What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Technocentral

Bozo Skeleton wrote: »

Most Irish films I've seen seem to play to the American/ international market, so potentially good ones are far too often spoiled. There's not many I would regard as good artistic movies, which is a shame. Off the top of my head, some good Irish movies:

Garage
Trojan Eddie
The Dead
Adam And Paul
The Field
My Left Foot

Feel free to add, I'm sure there's more I can't think of off the bat.

Love "The Dead", always think of it as a US film though because of Huston directing it, even though its a majority Irish cast. In my opinion it has to have an Irish director and be about an Irish story to be an Irish film, for instance "Trainspotting" is a British film, they got money of Universal but its absolutely 100% British in conception, direction and subjects. "The Field", "Adam & Paul" and "My Left Foot" are ok, nothing special, never heard of "Trojan Eddie".

Technocentral

Technocentral wrote: »

We are just not a film making country for some reason, I would find it very hard to name 5 great Irish films ever, plenty of awful, loads of mediocre but fcuk all that would be up with say "Trainspotting" or "Mr. Nice", I use those two as examples as they are small scale stories done on low or average budgets, I'm not expecting an Irish "Prometheus" because of budget availability, I haven't seen "What Richard Did " yet but off the top my head "Garage" is the best Irish film ever.

I disagree, we have an abundance of talent and every year we see some great Irish films released. Sadly many of these get lost in the mix while trashy, low brow poorly made films do. When comparing Irish cinema you do so by looking at what countries such as Britian produce. Look at films such as Shifty, Ill Manors, etc. all of them are intelligent, well made films that showcase true talent who show true talent.

Bozo Skeleton

Technocentral wrote: »

Love "The Dead", always think of it as a US film though because of Huston directing it, even though its a majority Irish cast. In my opinion it has to have an Irish director and be about an Irish story to be an Irish film, for instance "Trainspotting" is a British film, they got money of Universal but its absolutely 100% British in conception, direction and subjects. "The Field", "Adam & Paul" and "My Left Foot" are ok, nothing special, never heard of "Trojan Eddie".

I'd agree with you there. Of the films I listed, only The Dead and Garage struck me as great films, and The Dead is of a bit border line Irish film, but it is set in Dublin and based on a Joyce story, so I can let that slide
We certainly don't have anything to compare to the catalogue of French, Italian, German, Polish, Russian (the list goes on) of European cinema. Many reasons, I'm not up for writing a treatise at the moment

Technocentral

Deleted User wrote: »

I disagree, we have an abundance of talent and every year we see some great Irish films released. Sadly many of these get lost in the mix while trashy, low brow poorly made films do. When comparing Irish cinema you do so by looking at what countries such as Britian produce. Look at films such as Shifty, Ill Manors, etc. all of them are intelligent, well made films that showcase true talent who show true talent.

If that was so Irish films would be winning Sundance and Canne's etc top prizes regularly and be well known, I just used those two examples as they are attainable budget wise in an Irish context, for instance "Good Vibrations" is a decent enough looking film but its a mess because of poor direction, I can give examples of great lower budget films from Italy, France, Iceland, Norway etc if you want.

Technocentral

Bozo Skeleton wrote: »

I'd agree with you there. Of the films I listed, only The Dead and Garage struck me as great films, and The Dead is of a bit border line Irish film, but it is set in Dublin and based on a Joyce story, so I can let that slide
We certainly don't have anything to compare to the catalogue of French, Italian, German, Polish, Russian (the list goes on) of European cinema. Many reasons, I'm not up for writing a treatise at the moment

"The Dead" is a much better film than "Garage" its just that I don't know if it qualifies as an Irish film in the way we are discussing it.

johnny_ultimate

We need to get to the point where we're not saying "this is a great Irish film" but rather "this is a great film". That's what ultimately defines a national cinema - not only born of its country of origin, but also boldly universal and influential. Vertigo isn't merely a great American film. La Regle du Jeu isn't simply a great French film. Tokyo Story isn't just a great Japanese film. Their respective countries of origin undoubtedly influence every frame, but it never defines them. They are, first and foremost, great films. Of course, every country is their own worst critic - the amount of great filmmakers that have been misunderstood in their homelands! - but ultimately genuinely great filmmaking is something that is very, very hard to deny or ignore.

We need to demand the best of our filmmakers, to push them to say interesting things in interesting ways. Lenny Abrahamson is probably the one at the moment we can be proudest of - a craftsman forging intellectually and stylistically accomplished works. A genuinely strong, interesting directorial voice. I truly wish there were more like him. Where are our filmmakers with the ambition of the bold, provocative Greek New Wavers? (and, as much as Empire claim there is, there is no Irish New Wave)

Demanding better is not begrudgery - it's a genuine want for our little country to play a part in the discourse of international cinema. It's the hope that the extremely limited resources at the Film Board's disposal are channeled into those that might have the ability to push boundaries, as opposed to schlocky crap like King of the Travelers, or whole percentages of their annual budget being blown on Neil Jordan productions (although if he ever is polite enough to make another film to the caliber of The Butcher Boy, we could perhaps forgive that).

For the record, I've met many of the producers, cast and crew involved with Mark O'Connor's two films (I've never met the man himself, but his Liveline interview did him no favours). A majority of them have been talented, passionate and likeable people. But I'm not passing judgement and the people involved (well, maybe Terry McMahon, because honestly), I'm judging the film as a film-lover and audience member. I don't think it's beneficial to anyone to forgive mediocrity out of some sense of misplaced national pride or fear of begrudgery, but I most definitely don't think we should ever give derivative, unambitious and incompetent work like King of the Travelers any sort of free pass. If we don't demand better, we'll never get it.

mewe

I get what you're sayin about how we don't match up to our neighbours when it comes to top class films but we have made plenty of really good films too.
I really enjoyed that film that was co-funded by rte a few years back called The Eclipse-thought it was an excellent film.
As regards Trainspotting,that's a proper standout cult classic which an awful lot of films would struggle to get near in terms of uniqueness and quality

Technocentral

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

We need to get to the point where we're not saying "this is a great Irish film" but rather "this is a great film". That's what ultimately defines a national cinema - not only born of its country of origin, but also boldly universal and influential. Vertigo isn't merely a great American film. La Regle du Jeu isn't simply a great French film. Tokyo Story isn't just a great Japanese film. Their respective countries of origin undoubtedly influence every frame, but it never defines them. They are, first and foremost, great films. Of course, every country is their own worst critic - the amount of great filmmakers that have been misunderstood in their homelands! - but ultimately genuinely great filmmaking is something that is very, very hard to deny or ignore.

We need to demand the best of our filmmakers, to push them to say interesting things in interesting ways. Lenny Abrahamson is probably the one at the moment we can be proudest of - a craftsman forging intellectually and stylistically accomplished works. A genuinely strong, interesting directorial voice. I truly wish there were more like him.

Demanding better is not begrudgery - it's a genuine want for our little country to play a part in the discourse of international cinema. It's the hope that the extremely limited resources at the Film Board's disposal are channeled into those that might have the ability to push boundaries, as opposed to schlocky crap like King of the Travelers, or whole percentages of their annual budget being blown on Neil Jordan productions (although if he ever is polite enough to make another film to the caliber of The Butcher Boy, we could perhaps forgive that).

For the record, I've met many of the producers, cast and crew involved with Mark O'Connor's two films (I've never met the man himself, but his Liveline interview did him no favours). A majority of them have been talented, passionate and likeable people. But I'm not passing judgement and the people involved (well, maybe Terry McMahon, because honestly), I'm judging the film as a film-lover and audience member. I don't think it's beneficial to anyone to forgive mediocrity out of some sense of misplaced national pride or fear of begrudgery, but I most definitely don't think we should ever give derivative, unambitious and incompetent work like King of the Travelers any sort of free pass. If we don't demand better, we'll never get it.

In my opinion there are a huge amount of talented Irish people in music and literature for example but not film, surely if there was there would be regular gems that were considered as you say, "great films" not "great Irish (considering its low budget and made by Irish people, who we probably know) films. I remember I nearly got physically sick after going to see the worse film ever in the history of cinema "Last Days In Dublin", described in the IFI magazine as something like "a great Ulysses type odyssey through contemporary Dublin" and RTE as "If you ever watched a movie like 'Snatch' or 'Trainspotting' and wondered why it couldn't be made here, then you should see Daly's debut." it was in fact absolute bolloxolly in every department.

johnny_ultimate

Technocentral wrote: »

In my opinion there are a huge amount of talented Irish people in music and literature for example but not film, surely if there was there would be regular gems that were considered as you say, "great films" not "great Irish (considering its low budget and made by Irish people, who we probably know) films. I remember I nearly got physically sick after going to see the worse film ever in the history of cinema "Last Days In Dublin", described in the IFI magazine as something like "a great Ulysses type odyssey through contemporary Dublin" and RTE as "If you ever watched a movie like 'Snatch' or 'Trainspotting' and wondered why it couldn't be made here, then you should see Daly's debut." it was in fact absolute bolloxolly in every department.

One of the biggest problems is that the Irish film industry is worryingly insular and restrictive - to get a film made, it's very much who you know, and whether your film subscribes to a very certain 'type'. Younger filmmakers need to take advantage of microbudgets and even no budgets to get themselves heard in the first place - as dreadful as Charlie Casanova might be, its DIY ethos at least got it made and internationally distributed (even if the majority of crew worked for free and potentially libeled somewhere along the line for their trouble, but that's an ethical aside).

It does show that being a self-starter is increasingly important as a small amount of directors and production companies still enjoy the lion's share of the finances - even if unfortunately only a handful of filmmakers will ever be able to realise their worth without significant financial backing. But not everyone can be Shane Carruth, alas. The average budget for an Irish film is between €700,000 and €1,000,000. Actually, less now, and often as low as €100,000 for first time filmmakers through the likes of Catalyst. That will barely cover your crew's basic wage, equipment and food for a fifteen day shoot. Again, limitations like this can be impossible to overcome.

The recent reshuffle at the Film Board, fingers crossed, will see a little more dynamism - although given Bill O'Herilhy's bizarre appointment and the worrying success of expensive but easily marketable genre flicks like In Bruges and The Guard, perhaps optimism is misplaced. Still, good to see more ambitious distributors like Element giving smaller films a chance as well as the higher profile ones (and publicising strong international stuff like Turn Me On, Goddammit! from time to time).

A country doesn't simply not produce film talent - Austria has hardly had a wealth of strong filmmakers, but it also gave us Michael Haneke. A great director really could show up anytime, anywhere - the fear in Ireland is whether or not they'd be gifted the opportunity to realise it.

DazMarz

The General was a very good film, I thought.

Could you consider In Bruges an Irish film? Irish actors throughout, Irish director and screenwriter (I think). And it's a very good film too.

But, like someone said, I struggle to think of any genuine, absolute, world-class, crackers of films that are Irish...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Technocentral wrote: »

In my opinion there are a huge amount of talented Irish people in music and literature for example but not film, surely if there was there would be regular gems that were considered as you say, "great films" not "great Irish (considering its low budget and made by Irish people, who we probably know) films.

I don't think you can compare making films to making music or writing a book. Music is pretty easy to fund. You can buy all the necessary tools for relatively cheap, you can stick tracks on the internet for free, there's endless promotion options available through social networks etc. You could, in theory, write, record, mix and release an entire album without ever leaving your bedroom or talking to another person.

Films are a collaborative effort, and cost a lot more to finance. Yes you can do things on a relatively low budget, but some things you can't skimp on, and it more often than not shows in your film.

The problem as I see it is not a lack of talent, but a lack of proper backing. Personally I think the Irish Film Board does a pretty decent job of backing projects but ultimately not everyone with the talent has the connections or the know how to get their films made.

There are actually a surprisingly large number of Irish people who work behind the scenes in Hollywood, the talent in that respect is there, but Ireland itself is obviously not seen as having a real film industry or as a place you can make a living from these things.

Also, you do have to think of the size of the country compared to the likes of France or Japan, for example. We have a tiny population in comparison, so us putting out one decent film a year is on a par with Japan putting out a pile of them.

Technocentral

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't think you can compare making films to making music or writing a book. Music is pretty easy to fund. You can buy all the necessary tools for relatively cheap, you can stick tracks on the internet for free, there's endless promotion options available through social networks etc. You could, in theory, write, record, mix and release an entire album without ever leaving your bedroom or talking to another person.

Films are a collaborative effort, and cost a lot more to finance. Yes you can do things on a relatively low budget, but some things you can't skimp on, and it more often than not shows in your film.

The problem as I see it is not a lack of talent, but a lack of proper backing. Personally I think the Irish Film Board does a pretty decent job of backing projects but ultimately not everyone with the talent has the connections or the know how to get their films made.

There are actually a surprisingly large number of Irish people who work behind the scenes in Hollywood, the talent in that respect is there, but Ireland itself is obviously not seen as having a real film industry or as a place you can make a living from these things. Btw we have some world class actors like Saoirse Ryan and Michael Fassbender and great technicians, just not Directors.

Also, you do have to think of the size of the country compared to the likes of France or Japan, for example. We have a tiny population in comparison, so us putting out one decent film a year is on a par with Japan putting out a pile of them.

Thats all well in good what you are saying but the main problem is bad scripts/ideas for subject matter and directors with little or no vision not lack of budgets per se. Re your country population argument Norway, Denmark and Sweden's populations aren't much bigger than ours but there great film output is exponentially bigger.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Technocentral wrote: »

Thats all well in good what you are saying but the main problem is bad scripts/ideas for subject matter and directors with little or no vision not lack of budgets per se. Re your country population argument Norway, Denmark and Sweden's populations aren't much bigger than ours but there great film output is exponentially bigger.

Have you read every single script written by Irish writers? How can you say they're all bad? You might be able to say that the ones being made are bad, but you can't say that there's no good ideas/scripts out there. Which is an issue already addressed in a previous post.

Technocentral

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Have you read every single script written by Irish writers? How can you say they're all bad? You might be able to say that the ones being made are bad, but you can't say that there's no good ideas/scripts out there. Which is an issue already addressed in a previous post.

Your line of argument is pointless, of course no one has read everything ever written its like you saying "theres no great Italian hip hop" and me saying " well yeah not that has ever recorded and distributed maybe but there are great rappers who haven't been recorded" ie pointless and facile.

Technocentral

Technocentral wrote: »

Your line of argument is pointless, of course no one has read everything ever written its like you saying "theres no great Italian hip hop" and me saying " well yeah not that has ever recorded and distributed maybe but there are great rappers who haven't been recorded" ie pointless and facile.

There are a number of good scripts written by Irish people floating about. One of the biggest problems with film in this country is the fact that people expect you to make an Irish film. I recently tried to secure funding from the film board and was repeatedly told that my film wasn't inherently Irish enough. I told them that I was more concerned with writing a good script than I was an Irish one and was pretty much told that if I want funding I need to make it Irish. Whatever the hell that means I have no idea. Do I need to set it in Ireland or do I have to tackle Irish problems or what. It's a restrictive system that favors those who want to retell the same cliched and tired stories.

I went looking for funding with two well known actors attached, Timothy V. Murphy who we've seen in Sons of Anarchy, Longmire, Criminal Minds and the upcoming Lone Ranger. Alongside him I had another very well known actor and in one meeting I was told that it would be better for me if I cast an unknown Irish actor. I tried to point out that having known actors would help sell the film and I'll never forget one comment I got, "neither of those two is Irish enough".

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Technocentral wrote: »

Your line of argument is pointless, of course no one has read everything ever written its like you saying "theres no great Italian hip hop" and me saying " well yeah not that has ever recorded and distributed maybe but there are great rappers who haven't been recorded" ie pointless and facile.

It's not pointless. You're saying there's absolutely no good ideas or talent in Ireland. How can you make that statement unless you are personally familiar with every single piece of work produced in Ireland?
You're basing your opinion on what you've seen. I'm assuming you haven't seen every single Irish film ever made either, but even if you have at most you can say that there's no good ideas or scripts being made in Ireland. You can't say they don't exist.

Deleted User wrote: »

There are a number of good scripts written by Irish people floating about. One of the biggest problems with film in this country is the fact that people expect you to make an Irish film. I recently tried to secure funding from the film board and was repeatedly told that my film wasn't inherently Irish enough. I told them that I was more concerned with writing a good script than I was an Irish one and was pretty much told that if I want funding I need to make it Irish. Whatever the hell that means I have no idea. Do I need to set it in Ireland or do I have to tackle Irish problems or what. It's a restrictive system that favors those who want to retell the same cliched and tired stories.

The film "My Brothers" that was released last year is an Irish film. If you watch it, it's very Irish in a good way, there's a bunch of nostalgia stuff in it that are very specific to Ireland. This clearly wasn't Irish enough for the distributors though when it came to releasing it on DVD.

This is the original poster from it's very limited cinema release....

Here's what they did to it for the DVD release...


The worst thing about it is that the Ireland jersey on the middle brother is from maybe three or four years ago, despite the film being set in the 80's. But there's no denying it's Irishness now.

edit: I just noticed they've added the castle in the background too. Nothing says Ireland like a big castle.

e_e

Those last 2 posts made me die a little inside.

What a messed up system.

e_e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0YQT-tx5Pk

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ Must point out I don't know for sure that's why they made the changes to the DVD cover, but it seems clear that someone wanted it made very clear that it was an Irish film.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The film "My Brothers" that was released last year is an Irish film. If you watch it, it's very Irish in a good way, there's a bunch of nostalgia stuff in it that are very specific to Ireland. This clearly wasn't Irish enough for the distributors though when it came to releasing it on DVD.

This is the original poster from it's very limited cinema release....

Here's what they did to it for the DVD release...


The worst thing about it is that the Ireland jersey on the middle brother is from maybe three or four years ago, despite the film being set in the 80's. But there's no denying it's Irishness now.

edit: I just noticed they've added the castle in the background too. Nothing says Ireland like a big castle.

I have it here to watch but have yet to make the time. Wanted to see it in the cinema but I think it came out just before my grandmother died when she was in a coma. I recall liking what I saw of the trailer even if the truly terrible Terry McMahon pops up in it.

The Runway is another small Irish film I've been meaning to watch. It's one of the more ambitious films to come out of the country in a long time and the fact that they got Demian Bichir to star says a lot.

e_e wrote: »

Those last 2 posts made me die a little inside.

What a messed up system.

What the board want are films that cater to the kind of people who like to slap one another on the back at the Meteor awards. They don' want anything creative, they want the most commercially viable but "artsy" film they can get. During one meeting I had I was told that I should retool my script and set it in an impoverished area and follow a father and son trying to kick a heroin addiction. It's a shame that they are so concerned with repeating the same tired formulas and stories. There seems to be two kinds of films they want, a film set in Dublin concerned with poverty and how it affects people or else a film set in Dublin about scumbags and crime.

e_e

An Irish New Wave really is long overdue.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Deleted User wrote: »

I have it here to watch but have yet to make the time. Wanted to see it in the cinema but I think it came out just before my grandmother died when she was in a coma. I recall liking what I saw of the trailer even if the truly terrible Terry McMahon pops up in it.

The Runway is another small Irish film I've been meaning to watch. It's one of the more ambitious films to come out of the country in a long time and the fact that they got Demian Bichir to star says a lot.

I really liked My Brothers. There were one or two bits where it drifted a little, but on the whole it was a nice simple story, well acted, nicely shot, and depending on your age there's quite a few little nods to an 80's/early 90's childhood.

I say The Runway on RTÉ last year during one of their "Ireland on Screen" seasons. Again, I really enjoyed it. It's a bit far fetched, I'll admit. It says it's based on a true story but I think it's very very loosely based on one.

Seeing as we have gone way off topic, I'll drag us back a little.

Watched Robert Redford's latest The Company You Keep this evening. It's one of those long and drawn out thrillers that really goes nowhere. Performances are excellent, especially from the season actors and there are one or two interesting moments but the script is weak and there's not a whole lot of suspense.

The film tells the story of Jim Grant, a small town lawyer whose past as a war protestor comes back to haunt him when a fellow political activists arrested after years of living under the radar. Grant's past is uncovered by an arrogant, irritating local reporter Ben Shepard played by Shia LeBeouf discovers his secret. Grant soon finds himself back on run as the FBI search for him in connection with a murder from way back in the 70s. The set up is interesting and there is a nice dynamic between Redford and LeBeouf but sadly rather than the cat and mouse game initially hinted at the film instead turns into yet another run of the mill innocent man on the run films.

The films most powerful scenes are the quiet moments where characters converse. There's something magical about watching actors of the calibre of Redford, Elliot, Sarandon, Chrisit and Jenkins just talking. The films attempts to look into what drove these activists and the films most striking and powerful scene involves Shepard's interview of an incarcerated Sarandon where parallels are drawn between the actions of the 70s radicals and today terrorists. It also discusses how these actions shape a person and how living with the guilt will shape your life. It's a small scene that promises a lot but from there the film never really does anything of note.

There's a meandering feel to the film and Redford never seems in any hurry to up the ante and as such there's a real lack of suspense. We never feel as if anyone is ever in danger of being caught, especially when the FBI come across so incompetent.

I really wanted to like The Company You Keep as it seemed that Redford was harking back to such classics of his as Three Days of the Condor and All the President's Men. Sadly the end result is yet another forgettable by the numbers thriller that thinks it's far more insightful and intelligible than it actually is. Yet all that said it's still worth a watch for the older cast members who are spectacular and manage to infuse the often trite and poor dialogue with a sense of grandeur.

With all the talk of Mark O'Connor and Irish film I sat down this morning and watched King of the Travellers. Really wish that I hadn't bothered as it's been a long time since I've seen such an inept and badly made film. Actually come to
think of it the last film I saw that was this poorly conceived was O'Connor's Between the Canals.

King of the Travellers is a film the from the offset carries it's influence on it's sleeves. The template is simple, it's Hamlet meets Romeo and Juliet on a halting site which in it's self has a lot of potential. Sadly the film spends most of its meager 70 minute run time tipping it's hat, aka lifting entire scenes from classics such as The Godfather and On the Waterfront. There's even an atrocious Star Wars inspired sketch that seems to exist solely to help pad the films meager run time. The vast majority of the film could be called padding given that there is little more here than 3 or 4 scenes strung together by repeated scenes of characters talking philosophical nonsense and long panning shots of the cast sat around a camp fire or on horseback.

Tonally the film is all over the place and it's never clear if what we are watching is intentionally funny or simply a result of the sheer ineptness on display. The script is perhaps the films biggest shortcoming. Characterization is nonexistent with the vast majority of the cast existing solely to deliver a pivotal line of dialogue. There is no insight into Traveler culture nor is any attempt made to address the interesting dynamic of the traveller community versus the settled community. Instead O'Connors narrative resembles Hamlet by way of Romeo and Juliet only both strands of the story are so poorly implemented that the lack of tonal consistency means that neither gels. The introduction of Winnie, whom John is supposed to be devoted to is poorly played out and haphazardly handled.

By casting real honest to god travellers, O'Conner obviously set out to capture the raw and real world they exist in. But like every other aspect of the film, the acting is for the most part atrocious. There's a complete lack of enthusiasms from any of the cast and the lack of chemistry is truly startling. The supposed deceleration of love shared between John and Winnie is one of the comedic highlights of the year given just how little spark there is between the actors.

Perhaps the most shocking part of King of the Travellers is just how much padding there is. The opening credits crawl by and it seems that they exist solely to help push the film into feature length territory. A swift edit could easily trim the film of at least an hour and still not have enough material for a half decent shorty film.

By trying to emulate masters such as Scorscese, Coppola and Kazan, O'Connor has only shown up just what a poor film maker he is. O'Connor has had two chances to impress and on both occasions he has failed miserably. King of the Travellers was released on DVD last week in the Uk and is opening in cinemas here this Friday. I would strongly advise anyone curious about seeing King of the Travellers to instead go and see the rather good Pilgrim Hill and those considering buying the DVD would be far better off buying the excellent, What Richard Did.

Bozo Skeleton

The posters for My Brothers reminded me of this.

In Germany:



Meanwhile, in Italy:



Spudorato indeed!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ No way that's real. Is it?

Tony EH

Bozo Skeleton wrote: »

The posters for My Brothers reminded me of this.

In Germany:

"Ein Ire sieht schwarz"
"An Irishman looks black"

WTF?

:pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Tony EH wrote: »

"Ein Ire sieht schwarz"
"An Irishman looks black"

WTF?

:pac:

Is it not "sees black"?

Which doesn't really make any sense either.

devotional1993

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Watched The American last night for the first time. I know it got very mixed reviews but I'm glad I went ahead and bought it. It's directed by Anton Cobijn (who most of you will know from Depeche Mode and U2 Music Videos) and you can see his trademark visual style at work throughout. It's so like a music video in places I was half-expecting Dave Gahan to make a cameo appearance at some stage....:rolleyes:

Starring George Clooney as a mentally tortured and extremely paranoid assassin/gun-maker, and a very pretty (and oft. naked) Violante Placido as a hooker who falls for him, it's full of nods and winks to other movies (Sergio Leone/Once upon a Time in The West and The Day of the Jackal amongst others) and is very slow and sparing in its dialogue, it oozes style. Whilst it is a little self-indulgent and pretentious in places, a Tarantino assassin movie this is not. I really liked it.
7.5/10

Yep watched that. Enjoyed it actually but youre so right. It was like watching a video from Music for the Masses and the like!

Bozo Skeleton

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

^ No way that's real. Is it?

Yep, it seems to be the dvd cover of it in Italy, from doing a Google Image search.
Spudorato actually means "shameless", heh.