Christophe Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 If you'd watched Flight and Hitchcock in the same sitting, I'm not sure a Spielberg epic was really the right choice! Try again - DDL is fantastic as always, even if the film isn't as well paced as it could've been. Hitchcock and Lincoln was the plan. Bit of a gap between showings so crammed in I Give It A Year. Flight was a different day. But you're right, not the best idea doing Lincoln last. Will give it another whirl. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainkev Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Just back from the cinema having been to see Warm Bodies and I'm distinctly unimpressed with it frankly. It wasn't a film I particularly wanted to see admittedly but my friends talked me into seeing it. I thought the opening ten minutes were quite engrossing. Having the film essentially follow Nicholas Hoult's zombie character, hearing his narration of his dreary zombie life wandering round doing nothing is a great way to draw audiences in. However as the film went on and the love story came to fore, I felt this single aspect that had caught my interest had been relegated to the background. Casting John Malkovic in his role and having him play it in quite a restrained fashion just felt like a huge waste of his talent. The leads Hoult were and Palmer didn't do anything particularly offensive to me in the film and if I'm being fair, they had a quite a bit more chemistry than most Hollywood leads have these days. I also felt the film was so desperately trying to hammer home ideas about tolerance and yet provided quite contradictory messages throughout the film. It's most notable though at the end of the film in the dialogue discussing the defeating of the bad guys from the film. Frankly I'm just fed up of the trend for post-apocalyptic futures/worlds that has dominated mainstream gaming and mainstream Hollywood blockbusters in the past 6 or 7 years. Not only this, I'm just plain sick of zombies now. Zombies just seem to be everywhere and have done so for the past couple of years or more. They really need to bugger off for a while imo Anyway Warm Bodies, 3/10. I'm feeling harsh today. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Dougal McGuire Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Gangs of New York - 8.5/10 Finally got round to seeing and wasn't in the least bit disappointed. Di Caprio is good but Daniel Day Lewis steals the show and was absolutely superb throughout. Didn't feel like 3 hours which is another sign of a good film 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 (edited) Water for elephants 7/10 I thoroughly enjoyed this film, even though I have a eternal hatred for that Pattinson chap as a result of viewing a twilight film. Christoph Waltz stole the show, he is fast becoming one of my favourite actors. In the 3 films I've seen him in, he's been tremendous Edited February 13, 2013 by MONKMAN 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing gravie Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Watched Piranha the other night for the 1st time. 6/10 The plot was so cliche'd, typical Jaw-esque carnage, but sthe SFX were top notch, especially the cheeky bit with the piranha and the sleeze buckets knob, excellent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rover Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 (edited) Doubt Heavy-going Catholic school drama set in the 1960s, about a priest, Father Flynn who's popular with all of the boys but seems to take a special interest in a few of them, and two nun teachers- one the naive, gullible young Sister James who is in denial about the clues she's collected despite her doubts; the other a hard-nosed witch of a principal of the school, Sister Aloysius, who is categorically convinced the priest is a paedophile as soon as she hears a hint of doubt. Flynn has an explanation for everything, but it's doubt that keeps Sister Aloysius convinced, even if Sister James, the witness of the boy's strange behaviour, believes the priest. Rather autocratically, the film's directed and adapted by the original playwright, but John Patrick Shanley's script is full of clever metaphor, tension and character conflict, and is a recipe for good acting. Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep make the film what it is, but any theatre director needs someone like Roger Deakins on camera to make their film work. I was just singing his praises on the Oscars thread, and this film's an example of his work at its beautiful best. The use of natural colour contrasts (like the nuns' uniforms against the snow) is one of his great tricks, but everything here is perfect from lighting to angles, and brings the play to life brilliantly. Good drama that almost plays like a thriller, but it is quite flat and lacks the punch I was expecting, but captivating and admirable all the same, most so because of Meryl Streep whose performance in her complicated role is probably her best work in the last ten years. I might watch the film again in a few years, but I won't be rushing. 7/10 Edited February 13, 2013 by Albino Rover 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DomDom Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 I was waaaaaay into that. I think it was the strength of the leads that just completely dragged me into what they were doing. Hoffman especially does that sort of shit with such conviction. It's a key to his performance in The Master as well. He could be telling you the world is flat and you'd be like "mmhmm". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SodjesSixteenIncher Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 (edited) I Stand Alone and Irreversible - Both from the presumably insane Gaspar Noe. Brutal, brutal stuff. Undoubtedly some of the most shocking scenes I've scene in film, both in uncomfortable themes and violence (two words: fire extinguisher ). There's been a raft of hyper violent guff since like The Human Centipede since but this is completely different. The disturbing sequences are just part of two painfully realistic feeling dramas, which make it much harder to watch. 8/10 and 9/10 respectively. 0/10 purely for entertainment though. One shots of a guy getting his face getting smashed at a gay orgy, an old man pumping his daughter, manual falcon punch abortions and ten minute anal rape scenes aren't a barrel of laughs Lincoln - Not a classic imo but very good nonetheless. DDL really suits the part very well. Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones were excellent. Spielberg can always be relied upon, although I wouldn't have this up amongst his best work. 7.5/10 Flight - Overrated as f**k. The Denzel Show as is the case with everything he's done for 15 years but little else that interested me. After showing him getting MWI and taking to the cockpit, the film's plot was always heading towards him being pulled up (I didn't know anything about the storyline before). It seemed to take about an hour after the crash to get to this point and even then he was somehow surprised that they'd done a blood test in hospital I usually appreciate films taking their time to build characters and create empathy but this didn't do that for me. It's not even like the relationship was very interesting or had any substance to it (we both needs to stop our darn drankin!!!) Boring 5/10. Edited February 14, 2013 by SodjesSixteenIncher 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeszyKan Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Hugo .It’s a story about a boy who tries to fix a machine of his father. It’s a thrilling movie and my rate for the movie is 4/5. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daviehaybhoy Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 For Greater Glory Decent historical account of the Cristeros rebellion in Mexico which took place in the 1920's. The aggressively secular atheist government banned religion and in the light of the modern climate; i.e the hostility towards Catholicism in particular, I found the film particularly disturbing and chilling. The people protested against the federal government which led to the regime becoming more violent and executing clergy and shooting church goers. The armed response from the rebels includes hiring a general to try and defeat the federalists. The editing was poor, as were parts of the screenplay but the emotional heart of the film is that sacrifice in non-violence and debate ultimately effects change and not violence. 6/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurph Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Chasing Amy - 7/10 Django Unchained - 8/10 This is 40 - 7/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Avengers Assemble I thought this was a by the numbers action film. I have only seen The Incredible Hulk of the standalone Marvel films, so maybe that contributed to how little I cared about the characters in the film. I felt there was too many jokes for what was meant to be a serious story and that Thor seemed very out of place compared to the other heroes as well. 6/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainkev Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 (edited) A Canterbury Tale (1944): I'm quite a big Powell and Pressburger fan and I'd seen this film once before a while back and generally remember being pretty non-plussed. Didn't like it but didn't hate it either. However I just watched it again and was absolutely entralled by it. The characters are all engaging and sympathetic, including the character who is technically villain of the piece. In fact there is feeling that Powell and Pressburger sympathise with the villain's motivation. The whole film is just terrificly well cast and the four leads are perfect in their roles. The English countryside also looks stunning in this film even without the benefit of colour film. The landscape just simply beautiful, especially when Alison and Colpeper are lying in the grass on the hill. It's just a delightful film and the ending is masterfully done which is a real achievement when you consider how soppy and insipid it could have been in less skillfull hands. I give it a 9/10. Just a wonderful film. & Coccoon (1985): I'd been meaning to watch this for a while and it's a pretty decent film all in all. Not mind blowing and there are numerous cliches. However there are lots of interesting ideas at play and it was refreshing to see the film revolve around pensioners. It was good to see them treated as real characters and people rather than walking punchlines due to their age for the vast majority of the film. I just wish the film had finished just after the scene where Ben and his grandson are fishing as it was a genuinely strong emotional moment and what came after was just the horrible, soppy, sentimental shlock that Hollywood does far too often. 6/10, I'm glad that I've at least seen it once but I'm not likely to ever bother watching it again. Edited February 15, 2013 by captainkev 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophe Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 The Deep - Icelandic film based on true events about a fishing boat that capsizes and one bloke (of 4) defies human biology and survives six hours in the north atlantic. Half the film is given to the swim to the shore; the rest the various tests they did on him, the fall-out of his 'achievement' and his indifference to it. Good little film. 7/10 Prometheus - Watchable and absorbing guff despite some shoddy acting and occasionally cringeworthy script. 7/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reid Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Kids (1995) Wow. Just fucking wow. 10/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SodjesSixteenIncher Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 That film is probably the most difficult watch I've ever had. It stayed with me for days and days after seeing it. I'm glad I watched it, just to say I have. Don't think I will ever watch it again though. The rape scene is shocking and extremely difficult to sit through Incidentally, I heard about the film from one of my friends who rented it on DVD for him and his girlfriend to have a quiet night in. He had never heard of it before and was unaware of it's content. He said it was the most uncomfortable he had ever felt in his own house and had to turn it off during said scene. His girlfriend was sickened at his romantic movie choice Jesus, that sounds horrific. I can't think of many more awkward film viewing experiences than watching this with your girlfriend Apart from watching it with your folks. The first scene probably wasn't a picnic either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonMan Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Lincoln-Not the most exciting I'll ever see but a well made film nevertheless. Day Lewis is incredible to watch and deserves the praise he's getting for his performance while Tommy Lee Jones was also very good and is deserving of the praise he's getting. One of those that you need to be in the right mood to watch though since you'll miss a lot if you're not focusing properly on the dialogue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophe Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Watched The Killing this afternoon... Really enjoyed it. Dir. by Kubrick, with a screenplay by Jim Thompson (wrote The Killer Inside Me, which was turned into a pretty rubbish/too glossy film, The Grifters, a few more decent pulp/noir novels). It's basically a robbery goes wrong type thing shown from the perspectives of gangsters who hardly know each other... Reservoir Dogs owes a bit to it. The ending is... implausible. There's a deus ex machina that is really crowbarred in there and few other things that are improbable but help move things to a conclusion... but then the whole films is only about 80 mins so I suppose a fast resolution is inevitable. At one point a character suggests a gay tryst with another which is something you don't expect to see in a mid 50s film... it's done in a totally matter of fact manner, too, as in, did he just suggest what I think he suggested? 7/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Horrible Bosses Nothing particularly original or groundbreaking, but it was fairly enjoyable for what it was. Extra point for Aniston 7/10 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophe Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Going to try and watch all the Kubrick's i haven't seen soon. Only ones i haven't seen are Fear & Desire, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita and Barry Lydon so wont be that hard really 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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