What is The Last Movie You Watched?

[Cecil Rhodes]

That Artsy-Fartsy Hitman movie Killing Them Softly . This movie is best described as The Big Kahuna with Hitmen . It was boring and it totally sucked . It was worse than SKYFALL .

[Cecil Rhodes]

The ending sucked aswell . We get a new M, a new Q ....ok, he was cool & always with the B/S P/C M/C with the new Moneypenny .


Skyfall -I won't bother listing the credits as there is nothing creditable about it except the end, which couldn't come too soon. This film is so hopelessly bad I am aghast at the critical reception it has received. Ok so like every Bond film it is based on a single idea rather than a plot, but you always know when the franchise managers have run out of ideas altogether when the only villain left is 'one of us'. As there is no plot there can be no plot holes, otherwise this would look like a Swiss cheese, without the delicate taste offset by vintage port and a cream cracker. As soon as I saw Albert Finney on the opening credits I sensed disaster, and there he was, the gamekeeper who has lived amidst the heather all his life but has no Scottish accent but some kind of mid-atlantic drawl as shaggy as his phoney beard and wooden acting. Judi Dench, who I saw on stage eons ago in The Winter's Tale; who sang like a bird in The Cherry Orchard (sounds pompous but some of the finest acting I have ever seen in one of the finest plays ever written), and was devastatingly brilliant in Talking to a Stranger has moved beyond parody, its really rather pathetic. And so on. I paid £5 to see this in the local cinema, tickets are so overpriced these days.

[Cecil Rhodes]

It's fucking hilarious!!!!! :dead: I Love It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Expendables 2 Official Trailer #2 (2012) Sylvester Stallone Movie HD - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgEqVYcryWc&feature=colike)

My 81 y/o mother loved this and the original . She lhao when Chuck showed up and Bruce and Arnie at the Airport . She seems to be getting into the shootum ups some of the super hero films .

[Jericho]

The Fourth Kind.
It's bad...very, very bad...Not good bad, bad bad...Fuck, it's bad!

[Cecil Rhodes]

The Fourth Kind.
It's bad...very, very bad...Not good bad, bad bad...Fuck, it's bad!

Why ? Because it has trees, paved roads, nice wooden houses and is full of White People ?

[Jericho]

Why ? Because it has trees, paved roads, nice wooden houses and is full of White People ?


Yes Cecil, that's the reason! :rolleyes:

[Cecil Rhodes]

Yes Cecil, that's the reason! :rolleyes:

So, you've been to Nome i see ? Nome has none of that .

[Stavros]

The Bourne Legacy (2012)
I am a fan of the Bourne trilogy, and this is not bad, it has a particularly good if occasionally cliche-ridden chase through Manila, a city whose chaotic traffic and gridlock has to be experienced at least once in your life -well, not really. But there aren't many ways to get through it except the way Jeremy Renner does. The downside was that I had to have the subtitles on a lot at the beginning as I could not understand what the characters were saying, and then it didn't matter much anyway. There is a lack of depth in the film, and although Renner makes a believable assassin, Rachel Weisz was a waste of space and, as usual, this kind of character has to be a woman. I think 6 out 10 for entertainment value. In spite of its ending, I think this should probably end the Bourne franchise.
The Bourne Legacy Official Trailer #2 (2012) Jeremy Renner Movie HD - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtUdEoE-Q4)

[CORVETTEDUDE]

Red Dawn .... The remake. I enjoyed it.

[Ben]

Oliver Stones Untold History of the United States S01E01 - World War II - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5-veAiYgAY&feature=player_embedded)

[Stavros]

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises -well, I got about two-thirds into it but then fell asleep so strictly speaking I haven't watched it. I will get through the rest of it today but I have to keep turning on the subtitles because I can't understand what Bane is saying, and then it doesn't matter anyway. The film has no story as far as I can make out except a nasty man wants to do nasty things. It might have looked ok in an Imax cinema, but on my flat screen its just, well, flat...

[Prospero]

I agree Stavros. A dreary, overlong and pointless film.

[Ben]

Just about to watch this documentary on the Koch brothers:

Robert Greenwald's "Koch Brothers Exposed" (Full) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTwqkl8BqSc)

[irvin66]

Kon-Tiki - The true story about legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his epic crossing of the Pacific on a balsa wood raft in 1947.
http://youtu.be/a8RID64X218

[Prospero]

Berberian Sound Studio - a very creepy little film that achieves maximum effect by showing nothing. It's about a sound effects engineer working on a shlocky Italian horror film. A must for anyone working in the sound side of the TV or film industry. Very original.

Berberian Sound Studio official trailer - in cinemas 31 August - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlNCiGVQsd0)

[Dino Velvet]

The Berberian Sound Studio - a very creepy little film that achieves maximum effect by showing nothing. It's about a sound effects engineer working on a shlocky Italian horror film. A must for anyone working in the sound side of the TV or film industry. Very original.

If the person is a character who likes schlocky Italian horror films would you recommend that film to him? Sounds interesting.

[Prospero]

Yes - I think you'd find it interesting (and technically it is pretty accurate)

[Dino Velvet]

Yes - I think you'd find it interesting (and technically it is pretty accurate)

Sold. Gonna drive over to Amazon and see if the store's open yet. That Blu-ray is mine. They hardly ever make Italian Horror films anymore so anything similar interests me. Time to fasten my bathrobe, grab the slippers, and off I go...

Berberian Sound Studio (2012) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTc3MDQ5MDg3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTM0MjMzOA@@._ V1._SX100_SY67_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BMTc3MDQ5MDg3Nl5BMl 5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTM0MjMzOA@@@@AMEPARAM@@SX100@@AMEPA RAM@@SY67 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1833844/)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AmQfY5oMSss/UCUBRjtmU9I/AAAAAAAAANg/q3yiClOE8KY/s1600/BSS+poster.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKG63WoOFGI

[Dino Velvet]

Amazon sells the soundtrack but not the film here. Just checked.

[Prospero]

It's a pretty new film. Only jus released in the UK. Might not be out in the US yet.

[Dino Velvet]

It's a pretty new film. Only jus released in the UK. Might not be out in the US yet.

In the age of immediate gratification that never crossed my mind for some reason. My Tivo is so advanced on the TV I believe I can see the future.

[Jericho]

Ninja Assassin.
Seen worse! :shrug

[fred41]

"After Porn Ends"..documentary from 2010.
Interesting just to see what happened to some of the folks you recognize from porn as they got older (such as Seka).
That's pretty much it.

[fred41]

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises -well, I got about two-thirds into it but then fell asleep so strictly speaking I haven't watched it. I will get through the rest of it today but I have to keep turning on the subtitles because I can't understand what Bane is saying, and then it doesn't matter anyway. The film has no story as far as I can make out except a nasty man wants to do nasty things. It might have looked ok in an Imax cinema, but on my flat screen its just, well, flat...

pretty much the last three Batman movies were filmed very dark ...often making it difficult to discern the action sequences (lots of mumbling too)....on my old set I could barely make anything out. On my new set The Dark Knight Rises had plenty of "pop" though...I think it depends on how well you're TV does contrast.

[Jericho]

The Escapist.
An absorbing little film with a sneaky plot twist at the end.

The Escapist (2008) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTA4OTEwMzQyNjleQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU3MDc2NjEzNDI@._ V1._SX94_SY140_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BMTA4OTEwMzQyNjleQT JeQWpwZ15BbWU3MDc2NjEzNDI@@@AMEPARAM@@SX94@@AMEPAR AM@@SY140 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0961728/)

[Stavros]

Before Christmas I saw two films worth mentioning, and one that has been a flop since its release...

The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan 1997)
The finest film from this erratic Canadian director, superior to all his other films, so I guess he had one great film to make -compared to the others which veer from the awful (Family Viewing, The Adjustor) to the mistaken (Ararat).
Sweet Hereafter Trailer - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7w-dPZI_LY)

The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
As with Egoyan, this is Bertolucci's finest film, and stands up well as I saw it in the 1970s not long after its release and in the 1980s but not for a while before last week; in her time Dominique Sanda (who now lives in Argentina) was an awessome beauty (it hasn't lasted), but the films has layers of meaning (which can be unraveled through the dvd commentary) and is only marred, as are all Italian films, by the pointless hiring of non-Italian actors whose voices are dubbed. A visual great.
The Conformist (1970) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQtreg0g3y8)

Revolution (Hugh Hudson, 1985)
The director's cut makes no difference to this indifferent film about the American Revolution seen from 'below'. Although it succeeds in depicting the chaotic reality of revolutionary war, Al Pacino's character is lacking in credibility -he is a fur trader who claims he has no understanding of 'liberty', and in spite of the fact that he has been trading in the interior with first nations and bringing his goods to markets on the East Coast has no idea what the revolution is about. When he encounters first the Iroquois and then the Huron, with whom he forms a bond, there is no instant recognition or rapport even though he must have had relations with them in the past -the Huron he meets is anyway half-French. The accents may be realistic, the landscapes, filmed in and near King's Lynn in Norfolk, and Devon, are supposed to double for the state of New York. The extra on the dvd featuring a conversation between Pacino and Hudson is self-congratulatory for no other reason than -I assume- that Hudson has time on his hands- the film may have matterd to them but it just isnt good enough. The appearance of Ricky from Eastenders as the first version son of Pacino in his first film suggests this actor's career went sharply downhill thereafter. The film just isn't interesting, it says nothing substantial about 1776 and all that, and suffers from a poorly conceived script and the usual wooden acting from Donald Sutherland who nevertheless did at least make one good film (Don't Look Now) in spite of his weird cranky voice, not nearly as bad in this film as his Irish accent in The Eagle Has Landed.
Revolution (1985) - trailer - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOJpN9GnGw4)

[riccadevia]

Watched this movie last night, pretty good. Well wriitten, a twist, and moves along at a good pace.

The opening scene...
Beyond (2011) Movie Clips - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz9Lho73aIw)

[Ben]

Wanting to watch this -- at some point.... Looks interesting.

BRONSON - Theatrical Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJ1c3qxOWc

[Dino Velvet]

Wanting to watch this -- at some point.... Looks interesting.

BRONSON - Theatrical Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJ1c3qxOWc

Get the DVD. It's real good.

[Ben]

Get the DVD. It's real good.

Okay.... Looks quite interesting.

[Dino Velvet]

Okay.... Looks quite interesting.

You seen Chopper(2000/Australia)?

Chopper (2000) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BNTc5Mzc3Njc4M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwODg1MTA5._V1._ SX99_SY140_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BNTc5Mzc3Njc4M15BMl5Ban BnXkFtZTYwODg1MTA5@@AMEPARAM@@SX99@@AMEPARAM@@SY14 0 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221073/)

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/original/vFCj3wzDWWLdcBUJLgQ3jbk8fub.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDz-7aTo0f4

[Ben]

You seen Chopper(2000/Australia)?

Chopper (2000) - IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221073/)

http://cf2.imgobject.com/t/p/original/vFCj3wzDWWLdcBUJLgQ3jbk8fub.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDz-7aTo0f4

I've never heard of it. However, one of my favorite flicks is Australian...

[Ben]

Mad Max 2 Opening Chase - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLCmcV4gC_0)

[Dino Velvet]

I've never heard of it. However, one of my favorite flicks is Australian...

Mad Max 1 & 2 are great but Beyond Thunderdome is horrible crapola. Almost as disappointing a sequel as Henry, Portrait Of A Serial Killer Part 2.

[Ben]

Mad Max 1 & 2 are great but Beyond Thunderdome is horrible crapola. Almost as disappointing a sequel as Henry, Portrait Of A Serial Killer Part 2.

Agreed.... Love 1 and 2.... Didn't like 3 at all.

[Stavros]

The Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012)
I saw this in 3D and it was visually superb; unfortunately I didn't care about the victims of the shipwreck- real, allegorical, all-made-up, whatever. A pity because while it looks so good, if there is no substantial story or connection with the characters, it just seems underwhelming. Also not sure why Rafe Spall needs to pretend to have an American accent when he is in Montreal, and an Englishman...!

Life Of Pi - Official Trailer - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Hjrs6WQ8M)

[MHarrigan82]

Django Unchained it was a fun movie. Jamie Foxx and Samuel L Jackson characters were good. The plot was a typical revenge western but with a black slave.

[speedking59]

Roberto Rossellini's The Taking of Power By Louis XIV

[cockstrong1]

last movie I seen was super 8 it's about six friends that are filming a super 8 movie when they witness a train wreck. The crazy thing about the train wreck is what's on the train that gets loose when it crashes a must see if you like adventure with a little slice of horror

[Instrumental]

Watched Dredd this morning and zero dark thirty last night.

[suprasam]

Just finished watching a movie called Paperboy with Nicole kidman and Zach Efron.

[be2378]

Just finished watching The Hindenberg with George C Scott.

[Kire89]

Pandorum.

[Dino Velvet]

BunMan: The Untold Story 1993 UNCUT - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTLcDMBcPRc)
http://horrorhappyhour.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/BjP8P8sL9Ybw8fF3.jpg

Ebola Syndrome 1996 UNCUT - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqIMjHpxJes)
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/2008/06/ebola-syndrome-dvd.jpg

[Prospero]

Just recently saw "Silver Linings Playbook". Affable but largely unfunny comedy. It has some charm, but it is slight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Lj5_FhLaaQQ

Also saw the most recent Woody Allen film "To Rome with love." Pretty poor with a few funny moments though one of the cnetral set pieces, a man who can only produce a brilliant operatic performance when standing in a shower, was stolen from a rather obscure Chinese film called Xizao by the director Zhang yang. .
Shower (Xizao) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOsaGp3itR0)
Sadly Allen's genus fled him decades ago and now he is agradual European tour, offering the most liched images of every city he settles in to folk.

Finally I watched "The Pink panther" which i'd never seen before. Hard to believe this spaned the funny "A Shot In The Dark" for it is very dreary.

[Prospero]

Agree with Stavros on Atom Egoyan, "The Sweet Hereafter" a brilliant film. But is earlier film "Exotica" was also wonderful - if less gruelling.

[RallyCola]

I took in 3 movies this weekend: Lincoln, Gangster Squad and Zero Dark Thirty.

Lincoln
1. Daniel Day Lewis was great as lincoln. He has certain idiosyncrasies in the role that make his performance nuanced and respectable. I see why he is nominated for awards.
2. The movie is too romantic. It presents Lincoln only as benevolent, something that we all (should) know was not true. Spielberg wusses out too often when he can be true to the man Lincoln was rather than the mystique. Also, the end is pretty bad because he tries and fails to represent the assassination tastefully.
3. Sally Field needs to retire. She might have been a good actress once but she gives a terrible performance in this movie. She is supposed to be the woman behind the man and show great strength at times and great vulnerability at others but just comes across as whiny all the time.

Zero Dark Thirty
1. Jessica Chastain does not deserve the GG for this performance nor the oscar nod. She is one-dimensional and just always uncomfortable. She is supposed to be a "killer" as she is introduced as such, but for 90% of the movie she is not very forceful nor is she convincing as a spy. She is only time she exudes any confidence is when she uses a dry erase marker.
2. The movie is well done and is a good artistic interpretation of what could have happened and is entertain albeit a bit too contrived because it places its characters at the heart of every step of the hunt for bin laden so it strains credibility there.
3. The movie suffers a bit from pacing because it is very much and "origin" story which really starts in 2003 so it takes a long time to get going.

Gangster Squad
1. This movie is the worst of the 3 movies I saw. Now, admittedly I saw this one predisposed to the fact that the producers pussied out in the wake of the Aurora shootings and changed the climactic scene from a theater shootout and while it is as action packed, i watched it knowing that it wasn't in the original edit and was reshot only because it might offend some retards that can't tell a movie from reality. This pissed me off going in.
2. The characters are so stereotypical and linear. There is no well-rounded and well-thought out character so it leaves a viewer to just fill in the hole from other similar gangster movies.
3. Predictable at every turn.

I would recommend the following order for entertainment value...Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln then Gangster Squad.

[Stavros]

Sadly Allen's genus fled him decades ago and now he is agradual European tour, offering the most liched images of every city he settles in to folk.


A bit too abstract for me...

[Prospero]

Sorry Stavros and others... sloppy keyboarding. it should have read

"Sadly Allen's genius fled him decades ago and now he is on a gradual European tour, offering the most cliched images of every city he settles on to feature in his films.

[Stavros]

Wagner (Tony Palmer, 1983)
All biographical films share the same problem -what to leave in and what to leave out? I understand Spielberg's Lincoln is a weeping willow of saccharine goodness that bears little comparison with Lincoln the man; whatever, this 'interpretation' (as Palmer would put it) of Wagner's life is a mess from start to finish; the link below claims to be the full version, the DVD set I have does not include some scenes which Palmer subsequently cut, not that it matters.

It is hard to believe that Wagner was a dynamic man, capable of tremendous love and generosity, that he inspired devotion in musicians, producers, indeed, ordinary people, when Palmer presents him as a sarcastic, surly, nasty person who, if indeed he were so, would never have got far in life. Richard Burton grumbles, mumbles and barks his way through an atrocious script; at 5' 11" (according to imdb) he would have towered over the real Wagner who was 5' 4" in heels; Cosima in real life was over 6' tall which makes her taller than Vanessa Redgrave. Having failed to explain why Wagner was such a failure in the first half of his life -because he music was crap- Palmer cannot explain the evolution of the extraordinary music from Tannhauser onwards (although only the second act works perfectly), cannot explain Wagner's astonishing gift with harmony, structure and the texture of music; he emphasises what in fact was a minor role Wagner played in the riots in Dresden in 1849, repeatedly showing footage of it throughout the film for no explicable reason, just as a dwarf in a wig repeatedly hammers on an anvil on which there aint nothing to hammer.

Wagner's first wife Minna was an actress who gave up a successful career to be the wife of this musical failure, and loathed the music that eventually was successful, just as she came to loathe him. She is shown dipping sugar cubes into laudanum when hubby is having an affair with Mathilde Wesendonck, as if it is some compensation for his absence, even though in real life her doctor prescribed laudanum for the heart ailment that would eventually kill her. She had numerous affairs with other men, and when she died was living with a postman. When King Ludwig stages a Lohengrin pageant in one of his fairy-tale castles, the music is from Parsifal; the court of Ludwig in Bavaria is dominated by John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Laurence Olivier all three of whom are a tiresome nuisance. Palmer presents Wagner's attitude to Wagner societies as pure sarcasm even though they were instrumental in raising the money for the first Ring Cycle at Bayreuth, Wagner also raised money from extensive concert tours which are not mentioned here. And so on and so on.
Maybe biographical films should be banned or restricted to a theme or moment in the life, Straub and Huillet's Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach being a modest success in this regard.
I don't think even a Wagner fanatic would be satisfied with this junk.

"WAGNER - THE COMPLETE EPIC" (as seen on TV) by Tony Palmer w/RICHARD BURTON - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alf7JtcjfLQ)

[ImpulZ]

Limitless

cool movie about a drugs that makes you genius

[Prospero]

Most biographical films should be banned Stavros, old fellow? I think that's a step too far. i think YOU should be banned from seeing them. A better solution. lol

As for your remarks about Lincoln perhaps you should go see it first, eh? I know you loath the lead actor, but he actually turns in a fantastic performance. And it based on a powerful book about the subject. And yes it has it's saccharine moments, but is far better than that. Far better.

[Stavros]

Fair enough, but it hasn't opened here yet. And I don't think I will ever be satisfied with biographical films if I know something about the subject, but you don't answer the question yourself. Anyway Lincoln hasn't opened here yet, and I will reserve my judgement until I have seen it. Until then it looks like Les Mis will have to step in for consolation, although I have been told people in the cinemas are singing all the way through it, hmmm....

[Stavros]

The House I Live in (Eugene Jarecki, 2012)
Saw this on tv this evening; powerful, and profound in every sense of the word, and also depressing. If it lacked one component it is the explosion of drug trafficking that took place in the 1980s when the Reagan presidency was financing the war against the USSR in Afghanistan, and when the supply of cocaine from South America also exploded. Coincidence?

The House I Live In - Official Trailer (In Theaters Now) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5W9idE5hqk)

[rockabilly]

Brave

[robertlouis]

Fair enough, but it hasn't opened here yet. And I don't think I will ever be satisfied with biographical films if I know something about the subject, but you don't answer the question yourself. Anyway Lincoln hasn't opened here yet, and I will reserve my judgement until I have seen it. Until then it looks like Les Mis will have to step in for consolation, although I have been told people in the cinemas are singing all the way through it, hmmm....


There are special showings of The Sound of Music in which people dress up as characters and sing along with the songs. My idea of hell.

[eccentricBlue]

Total Recall..
Now I can watch the new one and compare

[Jericho]

There are special showings of The Sound of Music in which people dress up as characters and sing along with the songs. My idea of hell.


Rab doth protest too much! :hide-1:

[prettyboy5]

I saw Zero Dark Thirsty over the weekend. It was awesome.

[StinkyPete1000]

Project X

[rockabilly]

I saw Zero Dark Thirsty over the weekend. It was awesome.

Freudian slip

[Prospero]

I think singalongaLesMis would be even worse than the sound of music. There isn't a decent tune in the whole thing as far as i can discern. I have an advance DVD and will be (gritting my teeth) and watching it soon.

[Prospero]

Oh and Stavros - what was the question? That biopics should be banned? Of course not. But I'd agree that most should not be made. Except of course the one i am developing presently lol

[Prospero]

To return to Stavros and the issue of biopics. I think they almost always fail because, as Stavros demonstrates with his remarks about Wagner, those who are familiar with the real biographies of the subject will always pick holes in the dramatic simplifications inevitable in a film portrayal. Naming a single really terrific biopic is hard to do. Perhaps Ivan Rublev by Tarkovsky? But both are dealing more in the myth of a figure rather than the actual details of a life. Nothing Hollywood produces is truly great though, like Lincoln, it can contain a great performance.
The problems are twofold. Life is messy with loose ends. Popular entertainment (and Hollywood films especially) tries to tie them up. And to try to contain a life to a short film is impossible with gross distortion or simplification. The best biopics, I'd argue, choose an event or an episode - and use that to suggest the nature of its character. Lincoln, while flawed by many things, works reasonably well because of 1. A terific series of performances and 2. Because it limits ambitions to a brief part of Lincoln's life. It is weakest when it falls pry to Spielberg's constant need to sentimentalise things (the Gettysburg address business at the front, the sequence where he quotes from Hamlet, the postscript and the decision to feature Lincoln's death (wholly unnecessary)

[wbmando]

Silver Lining Playbook--excellent movie.

[Jericho]

Reacherround, er, i mean, Reacher.
Not as bad as i expected it to be! :shrug

[Prospero]

Jericho in shock change of avatar. You look younger now

[Jericho]

What can i say...I've found god! :shrug

[Stavros]

There are special showings of The Sound of Music in which people dress up as characters and sing along with the songs. My idea of hell.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I think that is where the rot set in. Unbearable.

I once had to reprimand a man at Covent Garden who mistakenly assumed he was allowed to singalong with Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera; and almost died laughing while watching the philosopher Bryan Magee get out of his seat during a performance of Die Walkure to virtually thump a man in the back who had developed a minor cough...one must retain standards.

Do you do singalong, happy-clappy songs with your devoted audience, RobertLouis?

[Stavros]

To return to Stavros and the issue of biopics. I think they almost always fail because, as Stavros demonstrates with his remarks about Wagner, those who are familiar with the real biographies of the subject will always pick holes in the dramatic simplifications inevitable in a film portrayal. Naming a single really terrific biopic is hard to do. Perhaps Ivan Rublev by Tarkovsky? But both are dealing more in the myth of a figure rather than the actual details of a life. Nothing Hollywood produces is truly great though, like Lincoln, it can contain a great performance.
The problems are twofold. Life is messy with loose ends. Popular entertainment (and Hollywood films especially) tries to tie them up. And to try to contain a life to a short film is impossible with gross distortion or simplification. The best biopics, I'd argue, choose an event or an episode - and use that to suggest the nature of its character. Lincoln, while flawed by many things, works reasonably well because of 1. A terific series of performances and 2. Because it limits ambitions to a brief part of Lincoln's life. It is weakest when it falls pry to Spielberg's constant need to sentimentalise things (the Gettysburg address business at the front, the sequence where he quotes from Hamlet, the postscript and the decision to feature Lincoln's death (wholly unnecessary)

Exellent points in biography and film; but why does Spielberg have such a desperate need to make people want to cry at his movies?

[RallyCola]

my two cents about Les Miserables....

WOW...that was some suck. If it was a movie based on the book, with less singing, i would have enjoyed it more. Russell Crowe singing is enough to ruin anyone's day. I've slowly decided that it isn't a very good movie and is something I won't re-watch.

[RallyCola]

Exellent points in biography and film; but why does Spielberg have such a desperate need to make people want to cry at his movies?

because evoking a positive emotional response is better for the box office than a negative one.

if spielberg did a movie about stalin or pol pot, he'd make them seem like victims of circumstance and the hero.

[eccentricBlue]

Just watched the new Total Recall

For a remake, it was very good. Similar, but not identical with quite a few subtle nods to the original. I give it a 7 out of 10

[Stavros]

if spielberg did a movie about stalin or pol pot, he'd make them seem like victims of circumstance and the hero.

What is trulyscary is that you are right -there is a film called Mongol about the early years of Genghiz Khan, soaked in sentiment it is hard to believe he became one of the most prolific mass murderers in history; but then the Russians had a lot of problems in 20008 when they had their version of the Greatest Russian on tv and it looked like Stalin was going to win! He came third behind Pyotr Stolypin (the last Tsar's Prime Minister) and the winner, Alexander Nevsky. In 2005 Ronald Reagan won it for the USA -no further comment!

[Prospero]

I have that Genghis Khan film but have never got around to watching it. It's true he was a terrible mass murderer, but he is still idolised in Mongolia i believe as the greatest figure their history has produced.

Did they ever do a comparable thing about the greatest Briton? Thatcher or Churchill would probably win.

[Dino Velvet]

What is trulyscary is that you are right -there is a film called Mongol about the early years of Genghiz Khan, soaked in sentiment it is hard to believe he became one of the most prolific mass murderers in history

That was supposed to be the first of a triliogy. Do you know the progress on the other 2? I agree the first being sappy really scratching my head.

[Stavros]

Churchill made it as the 'Greatest Briton' even though he was half-American; how Shakespeare never made it should be the subject of an enquiry given that he must be the most loved Englishman who ever lived. It was as scandalous as Reagan winning the American version, a sad commentary on political ignorance.

Dino -no idea about parts 2 and 3 of Mongol -great shots of the Mongolian landscape, that's the best one can say, and probably already done by National Geographic.

[Dino Velvet]

Dino -no idea about parts 2 and 3 of Mongol -great shots of the Mongolian landscape, that's the best one can say, and probably already done by National Geographic.

You can always dust off the John Wayne version. Haven't we formed a circle and poked this film with a stick before? Shoulda got Robert Mitchum instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq1K0Y-I6vg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXu6QmxpJE

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BNDk4OTk5MzMwN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMDE4MzU2._V1._ SX341_SY450_.jpg

[ImpulZ]

Train....stupid hostel ripped off butt still funny 2 watch.

http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1015474/

[Dino Velvet]

Train....stupid hostel ripped off butt still funny 2 watch.

http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1015474/

A good Horror Film on a train is Horror Express. You got Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas plays a Cossack. Can't lose. The creepy Rasputin-type character almost steals the thing. Hammer-like but a Spanish production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L86jAuTQZ-E

[speedking59]

Costa-Gavras' The Confession

[Stavros]

Flightplan (2005)
I like Jody Foster a lot, but she has made some stupid films, and this is one, shown on tv last night, has so many plot holes its a wonder that plane ever got off the ground. Just the end where a plane landing in Canada is surrounded by the FBI...hmmm...Peter Sarsgard, another fine actor cannot rescue his preposterous role. Also, I thought the baggage compartments of aeroplanes were not depressurised whereas on this plane the lights are always on, you can breathe, and there are access points into the rest of the plane -?? I know its a film but a degree of credibility should be observed...hmph!

[RallyCola]

Last night, I watched Bucky Larson Born to be a Star. It is something you watch only in the background of whatever else you are doing because it isn't funny and it gets old fast

[fred41]

Point Blank
À bout portant (2010) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTcxMDA4NjQ4OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjc1MjEzNQ@@._ V1._SX94_SY140_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BMTcxMDA4NjQ4OF5BMl 5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjc1MjEzNQ@@@@AMEPARAM@@SX94@@AMEPAR AM@@SY140 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1545759/)

Fast paced...and at 84 min...fast.

[robertlouis]

Point Blank
À bout portant (2010) - IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1545759/)

Fast paced...and at 84 min...fast.

Good point. Some of the most recent films, like Les Miserables, Django Unchained, The Hobbit and Skyfall are around three hours. Too long. There are some excellent films that tell their story much more effectively in 90 minutes or less.

[Prospero]

I'd agree with that judgement Robert... though Lincoln is 2.5 hrs long and doesn't seem too long. I watched "Zero Dark Thirty" last night. That's also a very long haul. Directors are being indulged too much by their producers. Some - like the wretched Tarantino - are spoilt brats anyway.


I'd also defend this film's content. Showing unethical methods by the CIA (special rendition, waterboarding, black sites, torture etc) does not amount to approving of them. I think Katherine Bigelow has made a powerful, if flawed film.

[Stavros]

Prospero-- self-indulgence aside, what long films do you admire?

[sz1122]

Just saw zero dark thirty last night. Very interesting but a little long

[Prospero]

Stavros - how LONG is long? Well i guess Shoah.. but more as a testament than a film. Solaris (the Russian one) Stalker, and most of Tarkovsky's other films. But they're not that long. Celine and julie Go Boating by Rivette.

And Abel Gance's Napoleon - though its been year's since i saw it. There is a chance to see it this coming November in London

http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/30nov13/

Otherwise almost every long film would benefit from some judicious editing. (Nope not seen Satantango.)

I do rather like slow films though (Paris Texas for instance which had many very long still takes)

One of the worst vry long films was "Renaldo And Clara" Bob Dylan's five hour home movie. I love Dylan but this.....

[Jimmy W]

Lincoln - Youve seen this movie before but Daniel Day Lewis is just amazing
Zero Dark Thirty - They introduce Jessica Chastain as "a killer" and she cant handle a "torture" scene that consists of pouring water on a guys head? Its a good movie but very overrated.
Argo - Siimply a really really good movie
Flight - My favorite of them all and I cant believe how it got snubbed. Denzel Washington is the firsrt film alcoholic Ive ever seen who behaves like an alcoholic. Fucking brilliant. That said, they should have dropped the super hot druggie hooker girlfriend and if they had and made him a guy who drinks alone, it would have and should have been perfect.
Hitchcock - More like shit cock

[Jimmy W]

FYI- these are based on watching screener copies so I have no idea what they show in the theatre

[fivekatz]

To Rome with Love directed by Woody Allen. A very typical Woody Allen movie winding four unique stories dealing with a variety of human frailties. Good cast, first movie Woody has personally acted in since he did since he did Scoop. His dead pan humor is still there as his raising questions about mortality, morality and meaning.

Lighter fare than many of the films mentioned here but it contains Woody's flair for making cities beautiful backdrops, his use of long single shot scenes.

Being a huge fan I enjoy all his movies but this one is probably somewhere between his best and the clunkers from early 2000's. It amazing to think that this man is screenwriter and director and puts out a movie every year. A prolific career indeed!

Available now streaming and DVD.

[Prospero]

To Rome with Love directed by Woody Allen. A very typical Woody Allen movie winding four unique stories dealing with a variety of human frailties. Good cast, first movie Woody has personally acted in since he did since he did Scoop. His dead pan humor is still there as his raising questions about mortality, morality and meaning.

Lighter fare than many of the films mentioned here but it contains Woody's flair for making cities beautiful backdrops, his use of long single shot scenes.

Being a huge fan I enjoy all his movies but this one is probably somewhere between his best and the clunkers from early 2000's. It amazing to think that this man is screenwriter and director and puts out a movie every year. A prolific career indeed!

Available now streaming and DVD.

But the thread about the man who can only sing in the shower was stolen wholesale from an old Chinese film. I was shocked when i found that out.

[Prospero]

Zero Dark Thirty.... too long and predictable. Jessica Chastain is terrific. I agree with the director that portraying waterboarding, torture, special rendition, black sites etc and other dubious practices is NOT endorsing them. Rather more interesting question is did they really help in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden? Many argue that nothing gained by torture is reliable. Another interesting element is the assertion that the director and writer were given access to classified material not available yet to the media or general public.

[Stavros]

Django Unchained
This is a very long and tedious film that fails to rescue Tarantino from the decline that set in after Pulp Fiction. We are asked to believe that the lead character, Dr Schulz, who has abandoned dentistry to kill people for money, acquires a conscience while working with a slave called Django. A plantation owner called Candie (Leonardo di Caprio) has set dogs on a slave who tear him to death, an incident which apparently turns Schulz against Candie and precipitates a bloodbath led by the 'slave'/freeman Django. But nothing substantial in the film up to this point justifies this moral change, throughout the film Schulz and Django are both killers, and the moral assumptions about the iniquity of slavery are pre-ordained precisely because nobody these days either believes in it or can justify it. As a result the film is basically the story of an attempt by a slave to rescue his wife from bondage, and that's about it. The script is dire, using a reportoire of words and phrases, mostly ending with the word 'boy' that are presumably derived from the way people spoke at the time, though I doubt it.
The initial conceit of a black man riding a horse generates an astonishing series of responses -yet surely slaves were used as cowboys to herd cattle across Texas and other states, so what is the problem? The nadir of this silly film arrives with Tarantino himself pretending to speak with a South African accent, and he can't even do that.
Tarantino has made a living making films which poach from other films, he is a film nut, fair enough. But this is not an homage to Corbucci's western, Django, but an insult. Corbucci's work is not an homage to the classic western but a severe critique, offering an alternative narrative which removes the morals so loaded in the typical John Wayne film -whereas the moral assumptions in Django Unchained choke it to death. Nor is the film rescued by any notable acting performances, while the mere idea of a German speaking slave called Broomhilde is just potty.
Perhaps an enthusiast can give this film a credit. I can't.

[Dino Velvet]

But this is not an homage to Corbucci's western, Django, but an insult. Corbucci's work is not an homage to the classic western but a severe critique, offering an alternative narrative which removes the morals so loaded in the typical John Wayne film

Dude, thank you so much for that. I've seen Sukiyaki Western Django even but Tarantino is still the assistant manager at Blockbuster Video to me.

[LibertyHarkness]

judge dredd and it wasnt very good at all .. just average .. the older one in 90s with sly stallone was much more fun to watch ..

[Lovecox]

Just saw Looper. It felt like with a little more work it could have been a really good film. Something was missing for me. But I can watch Emily Blunt all day long.

[Prospero]

Looper had an interesting premise, but wasted in what is essentially a standard shoot 'em up film....

[Stavros]

Dude, thank you so much for that. I've seen Sukiyaki Western Django even but Tarantino is still the assistant manager at Blockbuster Video to me.

Blockbuster in the UK went bust last week; they are finished. I sometimes wonder if Tarantino's isn't just a sump -he saw all those movies, and he can quote from them, but did he ever understand them?

[Dino Velvet]

Blockbuster in the UK went bust last week; they are finished. I sometimes wonder if Tarantino's isn't just a sump -he saw all those movies, and he can quote from them, but did he ever understand them?

I hear Tarantino really wants to work with Denzel Washington. You all in or all out?

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko11_r2_250.gifhttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko2_r1_250.gifhttp://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko10_r2_250.gif
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko6_r2_250.gifhttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko9_r2_250.gifhttp://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko17_r1_250.gif
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko21_r1_250.gifhttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko19_r1_250.gifhttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8w269YEB01rxj7wko18_r1_250.gif

[Prospero]

:iagree::iagree::iagree:
Blockbuster in the UK went bust last week; they are finished. I sometimes wonder if Tarantino's isn't just a sump -he saw all those movies, and he can quote from them, but did he ever understand them?

[Jimmy W]

I get the feeling Tarantino is less interested in making a good movie than in trying to prove how 'cool' he is.

[Jimmy W]

The UK still had Blockbuster? I thought they went belly up years ago.

[Stavros]

I hear Tarantino really wants to work with Denzel Washington. You all in or all out?


Wonder if he has to run it by Le Spike first? DZ was interviewed recently saying how much he wants to play bad guys; I was kinda hoping he was going to announce his retirement...

[Stavros]

The UK still had Blockbuster? I thought they went belly up years ago.

A declining set of stores chasing a declining market -the one they had in my town, in a poor location, closed I think in 2002, it is still an empty unit. They failed because the online facility has knocked the ground from under store rentals; in addition, if you want to buy the dvd and can wait, the top price of a new release at around £15.99 will go down to under £10 in a year, and if you wait long enough it might be £5 or less. HMV is currently offering 25% off most of its DVD's in a desperate attempt to stay in the market. There are real bargains to be had-an independent shop in town is offering two boxes of Fassbinder films which normally retail at £40 each, for £20; but if you spend more than £20 you get a 5% discount voucher -I guess it all depends on whether you want to spend a week watching Fassbinder films...

[Dino Velvet]

Wonder if he has to run it by Le Spike first? DZ was interviewed recently saying how much he wants to play bad guys; I was kinda hoping he was going to announce his retirement...

Really? Denzel is corny corn corn as a hero but I'll always dig Alonzo. Little Spike might get his glasses all fogged up if he defects to Quentin. I'll accept retirement if this is not the case.

[TsTigg]

Watched Pineapple Express yesterday great movie:Bowdown:

[Yeah]

Watchef Taken 2 last night and going to watch Batman The Dark Knight Rises tonight.

[flabbybody]

Zero Dark Thirty.... too long and predictable. Jessica Chastain is terrific. I agree with the director that portraying waterboarding, torture, special rendition, black sites etc and other dubious practices is NOT endorsing them. Rather more interesting question is did they really help in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden? Many argue that nothing gained by torture is reliable. Another interesting element is the assertion that the director and writer were given access to classified material not available yet to the media or general public.
yes, the outcome was certainly predictable. we all know America found the scumbag and killed him.
The movie gave me an admiration for the dedicated people who hunted him down. Aggressive interrogation is part of getting bad guys. "Bro, I'll break you... it's biology" In the words of Jack Nicholson from A FEW GOOD MEN. "You value the freedom that I provide and then you question the manner in which I provide it"
I also like the fact that it was pro Obama because it depicts the odds of the CIA thinking they found Ben Laden as only 50-50, but he went ahead and sanctioned the mission anyway.
I love happy endings.

[Stavros]

Les Miserables (Tom Hooper, 2012)
Hugo's bloated novel at over 1,000 pages does at least allow some character development; it may be unfair to expect a musical, even one as tediously long as this to offer anything comparable in substance, but this train wreck of a film suggests the book of this musical is more a set of light sketches joined together by a diluted plot which has no drama.
Fatally, for a musical, it has only one memorable song, I dreamed a dream; in addition I think there are three upbeat numbers where everything else is a ballad, big mistake. It all sounds the same, from beginning to end. The male singers are all tenors, where a dark bass or baritone voice would have suited either Javert or Valjean, not least because both Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman strain to reach the notes even in falsetto, though since they can't sing anyway this is an academic point. So on the big song Ann Hathway barks and sobs her way through it, not having had a coach to teach her how to either sing, or phrase a word. One of the songs, the one at the end sung by Valjean a reprise from earlier on, is frankly too close to the Humming Chorus of Puccini's Madama Butterfly (it closes Act II).

Think of the great musicals -My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Oliver!, South Pacific, The King and I, heavens even The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins -they all have five or six hit songs, there are happy songs, ballads, dance routines, choruses, songs for sopranos, songs for baritones, and so on and so on. What does Les Miserables have?
I screamed a scream...

[Ben]

Last night I watched Game Change. It's quite interesting. And you sympathize with ol' Sarah Palin.
Plus you realize she was in over her head. And also the fame went to her head. Or that's how the film portrays it.

[Dino Velvet]

Saw Zero Dark Thirty today. Almost a 3 hour film that moved quickly. Enjoyed the film and Jessica Chastain's performance for sure. Still fresh in my head digesting it.

http://www.picz.ge/img/s3/1301/5/9/988f8f8b30a6.jpg

[Prospero]

Jessica C was great.

My most recent film was Amour - a grim film by Michael Haneke about the final weeks in the marriage of an elderly couple in Paris. She has a series of strokes and the film details her gradual deterioration. It's bleak, but moving - but not recommended really. Superb acting but depressing as hell. One film critic said it was "like On Golden Pond directed by Hitler."

[RallyCola]

i'm going to see Movie 42 later tonight...will post a review tomorrow

[Stavros]

Lincoln (Spielberg, 2012)
Spielberg's latest history lesson is understated by his standards, and focused on a micro-historical moment; this doesn't prevent him from getting things wrong although I expect he would claim the right to interpret events rather than, as it were, slavishly follow the facts (eg, Mrs Lincoln would not have attended debates in the House; votes were taken in alphabetical order not by state). Lincoln as a man is too complex to be reduced to one film, Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor I have not admired, does an admirable job in the circumstances, as do all the cast; I just wasn't inspired, perhaps we sort of know the story and know the outcome. This is more of a tv movie anyway. I was not expecting the neocons argument about Lincoln to get an airing, but it does and I thought that the most interesting aspect of the film, as Lincoln's politics during the War -because of the war- remains controversial, as does the opening declaration of the film in which the political aspect of the Civil War is described as slavery rather than the economic aspect which was the slave economy of the southern states and the damage it was causing to the broader development of the US economy. The deeper question of whether Lincoln, who genuinely hated slavery, wanted Black people to live in the USA is not properly answered, not even when Elizabeth Keckley as him. Apart from this nit-picking it was a very long and worthy film, but a 7 out of 10 for me.
For those who are interested in the neocons argument that Lincoln was a dictator who established the 'big government' that the founding fathers did not want, the controversial/notorious book by Thomas di Lorenzo is a good place to start...

The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War: Thomas DiLorenzo: 9780761536413: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51f7%2B1-g5LL.@@AMEPARAM@@51f7%2B1-g5LL (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761536418/ludwigvonmisesinst/)

[RallyCola]

Movie 43
Overall, this is a funny movie that obviously will piss off the critics because it is made to be silly and poke fun at movie stereotypes. It is crude, it is aimed at teens and people in their 20s and it has 99% of the funny moments really captured in the red band trailer. It leaves nothing to the imagination because it is very much a movie that says, "laugh here because we want you to" and has no real plot. I don't regret seeing it, but its not something I think I would watch again when its on cable.

When you think back to funny spoofs, like Airplane, Spaceballs or Top Secret, which were funny without all the gross-out stuff and cursing for the sake of cursing, you wonder if those movies could make money if released today

[Prospero]

Ref Lincoln... an interesting article, if rather long, from the New York Review Of books, examining the accuracy and otherwise of this and other films about the great president.

How Close to Lincoln?

Lincoln
a film directed by Steven Spielberg

By David Bromwich

DreamWorks Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox

Abraham Lincoln’s reelection was in doubt through much of the summer and fall of 1864, but Union victories in Mobile Bay and Atlanta restored the popular faith in his leadership, and he won 55 percent of the vote. By December the end of the Civil War seemed close. As far back as late 1863, total abolition of slavery had been part of Lincoln’s understanding of how the war must end; and he had pressed already in June 1864 for the passage of a Thirteenth Amendment to ban slavery in the United States. He was turned back then by the vote in the House of Representatives, but now, with larger Republican numbers in Congress, he was sure of the two-thirds vote required for passage. In his December message to Congress, Lincoln spoke of the amendment as a matter of great urgency. “The next Congress,” he said, “will pass the measure if this does not,” and “may we not agree that the sooner the better?”

Meanwhile, the moderate wing of Lincoln’s party found a new opportunity to satisfy their wish for an early conciliatory end to the war. Francis Preston Blair (whose son Montgomery had been dropped from the cabinet as a concession to radicals) asked and received permission from Lincoln to visit the Confederate leadership and see whether the South might now offer soundings for peace. Three Southern peace commissioners, including the vice-president of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens, were dispatched to Hampton Roads in Virginia, about two hundred miles from Washington, where eventually they would confer with Lincoln’s secretary of state, William Seward, accompanied by the president himself.

Lincoln heard out their proposals but could not accept a major element of the Confederate position: that the North and South were to be treated as separate countries. He is unlikely to have expected a better result. Yet this abortive final quest for peace arrived unhappily in the midst of the campaign to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, and Lincoln’s allies in Congress asked him personally to contradict a rumor that rebel negotiators were in the city.

He responded with a deft evasion. Hampton Roads, after all, was not the same as the city of Washington. “So far as I know,” Lincoln wrote, “there are no peace commissioners in the city, or likely to be in it.” So the amendment passed, the Confederate commissioners returned to Richmond, and history was supplied with a fresh illustration that the reality of politics may call on a politician to keep three balls in the air: in this case the pressure to end the war on certain terms, the need to maintain radical support for a radical initiative, and the good of proving to moderates that every avenue had been explored. Perhaps a fourth ball was also in play: the reputation of Lincoln for honesty, probity, and consistency.

Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln interweaves these distinct engagements of the president during January and February 1865—the vote for abolition in Congress and a talk arranged to consider peace with the slave power—in order to recall the constant presence of mind required in practical politics. Though Spielberg deserves the praise he has been getting, this is in large measure a writer’s movie. The best scenes of Lincoln come from Tony Kushner’s lines, and the best of the lines are plain and clipped. We are shown Lincoln at a dedicatory speech on an occasion (like many in the war) so short that people have barely gathered before it is done. “That’s my speech,” he says. Yet the ground note of Lincoln refers us not to the ceremonial duties of a head of state but to the fatigue and persistence of a leader in time of war. “Some weariness has bit at my bones.” There are enough utterances in that tenor to support the careworn look and bowed posture of Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln.

It is a commanding performance and a credible one. Day-Lewis has squeezed his usual voice into a thinner, higher, reedy instrument, with a gravelly roughness under it. The voice curls into a growl: there is hardly a day in January when Lincoln is not taxed almost beyond endurance. We can be sure somebody working on the picture read an account of Lincoln’s speaking voice, for it had some of these properties, yet it showed a strange power: not booming and baritone, indeed not resonant in any obvious way, but by all accounts close to a high alto; it could irritate at first but after a few paragraphs his listeners would stand enthralled.

Lincoln took hold of his audience by argument, if any politician ever did, but he also did it by the conveyed sense of irreducible conviction behind the argument. Day-Lewis has something of that quality. He gets at it from the outside in, but he goes all the way in. The drawback occurs only when one asks whether this Lincoln could have made himself heard by a crowd. The voice sounds too small and crimped for that—notwithstanding Day-Lewis’s “private theory,” as reported in The New York Times, that “higher voices carry better in crowds”—and its limitations are underlined by the big theatrical moment in which Lincoln shouts that he wants the amendment “Now, now, now!” What we are meant to hear as an irresistible imperative comes across as a thin scream.

The Lincoln whom Kushner has written and Day-Lewis has performed is full of stories, all of them effective and some of them barnyard-low. We are made to see that his skill as a master of arguments ran close beside his gift and his trove as a teller of stories. This was an aspect of Lincoln’s character that two earlier films, Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) and Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), also leaned on heavily. In the best scene of any of the Lincoln movies, John Ford showed Henry Fonda at the door of the jailhouse in Young Mr. Lincoln, protecting two young men from a lynch mob by singling out the howling men in the crowd. He knows them all, and he talks to them. He does it with little anecdotes and characterizations. The scene is affecting because it shows civic courage and physical courage blended in a single act; and though Lincoln was never involved in a confrontation quite like it, the incident draws on knowledge of what he knew and said about mobs.

Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois walked through Lincoln’s stories as if they were lines that he was told somebody might laugh at and so he rehearsed them straight. Day-Lewis tells them like a man who has studied the high adepts of the cracker barrel and is ready to lead a revival. Fonda alone—it is one of the things that make Young Mr. Lincoln a great contribution to folklore and myth—talked as if the humor were native to him, as if there was hardly a moment in a circle of men when a story might not come into his mind. A flicker of the possibility of humor was always behind his eyes. Also, the possibility of anger. Fonda remains the actor of Lincoln who can astonish by a vehemence that is not unfettered rage.

Anachronisms, though never so thick as to become an annoyance, are freely strewn over the phraseology of Spielberg’s Lincoln. It is true that the president needed a few Democratic votes to pass the Thirteenth Amendment in the lagging days of a lame-duck Congress, but he never attached any symbolic importance to its coming before the public as “bipartisan” legislation. He was an unembarrassed Republican who took every opportunity to call himself a Republican; and the active contest some politicians in our time disdain as partisan bickering was for him a normal condition of life. Again, “conservative Republicans” was not, in 1865, a conventional phrase to denote those who might go easier on slavery than the abolitionists Zachariah Chandler, Benjamin Wade, Thaddeus Stevens, and Charles Sumner. But those are minor slips. The major ones appear to be calculated defections from probability that the filmmakers weighed in cold blood against their value as claptrap.

The Tennessee lawyer and lobbyist W.N. Bilbo, whom Lincoln’s team deploys as a vote-getter, is pictured as a coarsely clever operative, but would Lincoln have barged in on him personally to check the count and would Bilbo have shouted in surprise, “Well I’ll be fucked!”? At an opposite reach of the available idioms, it seems wrong for Stevens to deplore the weak morale of white people by saying that their “moral compass…has ossified.” Nor was the historical Lincoln a name-dropper or an allusion-monger. But Kushner’s Lincoln drops quotations from Shakespeare like chocolate-covered dinner treats. When he tells of a nightmare, Hamlet must be slotted in: “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.” He cannot see an unhappy person without quoting King Lear—the wretch is an “unaccommodated poor bare forked creature such as we all are.” Probably Lincoln had his fill of that sort of thing from Daniel Webster. Anyway, at close quarters he left the parade of refinement to the resourceful and crafty (and boastful and overingenious) William Seward.

Here, incidentally, a chance for dramatic contrast has been lost. Seward, the movie’s fourth major character alongside Lincoln, Mary Lincoln, and Thaddeus Stevens, has been made to look several years younger and several inches thinner than he appears in portraits of the time. Indeed, Seward as played by David Strathairn cuts a figure uncannily like Sam Waterston in the TV series Law and Order, and this is odd because Sam Waterston was the voice of Lincoln in Ken Burns’s documentary of the Civil War as well as in many public readings and the 1988 TV biopic Lincoln.

Strathairn is an accomplished actor but his recurrent lifts from the Waterston repertory of tics and traits—the quiver of the head, the nervous downward look digesting a thought, the air of constant intelligent receptivity—by a freak of influence crowds the film with a second Lincoln in the room. Yet unlike Day-Lewis’s Lincoln and Strathairn’s Seward, the historical Seward liked to dominate any room he was in; and Lincoln seems to have been content to let some persons walk away from the White House imagining that Seward ran the government. Later, a gesture or action unmistakably his own would prove again who held the reins.

In an imposing verbal set piece of this movie, Lincoln speaks of himself as “clothed in immense power.” He argues that his power itself is a sufficient reason for passing the amendment at once. But like other reports of Lincoln boasting of dictatorial powers and buying votes, the speech has an unreliable source, a quotation in the reminiscences of Congressman John B. Alley of Massachusetts:

I leave it to you to determine how it shall be done; but remember that I am President of the United States clothed with great power, and I expect you to procure those votes.

The Lincoln of that imputed command, and of the Cromwell-like speech written by Kushner in the same key, is for the moment frankly indifferent about the means of accomplishing a desirable end. This will not carry conviction to anyone who has read much about Lincoln.

The speech sounds wrong for internal reasons because it is unlike anything credibly reported as said by Lincoln (whatever he may have thought privately). And it is weak for external reasons because—as the historian Michael Vorenberg has noticed in a fine essay on the Thirteenth Amendment—Congressman Alley conjured the words from memory twenty-three years after the fact.* The same goes for a judgment spoken in the movie with solemn authority by Thaddeus Stevens: that the amendment “was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.”

We are meant to pause and sigh at that; and, the director being Spielberg, we are given time to pause and sigh. But here, not just the authenticity but the tone of the words is uncertain. Does Stevens intend to convey bafflement? Wonder? Irony? The reproach of one moralist against another regarding the strangeness of conscience in politics? The line is floated as an optional profundity, but it too was skimmed from memory, this time thirty-three years after the fact, by an opponent of the New Jersey railroad monopoly who had been disappointed by Lincoln’s coolness in approaching that issue.

These are small trespasses—no worse than some that were justified by purely fictional license in Young Mr. Lincoln and Abe Lincoln in Illinois. One moment of Spielberg’s Lincoln, however, dips a good deal lower and tampers with the consistency of the character. “We’re stepped upon the world’s stage now,” Kushner makes Lincoln say, “with the fate of human dignity in our hands. Blood’s been spilled to afford us this moment.” What is it, exactly, that turns those words so false in Lincoln’s mouth? They show a kind of strut. The man is aglow and his voice is alive with the tremendous business of making history. But this was a sentiment that Lincoln shunned. He would not have spoken grandly of the fate of “human dignity,” a familiar phrase in two words that Lincoln never actually paired. The broad ideal of human dignity belongs to the late twentieth century, to the morale of decolonization and the UN Charter.

More gratingly, the conjunction of “world’s stage,” “blood,” and “our hands” brings to mind two famous soliloquies in Macbeth, one confessing murder and one confessing despair, neither of them a suitable vehicle for rallying votes. But it is the underlying falsification that disturbs. Any leader who adopts the posture of seeing himself on the stage of history is a glory to himself and a menace to all whom he must lead. Napoleon (whose favorite word was “destiny”) loved this posture, and Lincoln (as he revealed in his Lyceum Address of 1838) hated Napoleon for loving it.

Lincoln remains an honorable movie compounded of irresolute but mostly upright intentions; and its strengths are only a little undercut by the synthetic quality of its ambition. But that has always been the price of Spielberg’s energy and his enormous competence. Like Amistad (1997), his earlier historical film about slavery, Lincoln initially had a tight story and setting. At bottom, it is the simple political drama of the preparation and execution of a major vote in Congress; whereas Amistad was a courtroom drama about the freeing by American justice of slaves illegally transported from Africa in 1839. In both movies, the plot is enlarged by episodic, picturesque, and artificial embellishments that add forty minutes as an earnest of seriousness—in Amistad, flashbacks to the Atlantic crossing of the slaves, discussions of the career of John Quincy Adams, the missionary Christian lesson given to the rebel chief Cinque, and mocking tableaux of the court of Queen Isabella.

In Lincoln, we have the asserted claims of the White House children Tad and Robert, Abe’s relationship to Mary, a prologue about a black soldier reciting the Gettysburg Address, and a series of epilogues to signal the death of Lincoln and the end of the war. The inclusion of Mary Lincoln, however, takes on a separate strength from the integrity of Sally Field’s performance. We see her often at the brink of hysteria yet always coming partway back to sanity from a deep sympathy with her husband’s courage and resolve.

As a piece of filmmaking about American politics, Lincoln is not in a class with John Frankenheimer’s version of The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and as a realistic portrait of a legislative battle it lacks the care and detail of Otto Preminger’s Advise and Consent (1962). Yet it may hold up as well as those earlier films. Spielberg has the advantage of working on the ground of a real event that Americans care about. And he has given a memorable face to a lesson that happens to be true.

The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863, the most extraordinary act of lawgiving in history, was conceived by Lincoln as an emergency measure, and he defended it on narrow grounds of military necessity. Yet Lincoln believed in emancipation as a matter of principle. How, then, could he give the moral act the solid legal claim it wanted? The law freeing the slaves had to be rendered compatible with rigorous adherence to the Constitution, since he had never intended the exception to stand as a rule. The emergency proclamation of emancipation in 1863 was a partial expedient to obstruct the progress and mitigate the evils of slavery.

By contrast, “this amendment” of two years later, as Lincoln said in response to a serenade on its passage, “is a King’s cure for all the evils. It winds the whole thing up.” Those characteristic words carry his rhythm of thought—happy at the success of the amendment because it winds the whole thing up. Democracy, as Lincoln points out with sufficient plainness, discovers its justification not in emergency actions but in the ordinary and difficult work of passing laws, and the daily dedication of people who agree to live by laws.

[Prospero]

At the weekend I watched "Sightseers" a very sub Mike Leigh film, purporting to be a black comedy. Trite and silly little tale about a dysfunctional woman and her psychopathic boyfriend who go on a killing spree while on a camper van tour of some of the duller sites of the Midlands. Blissfully it was short (about 75 minutes) so i didn't waste too much time on it.

[Stavros]

Ref Lincoln... an interesting article, if rather long, from the New York Review Of books, examining the accuracy and otherwise of this and other films about the great president.


Thanks for the post, an interesting article; apart from a few moments at the beginning and later on, I thought Spielberg was more restrained than I anticipated; also agree about the scene with James Spader -pity it couldn't be cut out. I suspect the declaration of Lincoln's assassination resembles the way in which JFK's assassination was reported. Apparently, because Lincoln was 6' 4" and also suffered from Marfan syndrome, the only available bed in the theatre was too short and they had to lay him diagonally across it. Day-Lewis is merely 6' 1"; Sally Field is 5' 2"; she is older than me, but still attractive, rather like some (but not many) ageing transexuals...

[speedking59]

Peter Watkins' La Commune (Paris 1871), a docudrama telling the story of the rise and fall of the Paris Commune of 1871.

[Prospero]

Sounds interesting speedking... a drama doc?

whoops you already said that!

[Stavros]

Prospero you must know Watkins from the old days when his documentary (so-called) The War Game was banned in the UK; he made hysterical, terrible films about political events that had the subtlety of a cow fart. Punishment Park (a sort of precursor to Battle Royal and Crows but with much indignation), Culloden (a crime against humanity, naturally), Privilege (much debate in Melody Maker at the time), The War Game -I haven't seen the film on the Paris Commune from 2000, but who knows, maybe he mellowed as he got older.

[bellamy]

Not a movie but just started The Game of Thrones on bluray. Fantastic! Watched the first season on 6 days and awaiting the second to come out in feb.

[Prospero]

I saw The War Game and, of course Culloden. Avoided Privilege (starred paul Jones of manfred mann as i recall. Looked sheerly dreadful). Forgot it was the same director.

The subtlety of a cow fart. Good line.

[Jimmy W]

Just watched This is 40. Two hours of a pretty couple fighting. I was watching the screener dvd in my living room and I still walked out. Someone should tell the person in charge that dropping current pop culture references into the couples every arguement (which of course distracts them and causes them to briefly argue the pros and cons of the pop culture reference -hey just like real people do!) does not make for interesting dialogue. I give it a 4 because Megan Fox is in it in a bikini for a few seconds.

[Jimmy W]

Silver Lining Playbook - OMG!!!! Wouldnt it be crazy if Jennifer Lawrence and the guy who used to be on Globe Trekker actually ended up falling in love at the end!

[Jimmy W]

Silver Lining Playbook: You can officially count on any movie with Robert DeNiro to be a piece of shit from now on.

[suprasam]

I just watched Robot and Frank. A nice movie about a man with Alzheimers. His son is tired of dealing with him so he gets him a helper robot. Pretty neat.

[Jimmy W]

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. It's been a long time since I was a teenager but I really enjoyed this movie. I should strike that last comment because, in point of fact, it's not strictly a 'teen' flick. It's a definite rent once with no need to buy. Emma Watson is both subtle and exquisite.

[Jimmy W]

"On The Road" My screener copy got stolen so I was wondering if anyone had seen it? I loved 'Motorcycle Diaries' and while it is a book that is inherently impossible to recreate visually, I had high hopes. Anyone?

[Schimmel]

On the Bowery. Great old black n white about the Bowery district in NYC, full of unemployed hobos and what not. I'll upload it for anyone who wants it. Also, Cosmopolis (Don DeLillo) is one of my favorite books, but wow the movie is a piece of shit.


Peter Watkins' La Commune (Paris 1871), a docudrama telling the story of the rise and fall of the Paris Commune of 1871.
Grabbing it right now.

[maxpower]

Silver Lining Playbook: You can officially count on any movie with Robert DeNiro to be a piece of shit from now on.


Really? No good? That's too bad. I like David O. Russel's other movies. Flirting with Disaster is one of my favorite comedies.

[fivekatz]

It is an oldie but I am watching Thirteen Days. Aside from the level of importance Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner's character ) plays in the storyline, it holds amazingly close to actual events of those 13 days in 1962 when the world was at edge of nuclear winter.

Stunning to think that just 50 years ago lines of communication were so slow that the USSR had to broadcast their intent to remove the missiles because the normal channels of tele-type could prove to slow and the US may have already begun an invasion of Cuba.

A good movie overall and historically pretty accurate, probably because of the audio taping devices in White House at the time. It does make one think anytime a politician says "listen to generals" that one should skeptical of that politician.

[Prospero]

"Headhunters"... a dreary adaptation of a book by Jo Nesbo I haven't read (so that could be dreary also). A crime caper - until the violence kicks in. Norwegian with subtitles, but not a patch on the quality TV crime dramas coming out of Denmark and Sweden (The Killing, The Bridge, Wallander.)

[Prospero]

"Ice Age 3" - fun. Silly. Trivial.

[robertlouis]

Django Unchained. Enjoyed it without thinking too much, all the usual Tarantino tropes, and Christoph Waltz has to be the most charismatic presence on screen for some time.

[Prospero]

Hmmm... I haven't see Django yet. Watched the first 20 minutes and put it aside for future viewing. I have, in the past, (Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds ?) etc hated Tarantino's trivial gameplaying and "amusing" brutality.

[robertlouis]

As everything Tarantino does is a form of cinematic hommage, Django is pretty much an extended spaghetti western - that's certainly where most of the music comes from. Take it at the level of simple entertainment and it's fine.

As for all the debates stateside about whether it's about hating whites, bullshit. Slavery was a complete abomination, and to hear tpartiers attempt to defend it is nothing short of obscene. It shows antebellum southern society for the filth that it was. Payback for Gone With the Wind and Birth of a Nation.

[Prospero]

I can buy those views Robertlouis... its the amused ultra violence. Maybe I'm too sensitive!

[robertlouis]

I can buy those views Robertlouis... its the amused ultra violence. Maybe I'm too sensitive!

Interestingly, it's more like cartoon violence in most of Tarantino. It was the trailers for two mindless gunfests coming up, Stallone's Bullet to the Head and Bruce Willis's latest Diehard, that made me despondent. They glorify and fetishise guns. With Tarantino they are simply a means to an end.

[Jericho]

The Expendables 2
LOL fest, fuckin loved it!

[Jimmy W]

Really? No good? That's too bad. I like David O. Russel's other movies. Flirting with Disaster is one of my favorite comedies.

Well, I didn't like it at all. I don't know anything about David O Russel but this movie seemed to take forever to get to the predictable ending without anything original or even interesting happening along the way. Everyone was one dimensional except DeNiro. DeNiro was zero dimensional. If you check it out I'd like to hear another persons opinion.

[Amoore]

Life of Pi, great movie

[maxpower]

Well, I didn't like it at all. I don't know anything about David O Russel but this movie seemed to take forever to get to the predictable ending without anything original or even interesting happening along the way. Everyone was one dimensional except DeNiro. DeNiro was zero dimensional. If you check it out I'd like to hear another persons opinion.

Director David O. Russell has made movies such as The Fighter, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, and Flirting with Disaster. I like his movies, but I have to admit I was dismissive and derisive of the trailer for Silver Linings Playbook when I saw it in the theater. Him being the director is the only thing I found interesting about it. I'll probably go with my first impression of it and wait for Netflix.

[Stavros]

Flight (Robert Zemeckis, 2012)
Almost the first thing you see in this movie is Nadine Velasquez's right nipple, followed by the rest of her nude body- erect nipples, perfect ass, not a centimetre of fat. So heavenly is this body the camera is positioned so that she walks right close to it, a self-indulgent touch from the director I think, not that I am complaining. Anyway, so far so Hollywood (you wouldn't get DW doing that although you do get to see his ass later on), and this is how it stays -troubled man finds himself in a crisis, and at a climactic moment, though he done wrong, he has to choose between doing the right thing or cheati on the dead by telling lies. I will let you guess the ending. A bland film with a decent performance from Denzil Washington, though I just can't find him interesting. Melissa Leo, one of my favourite actresses since her days on Homicide: Life on the Streets, has a small part, but is still a major attraction. She looks sort of like a student I once shared a house with. Whatever, it doesn't tell us who killed Edina Watkins.

[Remy757Photog]

Sushi Girl - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606339/?ref_=sr_2 pretty good film I enjoyed Mark Hamill as "Crow" a lot. I kept envisioning him from his voice acting as "The Joker"

[robertlouis]

Lincoln. Just wonderful at every level.

[Remy757Photog]

I really enjoyed Life of Pi - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/?ref_=sr_1

also It's A Disaster - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1995341/?ref_=sr_2 usually not into the comedy genre but this was good.

Upside Down - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1374992/?ref_=sr_1 really good movie, fantasy/sci fi genre

[Prospero]

Tarantino's latest little game with gore and history... "Django Unchained'. Actually despite its ludicrous body count and ludicrous story it's reasonably enjoyable. Providing you don't mind the ultra violence. He does his usual game of referencing as much of the history of the genre as he can (even has a dancing horse... was that Gene Autry or Roy Rogers?) and of course the title references "Hercules unchained' with Primo Carnera, if I recall rightly.

[dc_guy_75]

"Primer" on Netflix.

A movie about time travelling made for $7k.

I still don't know wtf happened.

[Prospero]

Oh and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." Straight in the dustbin with the DVD of this after viewing. Puerile, cliched and dreary. The worst sort of cosy british comedy. Only Judi Dench emerges with any dignity from this shambolic mess - and she should have known better than to sign-up.

[Prospero]

"Beasts Of The Southern Wild" which has a six year old girl called Quvenzhané Wallis, in the main role as a little girl with a dying father in a strange community in the Bayous of Louisiana. Odd film. No real narrative almost like a dream She is tipped for an Oscar and deserves it. But the film is puzzling.

[Stavros]

Tarantino's latest little game with gore and history... "Django Unchained'. and of course the title references "Hercules unchained' with Primo Carnera, if I recall rightly.

Now that I didn't get -even though I saw Hercules Unchained..er..some time ago and yes, Primo Carnera is in it as a giant. But the more I think of it, what IS the connection, other than the word 'unchained'...?

[Stavros]

Puss in Boots (2011)
Changed my view of Humpty Dumpty anyway...

Puss In Boots Movie Trailer 2 Official (HD) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypdoeLvXvbs)

[CORVETTEDUDE]

"zero dark thirty"

[Prospero]

Re: "Unchained" Like many moments in Tarantino the reference is all - like the silly moment where the main character has his horse do a little dance. s I say can't recall if that is roy rogers or Gene Autry but again, what's the point....

Ken Russell sometimes played the same game. There is a moment in his Mahler which has the composer gazing listlessly at a character dressed exactly like Tadzio from the film version of "Death in Venice." (Presumably because it had used Mahler's 5th Symphony in the soundtrack.)

[Stavros]

Over the last year I have been returning to films I first saw in the 70s and 80s and have been surprised at those which have failed the test of durability -Kubrick, Antonioni and Pasolini are the outstanding casualties.

Three impressive trilogies then:
Andrzej Wajda's first major offerings: A Generation (1955), Kanal (1957), Ashes and Diamonds (1958).
All three films are set in the last years of the war, or just after it, and concern the rivalry between Polish Communists and Nationalists; A Generation now looks primitive but in the circumstances this is excusable, and its apparent naivete is offset by Wajda's early experiments with light, which become a key factor in Kanal (which for some reason I didn't realise contains a luminous performmance by Vladek Sheybal whom for years I thought was an Hungarian). Ashes and Diamonds must be one of the top 100 films ever made -the script, the acting, the lighting, the mise-en-scene confirm the huge importance of Wajda to the development of eastern European cinema after 1945.

The Bill Douglas Trilogy: My Childhood (1972), My Ain Folk (1973), My Way Home (1978). I didn't believe the bleak poverty of these autobiographical films when I first saw them, but a childhood friend in the documentary on the dvd confirms that his childhood really was that bad; and reflects the grim reality of Douglas's childhood in Newcraighall outside Edinburgh in the 1930s -he even managed to film in the old miner's dwellings before they were torn down in the 1970s. It is hard to think of films which concentrate so much on the images you see; with virtually no dialogue this is minimalist cinema-making, yet the accumulative effect is profound: Jamie/Douglas lives a loveless, careless, hungry, apparently hopeless life, even later when in the RAF in Egypt he cannot express himself -yet he wants to be an artist and the final image of the trilogy, of apple trees in bloom is a moment of radiant hope -and the truth is that Douglas did escape the rank poverty of his childhood to become an artist, dying at the shockingly early age of 57. Perhap the greatest tragedy is that both the actors playing Jamie, and his half-brother (in real life his cousin) died in the 1980s as a result of the heroin epidemic that swept Edinburgh in the late 1970s and 1980s. Jamie, played by Steven Archibald, was filmed a few weeks before his death, a melancholy footnote to the trilogy:
Stephen Archibald - From The Heart Part 1 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLO5a2TZGg)

I also saw his film Comrades (1986), about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the first part of which is superb, the second half less so. Oddly, I don't think he fared well with a large budget.

Finally, the Glauber Rocha trilogoy: Black God, White Devil (1964), Land in Anguish (1967), Antonio das Mortes (1969). Rocha's films are the most difficult to assess; occasionally brilliant, the sound is often terrible, yet he attempts to situate Brazil in the context of military rule, local history, capitalism -vs- marxism and the results are mixed. Nevertheless, at his best he had a fantastic eye, but the films can look dated.

[fred41]

"Primer" on Netflix.

A movie about time travelling made for $7k.

I still don't know wtf happened.

Haven't watched that yet...but if you like that type of thing, you might want to give the Spanish film "Timecrimes" (also on Netflix) a look.
It's a well made little film that will certainly pass the time and shouldn't leave you feeling cheated.

[Christina Fox]

A GOOD day to DIE HARD... The new die hard movie....it was TERRIBLE...Im done going to the movies

[Prospero]

"The Hunger Games." Puerile. Pretty girl in the lead.

[bluesoul]

"The Hunger Games." Puerile. Pretty girl in the lead.

i concur. as soon as i saw her the first time, i knew what i had to do

http://i.minus.com/ibiWrxkU3EoES.gif

[NightmareX0666]

In the movie theater saw "Warm Bodies" not bad but could have waited for the DVD on redbox.

[robertlouis]

The Bill Douglas Trilogy: My Childhood (1972), My Ain Folk (1973), My Way Home (1978). I didn't believe the bleak poverty of these autobiographical films when I first saw them, but a childhood friend in the documentary on the dvd confirms that his childhood really was that bad; and reflects the grim reality of Douglas's childhood in Newcraighall outside Edinburgh in the 1930s -he even managed to film in the old miner's dwellings before they were torn down in the 1970s. It is hard to think of films which concentrate so much on the images you see; with virtually no dialogue this is minimalist cinema-making, yet the accumulative effect is profound: Jamie/Douglas lives a loveless, careless, hungry, apparently hopeless life, even later when in the RAF in Egypt he cannot express himself -yet he wants to be an artist and the final image of the trilogy, of apple trees in bloom is a moment of radiant hope -and the truth is that Douglas did escape the rank poverty of his childhood to become an artist, dying at the shockingly early age of 57. Perhap the greatest tragedy is that both the actors playing Jamie, and his half-brother (in real life his cousin) died in the 1980s as a result of the heroin epidemic that swept Edinburgh in the late 1970s and 1980s. Jamie, played by Steven Archibald, was filmed a few weeks before his death, a melancholy footnote to the trilogy:
Stephen Archibald - From The Heart Part 1 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLO5a2TZGg)

I also saw his film Comrades (1986), about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the first part of which is superb, the second half less so. Oddly, I don't think he fared well with a large budget.



I agree with you absolutely about Bill Douglas, Stavros - a unique cinematic and social vision in British and western European cinema as well as an entirely authentic Scottish voice. I first saw the trilogy on a single day at the Glasgow Film Theatre in the 80s and it haunted me for weeks. It didn't reflect my own upbringing, but it resonated so much with childhood visits to relations on my mother's side in the grim and grinding pit communities in Lanarkshire, West Lothian and especially in Fife.

[moondust]

On the same day saw SkyFall and Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 3D.

[Ben]

Over the weekend I watched: Cosmopolis. I think you may, just may have to be a fan of David Cronenberg. He makes some odd albeit interesting films.

Cosmopolis (2012) - Official Trailer [HD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3ZmIwteUAY

[Jimmy W]

Finally got my screener for On The Road. This is a book I've read many times over and I have been curious to see just how a director would tackle something deemed 'un-filmable'. It's very possible I cant offer an objective critique because I know so much about the subject matter but I guess, so does most everyone who will see this film so here goes: It reminded me of The Motorcycle Diaries - for good reason. I was glad it wasnt a page by page storyboard, but what I have always considered the most 'visual' parts of the book were left out, making the mistake of starting his journey in Bear Mt. for one as well as his stint as a security guard in San Francisco. What did stand out was the importance the director placed on showing the world through the women in Dean Moriaritys life. In the book they are disposable but the film makes them central figures and if you are one of those Kristen Stewart haters I think she is phenomenal in this. And thus, the problem in my opinion. The book wasnt about the girls and much of the film is and that means a lot of the Neal / Kerouac / Ginsberg dynamic just never shows up on screen. The sexual tension between Ginsberg and Neal is one sided, the Steve Buscemi cameo seems gratuitous and the biggest sin of all - it ends up just being about driving across country a few times without stopping to see whats along the way.

[Jimmy W]

5 stars out of 10

[Jimmy W]

Prospero - Dead on about that stupid Marigold Hotel movie. I got suckered into watching it. Look at us we're soo not willing to grow old! Look at me Im Indian and everything I do is servile and in earnest! Look at me I am closed off and dont want to be in this strange place! Guess which one gets to die first? Fuck you. A shit movie for the one foot in the grave crowd - and they deserve better.

[Prospero]

The Ladykillers - a British comedy from the early 1950s with Alec Guinness and a young Peter Sellers. Remarkably I discovered I'd never seen it. Lovely dark comedy.

[Stavros]

Now that IS strange!

[Prospero]

Wasn't there a thread running here recently about films you've never seen which everyone else has? Well I guess every Briton has seen this - but probably not so many Americans.

[broncofan]

Seven Psychopaths-Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson. Good cast. It was quirky. Not a great movie but I enjoyed its spirited approach to things. Original.

[Jericho]

The Magdalene Sisters.

Caught this on TV the other night.
Quite an eye-opener!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318411/?ref_=sr_3

[Stavros]

Crows Zero (Takashi Miike 2007)
The first part of a two part film about the rites of passage that young men take if they want to become part of a Yakuza syndicate, or just to prove that they are the toughest, roughest, meanest geezer on the block. The drama centres on two rivals fighting to become the head of Suzeran, the school which has classrooms but no teachers. The cartoon-like depiction of these wild young men is accentuated by the music, the overlay in sound when someone is punched or hits the ground, and by the use of language which is vulgar, and has that tonal resentment that the Japanese seem to do so well -but if you look beneath the surface of the violence, which mostly involves punching and kicking rather than guns and knives, the old Miike themes remain: what makes a group cohere, or fall apart? What is the real nature of loyalty? There is also an understated quasi-homosexual love story here too from a director who has toyed with sexuality before in his films. It isn't one of Miike's best, but is better than some of his earlier films. A world away from the films of Ozu and Mizoguchi!

Crows Zero (Kurôzu zero) Trailer - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBHXYSSGV8Q)

[Dino Velvet]

Crows Zero (Takashi Miike 2007)
The first part of a two part film about the rites of passage that young men take if they want to become part of a Yakuza syndicate, or just to prove that they are the toughest, roughest, meanest geezer on the block. The drama centres on two rivals fighting to become the head of Suzeran, the school which has classrooms but no teachers. The cartoon-like depiction of these wild young men is accentuated by the music, the overlay in sound when someone is punched or hits the ground, and by the use of language which is vulgar, and has that tonal resentment that the Japanese seem to do so well -but if you look beneath the surface of the violence, which mostly involves punching and kicking rather than guns and knives, the old Miike themes remain: what makes a group cohere, or fall apart? What is the real nature of loyalty? There is also an understated quasi-homosexual love story here too from a director who has toyed with sexuality before in his films. It isn't one of Miike's best, but is better than some of his earlier films. A world away from the films of Ozu and Mizoguchi!

Crows Zero (Kurôzu zero) Trailer - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBHXYSSGV8Q)

Thanks for that. Do you like Fudoh: The New Generation and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka? A couple good ones I don't remember discussing with you.

[KnHd]

Joe Dirt

[brickcitybrother]

Pariah
Pariah trailer - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwYtHVlQN9c)

[Stavros]

Thanks for that. Do you like Fudoh: The New Generation and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka? A couple good ones I don't remember discussing with you.

Fudoh went in the purge of my dvd collection a couple of years ago, I just had too many cluttering up the place and sold them to the entertainment centre. I don't think Fudoh is one of his better films -dont know Deadly Outlaw. Have Crows II to get through next.

[Ben]

Beyond the Law w/ Charlie Sheen. Couldn't get into it....

[Jimmy W]

The Ladykillers was indeed a very funny film. Never saw the remake w/ Tom Hanks.

[Prospero]

"To The Wonder" the latest by Terrence Malick. "Days of Heaven" or "The Thin Red Line" this ain't. It features two truly beautful women and gorgeous cinematography, but is tedium upon tedium. Whispered dialogue where there is any. He's striving for a poetic meditation upon the possibilities of love - human and divine. But the film meanders and meanders endlessly. Avoid.

[robertlouis]

The Ladykillers - a British comedy from the early 1950s with Alec Guinness and a young Peter Sellers. Remarkably I discovered I'd never seen it. Lovely dark comedy.

I have a couple of boxsets covering almost the entire Ealing canon, but The Ladykillers remains my favourite, although Kind Hearts and Coronets runs it close. One of the things which makes these films so precious is that their on-street locations capture views of London from the early 1950s which are gone forever. They're valuable social history documents as well as delicious comedies.

I've never understood the high standing of the mediocre to frankly dreadful Carry On series. Not one of them is worth five minutes of an Ealing classic.

[broncofan]

Killing Zoe.

This is supposed to be a cult classic and is a crime caper taking place in Paris. But I thought it was a bad movie. Why? Nothing good about it. It was somewhat predictable in that the crime seemed unplanned and no surprise went badly. The love story was thin, the friendship not much elaborated on, and without any payoff. A waste of time.

[Stavros]

Rust and Bone (Jacques Audiard, 2012)
Audiard tends to make films about people who have difficulty expressing themselves and may live on the edge of mainstream society perhaps on the wrong side of the law; if they also lead unstructured lives then maybe, as in this film, they will discover a means of being different in a positive way. Although this is a conventional love story with an unconventional storyline, it is another powerfully made film from this director, yet lacking something his earlier films like A Prophet had -more tension? Marion Cotillard is wonderful as usual, someone whose name on a poster usually makes a film worth seeing.

Rust and Bones UK Trailer (English Subtitles) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyAJDL3mTxI)

[Stavros]

Crows II (Takashi Miike, 2009)
This film extends the story begun with Crows Zero and presents again the domination of a 'school' as the greatest prize in what may be Yakuzua apprentices. There are two extra pretty boys in this -one of whom is capable of extreme violence- and two girls who can't get laid because their guys either can't, or won't -reinforcing the 'brotherly love' of this genre....Miike's films are always well made, but this one was frankly just more of the same....

CROWS 2 de Takashi Miike (Trailer español) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1SlwoxEpc)

[Prospero]

Finally "Argo" and yes it was a thriller - even though you knew the denouement.

[Stavros]

Baraka (Ron Fricker. 1992)
I watched the whole of this film for free on YouTube then discovered there is another version with subtitles that identified the locations, which is a modest improvement. The film is beautiful to look at, has suitably 'meditative' pseudo-music which grates after a while, and loses its focus on spirituality at later stages; I don't really want to see bodies being cremated on the Ghats of Banares, I found that intrusive and unnecessary, and ultimately it didn't really tell me anything about faith -its just an often stunning film to look at, but if you point a camera at the Himalayas I guess that's what you get (did Kathmandu ever look so photogenic? Other parts of it are not so famous for it!).

The follow-up, Samsara may also be worth seeing as a poster recommended a while ago

Baraka _HD 720p_Engsub - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6tJjZpwUZ8)

[RallyCola]

my wife and i have sworn off movies in the theater until May. We just don't think anything that is coming out in the next 2 months would be worthwhile. anyone agree?

[Stavros]

The link will take you to a list which includes the mind-boggling decision to remake Dirty Dancing, The Hangover 3 (as if the previous two were not bad enough, Yasmin Lee notwithstanding), another crack at Superman (Man of Steel), sci-fi/futurist/world-gone-zombie-mad films with Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise etc.
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/19051/the-big-blockbusters-of-summer-2013

Or you could wait in anticipation for this British film (The Lotus Eaters) of which the promo reads:
Follows a group of young Londoners as they struggle to find meaning in their lives while masking their discontent with sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. The story centers on ex-model and aspiring actress Alice (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) as she struggles with her relationship with Charlie (Johnny Flynn), her drug-addicted ex-boyfriend. The fashionable group of friends epitomizes a new modern “lost generation” reminiscent of Ernest Hemmingway and his cohorts.

Maybe best to stay at home, or go to Cannes!

[RallyCola]

The link will take you to a list which includes the mind-boggling decision to remake Dirty Dancing, The Hangover 3 (as if the previous two were not bad enough, Yasmin Lee notwithstanding), another crack at Superman (Man of Steel), sci-fi/futurist/world-gone-zombie-mad films with Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise etc.
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/19051/the-big-blockbusters-of-summer-2013

Or you could wait in anticipation for this British film (The Lotus Eaters) of which the promo reads:
Follows a group of young Londoners as they struggle to find meaning in their lives while masking their discontent with sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. The story centers on ex-model and aspiring actress Alice (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) as she struggles with her relationship with Charlie (Johnny Flynn), her drug-addicted ex-boyfriend. The fashionable group of friends epitomizes a new modern “lost generation” reminiscent of Ernest Hemmingway and his cohorts.

Maybe best to stay at home, or go to Cannes!

despite my penchant for high-brow entertainment, i am a US male at my core and I grew up in the 80s and 90s where I was spoon-fed low-brow laughs, explosions and gore so...

I will probably see the 3rd Hangover and World War Z. I have not been a fan of most will smith movies therefore I will pass on his father/son apocalypse effort as I will also pass on the tom cruise yawn oblivion. that said, the great gatsby looks good as does the new trek. i will also see the new iron man movie as it has to be better than iron man 2 and 3 (aka the avengers). TDKR sucked compared to most movies but especially compared to TDK so I'm not sold on the nolan/synder reboot of supes, but i know all my friends will drag me to see it. Nolan proved he could make great movies with TDK and Inception but TDKR sucked so bad and Synder isn't a great director as from 300 to sucker punch, i find his style a bit taxing and forced.

having said all of that, there are a few other titles that may be interesting as blockbusters go, but overall, there is no movie that is pending release that i'm saying, "I've got to see that"

[Stavros]

Fair dinkum, sport. I watched Iron Man I and II mainly because I often like Robert Downey Jr even if he does make some crap films; every now and then a futurist film is at least worth seeng even if it goes off towards the end; and for some reason I seem to like some of the Cruise vehicles where others on HA detest him.
Lat night a film called The Tourist was on tv, with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp -I am not sure if I have seen much Depp other than fragments of those dire pirate movies, in The Tourist nothing is believable, the acting, insofar as there is any, is wafer thin -what struck me is how ugly Depp is, with a face like a horses arse one wonders how he ever got into movies...and what is the point of Angelina Jolie with her clothes on? For real excitement I flipped over to watch Spurs beat Arsenal.

[terrygrooby]

My ladyboy model of last saturday took me to see Jack and the magic bean. Well...at least she liked it, lol.

[Prospero]

Stavros - woud it astonish you to discover that for many women Johnny Depp is the sexiest thing on two legs. I kid you not.

[bluesoul]

Finally "Argo" and yes it was a thriller - even though you knew the denouement.

was a little disappointed by this. it reminded me of something that would've been a tv movie- just with less of the thrill.

[Prospero]

Know what you mean, Bluesoul. One trouble with Argo was that the outcome was known. But despite that they did manage to ramp up the tension.

[Stavros]

Stavros - woud it astonish you to discover that for many women Johnny Depp is the sexiest thing on two legs. I kid you not.

So there is hope for me yet...eh? But who knows what women want anyway! Mel Gibson?

[robertlouis]

Finally "Argo" and yes it was a thriller - even though you knew the denouement.

I thought it was about those awful shops where you choose from a catalogue and then wait seven hours while the people behind the counter try to get both of their brain cells to rub together.

In terms of drawn-out existential futility it should be right up Stavros' street....

[Prospero]

What other shops would be on "Stavros Street" I wonder?

[robertlouis]

What other shops would be on "Stavros Street" I wonder?

Don't know, but my next trip to the Arts Cinema in Cambridge is to see a German film called Lore which has had excellent reviews.

[Stavros]

Serpico (Sidney Lumet, 1973)
I missed this when it was released and have never seen it until now; the factual nature of it gives the film an edge, and the 70s sensibility means it is a tight, moody film with some excellent acting. I don't think it has dated, and that may be due to Lumet's film-making -quite a career, I looked at this filmography to discover I have seen at least 15 of his films dating back to 12 Angry Men.

[Stavros]

I thought it was about those awful shops where you choose from a catalogue and then wait seven hours while the people behind the counter try to get both of their brain cells to rub together.

In terms of drawn-out existential futility it should be right up Stavros' street....

Ho-ho, isn't Scottish humour infectious? I bought my tv in Argos and it took the assistants less than 10 minutes to bring it up from the store. And if you look more closely you will find I am less likely to endorse films of existential futility than of those which, though they use an unconventional narrative discourse, seek to find meaning in life rather than dismiss it. Thus Bergman trumps Antonioni, Bela Tarr trumps Kubrick; and so on. And that is why I prefer Caffe Nero (two-shots for the coffee) to Costa (one-shot); why Waitrose scores over Tesco; and prefer my local independent cd/dvd shop over the HMV which is about to close anyway...but perhaps we are moving into a digital age when shops will not pose existential problems, as they will have ceased to exist. Solves that philosophical conundrum anyway!

[robertlouis]

Ho-ho, isn't Scottish humour infectious? I bought my tv in Argos and it took the assistants less than 10 minutes to bring it up from the store. And if you look more closely you will find I am less likely to endorse films of existential futility than of those which, though they use an unconventional narrative discourse, seek to find meaning in life rather than dismiss it. Thus Bergman trumps Antonioni, Bela Tarr trumps Kubrick; and so on. And that is why I prefer Caffe Nero (two-shots for the coffee) to Costa (one-shot); why Waitrose scores over Tesco; and prefer my local independent cd/dvd shop over the HMV which is about to close anyway...but perhaps we are moving into a digital age when shops will not pose existential problems, as they will have ceased to exist. Solves that philosophical conundrum anyway!

Well, some things in common. Caffe Nero is definitely my chain coffee shop of choice, and Waitrose is by far the best supermarket of them all.

And bear in mind, I've known existential futility all my life. A dour, dreich presbyterian upbringing in Scotland leaves its scars.

[fred41]

The Hedgehog - Le hérisson (2009) - IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442519/)

not a movie I was looking for on Netflix, but glad I found it. Lots of little things to like about this film.

[GurlyCockLover]

SkyFall........................................... ........................overrated!!!

[Stavros]

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)
Miike moves away from contemporary Japan to the 1840s and the declining years of the Shogunate to make another film essay on what it is that unites and divides social groups. This gives it a different dimension from Kurosawa's Seven Samurai although the long 50-minute showdown does echo aspects of the Kurosawa which is on a different level overall. Nevertheless, the fight scenes are extrarodinarily well done although the traps in the village would surely take more than a day to build. The concept of self-less service to a Lord takes a beating in this film and presages the end of the Shogunate and the Samurai culture. A finely balanced film with little music and some subtle variations of sound that moves at a great pace and is worth seeing.

13 Assassins (2010) trailer (US version) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeEq1qR8qiw)

[be2378]

Supertroopers

[Jimmy W]

Usually I try to offer an opinion on movies in theaters now but last night I watched Twelve O'Clock High starring Gregory Peck and if ever there was a film that should be required viewing for anyone in a position of leadership this is the film. The bikini martini crowd in NYC love to quote Glengarry Glenn Ross as a model for how to motivate - and I do love that film - but as dated as this film might seem on the surface (black & white) there is no actor who commands respect like Gregory Peck.

[Prospero]

"Killing Them Softly" Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini. A very cynical but smart film. I enjoyed it despite some horrible brutality.

"Searching For Sugarman" the British made Oscar winning documentary about the singer Rodriguez. I admit i found it dull - and his music very average.

[broncofan]

Beyond the Law w/ Charlie Sheen. Couldn't get into it....
I'm watching this right now on amazon and am about fifty minutes in and thought to myself, "didn't someone on hungangels say they saw this and couldn't get into it".

It has good reviews on amazon. But the acting is bad and the dialogue just as bad. Of course, I'm going to finish it. Why couldn't I think of Serpico^^^, a Sidney Lumet movie that's well reviewed everywhere (not just on amazon) that I have yet to see!!

[broncofan]

I'm watching this right now on amazon and am about fifty minutes in and thought to myself, "didn't someone on hungangels say they saw this and couldn't get into it".

It has good reviews on amazon. But the acting is bad and the dialogue just as bad. Of course, I'm going to finish it. Why couldn't I think of Serpico^^^, a Sidney Lumet movie that's well reviewed everywhere (not just on amazon) that I have yet to see!!
Actually I'm done with this piece of shit. Serpico it is.

Saw GlenGarry Glen Ross the other day. I liked it a lot. Maybe a bit overrated as some people think it's the cleverest movie ever made and though Mamet is typically good with dialogue he falls back on vulgarity a bit too much. But I thought it provided a great example of why everyone hates their boss and why working for someone else always sucks. Very enjoyable as a result...best performance I've seen by Jack Lemmon.

[bluesoul]

I thought it was about those awful shops where you choose from a catalogue and then wait seven hours while the people behind the counter try to get both of their brain cells to rub together.

In terms of drawn-out existential futility it should be right up Stavros' street....

argos catalogue. i actually used to keep these and leaf thru them using the pictures to help me dream up the perfect scenarios for a bluesoul moon based home.

have you seen the film 2010: the year we make contact? the wife of the main guy from 2001 appears to his wife thru the telly one morning whilst she's having her morning routine. that's how i communicate with arthur c. clarke and helen mirren's past self because i got exactly the same telly from the argos catalogue. thanks argos!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AzT5pruwnbg/SyAUXUB2C4I/AAAAAAAAISY/VqNb47oVRJw/s400/1986.jpg

[maxpower]

...best performance I've seen by Jack Lemmon.


Definitely. An iconic performance. Gil from The Simpsons is totally based on the Shelly Levine character.


Doesn't Gil get a lick?? - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRWAQ255qhs)

[Prospero]

"Blazing Saddles"- the old Mel Brooks comedy. I use the word comedy advisedly. This is a deplorably dreadful film - and it is astonishing they ever raised the money to make it with a script this atrocious.

[Jericho]

"Blazing Saddles"- the old Mel Brooks comedy. I use the word comedy advisedly. This is a deplorably dreadful film - and it is astonishing they ever raised the money to make it with a script this atrocious.


It was a blind for Springtime For Hitler! :shrug

[broncofan]

I've watched High Anxiety, Blazing Saddles, and Spaceballs and I did not find any of them funny. I'm told maybe I should see some of the other Mel Brooks movies, but I think I'll just call it a loss.

I like comedy too. All of the classic comedies, even the corny ones I find funny..Airplane, Naked Gun, Take the Money and Run. Blazing Saddles was a laugh riot compared to Spaceballs. Anyone like Spaceballs?

[surf4490]

Can I recommend "The Legend of 1900" its a perfect little film

[Bigshot88]

DC Cab. in its own wacky way, a great movie.

[fred41]

I've watched High Anxiety, Blazing Saddles, and Spaceballs and I did not find any of them funny. I'm told maybe I should see some of the other Mel Brooks movies, but I think I'll just call it a loss.

I like comedy too. All of the classic comedies, even the corny ones I find funny..Airplane, Naked Gun, Take the Money and Run. Blazing Saddles was a laugh riot compared to Spaceballs. Anyone like Spaceballs?

Spaceballs was garbage.

Young Frankenstein was good and I liked Blazing Saddles too...listen, you're either going to like his brand of humor (a bit dated anyway...you might in fact be too young for it)...or not. It's a bit kitsch...and always seems to have a musical number involved...but in their day,his best movies were funny...but roll your eyes kind of funny.

[Stavros]

Side Effects (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
This film is apparently the last Soderbergh will make, and on this evidence we can cheerfully suggest he made the right choice. The film twists and turns and doesn't so much lose the moral compass it initially lays claim to, as abandon it to become a cheap revenge melodrama. I have never heard of Rooney Mara before, and can't say it matters; Catherine Zeta-Jones must have been desperate to accept such a shabby part. The only film I have seen by Soderbergh that stands repeated viewing is his version of Traffic, not as good as the Channel 4 tv version (Traffik) but still good; so I suspect this generally second-rate director will be remembered for the Ocean's films, which are at least entertaining. Side Effects? 3/10 for effort, and not succumbing to the usual charms of New York City, I didn't recognise any of it.

Side Effects Trailer (2013) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jQq6BiT-eI)

[broncofan]

Spaceballs was garbage.

Young Frankenstein was good and I liked Blazing Saddles too...listen, you're either going to like his brand of humor (a bit dated anyway...you might in fact be too young for it)...or not. It's a bit kitsch...and always seems to have a musical number involved...but in their day,his best movies were funny...but roll your eyes kind of funny.
Thank you for this. I understand what you're saying.I'm gonna watch Young Frankenstein one of these days.

[fred41]

Thank you for this. I understand what you're saying.I'm gonna watch Young Frankenstein one of these days.

You're not going to like it...lol.

[broncofan]

You're not going to like it...lol.
Probably not, but the same friend who recommended Blazing Saddles also recommended Young Frankenstein. Your rec makes two. I have to see what I'm missing:).

I just watched Hot Shots and I gotta admit I didn't find it funny. Maybe I'm just in too serious a mood! When you feel like that nothing's funny.

Anyone watch Hot Shots and like it? I'm not calling anyone out. It's possible I suffered an injury to my sense of humor (or never had one!). What's the consensus on Hot Shots?

[Prospero]

Young Frankenstein has a few moments. Blazing Saddles had none. It's odd that it seems so badly dated in a way that the Marx brothers do not, for instance.

[fred41]

Young Frankenstein has a few moments. Blazing Saddles had none. It's odd that it seems so badly dated in a way that the Marx brothers do not, for instance.

Humor is relative...some people like the three stooges...I never really found them funny.

Marx brothers were witty...sometimes that stands the test of time. I like the Marx Brothers too, but it's 'clever' humor that isn't going to leave me howling....or maybe just not anymore.

[Prospero]

I wholly agree that taste in humour is subjective. The Carry On series (is that familiar to American moviegoers?) has huge numbers of followers in the UK. I have always found its crass smuttiness simple minded and dreadful. As with the Three Stooges. But I wasn't really suggesting that my taste is correct (unlike some other posers here). Simply my preference.

[fred41]

I can't say I'm familiar with the 'Carry On' series of films, though I'll look into them. I do have to admit that I'm more than a bit curious as to what Stavros finds funny...or better yet - hilarious.... :)

[Prospero]

Does he find anything hilarious?

[Jericho]

Does he find anything hilarious?

Harold Lloyd! :hide-1:

[Dino Velvet]

Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, Silent Movie, History Of The World Part One, and even Spaceballs were good. Life Stinks really stunk though.

Had the pleasure one time to ask Mel Brooks if he was going to make History Of The World Part Two. I was 19 and it was an honor to meet such a nice guy and massive talent.

[Prospero]

Yeah I met Mel also - together with Anne Bancroft. Nice people. Shame about his films.

[Dino Velvet]

Yeah I met Mel also - together with Anne Bancroft. Nice people. Shame about his films.

High Anxiety and Silent Movie were lesser mentioned films of his. Did you see either of those?

[Prospero]

I think I saw Silent Movie... but the only one that didn't have me reaching for the off switch (if there were one in the movies) was Young Frankenstein.

[Dino Velvet]

I think I saw Silent Movie... but the only one that didn't have me reaching for the off switch (if there were one in the movies) was Young Frankenstein.

Young Frankenstein would be my second favorite to Blazing Saddles. Really enjoyed how he spoofed Westerns no matter how silly or juvenile. I chipped a tooth walking into a parking meter exiting the theater the first time after seeing Blazing Saddles. Was still laughing so much I wasn't paying attention as to what I was doing. Lucky I didn't wander onto the freeway.

[Prospero]

Yeah... it's a great feeling when something is funny you literally can't stop laughing. One guy sitting next to me in the theatre a few years back found the play so funny he literally fell off his seat into the aisle. That kind of funny doesn't happen often enough. It's almost better than sex.

[Dino Velvet]

Yeah... it's a great feeling when something is funny you literally can't stop laughing. One guy sitting next to me in the theatre a few years back found the play so funny he literally fell off his seat into the aisle. That kind of funny doesn't happen often enough. It's almost better than sex.

My dad was LAPD but had bad judgement in appropriate movies. He loved comedy and heard about these Cheech and Chong fellas but never launched any kind of investigation. He took me to see Next Movie before my voice even changed. When I laugh I really let myself go and my father was embarrassed to have to sit next to a little kid laughing at druggie humor. He kept trying to shush me but nothing worked. My poor father.

[fred41]

Harold Lloyd! :hide-1:

:)...that, and the Andy Capp comic strip makes milk shoot out of his nose.

[timxxx]

Gun Hill Road

http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/137/MPW-68712

An ex-con returns home to the Bronx after three year in prison to discover his wife estranged and his teenage son exploring a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.

http://www.gunhillroad.com/pics/production-stills/ghr-production-still-03.png

Gun Hill Road-Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0EMxEK2CN8)

It is now on Netflix

[Stavros]

Gun Hill Road is definitely on my list of films to see; in the meantime I have seen the film
Kinatay (Brillante Mendoza, 2009).
The butchery that takes place in this film may be upsetting for some, but is matter of fact for the criminal gang operating out of Quezon City. Among them a police student with a young wife and child who collects protection money at night for a gang, and is taken on an 'operation' with them without realising what it is until it is too late to back out. There is little dialogue in this brutal, angry film in which the director effectively condemns the lack of integrity in the police forces of Manila/Philippines, and by extension his country. Tightly directed, moody, very tense and worth seeing, even if the message is bleak -but anyone who knows the Philippines will understand why.

Brilliante Mendoza: Kinatay Official Trailer.mpg - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9atrfGIC5c)

[fred41]

C'mon Stav, you're not even going to touch any of the previous comments about what you might like in comedy?

[robertlouis]

I can't say I'm familiar with the 'Carry On' series of films, though I'll look into them.

Don't. Find something funnier to do like sticking nails in your eyes.

[robertlouis]

I do have to admit that I'm more than a bit curious as to what Stavros finds funny...or better yet - hilarious.... :)

I don't know either, but I bet it's in black and white, Hungarian, and lasts more than four hours....

[fred41]

I don't know either, but I bet it's in black and white, Hungarian, and lasts more than four hours....

:lol::lol::lol:

[be2378]

The movie is historiclly wrong in so many ways but watching the Hindenberg from 1975 with George C Scott.

[Stavros]

C'mon Stav, you're not even going to touch any of the previous comments about what you might like in comedy?

What I do like: Laurel and Hardy, Jacques Tati; most of Monty Python's Life of Brian; Airplane when drunk. I thought Mask was brilliant too.

What I do not find funny: The Marx Brothers, Abbot & Costello, Some Like it Not (any film with Marylin Monroe is a disaster), all the Carry On films.

I am obliged to mention Mr Bean, a lot of which is funny, as I was once on a bus riding through Cricklewood Broadway when the lady next to me insisted I was that man off the telly. It transpired she meant Mr Bean, and as I have been mistaken for him more than once, I must bow to the inevitable, even if the Son of Atkin is much taller than I in real life.

[Ben]

Goon... pretty funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sytVoTYFT08

[fred41]

What I do like: Laurel and Hardy, Jacques Tati; most of Monty Python's Life of Brian; Airplane when drunk. I thought Mask was brilliant too.

What I do not find funny: The Marx Brothers, Abbot & Costello, Some Like it Not (any film with Marylin Monroe is a disaster), all the Carry On films.

I am obliged to mention Mr Bean, a lot of which is funny, as I was once on a bus riding through Cricklewood Broadway when the lady next to me insisted I was that man off the telly. It transpired she meant Mr Bean, and as I have been mistaken for him more than once, I must bow to the inevitable, even if the Son of Atkin is much taller than I in real life.

The Black Adder is amongst us.

Thanks for the insight Stavros....I too like the Laurel and Hardy movies (and the two men genuinely liked each other which isn't always the case in comedy duos)..and almost all of the Python stuff,but I liked Abbot & Costello also...so we disagree on that.

[fred41]

Goon... pretty funny.


I liked this movie a lot.

[rockabilly]

Frankenweenie

[broncofan]

I had a suspicion Stavros was going to say at least one Monty Python film, however Airplane even while drunk is a welcome surprise!

One of my favority comedies is Fletch. Forgot to mention that one.