What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

eamonmcguilty

Cary on cowboy - spoofs lots of old Westerns but most scenes were done already in older titles.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

An Education

Carey Mulligan's first staring role (I think) as a 16/17 year school old girl in 60's London who begins a relationship with a much older man.
This is a very strange film. If you switch off your brain entirely it's a very charming tale of a young girl getting caught up in an exciting new world and then coming back to earth with a bang. However..... it's quite hard not to view it as extremely creepy! David (Peter Saarsgard) sees Jenny (Mulligan) standing in her school uniform in the rain and stops to chat her up. He goes round her house and sweet talks his way into her parents hearts and manipulates them over and over again to get Jenny away with him for weekends.

This is very clearly NOT a story about a creepy older man taking advantage of a young girl and maybe it's the post Savile/YewTree world we live in but it's very hard not to view a lot of the scenes in this film as being extremely creepy. Maybe if Saarsgard didn't look so much older than Mulligan it wouldn't have seemed quite as weird? One or two different directing choices or an extra scene here or there and this would have been an entirely different film!

All that said it's quite a good film. Carey Mulligan really shines and there are some great moments of comedy with her parents. Worth watching but still a bit weird.

upstairs for coffee

I Saw The Devil

Similar theme of vengeance to Oldboy. More "realistic" violence than Oldboy. Good story, good acting. Solid 7/10

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

stage struck, was on bbc2 this morning. wasn't at all bad for a saturday morning hospital film

watching bachelor mother atm, some david niven to make the afternoon IV go down easy

gona be here for a week with nothing to do but watch movies, now that I havfe my media player and a hdmi cable here.. i'm quite enjoying myself

ButtersSuki

Watched a few movies that I've not watched until now for various reasons.

First up was "Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie" from a special edition Ron Burgundy box set. Starring essentially everyone from "Anchorman" and comprised mainly of footage left on the floor from its more famous sibling it's mildly amusing at best in parts and just unfunny in others. I fear for Anchorman 2 to be honest as I doubt they can make it live up to the hype. 4/10

Next up was "Paranormal Activity" on Halloween night. I've previously watched Paranormal Activity 2 which is a prequel to this which I liked a lot more than I expected but I just felt the first one seemed quite flat and almost lazy by comparison. PA2 is much creepier and darker overall than PA. A somewhat disappointing 5/10.

Finally got around to watching What Richard Did last night having recorded it from RTE the other night. I've avoided this until now as I wanted to read the book on which it is (loosely) based "Bad Day in Blackrock" before I watched WRD. The book is very good, but the film's adaptation was a little clichéd and somewhat disappointing for me and they change too much of substance from the book to really hammer home the emotion and pain in it. The accents were just a little too strong/fake/OTT and the gulf in acting talent on screen at times was a bit much. Though he's only in a couple of scenes Lars Mikkelsen dominates when on screen. I just felt there could have been so much more to this. An ok 6/10. Read the book instead!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Finally got around to watching What Richard Did last night having recorded it from RTE the other night. I've avoided this until now as I wanted to read the book on which it is (loosely) based "Bad Day in Blackrock" before I watched WRD. The book is very good, but the film's adaptation was a little clichéd and somewhat disappointing for me and they change too much of substance from the book to really hammer home the emotion and pain in it. The accents were just a little too strong/fake/OTT and the gulf in acting talent on screen at times was a bit much. Though he's only in a couple of scenes Lars Mikkelsen dominates when on screen. I just felt there could have been so much more to this. An ok 6/10. Read the book instead!

I saw a lot of talk on twitter the night it was on about the accents too. I can't speak for all of the cast but if you've ever heard Jack Reynor speak in real life his accent is even worse than Richards! I've listened to a few Lenny Abrahamson commentaries on his films and he's not far off it himself. Having attended UCD for 4 years and having a brother who played a lot of rugby I can say most of the accents, while somewhat annoying to listen to, sounded pretty legit to me.

I'm not sure the film was supposed to be an adaptation of the book really. I saw on twitter that Abrahamson was a bit annoyed at RTÉ for advertising the film as being a true story, or based on one. I know there was that Annabelle's incident and that is obviously what inspired the book in question and in turn the film but I think the film was only ever supposed to be very loosely based on the incident rather than an attempt at a true life story, or direct adaptation of the book.

Was funny to track the film on twitter on Wednesday night. Lot's of "there wasn't even an ending, what a waste of my life" kind of tweets and one girl even suggested that Abrahamson must be the worst director in the world and he needs to learn how to tell a story.

ButtersSuki

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I saw a lot of talk on twitter the night it was on about the accents too. I can't speak for all of the cast but if you've ever heard Jack Reynor speak in real life his accent is even worse than Richards! I've listened to a few Lenny Abrahamson commentaries on his films and he's not far off it himself. Having attended UCD for 4 years and having a brother who played a lot of rugby I can say most of the accents, while somewhat annoying to listen to, sounded pretty legit to me.

I'm not sure the film was supposed to be an adaptation of the book really. I saw on twitter that Abrahamson was a bit annoyed at RTÉ for advertising the film as being a true story, or based on one. I know there was that Annabelle's incident and that is obviously what inspired the book in question and in turn the film but I think the film was only ever supposed to be very loosely based on the incident rather than an attempt at a true life story, or direct adaptation of the book.

Was funny to track the film on twitter on Wednesday night. Lot's of "there wasn't even an ending, what a waste of my life" kind of tweets and one girl even suggested that Abrahamson must be the worst director in the world and he needs to learn how to tell a story.

Hi Tickle,

Agree with some of what you're saying but the accents I did find to be OTT - and I'm saying that as a Jesuit school educated lad who's s[pent most of his life on the Southside of Dublin. Maybe it was Abrahamson's intention to ham it up a bit? Haven't heard either Rayner or Abrahamson in real-life so will take your word on that!

Didn't see/hear the RTE claim, but from recollection the first thing that pops up on the credits is "Based on the book Bad Day In Blackrock by Kevin Power". Perhaps adding "loosely" to that would have helped. I don't know, maybe I expected too much or maybe I expected/wanted it to stick closer to the book but I was just a little underwhelmed by it tbh.

As for the clowns on the twitter machine, hardly worth discussing. I'd expect that young lady to list "Sex & The City" as her all time have movie…..

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Hi Tickle,

Agree with some of what you're saying but the accents I did find to be OTT - and I'm saying that as a Jesuit school educated lad who's s[pent most of his life on the Southside of Dublin. Maybe it was Abrahamson's intention to ham it up a bit? Haven't heard either Rayner or Abrahamson in real-life so will take your word on that!

Didn't see/hear the RTE claim, but from recollection the first thing that pops up on the credits is "Based on the book Bad Day In Blackrock by Kevin Power". Perhaps adding "loosely" to that would have helped. I don't know, maybe I expected too much or maybe I expected/wanted it to stick closer to the book but I was just a little underwhelmed by it tbh.

As for the clowns on the twitter machine, hardly worth discussing. I'd expect that young lady to list "Sex & The City" as her all time have movie…..

Reynor's accent is horrible, it's a weird hybrid of stereotypical South Dublin and America, which is weird considering he had been there 5 minutes when I heard him on the Late Late. But that's beside the point. My only experience of "South Dublin" accents is from college and I suppose that's only a tiny fraction of the people so if you're from there it's maybe more noticeable. Like how American's do one stereotypical Irish accent and nobody from outside of Ireland can tell the difference.

I was watching twitter for the laugh on Wednesday, I knew the ending would be a bone of contention so I wanted to see the reaction. It did not disappoint.

Fun Fact: the story Richard tells about drowning his gerbil is a true story. They were setting up to film the next scene (where they're just lying under the blanket and he asks if she's okay) and Reynor was telling the story to Roisin (?) and the camera man started rolling and recorded it and Abrahamson decided to leave it in. Jack Reynor - Gerbil murderer!

ButtersSuki

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Reynor's accent is horrible, it's a weird hybrid of stereotypical South Dublin and America, which is weird considering he had been there 5 minutes when I heard him on the Late Late. But that's beside the point. My only experience of "South Dublin" accents is from college and I suppose that's only a tiny fraction of the people so if you're from there it's maybe more noticeable. Like how American's do one stereotypical Irish accent and nobody from outside of Ireland can tell the difference.

I was watching twitter for the laugh on Wednesday, I knew the ending would be a bone of contention so I wanted to see the reaction. It did not disappoint.

Fun Fact: the story Richard tells about drowning his gerbil is a true story. They were setting up to film the next scene (where they're just lying under the blanket and he asks if she's okay) and Reynor was telling the story to Roisin (?) and the camera man started rolling and recorded it and Abrahamson decided to leave it in. Jack Reynor - Gerbil murderer!

It's a digrace Joe, he admitted it an all an anywayz on de telly too.

poundapunnet

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Was funny to track the film on twitter on Wednesday night. Lot's of "there wasn't even an ending, what a waste of my life" kind of tweets and one girl even suggested that Abrahamson must be the worst director in the world and he needs to learn how to tell a story.

Recommend Garage to her or Adam and Paul for that matter.

I really liked What Richard Did, had seen it before but re-watched it on wednesday anyway. I can see how if you were expecting a film version of the Annabelle's case it'd be a let down though, but if you forget that and enjoy it on its own terms its a fantastic film. Also, not being from Dublin I didn't pick up the accents not being realistic, nor did anyone I was watching with, honestly that's what those people sound like to me in real life

Herb Powell

Almanya:Wilkommen in Deutschland.

The story of a Turkish family who moved to Germany. Pretty funny, good acting from all involved. Watched it in German though, so IDK how the humour translates in an English-subtitled version. Worth a watch though!

e_e

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Short Term 12

Set in a short term foster care facility where Grace, and her not so secret boyfriend Mason, are two of the carers looking after a bunch of troubled teens.
On paper there's nothing new here, kids are troubled, so are the adults, the adults help the kids who are also helping the adults etc. etc.
The fantastic cast and the directing choices from Destin Cretton raise this film above pretty much anything else of the same setting, and even most of the other films I've seen this year. Brie Larson stands out as Grace. It's pretty obvious from the start what it is she's not telling Mason, but she delivers everything in such a way that you never feel like you're supposed to feel sorry for her or pity her. Of course you do feel these things, and a lot more, but there's no emotional manipulation, no "here's the sad bit" score, no cloying sentiment when they're dealing with the kids' problems.
The kids are all excellent too, all of them unknown maybe even brand new to acting. As I said above there's no deliberate attempt to make you sad or feel anything other than what you would naturally feel when told any of their stories. They don't even delve that deep into any of the issues at hand. It's like Grace tells new care worker Nate at the start, you're not here to be their parent or their therapist, you're here to create a safe environment for them. And that's exactly what you see. There's no attempt to solve the problems or "cure" the kids or pass judgement on anyone, it's just a brief glimpse into this world and once you leave it carries on.

That was probably very rambley and might not have made sense but to sum it up... well worth seeking this one out while it's making it's (probably) brief appearance in the cinemas at the moment.

Terrific film alright. Loved how it bookended itself too.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

e_e wrote: »

Terrific film alright. Loved how it bookended itself too.

Yes! It was very cleverly done.

grohlisagod

Just watched Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind again. I'd forgotten just how much I like it. Great film.

johnny_ultimate

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie - John Cassavetes's characteristically eccentric mix of introspective character study and mob thriller is a wonder to behold. It's seedy and sad and thrillingly mundane. Ben Gazzara's work as Cosmo is hypnotic - he conjures up a wonderful contradiction of a character, equal parts proud and deluded. The dialogue is evocatively obtuse, while when the 'action' does unfold in all its messy glory it's tense and engaging. Quite unlike anything else, the long-needed BFI BluRay released recently is a welcome opportunity to catch up with a highlight of 1970s American cinema.

krudler

The Princess Bride, just because, it's still brilliant. So. many. quotes.

MJ23

Watched 'Dead Mans Shoes' again yesterday. Brilliant film.

Highly recommended.

Gamayun

Season of the Witch (2011)

I'm a sucker for Dark Ages/Swords 'n' Sorcery films and this one came with Nic Cage and Ron Perlman attached! I liked the concept of traveling with a tricksy caged witch (Claire Foy) through the wilderness, and the middle section of this was enjoyable enough, however the last section was a major letdown involving

Claire Foy being replaced with a generic CGI Demon running about the place

. Pity.

e_e

The Hunt

I initially regretted missing this in the cinema but now I realize I needn't have bothered. Disappointing to say the least.

ButtersSuki

e_e wrote: »

The Hunt

I initially regretted missing this in the cinema but now I realize I needn't have bothered. Disappointing to say the least.

We talking about the same movie? Jagten? With Mads Mikkelsen? Surely not?

poundapunnet

e_e wrote: »

The Hunt

I initially regretted missing this in the cinema but now I realize I needn't have bothered. Disappointing to say the least.

Darn, I've had that in the netflix queue for a while now, thought it looked very good and I think Mads is great. Anything in particular that made you not like it?

e_e

Yeah I should say that I thought Mads was great in it. My problem was mainly to do with the script, it hammers home its point way too repetitively that the film just becomes redundant and nothing more than unpleasant to watch.

I just didn't buy some of the situations (especially in the supermarket) and it's all too manipulative too. I was expecting an intelligent and thought-provoking treatment of a complex issue but it was anything but.

e_e

Also I'd expect better of a film like this to

introduce a cute dog and then bluntly kill it off a few scenes later.

When I saw the bag I just rolled my eyes and thought "ugh here we go!". It tries so hard to rile up the viewer that it starts to reek of desperation.

Duggy747

Captain Philips

Very good film that doesn't rush to get to it's climax, keeps tension high at a tight pace. One of the best films I've seen this year. I saw A Hostage a few weeks back which I thoroughly enjoyed and I assumed this would be Hollywood cheese dialed up but was quite happy with it.

Halfway through I noticed that someone had brought a 4 or 5 year old to the film who, naturally, had no interest in it.

After the climatic scene

where they shot the 3 pirates in the lifeboat and Tom Hanks was covered in blood, wearing his blood-soaked blindfold and crying to himself

, there was silence in the cinema when we suddenly heard:

"Daddy, why is he crying!?!"

bellinter

Short Term 12 - nothing to add to what the lads above have written. Absolutely brilliant, one of the films of the year for sure.

The Last Stand - what you'd expect. Completely ridiculous but entertaining enough. Not a classic action or Arnie film by any stretch of the imagination but good fun. I think I've forgotten most of it already!

poundapunnet

Seven Psychopaths: I liked it at the time, but looking back now I'm not that bothered. Funny script, lots of interesting little vignettes scattered through, cast to die for (Tom waits, Christopher walken, Colin Farrel, woody Harrelson, Olga Kurylenko and Sam Rockwell) but it's basically just cleverly written fluff. Definitely worth a watch though.

ButtersSuki

Watched all 10 episodes of The Pacific over 3 nights/the weekend. It's good but inevitably pales in comparison to Band of Brothers. It's hard to watch it without making comparisons between the two and TP is all over the place compared to the line by line narrative of BOB. Maybe if I hadn't seen BOB first I'd appreciate it a bit more but for me it was a disappointment. It does sound brilliant though on a surround sound system. I'd still give it 7/10.

tunguska

Jingle all the Way

I remember when this came out and it got ripped asunder by the critics. I'd usually agree with the critics so I gave it a wide berth. But It was on sky the other night and it being cold and all I was feeling a bit festive and decided to give it a whirl. Bloody hell that was a painful experience. I believe that some people are just born lacking in the funny gene and Arnie is most definitely one of those lads who just cant do comedy. Sinbad was good though and I think if he was the lead this film might've worked.

Judgement Day

Back on the Irish trail last night with "Act of Betrayal" (1988) On DVD. Patrick Bergin, Lisa Harrow and Elliot Gould. A familiar theme, IRA man (Patrick Bergin) turns informer and is given a new identity and life for his family in Australia. However, it's not long before the IRA track him down and hired US assassin (Elliot Gould) is sent to mete out retribution. A pacy enough thriller but there are just too many coincidences along the way (probably necessary to pack it into 117 minutes) for it to ring true. Entertaining enough and worth tracking down a copy. 7/10

Tony EH

God, that's an awful cover