Just amazing, so much better than Star Wars. Go & see it.https://specials-images.forbesimg.co....jpg?fit=scale
Printable View
Just amazing, so much better than Star Wars. Go & see it.https://specials-images.forbesimg.co....jpg?fit=scale
I haven't seen 1917, but most of the flms on release now are better than Star Wars, in fact, most films are better than Star Wars, except maybe Star Trek. Hard to choose between those two 'franchises', but best option is to opt out.
For Sama (Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts, 2019)
This often uncensored documentary concerns a young journalist and her doctor husband who choose to stay in Eastern Aleppo during the siege of 2016. It documents the aftermath of bombings, and the birth of her daughter Sama. The film is shot mostly by Waad, some if it appearing on the web; other scenes appear to be taken from archive footage, or possibly a drone, as with the last shot in the film. It is often uncompromising and distressing, and is the sort of film one should see if one wants to see the true horror of war, though in the midst of all this carnage there is a truly astonishing scene with a baby, a cry of hope in the midst of despair.
There are gaps- al-Kateab supports the Arab Spring in Syria, but we don't know why other than basic student protest, and we never really know what the couple's political background or their aims might be, but there does not seem to be any link to Daesh or Islamic extremists in the hospital where her husband, Hamza works. It also appears to be the case that Hamza broke off one relationship to marry Waad, but this isn't really clear though she says in the early part of the film that when they met he was in a long term relationship. The couple and their children now live in the UK, of their parents and wider family we know nothing.
This film is currently available on the UK's Channel 4 -I don't know if it is available outside the country, this is the link-
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/...mand/66428-001
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
I had not seen this film for years, and recall being unimpressed when I saw it, probably in the 1970s. I saw it in the shop on DVD at a good price and bought it. The film is much better than I recall, and in particular its use of music, which a lot of the time does not intrude on the drama. There is a lot wrong with the film, as there is no explanation for the means wherbey the Devil inhabits Regan's body, other than some playing around the a Ouija board which, if such things really did communicate with dead grannies and the devil would never have gone on sale. It is implied that the Satanic statuette Father Merrin brings back from Iraq is the key, much as in The French Connection it is the import of drugs from France that sparks the drama in the film, and its deaths. However, in the prelude to the latest DVD release where Friedkin says the film is about faith, the main character other than Regan, is Father Karras -inexplicably of Greek heritage for a Jesuit, and the weakest character in the film-who early on in the flm confesses to another that he has lost his faith, but ultimately at the climax of the exorcism shrieks 'take me! take me!' to the demon who, perhaps sensing a weak man, does that, and both then head off into the unknown. It is still worth watching.
Friedkin has made some of the best films you will ever see, The French Connection (1971) being the most obvious; and in more recent years Killer Joe (2011) which will change forever what you think a chicken drumstick is. Then there are the controversies and the turkeys so he has had an uneven career, but The Exorcist will remain one his most memorable films.
First Love (Takashi Miike, 2019) -in Japanese Hatsukoi, there are other films called First Love).
Those familiar with Miike's films will know his families fractured from without are often contrasted with Yakuza families fracturing from within. In this film, the Yakuza family fractures through betrayal and a collision with a Chinese syndicate, with the two lovers caught between them, though there is little chemistry between them. The mash-up at the climax of the film is delirious and hilarious in the way Miike orchestrates his violence. Though lacking the eccentricity of Gozu, or the seriousness of the Triad trilogy -Shinjuku Triad Society, Rainy Dog and Ley Lines- First Love after a slow start has that momentum and even joy that is lacking in one of his lesser mimics, Tarantino.
Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
It may seem an obvious choice for terrestrial tv to show this, but I had not seen it before and for the most part it is a sober effort at delineating what can happen when systems break down, though so far we have been spared the violence if not the 'supermarket mania' that has left shelves bereft of rice, pasta and toilet paper. The last scene in the film begs questions about the behaviour of the cook, but perhaps that snap decision for a snapshot underlines how vulnerable we are.
On the other hand, in real life as far as Wuhan goes, how many Chinese people eat bat burgers and puppy pies?
I have seen quite a few films on TV ad DVD but can't remember some of them and others I have commented on before. Two I had not seen before are:
Allied (Robert Zemeckis, 2016)
This film about a Canadian Air Force pilot and a member of the French Resistance who fall in love during an assignment in Morocco ought to be thrilling, but the plot twist is not so much on a knife edge as a wet rag on the floor. Brad Pitt shows a lack of interest in his own character, so cannot credibly be interested in his wife, so the film limps towards its who cares? end and that is all there is to say about it.
Beast (Michael Pearce, 2017)
This short but brilliant film begins with the (Irish) actor Jessie Buckley describing a whale in captivity going mad and harming itself, crushed by the captivity that makes a mockery of the freedom of the oceans whales ought to enjoy, just as the young woman's captivity is expressed in the insular character of Jersey and her family, though the freedom provided by her lover turns out to be another form of captivity, with tragic consequences. The script doesn't do too much, the metaphors and symbols nicely judged, from the use of a potato field to the cliffs of the island. The acting is finely balanced, and even with some 'sensational' elements is worth seeing.
A Clockwork Orange - a wicked satire on criminal justice.
Cromwell - as a history buff (partly because of the Stuart era) I loved it. I always wondered how Richard Harris played Cromwell when he seriously FUCKED UP Ireland. Even now, Irish people hate Cromwell and to be fair witht good reason.
Eyes Wide Shut - good film with a weird plot. David Icke reckons it's a window into the conspiracy world of the 1%, who knows? There are secret sex clubs out there, so anything is possible.
I am not your Negro (Raoul Peck, 2016)
This aired on BBC-2 last night, and is a fierce examination of race as James Baldwin saw it through his friendships with Malik el-Shabbaz and Martin Luther King, in what became an uncompleted study (Baldwin died in 1987).
The film juxtaposes archive film and photography featuring Baldwin himself as well as a variety of Black and White sources (cinema, tv, photography), with contemporary footage the aim of which is to beg the question -what, in reality, has changed in the last 100 years? Baldwin might interject- 'in the last 400 years'.
The film is driven by the rage and resentment that marks (some might argue, mars) Baldwin's writing, often for good reason, but while there is no doubting his sincerity and eloquence, el-Shabazz and King both created political agendas to deal with race that Baldwin did not, perhaps his greatest weakness. The Atlantic review of the film criticizes the absence of any discussion of Baldwn's sexual preference, though I am not sure it would fit with the politics of the film, although there is one moment when the allure of Black movie stars -Belafonte and Poitier- is simultaneously there and denied.
The film presents uncensored and startling- indeed, distressing- footage of violence, mostly law enforcement - in one shot a Black woman on the ground while a large policeman bores his knee into her neck; in another, another Black woman all but crushed to the ground by a ferocious policeman as if on the football field- and humiliation: the shot of a white man using a Black man as a chair; multiple shots of White Power signs with the Nazi logo held aloft during Civil Rights disturbances in the South- all of it suggesting we live in an age where censored or edited footage of real events protects us, or conceals from us the hideous truth.
At his most eloquent best, is the moment on the Dick Cavett show not long after the assassination of Malik el-Shabazz when Baldwin says, and it could, maybe should be written in Bold for out times:
All your buried corpses now begin to speak...
All the Money in the World IRidley Scott, 2017)
This film covers the same real life drama as the TV drama Trust, directed by Danny Boyle (2018), but is not as good. It is not just the time a series has to develop character, but the superior acting. Michelle Williams and Christopher Plummer are fine, Mark Wahlberg is not, and there is a lack of drive in the film.
A review of the real events that happened (spoiler alert) can be found here-
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2...story-history/
terminator.....
"The In-Laws" (the original one from 1979) with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin.
The greatest movie of all times!!!
I try to watch it once a week (and it will never bore me)
Birds of Prey
Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019)
On the one hand I could try to understand this as a prequel to Batman, the film containing the Wayne family at a critical point for a young Bruce. On the other hand, the story does not offer a link other than of nihilistic violence and social chaos in Gotham City. An attempt to link the Joker's behaviour with childhood trauma is not made effectively, so the Joker just comes across as a frustrated man who takes out his resentment on others, even if they do not deserve it. Joaquin Phoenix gives a strong performance, let down by some predictable scenes toward the end; one hopes he has had a good meal since making the film. de Niro is, well de Niro, some of the photography is superb, but the real star is the score by the Icelandic composer Hildur Guđnadóttir, as heard in the clip below, and also for the drama series Chernobyl ('Evacuation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjEcqPx0EwE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGID4ZhF45I
The wife made me watch Hamilton on Disney+ even though she forced me to sit through the play twice when we still lived in NY.
It is no better the 3rd time around.
Queen and Slim (Melina Matsoukas, 2019)
I bought this DVD without knowing anything about the film, as I don't recall it being reviewed last year, though Google informs me it was. The reviews in the Guardian don't do it justice, it is much worse than they claim.
The film appears to have some relevance to contemporary issues in real life that have been provoked by the lethal use of force in the US by law enforcement officers on Black people, and the incident that sparks the narrative drive of this film seems sadly all too real (according one of the extras on the disc, the incident was filmed in Cleveland, Ohio when it was -15 degrees! and Daniel Kaluuya imrprovised the line about it being cold, and it was!)
The problem is that there is no chemistry between the two leads, one of whom cannot act, who also have to work with a feeble script. I lost interest in them and their plight before the half-way point, by which time it was clear from its cliches how the film would develop and end, from the 'safe houses' en route (with, at least a welcome appearance by Indya Moore), the breakaway visit to the graveyard; the sexual connection badly filmed and embarrassing as these scenes are these days, to the airstrip in Florida (but why Cuba?).
Incredibly, the director claims these two peope were modellled on Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, presumably because Mork and Mindy were white, even if they did have a more believable relationship. This is a first feature film for the director who has made over 60 shorts and music videos; on the basis of this film, her competent directing needs to be firmed up with better scrpts, and a more creative approach to contemporary issues, if that is what she wants to make films about. Cliches should be effective if they are based on real life; to repeat cliches from other movies in this case is just laziness and a lack of imagination. 2/10 for effort.
I am not sure, but before Indya Moore began to appear in numerous feature films and TV dramas (Pose, being the most obvious), the Italian Eva Robins may have notched up more appearances, and not as a transgendered character (which I think Robins was in two films), there being no hint in this film that Moore is playing a transgendered character. I think this is an advance that is worthy of recognition, not in the triumphal sense, but to acknowledge that is possible to get an acting job based on talent rather than 'minority' box-ticking.
Shall We Dance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shall_...3F_(2004_film)
If you are in the mood for a little light hearted entertainment right now, this is well done . I found it delightfull . And who knew that Stanley Tucci could dance?!
That reminds me of the shock I had the first time I saw Christopher Walken dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCDIYvFmgW8
star trek beyond.
A delightful shock, and while I can't dance, I can sit in a chair and fall asleep with great composure...Quote:
Originally Posted by sukumvit boy
Ad Astra (James Grey, 2019)
It took two attempts for me to endure this film, as I fell asleep the first time around. It is slow, very slow, and because he has suppressed his emotions, the lead character -in fact, the only character in the film- talks quiet and slow, and the one moment he erupts in emotion you cant hear it because he is wailing in his space suit. There is a profound message in the film, if you think the conclusion that there are no aliens and we are alone in the Universe is profound. I like sci-fi films, but this one is tepid, underwhelming, slowy paced and without characters in depth or diversity.
Extraction (2020). A combination of Hollywood and Bollywood efforts staring Chris Hemsly. Quite alot of action and to me, well done.
I unfortunately have three meh reviews as I saw 3 movies in the last 3 days
1. greyhound.
tom hanks has not acted in a movie in over 10 years. he is the same person, movie after movie and it is tiring. he sucks as an action star and the rest of the cast is lame. the story is not compelling and I wasted my time on this dreck.
2. guns akimo
the last act of the movie is tolerable but it devolves into something far less than it promises by the end. the first 2/3 of the movie drag a lot and the gimmick of having guns screwed to your hands is pointless. other movies tried this formula better and did it better. better than greyhound but still a waste of time.
3. the old guard
what promise this had but it ended up being part telanovella, part highlander and part every other movie where the business man wants immortality. lame and while the least waste of time since the action is good, there is NO mystery to the story and you see the twist a mile away even if you never read the comic. It does not deserve the praise it is getting but as of right now, for the last 3 movies I watched, it was the most tolerable.
Enter The Dragon from the new Criterion Bruce Lee box set
Am I right in thinking that Bruce Lee, for all his pioneering work in making Martial Arts films mainstream that before occupied a niche, is in fact a crude mover compared to the more balletic versions that have appeared in the wake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Or is it the case that the more recent MA films are too pretty and that Lee has it about right? It is not a genre I am that keen on, though I have enjoyed films such as Crouching Tiger film, House of Flying Daggers, Zatoichi, Transporter...years ago I knew a MA fanatic who insisted King Hu's The Fate of Lee Khan was one of the best films ever made, yet when I saw it a few yeas back I was not that impressed -maybe it looked better in the late 1970s than in the 21st c? Or maybe I just didn't get it?
"Vantage Point"... Weird flick about a Presidential assassination/abduction plot.
I really wanted to like vantage point as I do enjoy movies that have time line fluctuations and various points of view but I think, at the end of the day, the style and filming gimmick took center stage over the plot of the movie. Too much attention was paid to making a slick movie rather than a compelling story.Quote:
Originally Posted by CORVETTEDUDE
Also, it is weird to think that this movie introduced the term POTUS to the masses as apparently before that most people did not know the term.
Ralph Bakshi's Hey Good Lookin'
Midway - the story of the WW2 struggle between the US and Japan for control of the Pacfic Ocean, culminating in the battle of Midway
Frozen. Don't judge me.
Did your mum take you? Or was it your TS Filipina girlfriend? They like that movie as much as they like Jollibee...Quote:
Originally Posted by setterman
LOL , I Love animation . Just purchased season 4 of Futurama , one of my favorites. My GF hates animation and I was surprised when she told me she loves Futurama!Quote:
Originally Posted by setterman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama
https://wizardworld.com/wizard/futur...another-season
Elle (Paul Verhoeven, 2016)
This aired on tv last week.
Isabelle Huppert may be one of France's finest actors, but even she cannot rescue this film from the small mountain of trash that Verhoeven has made all for himself. I understand those who argue his 'greatness' is misunderstood, because he is above all other things, a satirist, hence the 're-appraisal' of Showgirls (1995), and the claim that Starship Troopers (1997) is a satire on the Third Reich.
The problem is the truly dismal scripts, and the lack of cinematic intelligence in his films -and what seems to me to be a deeply confused idea of what both femle and make sexuality is, rather than what he wants it to be. To me his films are superficial, and wiithout interest.
Ghidorah, The Three Headed-Monster from the Criterion Godzilla box set
Last summer I read Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. It played down the fascist element which is what made the movie so compelling. How easy militarism can lead to totalitarianism if the youth embrace it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
The book was more about the regimented military life and the camaraderie between soldiers.
The movie is one of my top five films of all time. Ins spite of some truly horrid acting by the two leads, Johnny Rico and Carmen
Have you seen Warren Beatty’s Parallax View?Quote:
Originally Posted by CORVETTEDUDE
Quote:
Originally Posted by Torris
You make fair points, but maybe this is also a 'Verhoeven' thing: there is always something wrong with his flicks? I will do him a favour and set aside some time for Starship Troopers, though it is in line after Series 2-5 of Line of Duty, and Chernobyl which I want to watch again.
One of the best conspiracy films ever made, and one that stands the test of time, and another in a long line of 70s classics. It probably needs to be seen on the big screen but let's be honest, who would have thought Warren Beatty could act so well? A pity that Pakula's films after Klute. The Parallax View and All the President's Men did not match his earlier efforts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Torris
Verhoeven being Dutch probably really picked up on the fashion of Fascism in the movie from his family’s personal experience during WW II occupation. The casual acceptance of “service” for citizenship in the movie foreshadowed what was to come in America after 9/11Quote:
Originally Posted by Stavros
Chernobyl perhaps the best docu drama ever made.
Fire and Ice directed by Ralph Bakshi
Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019)
This film takes place, literally on several levels, and it is never clear who is the Parasite. It is in a way a family tragedy, the sharpest contrast being between father and son, rather than between rich and poor, in this case the cynical, world-weary father who has lived on his wits for most of his life and sees little hope for the rest of it, while his son sees opportunities and wants to take them, such as the job which he takes at the start of the film that spirals out of control. I don't see this as a masterpiece as some do, but it is defiinitely one of the better films I have seen recently, and think it is worth seeing.