irish films.

Del.Monte

Thrashing about all over the place for something to wind to these miserable evenings..."Striking Out", "Moone Boy" - excellent (!), and just started rewatching "Lewis" - the Morse spin-off - from the first episode which should keep me going for a while.

Last night I switched back to movies - "They Raid by Night" (1942) - a feel good World War.II. movie about a commando raid on Norway to rescue a Norwegian general. Enjoyable enough considering that it must have been a no-budget production and worth seeing alone for the new fangled British hand grenade capable of destroying a three story building!

Available on YouTube.

And tonight when I couldn't get "Striking Out" to work on the RTE Player, I foolishly decided to tick off another on my Irish to watch list - "Little Foxes" (2009) - a long winded, depressing, much ado about nothing not helped by being 98% in a foreign language.

ButtersSuki

Baraka on Blu Ray last night for the first time; as part of a Samsara/Baraka double pack. Like Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Samara, it's a collection of beautifully shot images delivered in a non-linear and non-verbal format. Absolutely not for everyone and more educational than entertainment I would say, but for me they're all very interesting in their own ways. I definitely prefer the pace and style of the Philip Glass Koyannisqatsi score over the others (it's something I bought separately after watching the film) and while this is quite peaceful by comparison it still works.

Just have Naqoyqatsi and Home to watch now......:rolleyes:

With any of these, the bigger the screen and the better the sound system you can view them on the better. An interesting 7.5/10.

david75

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Baraka on Blu Ray last night for the first time; as part of a Samsara/Baraka double pack. Like Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Samara, it's a collection of beautifully shot images delivered in a non-linear and non-verbal format. Absolutely not for everyone and more educational than entertainment I would say, but for me they're all very interesting in their own ways. I definitely prefer the pace and style of the Philip Glass Koyannisqatsi score over the others (it's something I bought separately after watching the film) and while this is quite peaceful by comparison it still works.

Just have Naqoyqatsi and Home to watch now......:rolleyes:

With any of these, the bigger the screen and the better the sound system you can view them on the better. An interesting 7.5/10.

Love Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi even more. But somehow never have seen the follow ups. Must remedy that.

branie2

I've just seen Darkest Hour at the cinema, a brilliant film about British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his role in the Second World War

Bowlardo

king arthur:lefend of the swords
Absolute tripe. Guys richie directs....a steaming pile of cgi shyte. Woeful film.,lots of stupid cockney accents turned up to 11, jude law signed up to this probably so gcould on a session with all the geezers that worked on the film.



get out excellent film . Great twist . Good horror film with a solid third

Fysh

Lads, since there's already a seven hojillion page thread specifically about Dunkirk where the same argument has gone round and round, could we maybe not repeat the same performance here?

Most recent thing I watched was Pixar's Coco, which I found mildly disappointing. It was quite pretty and some of the visual design was strong, but the narrative was very much in the simplistic Disney Animation form with not a lot of anything else going on to add to it. Overall, it felt like a Disneyfied version of The Book Of Life, complete with safely generic message about the importance of family (even while most of the family are shown to be overbearing, ignorant so-and-so's for much of the film). Also noticed that there was no short shown beforehand, which just increased the Disney rather than Pixar feel of it.

Sad Professor

I've moved most of the recent Dunkirk discussion to the (dun-dun-duuun) "Dunkirk" thread, which was lying forgotten somewhere on the 4th page of the forum.

Wombatman

Atomic Blond - 6.5/10

Triumph of style over substance. 80s Berlin, the action sequences, soundtrack and of course Theron, win out over an unconvincing story line.

Arcade_Tryer

Bowlardo wrote: »

get out excellent film . Great twist . Good horror film with a solid third

Don't understand how anybody can label that movie a horror film. Clearly a black comedy, satirical effort.

D'Agger

Kubo and the two strings

Saw this mentioned on reddit recently and had never heard of it. Trailer was top notch and made a point of watching it Friday.

Loved it. Thought it didn't finish incredibly strong, but the story was very solid and well told. Enjoyed the scarier moments of it and thought some of the shots in it were amazing.

Fysh

D'Agger wrote: »

Kubo and the two strings

Saw this mentioned on reddit recently and had never heard of it. Trailer was top notch and made a point of watching it Friday.

Loved it. Thought it didn't finish incredibly strong, but the story was very solid and well told. Enjoyed the scarier moments of it and thought some of the shots in it were amazing.

It's a crying shame this hasn't found a bigger audience, it's wonderful and a welcome counterpoint to the predictability of a lot of anglophone-oriented animation.

If you haven't already, check out My Life As A Courgette or, if you're willing to go along with something a bit more unusual, The Red Turtle.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Fysh wrote: »

It's a crying shame this hasn't found a bigger audience, it's wonderful and a welcome counterpoint to the predictability of a lot of anglophone-oriented animation.

If you haven't already, check out My Life As A Courgette or, if you're willing to go along with something a bit more unusual, The Red Turtle.

There's nothing wrong with most of the Pixar/Disney films but there are so many great alternatives to those studios out there that people seem to miss, or even dismiss simply because they're not Pixar/Disney.

I haven't seen Coco yet but from the trailers and reviews it looks/sounds very like The Book of Life which was released a few years ago but seems to have been missed by most people.

sbsquarepants

I endured 2 hours of Mother! at the weekend.

Dear Jesus what a waste of 2 perfectly good hours of my life. Absolute pile of shíte.

Avoid.

D'Agger

Fysh wrote: »

It's a crying shame this hasn't found a bigger audience, it's wonderful and a welcome counterpoint to the predictability of a lot of anglophone-oriented animation.

If you haven't already, check out My Life As A Courgette or, if you're willing to go along with something a bit more unusual, The Red Turtle.

Were these both in Kermodes top movies of 2017 - I know I've seen/heard the names before

El Duda

Love & Mercy - 8/10

Biopic about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys fame which spans two different periods in his life. Part of the film is the 60's and stars Paul Dano as the fledgling young Wilson and focuses mainly on the studio side of things. The other part of the film is set in the 80's and stars John Cusack as an older and more troubled Wilson.

The films flits back and forth between these different periods and explores several parts of Wilsons life in depth. The studio set scenes are really well done and capture the pioneering genius of a young Wilson. It also touches on his disruptive relationship with his estranged father.

The 80's set sections focus more on his health issues and his toxic relationship with his Doctor (played by Paul Giamatti). Cusack is superb here and picks up his mannerisms really well.

I went in knowing next to nothing and came out feeling I know a lot. As far as biopics go this is a really good, informative one and well worth checking out.

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days - 9/10

A tough, grueling and remarkably authentic story of a young Woman who helps her friend through an illegal abortion in 1980's Romania. It doesn't sound appealing in the slightest but the reviews are phenomenal and you can see why.

It is very calculated in what it should show and in just how much graphic detail it reveals. It does have imagery and events that are extreme but it is not gratuitous. It has a point and watching this is actually fairly educational and highlights the importance of being pro-choice.

A few shots and scenes linger a little too long and border into the pretentious but generally this is a very gritty and real piece of work. The scene in the hotel with Mr Bebe is as tense, gripping and human as I have ever seen. A tough one to grade as it wasn't an enjoyable film, but it packed a punch.


Spotlight - 5 /10

Great story and brilliantly acted but just so boring. At least dramatise it a little bit. Almost fell asleep multiple times.

The Catholic Church


Also rewatched Oldboy which I'd only seen once years ago. A 10/10 masterpiece if ever there was one. Incredible storytelling. Beautiful score. Min-Sik Choi's face is pure cinema.

CrankyHaus

Mississippi Burning (1988)
A great cast anchors a unique take on the detective thriller as two FBI agents hunt the KKK murderers of 3 civil rights activists in early 1960’s Mississippi.
I’d forgotten how much fun Gene Hackman could be to watch.
The portrayal of Jim Crow era racial oppression is chilling, although the film lets itself down by keeping all of the black characters as background. I can see why it was criticised on release for this.
The film is still extremely entertaining and moving.
9/10

The Post (2018)
I expected this to be a flat, overhyped paen to the values dear to Hollywood and a thinly veiled attack on Trump. Maybe the marketing oversold it (which is a common problem these days).
In fact it was more restrained than I expected. The narrative was gripping, the acting was generally solid, the film asked hard questions about media’s proximity to power and wisely kept Nixon in the background. The final scene with the Watergate break-in was still cringey AF though.
Not the best Spielberg film ever or even of recent years, Bridge of Spies with the Coen’s script was better IMO. Still a solid and intelligent film.
8/10

A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018, Netflix)
A comedy biopic of Doug Kenny, co-founder of National Lampoon, writer of Animal House and Caddy Shack.
I didn’t really know any of the story, in fact I’d never really cared for that generation of comedy, so I found this very fresh, interesting and entertaining.
The cast they had playing famous comedians like Chevy Chase generally did a very good job, though Bill Murray’s character was given SFA to do so far as I could see. Domhnall Gleeson was excellent.
I laughed throughout. Is comedy finally making a comeback in cinema?
Like a lot of Netflix films this has high audience scores and realtively low reviewer scores (61% RT).
I’d certainly recommend it for an evening in, maybe less so if one had to pay for it in the cinema.
7/10

CrankyHaus

Edited double post

Del.Monte

"Underground" aka "Resistance" (1970)



Robert Goulet, Daniele Gaubert, Lawrence Dobkin star in this WW.II. drama set in France but filmed largely in Enniscorthy, Co.Wexford. A top Nazi General who is about to be recalled to Berlin for termination is targeted for capture by British intelligence.

Lots of action and I enjoyed it more the second time round - after my VHS tape was transferred and remastered to DVD by my youngest. The film is very dark - in places - and I mean dark as in poor lighting but the storyline and acting are fine.

Now available on manufactured on demand DVD from Amazon but I don't know if the quality is any better. 7/10

david75

Star Wars (the original cinematic release)

Yknow what? All these years it’s the one I watch least. By a long long way.
You feel you know something so long and so well you don’t need to.

Since TFA was released I find myself putting it on way way more than the other two in the OT.
There’s some kind of weird elusive magic the original film has that the other two have too, but nothing like in A New Hope. (The one I’m watching doesn’t even have that title card). In all the study and reading up on it, especially Rinzlers ‘Making of Star Wars: a new hope’ book, I come to realise, this film has no right to even exist and then it Has the audacity to be this brilliant.

Everything was against it. Even getting off the page. Endless catastrophes in day to day in filming and production and post production and the business end even more so. And it’s only about 60% of what Lucas originally intended. (So is it a creative failure on his end?)

Nothing happens at all for the first half an hour...that’s just mental..then our hero when we meet him is a whiney little dope.
Nothing in this film should work. But it does.
Literally a one in a million shot, no pun intended. This film has no right being as good as it is.
Here we are forty years later still treasuring it like no other.


I hope we always revere the OT above all and not get carried away by the Star Wars tidal wave we can see coming for us.

We now live in a generation of Filmmakers that grew up with Star Wars and that was their inspiration to get into filmmaking. Let’s hope they continue to pay their debts to it.

10/10

ButtersSuki

Jeune et Jolie on blu ray. Classic French cinema in so far as nothing much happens, but it's all very stylish....ok, I'm slightly exaggerating, but not much. It's the story of a middle to upper class young girl who shortly after losing her virginity decides to go on the game - as you do. I liked it, but if you don't like or are not used to French Cinema I'd say you may find it very boring. Directed by Francois Ozon (of "Swimming Pool" fame) and starring Marianne Vatch (who does look as per the title, very young and very beautiful) and frequent Ozon collabortaor Charlotte Rampling makes an appearance. 7/10.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Jeune et Jolie on blu ray. Classic French cinema in so far as nothing much happens, but it's all very stylish....ok, I'm slightly exaggerating, but not much. It's the story of a middle to upper class young girl who shortly after losing her virginity decides to go on the game - as you do. I liked it, but if you don't like or are not used to French Cinema I'd say you may find it very boring. Directed by Francois Ozon (of "Swimming Pool" fame) and starring Marianne Vatch (who does look as per the title, very young and very beautiful) and frequent Ozon collabortaor Charlotte Rampling makes an appearance. 7/10.

I watched that a while back on Netflix and quite liked it. I do remember thinking her whole situation was a bit odd and they didn't explain a lot of it but at the same time it didn't bother me that much by the end. I also remember she had some great knitwear.

MrKingsley

Have to agree with the comments about Coco above only that I was very disappointed by it. Saw it in the cinema which was packed with kids and did not hear a solid giggle once throughout. The ‘humourous’ sidekicks were awful. Every joke was obvious 5 seconds before the punchline/attempt a slapstick.

It was also so long.

The music was so repetitive and the border/acceptance message massively overstated.

Really haven’t been as disappointed by a film in the cinema in a long time

Looper007

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

Recently been watching some crime and gangster films from the heyday of American 70's cinema, first time seen this fantastic bleak gem. From Director Peter Yates (Bullitt and The Dresser), Aging Boston gunrunner Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is looking at several years of jail time for a hold-up if he doesn't funnel information to Dave Foley (Richard Jordan), an ATF agent. Eddie buys some guns from another gunrunner, Jackie Brown (Steven Keats), then gives him up to Foley, but the agent isn't satisfied. Conflicted, Eddie decides to also give up the gang of bank robbers he's been supplying, only to find that Foley already knows about them, and the mob believes Eddie snitched.

Mitchum delivers probably one of his greatest performances, no cool or tough Mitchum here but rather a sad and pathetic never was much of a gangster Eddie Coyle,

His death scene has to be one of the most pathetic in Gangster Cinema

. Also special praise for Peter Boyle and Steven Keats too. This is the complete opposite of Godfather, this shows what a gangster's life is really like, sad and pathetic. Must watch for anyone interested in Crime films. One of the best 9/10

david75

Does anyone know where I can find or watch Quackser Fortune has a cousin in the Bronx?

I remember seeing it years ago and loving it and this week it was brought up on a podcast I listen to and they spoke about Gene Wilder almost / should have been nominated for an Oscar for it and it’s Dublin in the 60s and a great story etc but it didn’t cos the title was too mental, and it was the film he made right after Willy Wonka.

I’d love to see it again

Del.Monte

david75 wrote: »

Does anyone know where I can find or watch Quackser Fortune has a cousin in the Bronx?

I remember seeing it years ago and loving it and this week it was brought up on a podcast I listen to and they spoke about Gene Wilder almost / should have been nominated for an Oscar for it and it’s Dublin in the 60s and a great story etc but it didn’t cos the title was too mental, and it was the film he made right after Willy Wonka.

I’d love to see it again

Available on VHS and DVD.

https://irelandsmovies.wordpress.com/q/

Harry Palmr

The Howling 1980 Dir Joe Dante

The other well known Lycan feature released in 1981 and forever overshadowed by American Werewolf in London this is pretty good by the end, Joe Dante plays his cards close to his chest and it's past halfway before we get a proper transformation, while not quite as impressive as "American...." they still look good in a whole hearted traditional gore effects fashion. Half the enjoyment now is catching the Corman alumni who feature from walk ons to more prominent roles. CFI color remains a saturated delight. The ending is also old school, no heroics. Just a grim (if also wry) conclusion with a silver bullet. There is no way that would be allowed in any remake.