What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Goldstein

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't think they're ripping off "A Hijacking" as Captain Phillips is a true story. It's just bad timing from Hanks and co. over here as so many people will have seen A Hijacking first and it's inevitable that comparisons will be made.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Yes, it's a shame that many viewers will never have seen or even heard of A Hijacking, but calling it a rip-off is a very unfair claim, regardless of the films' quality. Different true stories, different films, some similarities to be expected given the subject matter.

Fair enough, I hadn't researched the origins of the trailer on the internet beforehand. Rip-off wasn't the most apt word. After all Volcano and Dante's Peak were about different Volcanoes. Armageddon had an asteroid and Deep Impact had a comet. Ants Vs bugs. Mirrors and Huntsmen. Sharks and Clownfish. Two completely unrelated missions to the red planet Mars. Happy coincidence might have been a better term.

crazygeryy wrote: »

I hope they do give it good treatment because a hijacking was bloody boring.i couldn't warm to it at all.

The film was certainly slow paced but it wasn't an exciting event so the usual path of the cook morphing into a John McLane-like superhero and going on a rampage over a couple of hours wouldn't have made much sense in their attempt to honestly portray a hijacking and the toles they take on those caught up in them.

Charlie19

Down and Out in Beverly Hills 1986
Cracking movie, cracking soundtrack.
About homeless guy (Nick Nolte) falling upon a wealthy family in Beverly Hills and how he brings a bit of spark into all the household including the dog.
Also stars Beth Midler and Richard Dreyfus.

tunguska

We need to talk about Kevin

Holy mother of Jaysus I dont think I've ever seen a film that put the hook in me so much as this. Disturbing is the word. Great film though, really well made and the acting by the two lads playing Kevin as a young boy and as a teenager, was pretty phenomenal. Not an easy watch but a film that needed to be made though. Im always fascinated by the people(most often young men) who shoot up schools/universities, and how they got to that point in their lives where they felt they needed to kill. And this film shows what happens(albeit from only one persons perspective)how a killer was formed. The general idea I got was that the mother was ambivalent towards having a child and this ambivalence was picked up by the infant straight from the off which ultimately had disastrous consequences for a lot of people.
One thing I cant understand though was why the mother got such dogs abuse from people on the street? At one stage a woman comes up and literally punches her in the face. I dont get that??? She didnt commit any crimes or kill anybody herself, it was her son, so why did people act like she had done something horrendous?
Anyway deeply disturbing but a great film with acting thats just in another league.


Everybodys fine

I really enjoyed this. A nice story thats pretty true to family life. Bobby D is fantastic in it, best I;ve seen him for years. One great scene where he's had a run-in with a vagrant at a train station and in the scuffle he loses his medication. He's a bit ruffled by the incident and calls home, but his wife is dead and theres nobody to pick up the phone, instead he gets the answering machine that has his wifes voice still on the message. Really heartbreaking stuff but a great scene.

Bowlardo

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Argo Caught this tonight and have to say really enjoyed it Ben Afflick has made a terrific well directed movie why he didn't even get nominated for an Directorial Oscar is a crime, I suppose winning Best picture made up for it! Well worth a watch for those who haven't seen it.

Best boards nam ever snake!

Gamayun

Fire and Ice (1983)

Rotoscoped fantasy adventure from Ralph Bakshi (The Lord of the Rings (1978), Heavy Metal, Wizards).

The simple, pulp fantasy plot is pushed along nicely by the great visuals. Very enjoyable, recommended to fans of Swords and Sorcery films.

Snake Plisken

tunguska wrote: »

We need to talk about Kevin

Holy mother of Jaysus I dont think I've ever seen a film that put the hook in me so much as this. Disturbing is the word. Great film though, really well made and the acting by the two lads playing Kevin as a young boy and as a teenager, was pretty phenomenal. Not an easy watch but a film that needed to be made though. Im always fascinated by the people(most often young men) who shoot up schools/universities, and how they got to that point in their lives where they felt they needed to kill. And this film shows what happens(albeit from only one persons perspective)how a killer was formed. The general idea I got was that the mother was ambivalent towards having a child and this ambivalence was picked up by the infant straight from the off which ultimately had disastrous consequences for a lot of people.
One thing I cant understand though was why the mother got such dogs abuse from people on the street? At one stage a woman comes up and literally punches her in the face. I dont get that??? She didnt commit any crimes or kill anybody herself, it was her son, so why did people act like she had done something horrendous?
Anyway deeply disturbing but a great film with acting thats just in another league..

Yeah this is one hard watch but is an interesting study of what makes these guys do what they do! I think your question of why the mother gets such dogs abuse is that everyone blames her for bringing up such an evil kid! Also I think she stays in the same town as she feels she deserves the abuse! I really felt bad for the Dad (John C Reilly great performance) and the Daughter.
I think if I was the mom I would have moved well away, but I think she was kind of shell shocked by what her son had done!
Not a movie that you could really watch again even thought it is good!

Tony EH

tunguska wrote: »

We need to talk about Kevin

Holy mother of Jaysus I dont think I've ever seen a film that put the hook in me so much as this. Disturbing is the word. Great film though, really well made and the acting by the two lads playing Kevin as a young boy and as a teenager, was pretty phenomenal. Not an easy watch but a film that needed to be made though. Im always fascinated by the people(most often young men) who shoot up schools/universities, and how they got to that point in their lives where they felt they needed to kill. And this film shows what happens(albeit from only one persons perspective)how a killer was formed. The general idea I got was that the mother was ambivalent towards having a child and this ambivalence was picked up by the infant straight from the off which ultimately had disastrous consequences for a lot of people.
One thing I cant understand though was why the mother got such dogs abuse from people on the street? At one stage a woman comes up and literally punches her in the face. I dont get that??? She didnt commit any crimes or kill anybody herself, it was her son, so why did people act like she had done something horrendous?
Anyway deeply disturbing but a great film with acting thats just in another league.

Tilda Swinton deserves every single bit of praise for her role in that film. She was excellent.

Bipolar Joe

tunguska wrote: »

We need to talk about Kevin

Holy mother of Jaysus I dont think I've ever seen a film that put the hook in me so much as this. Disturbing is the word. Great film though, really well made and the acting by the two lads playing Kevin as a young boy and as a teenager, was pretty phenomenal. Not an easy watch but a film that needed to be made though. Im always fascinated by the people(most often young men) who shoot up schools/universities, and how they got to that point in their lives where they felt they needed to kill. And this film shows what happens(albeit from only one persons perspective)how a killer was formed. The general idea I got was that the mother was ambivalent towards having a child and this ambivalence was picked up by the infant straight from the off which ultimately had disastrous consequences for a lot of people.
One thing I cant understand though was why the mother got such dogs abuse from people on the street? At one stage a woman comes up and literally punches her in the face. I dont get that??? She didnt commit any crimes or kill anybody herself, it was her son, so why did people act like she had done something horrendous?
Anyway deeply disturbing but a great film with acting thats just in another league.

I read the book, but haven't seen the movie, so I can't say whether or not some stuff was in it. In the book, she tried to be an attentive Mother, but almost right from the off the kid was weird and learned to manipulate well.

Also, you see abuse get misplaced right here in Ireland a fair bit. It's just the way the public is, unfortunately.

Baked.noodle

Namibia Genocide and the Second Reich (2005)

Documentary about the concentration and extermination of the Herero and Namaqua peoples by the German Second Reich in what is now Namibia.

dark crystal

Before Midnight:

The third film in the Before... trilogy revisits Celine and Jesse ten years on from the 'will they, won't they' scenario at the end of the second film.

I don't know how Hawke, Delpy and Linklater continuously manage to enchant us with these characters, but they do. Charming, witty, melancholy; it's just a beautiful little film.

The Black Oil

The Hunt for the Red October.

Lots of familiar faces in this one. Generally solid thriller. Kinda runs out of steam towards the end.

stevenmu

The Black Oil wrote: »

The Hunt for the Red October.

Lots of familiar faces in this one. Generally solid thriller. Kinda runs out of steam towards the end.

Watched that last night, and followed it up with Clear And Present Danger today. Both still very good thrillers. It's a real shame the new Jack Ryan film looks like yet another generic action flick.

bellinter

This Is the End

I normally don't mind these lads. This started off reasonably funny but quickly descended into a farce. All the lads seemed to be having a competition to see who could be the most unlikable. Why is it that when actors play themselves in films they always play themselves as complete ****. Did this start with 'Extras' or was it going on before then? Curb Your Enthusiasm had a good bit of it going on too but it always seemed a bit more restrained there, and all the better for it.

Anyway, this film is pants.

Judgement Day

"55 Days at Peking" (1963) YouTube via Wii. Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven. The 1900 Chinese Boxer rebellion against foreign occupation and influence in China. The foreign legations lived and worked in their own walled area of Peking and came under siege from the Boxers. Alright of its kind but it hasn't dated that well - especially in terms of political correctness and jingoism. When I last would have seen this movie I would have been swept along with "us" against the foreigners attitudes that kids of my generation had but now knowing what went on, and with the benefit of education, the whole intervention in China was morally bankrupt beyond belief. Anyway, David Niven puts in a good performance, as does Ava Gardner and Charlton Heston is Charlton Heston - wooden as always and lacking in any emotion. 6/10.

A V A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwy8yvuwDpQ

johnny_ultimate

Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen's tale of socio-economic displacement benefits hugely from a devastatingly committed performance from Cate Blanchett. For the first time in years if not decades, a cast member manages to own the auteur's awkward wordplay, making the script come to live. Blanchett provides perhaps the single best performance in the writer/director's vast filmography, all the better because she's not just trying to act as a direct surrogate for Allen himself. The supporting cast help, although Allen's iffy dialogue defeats poor Peter Sarsgaard. None the less it's the most timely, compelling and unique film Woody Allen has made in the longest time - giddily cruel and cynical in its approach, dismantling class stereotypes with unexpected vigour. It's all down to Jasmine / Blanchett, a delightfully horrible protagonist. It still feels like a bit of a rough draft, but it's a strong rough draft, with a particularly intriguing structure. He was once the king of the romantic comedy, but this makes the argument that what Allen needed all these years was to be scathing and unromantic.

Nashville - ah, controlled chaos. Robert Altman's anarchic examination of the country music scene in Tennessee is majestic. 42 main characters, an hour solid of straight musical performances, overlapping dialogue: and yet absolutely coherent. It's a 'great American film', the canvas equally grand and intimate. It ponders obsession with celebrity while exploring romantic catastrophes. It's an ode to the capacity of music to articulate emotion, but also a sharp critique of industry shallowness and the often hopeless case of wannabe stars. It's an awful lot of things (from the political to the personal, a feminist manifesto and a consistently amusing satire), maybe even a lengthy series of short films. But mostly it's full of life - an account of a bunch of human beings over five busy, fitfully dramatic days. It's wonderful.

old hippy

Thor - surprisingly enjoyable this. It's the lead up to the Battle of New York and how impulsive and arrogant young Thor finds himself amongst us mere mortals. Amusing and engaging.

Eastern Promises - One of the best gangster films I've seen in a while. It's got it all, gloomy London, Russian Mafia, Turkish baths, Tattoos, blood and Vincent Cassell and Viggo Mortensen (in the buff). The missus was pleased

Point Break - finally got round to watching this Bigelow bloke fest. It's dated but in a charming way. FBI old school cynic, Gary Busey is teamed up with "young, dumb and full of cum" Keanu, a former jock now with a badge . Cue blossoming bromance, a chance to solve a series of improbable bank heists, another bromance between Keanu and mystical surfer/bankrobber, Patrick Swayze. Preposterous, macho antics and appalling acting by young Reeves. Loved it.

krudler

old hippy wrote: »

Thor - surprisingly enjoyable this. It's the lead up to the Battle of New York and how impulsive and arrogant young Thor finds himself amongst us mere mortals. Amusing and engaging.

Eastern Promises - One of the best gangster films I've seen in a while. It's got it all, gloomy London, Russian Mafia, Turkish baths, Tattoos, blood and Vincent Cassell and Viggo Mortensen (in the buff). The missus was pleased

Point Break - finally got round to watching this Bigelow bloke fest. It's dated but in a charming way. FBI old school cynic, Gary Busey is teamed up with "young, dumb and full of cum" Keanu, a former jock now with a badge . Cue blossoming bromance, a chance to solve a series of improbable bank heists, another bromance between Keanu and mystical surfer/bankrobber, Patrick Swayze. Preposterous, macho antics and appalling acting by young Reeves. Loved it.

I friggin love Point Break, it's so OTT and cheesy but knows it so it all has a charm most modern action films don't. It's also probably got the best skydiving sequence ever put on film (even if it goes on way longer than an actual skydive would lol ). It's a quote goldmine as well. "Little hand says it time to rock and roll!"

Thor is my favourite of the Avengers lead up movies tbh, although can they please, please stop doing the "lets take away all the hero's powers" thing, it's beyond old now. Superman 2 did it, Spider-Man 2 did it kinda, Thor, Wolverine, stop it!

bellinter

Point Break. An absolutely amazing film in every way imaginable! Love it. A quote goldmine indeed.... "I caught my first tube today."

jasonbourne.cs

watched the remake of the lone ranger ..... falls somewhere between poor to average . cant seem to decide what it wants to be , tonally goes from comedic jokes about how weird the horse is to a character cutting out a mans heart and eating it .

also waaaaaaaaayyyyy too long , 230 minutes definitely could have been trimmed down and gotten rid of the some of the pointless extra characters .

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Quentin Tarantino has The Lone Ranger on his top 10 films of 2013 list.

krudler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Quentin Tarantino has The Lone Ranger on his top 10 films of 2013 list.

I enjoyed it more than most of the other big summer films, it's certainly flawed and way, way too long but it looks gorgeous and the finale is the best setpiece of the summer.

DazMarz

The Strangers

Housemate was watching it on Netflix on his Xbox, so I kinda kept an eye on it. What an utter load of predictable, relying-on-jump-scares, pointless, masochistic nonsense. There was no true terror or suspense or tension. Just a load of loud noises, masked faces appearing at windows and of course

a dead body not being dead at all

. Something to watch if you're too happy and want to lose the will to live a little bit.

Jaws

To wash the bad taste of the above out of my mouth, I went for this classic. Now, this.... this is true horror. The suspense, the build-up, the terror at seeing sideways glances of the shark and not knowing what it truly looked like. Supreme building of a slow-burning suspense.

Roy Schneider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss all put in towering performances as the local cop, the grizzled shark hunter and the city boy ichthyologist respectively. Shaw is the standout for me; particularly that electrifying scene where he describes the sinking of the USS Indianapolis after she was torpedoed by the Japanese and the subsequent shark attacks on the survivors in the water.

So many classic moments, so many oft-imitated (but never bettered) scenes, so many memorable quotes. And of course, THAT soundtrack. We've all hummed it at someone who was about to go swimming in the sea, cos that's what friends are for.

The film that solidified Spielberg's claim to being one of the hottest directors in Hollywood, and a mantle that he has not relinquished for years. There have been many pretenders to the throne, but Steve keeps coming back and consistently makes his mark. But Jaws is one of his best and even now, nearly 40 years after it was released, it is still one of his best from a very illustrious C.V.

One of those films you'd never get tired of watching.

"You're going to need a bigger boat...."

krudler

DazMarz wrote: »

Jaws

To wash the bad taste of the above out of my mouth, I went for this classic. Now, this.... this is true horror. The suspense, the build-up, the terror at seeing sideways glances of the shark and not knowing what it truly looked like. Supreme building of a slow-burning suspense.

Roy Schneider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss all put in towering performances as the local cop, the grizzled shark hunter and the city boy ichthyologist respectively. Shaw is the standout for me; particularly that electrifying scene where he describes the sinking of the USS Indianapolis after she was torpedoed by the Japanese and the subsequent shark attacks on the survivors in the water.

So many classic moments, so many oft-imitated (but never bettered) scenes, so many memorable quotes. And of course, THAT soundtrack. We've all hummed it at someone who was about to go swimming in the sea, cos that's what friends are for.

The film that solidified Spielberg's claim to being one of the hottest directors in Hollywood, and a mantle that he has not relinquished for years. There have been many pretenders to the throne, but Steve keeps coming back and consistently makes his mark. But Jaws is one of his best and even now, nearly 40 years after it was released, it is still one of his best from a very illustrious C.V.

One of those films you'd never get tired of watching.

"You're going to need a bigger boat...."

Utterly classic film, you're right about the music, it's so ingrained in people to hum it jokingly about dangerous situations. John Williams must surely have one of the greatest creative runs in Hollywood from the mid 70's to mid 80's. Jaws, Close Encounters, Star Wars, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. in a row, with small projects along the way. That is a staggering body of work in less than a decade, all iconic film scores.

Bipolar Joe

Jaws is one of those films that's so ingrained in society, even people who have never even seen it can quote it correctly. Damn good movie!

DazMarz

Thanks to Aglomerado for identifying it for me, I watched a blast from the past tonight, Return Of The Living Dead.

It has been utter years since I last saw this and remembered thinking it was a straight-up horror that was just so bad it was good. But now, reading up on it and watching it, it is MEANT to be a comedy/horror. And it is a damn fine one at that.

It is absolutely comical, from the bumbling pair of clowns in the Medical Supplies warehouse, to the zombies being cleverer and more brain-hungry than usual, to the screams of the zombies as they chase their victims... this is stupidly funny satire/spoof of the zombie genre that is done so well. Tongue firmly in cheek with everything and it is just so madcap and off the wall that you can't help but burst out laughing several times.

Something of a forgotten gem from the 1980's. Well worth a watch for something that is easy on the old grey matter. :P

Also, kickass soundtrack and score. Proper 80's job for the score:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo6eIriOgSg

johnny_ultimate

The Attack - smart, engaging thriller about an Arab doctor called Amin (Ali Suliman) living in Tel Aviv whose wife unexpectedly commits a suicide attack. This leads Amin on a journey back to Palestinen Territories to explore the motivations behind the deeds.

A potentially familiar story enlivened by its context. Less a thriller and more an exploration of the conflict in the region, although still offering plenty of mystery, paranoia and shady fundamentalist / Shin Bet activities. It for the most part resists the temptation to take sides, instead providing the audience with plenty of food for thought. There's undoubtedly the sense of an outsider's perspective at time - the director is Lebenese, and the film takes the time to ensure audiences who might not be familiar with the ins-and-outs of the politics isn't left behind. It might not flow 100% convincingly at times, but the perspective probably helps increase its relevance for Western audiences. This is the kind of film desperately needed to provide some representational balance in cinemas, but alas seems to have bypassed even Dublin's cinemas (happy to get to see it in a busy cinema thanks to Access Cinema's ongoing Films from the Southern Mediterranean season).

It's far from perfect - the flashbacks particularly are on the cheesy side. But it's an intelligent and engaging watch, with rich themes both explicit and subtle.

Tony EH

DazMarz wrote: »

Thanks to Aglomerado for identifying it for me, I watched a blast from the past tonight, Return Of The Living Dead.

Single handedly responsible for everyone saying "brainsssss", as soon as any zombie flick is mentioned and for that reason alone I hated it for years...

...even though I loved it really.

:pac:

tunguska

Stoker

I remember this being out last year and getting very mixed reviews, people either really liked it or where violently opposed to it. I thought it was great though. The story at its core is very basic and its definitely a case of style over substance. But what style. Cinematography is in a different class, acting is solid, script is nothing too amazing but theres a few good observations like nicole kidmans theory about the real reasons why people have children. Atmosphere is Gothic/noir and I reckon its a film that needs to be seen a few times in order to fully appreciate all the layers.

Tipsy McSwagger

Pacific Rim - Very good opening but it becomes fairly boring in the middle. It's too long and the acting is awful, 2/5*

The Wicker Man - Not even so bad it's funny it's just bad. Nicolas Cage running around in a bear costume knocking out women with a single punch should be hysterical but i was bored to death, 1/5*

Client 9 - Documentary about former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer who was forced to resign after a prostitution scandal. It's made by the brilliant Alex Gibney who is arguably the best documentary maker at the moment, 4/5*