| | What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again | |
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Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:26 pm | |
| Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, (Baghead (2008) and Cyrus (2010)), this low-budget comedy-drama was made on a shoestring budget in Louisiana over a few weeks in the spring of 2010. The Duplass Brothers were said to have cried through the film's premiere, which begs the question of whether the film is semi-autobiographical, maybe a little bit. 30 year old slacker Jeff (Jason Segel) lives in the basement of his mother Sharon (Susan Sarandon), Jeff looks for destiny in random occurrences in his uneventful life. Sharon sends him out to get some wood glue to fix a door shutter. After being mugged after trying to follow one of his destinies, he runs into his older, more successful brother Pat (Ed Helms), who is going through a difficult patch in his marriage to Linda (Judy Greer). Believing Linda is having an affair, Jeff and Pat team up and follow Judy and her suspected fancy man Steve (Steve Zissis) throughout the day, while mother Sharon gets emails from a mysterious admirer at work. It's a short, slight comedy-drama. It's a nice film with some good laughs along the way, there might not be much in the way of fireworks to the story. But, it shows you can hold the attention with a low-budget. 3.5/5 Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), after the first two Kung Fu Panda films, which came out in 2008 and 2011, a third film was inevitable, DreamWorks had planned up to 6 films, or chapters as they call them. It was buoyed by the fact that DreamWorks had set up an animation studio in China. There was every danger the franchise could become stale like the Shrek films, it hasn't, it's a joyous and entertaining film. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) has announced his retirement from teaching, and gives the responsibility to Po (Jack Black), who is delighted at first, but soon finds out he knows nothing about teaching kung fu, much to the anger of the Furious Five, Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Monkey (Jackie Chan). Po is distracted by the arrival of his long-lost father Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), who tells Po there's a whole colony of pandas. Meanwhile, evil spirit warrior Kai (J.K. Simmons) is causing havoc, and Po has to stop him. It's a daft, but visually colourful and fast moving action adventure, but it's one that the whole family can enjoy. On the basis of this one, it looks like there'll be more to come. 3.5/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 01, 2016 11:03 pm | |
| The Contender (2000), written and directed by Rod Lurie (The Last Castle (2001) and Straw Dogs (2011)), this political thriller is a look at how dirty tricks politics works in the U.S. Congress. It was meant to have been something of an expose of how selection processes work there, and also a candid statement on the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. It's a well acted potboiler though, and quite gripping too. After the death of the current vice-president, U.S. President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) has to select a new vice-president. The favourite is Virginia Governor Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), who was hailed a hero after trying to save a drowning girl, even though he was unsuccessful. But, Evans shocks everyone by nominating Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), a savvy senator from Ohio. Standing in her way is Congressman Shelley Runyon (Gary Oldman), who believes Hanson is unqualified for the job. Then, Runyon unearths photographs of Hanson, supposedly at a drunken initiation, performing sexual acts. Runyon sets to take down Hanson, but Hanson puts up a fight. It's a good film, and it does leave you wondering why we have to have dirty tricks when it comes to selection processes, and the answer 'who cares?' comes to mind. It's a powerful thriller which manages to be exciting against the odds. 4/5 Interior. Leather Bar. (2013), co-directed by James Franco (The Disaster Artist (2016) and Travis Mathews (I Want Your Love (2012)), this is an documentary essay, or docufiction if you like, that attempts to reconstruct 40 minutes of lost footage that William Friedkin had to remove from Cruising (1980) in order to get an R-rating in America. It's an interesting idea for a documentary, but it's a bit all over the place. James Franco and Travis Mathews have a mutual love for the film Cruising (1980), as it's a film no-one had dared attempted then, and never attempted since. As 40 minutes was cut from the original film by the MPAA, Franco and Matthews attempt to reimagine what the footage would have looked like. However, instead of recreating the footage in whole, and flashes of it are seen, in graphic detail too. The film then attempts to explore the psyche of the actors recreating the footage, about their levels of comfort or discomfort, and using the footage to explore whether there is a line between creative freedom and censorship. It's a daring film, but it does feel a bit jarring, and it for it's short running time, (1 hour), it does tend to drag a little bit, a dramatisation of the making of Cruising might have made for a better film. 2/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:46 pm | |
| Anomalisa (2015), Charlie Kaufman returns, his first film since Synecdoche, New York (2008). This was adapted from a one act play Kaufman wrote in under the alias of Francis Fregoli. Kaufman co-directed the film with animator Duke Johnson, and the film is done in brilliant stop-motion, which gives the film a surreal but unbelievably engaging quality. It's not all perfect, but you get the gyst of what Kaufman is trying to do. It begins with self-help author and customer service expert Michael Stone (David Thewlis) travelling to Cincinnati, Ohio to promote his latest book. Michael has become distant and insular, and he see's everyone around, men and women, and even his own wife and son as having the same male voice and face (Tom Noonan). He's tried to reconcile with Bella, a woman he knew years before, and that fails. But, he hears the voice of Lisa Hesselman (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who sounds different from everyone else he's encountered, and she does look or sound like anyone else, and it unlocks feelings within Michael he hasn't felt in years. It's a different sort of animated film, a meditation on identity and human feelings, it's certainly a more accessible Kaufman film than Synecdoche, New York, but the fact Kaufman had to resort to Kickstarter to get it funded show how difficult it is to get films funded now too. 4/5 High-Rise (2015), directed by Ben Wheatley, (Kill List (2011), Sightseers (2012) and A Field in England (2013)), and adapted from J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel. Producer Jeremy Thomas has had the option on the novel since the novel was published, directors such as Nicolas Roeg, Vincenzo Natali and Richard Stanley were all attached, before Wheatley approached Thomas about adapting it. High-Rise is a shocking, engaging and stunning film. Set in futuristic 1975, Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) moves into an ultra-modern high-rise, a luxurious apartment complex built by acclaimed yet mysterious architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons). Laing gets drawn into Royal's inner circle after meeting Royal's aide Charlotte Melville (Sienna Miller), after this, technical problems begin to occur within the high-rise. TV producer Richard Wilder (Luke Evans), who lives on the second floor of the high-rise wants to know what's causing it, and an all out class war occurs. The super rich fighting against the middle upper class on the floors below them and the poor classes on the lower floors. Wheatley makes Ballard's cautionary tale a parable on the rise of Thatcherism and social pecking orders. It's visually stunning with it's stark 70's futurism and some very good performances throughout. Think Zardoz (1974) meets Shivers (1975)... 4/5 | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:55 am | |
| - Donald McKinney wrote:
- [Think Zardoz (1974) meets Shivers (1975)... 4/5
Interesting premise! Identity Thief (1st view) - Quite funny in the first half, mawkish and boring in the second - 3/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Sat Apr 09, 2016 2:38 am | |
| The Lego Movie (2nd view) - When I saw this at the cinema I was kinda torn. It was 70 minutes of superb fun followed by 15 minutes that threatened to destroy what came before and sucked me out of the film like nothing else I'd ever seen. I don't quite hate the ending so much now and the rest is so enjoyable it's easier to forgive - 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:13 pm | |
| Warm Bodies (2013), based on Isaac Marion's 2010 novel of the same name, and written and directed by Jonathan Levine, (50/50 (2011), The Night Before (2015)), this is a romantic comedy-horror take on Romeo and Juliet, focusing on forbidden love. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but it has some good intentions on hand, it's possibly what Shaun of the Dead might have looked like had it been made by Americans. Set 8 years after a major zombie apocalypse, zombie R (Nicholas Hoult) spends most of his time in an abandoned airport with his friend and fellow zombie M (Rob Corddry). One day, they come across a party of humans, led by Julie Grigio (Teresa Palmer) daughter of Colonel Grigio (John Malkovich), leader of the human survivors. Julie and her team have been sent to find medical supplies from abandoned buildings. R sees Julie, and falls in love with her, and even helps to protect Julie when she's cut off from the rest of her team. It's not long before R and Julie fall in love, and R helps to keep Julie from the Bonies, who are heavily affected zombies. It's a good idea for a film, and it makes for a refreshing change from the romantic teen franchises like The Hunger Games and Twilight. It's not all perfect, but it's worth the look. 3.5/5 Mr. X, a Vision of Leos Carax (2014), written, produced and directed by Tessa Louise-Salomé, who started out in film by working on short films, before working behind the scenes on Leos Carax's insane Holy Motors (2012), it was after doing the behind the scenes documentary on the film, that lead to Louise-Salomé being given full access on this documentary on Carax's working career. It's a good, insightful film. Carax started out, after working on short films, as well as working as a film critic. He broke into the film with Boy Meets Girl (1984) and Mauvais Sang (1986), which he displayed a unique and truly offbeat style. His difficult third film came with the highly ambitious and daring Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991), which was beset by production problems and going overbudget. Carax disappeared for 8 years, and returned with an adaptation of Herman Melville's 1852 book Pierre: or, The Ambiguities. Pola X (1999). His most serious work. Then, Carax disappeared again, and returned with a short segment for Tokyo! (2008) before returning full blast with Holy Motors. Even though he's only made 5 films in 28 years, no-one makes films as insane or visually busy as Leos Carax does. Seeing this showcases all the best qualities of his films and it's a shame that he hasn't made more films. 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:32 pm | |
| Babylon A.D. (2008), based on the 1999 novel Babylon Babies by Maurice Georges Dantec, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine (1995), The Crimson Rivers (2000) and Gothika (2003)), this is a science fiction that Kassovitz had planned since the novel's publication, and he worked on the script for 5 years. Kassovitz even decided to do it in English to appeal to a wider audience. Then it all went horribly wrong, and it shows. Somewhere in the near future, mercenary Toorop (Vin Diesel) accepts an offer from Russian mobster Gorsky (Gérard Depardieu) to take a young woman known only as Aurora (Mélanie Thierry) to New York. Toorop collects her and Guardian Nun Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh), from a convent in Mongolia. There they have to travel across Russia and over into Canada and then America. However, Russia has become a no-go area, full of slums and crime, plus a group of mercenaries, sent by Aurora's supposedly dead father, have also been sent to find her. Getting over the Bering Strait into Canada nearly kills them, and then the truth about Aurora comes out. Despite Kassovitz's best intentions, non of the film feels original, and the action sequences feel derivative. It doesn't help that studio Fox interfered with the film, ruining any chance it had. 2/5 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), this thriller started out as an ultra low budget spec script penned by first time writers John Campbell and Matt Stuecken. It was optioned by Paramount in 2012, and it ended up with J.J. Abrams, who let first time director Dan Trachtenberg make his debut with it. It wasn't until it was nearly finished filming that it's title was announced, hinting at connections to Cloverfield (2008). It begins with Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) on the road from New Orleans going through Louisiana, and then she's involved in a road accident. She wakes up in a bunker, and that's where she meets Howard (John Goodman), who explains there was an attack, and he found her by the side of the road and he took her in. Also in the bunker is Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.), who also witnessed the attack and fled to Howard's bunker. Although, confused and disorientated at first, Michelle comes to accept the situation, and settles in for the long haul. But, little things emerge that make Michelle and even Emmett think that Howard isn't all who he seems to be. Is it a sequel, an equal, a follow-up or part of a Cloverfield anthology? Who knows, but it makes for very exciting and gripping viewing, it makes the most of it's claustrophobic setting and it gives the film a Hitchcockian vibe. 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:15 pm | |
| Eureka (1983), after working on Bad Timing (1980), director Nicolas Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas got lucky, and got the opportunity to do a film for United Artists. They chose an adaptation of Marshall Houts' 1976 book Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes?, which was a real life murder mystery. However, Roeg would change a few things around, making it more loosely based on the book. It has his usual touches, and it is way over the top in places, but it works. In the Yukon territories of Canada sometime in the 1920's, Klondike prospector Jack McCann (Gene Hackman) comes across a huge goldmine in the snowy mountains. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, he becomes one of the richest men in the world, and 20 years later. McCann now lives on an estate in the Carribean called Eureka. McCann is now isolated from the world, he now has everything, and it's starting to alienate him. He believes his daughter Tracy (Theresa Russell) and her French husband Claude Maillot Van Horn (Rutger Hauer) are conspiring to kill him. Plus, Miami gangsters Mayakofsky (Joe Pesci) and Aurelio D'Amato (Mickey Rourke) are also wanting a piece of McCann's fortune. It's a very unusual film, very well filmed, but it requires patience and what Roeg has created here is something like There Will Be Blood, only with gold instead of oil. Only, Roeg has a very unusually way of looking at things, but he's able to get the best from his cast, but it's not a film for everyone. 3.5/5 Daylight (1996), directed by Rob Cohen, (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), Dragonheart (1996) and The Fast and the Furious (2001)), and written by Leslie Bohem (A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) and Dante's Peak (1997)), this is an extremely silly action disaster film which has a good, claustrophobic central premise, but it ticks a lot of the usual disaster movie cliches throughout. Set in New York, it shows a group of people all entering the Holland Tunnel at the same time. There's stuggling playwright Maddy Thompson (Amy Brenneman), mountain climbing retailer Roy Nord (Viggo Mortensen), elderly couple Roger and Eleanor Trilling (Colin Fox and Claire Bloom), a bus full of prisoners, trucks full of toxic waste and a gang of diamond thieves. When the diamond thieves crash into the toxic waste, it sets off an explosive fireball which destroys both entrances to the tunnel. Witnessing this is former Medical Services Chief Kit Latura (Sylvester Stallone), now a cab driver, and he comes up with a plan to save whoever is alive inside the tunnel. The film is essentially The Poseidon Adventure (1972) in a tunnel, which inevitably floods putting lives at risk. But, it's well made for it's day, and the makers built a full length of tunnel at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, which serves it's purpose well. 3.5/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:44 pm | |
| Bedazzled (1967), the original and best version, (never mind the 2000 remake), a satirical take on the Faust tale, as interpreted by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, then at the top of their game with their BBC TV series, it's still a very funny film, and Pete and Dud made a good team, even if they hated each other in real life. Set in Swinging London, this has Wimpy short-order chef Stanley Moon (Dudders), who yearns for waitress Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron), and finds help from the devil himself, known as George Spiggott (Cook), who offers Moon 7 wishes so he can be with Margaret, alot of the wishes are too good to be true, and they are!! It has him going from an intellectual to a millionnaire to a pop star, and nothing goes as planned!! The film is a brilliant time piece of 1960's Britain, and it was made whilst Cook and Moore were at the peak of their success, and it has the very best of their humour, a satirical take of modern life, (for then), and with some very funny dialogue and situations, (nuns on trampolines!!) It also features Raquel Welch as Lust and Barry Humphries as Envy, oh, and it was directed by Stanley Donen, best known for Hollywood musicals like Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), you wouldn't have thought he'd have gone for this, good on him for doing so!! 4/5 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), well, it was inevitable, it had to happen. Hot off the success of Man of Steel (2013), director Zach Snyder brings Superman head to head with Gotham's own dark knight, rebooting the character of Batman in the process. The finished result isn't the big, massive disaster a lot of critics seem to say it is, but there are a lot of problems with it, but nothing a sequel can't fix. Superman (Henry Cavill) comes under criticism for the destruction of Metropolis while battling General Zod (Michael Shannon). Billionaire Bruce Wayne AKA Batman (Ben Affleck), who was visiting from Gotham, was caught up in the mayhem, he see's Superman as a threat to humanity, while Superman is wary of Batman's violent tendencies. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) has got his hands on Kryptonite, which he wants to use to revive Zod, while Wayne also wants the Kryptonite to help bring down Superman. Meanwhile, after one act of terrorism, Superman goes into exile, but Luthor has plans to try and get Superman to return to fold. It's a film massive in scale, but it could have done with a more focused and sharper script. Against all the odds, Affleck makes a good Batman, and it'll be good to see him again. But, it needed more humour, and maybe less characters who ended up being wasted. 3.5/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 7:46 pm | |
| Bridge of Spies (2015), Steven Spielberg returns, after the critical success of Lincoln (2012), Spielberg takes on another true life tale, although this one is a slightly forgotten piece of history, it's a very important piece of history, one piece of history that has helped aid co-operation between countries. The idea of playwright Matt Charman, and rewritten by Joel and Ethan Coen, it's an engaging and ever so slightly offbeat character drama. Spielberg turns a tense piece of history into something strangely enjoyable. In 1957, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested in Brooklyn for being a Soviet Spy. Entitled to a fair trial, he is represented by insurance lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks), who is able to spare Abel from being executed. Meanwhile, CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down over Soviet Russia after taking photos from above, and is arrested. A message from Abel's 'family' gets to Donovan, proposing a swap. Abel for Powers. Donovan goes to Berlin to negotiate the swap, but when he hears of American student Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) being wrongfully arrested for being a spy, Donovan also wants Pryor released too. It's a good story, and it shows that Spielberg is a good director of actors, as well as being a master storyteller, and it captures the tense atmosphere of the period really well too. Hanks is blown off the screen by the quiet friendliness of Mark Rylance. You can see why he's been cast as The BFG. 4.5/5 Steve Jobs (2015), directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin, this biopic was partially based on Walter Isaacson's 2011 biography of the same name. It was intended to reunite Sorkin and David Fincher after The Social Network (2010). However, Fincher moved on, Boyle joined, the film switched studios in the midst of much publicised controversy. To say it's a biopic is a bit misleading actually, it's a chamber piece, and it's beautifully filmed and performed too. The film has a 3 act structure. It first starts in January 1984, just before the launch of the Apple Macintosh, and the struggle Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) is having with the technology and backstage with his ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston). In 1988, just before the launch of the NeXT Computer, Jobs argues with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) and Apple John Sculley (Jeff Daniels). Then in 1998, with the launch of the iMac, Jobs has had a spat with his daughter Lisa (Perla Haney-Jardine), and his long time executive Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet) helps mend it. It's a good character piece, and it shows Boyle can be a great director of actors as well as a great visual director, it's got brilliant dialogue by Sorkin, and it's an unusual structure that works brilliantly. 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:16 pm | |
| Eddie the Eagle (2016), directed by Dexter Fletcher (Wild Bill (2011) and Sunshine on Leith (2013)) and produced by Matthew Vaughn (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Kick-Ass (2010)), this is based on the life of Eddie Edwards, who against all the odds, became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping. He won a nation's heart, and it's an uplifting, funny story. Ever since he was a boy, Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton) has always wanted to compete in the Olympics, his mother Janette (Jo Hartley) encourages him, while his father Terry (Keith Allen) discourages him. After the British Olympic officials reject him from the skiing tournament for the 1988 Winter Olympics, he goes for ski jumping, as there hasn't been a British Ski jumper in 6 decades. He goes to Germany to train, but he's not very successful, then he meets American former Olympic ski jumper Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), who encouraged by Eddie's determination, agrees to coach him, and against all the odds, and being sneered at by everyone, get to compete in the Winter Olympics. Although the film takes liberties with what really happened, there's no way you could have made a truly serious film out of this story, but it manages to be amusing and engaging in equal measures, and it's a film with real heart, like it's hero. 4/5 Zootropolis (2016), known as Zootopia in America, but changed here for legal reasons, this is Disney taking on the buddy cop action film their way, directed by Byron Howard (Tangled (2010) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph (2012)), this is an amusing and engaging tale, which has a serious message about equality at it's heart, but it's got some of the most beautifully detailed animation Disney has done in years. Set in a world of anthropomorphic mammals, rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) from rural Bunnyburrow, becomes the first ever rabbit cop in the big city of Zootropolis, even though police chief Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) doubts Judy can cut it as a cop, and assigns her to parking duty. But, Judy gets a break when she's asked to help find a missing mammal, she ends up teaming up with streetwise con-artist fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), who knows a lot about Zootropolis, Nick is reluctant to help, but Judy blackmails Nick into helping, or go to jail for tax evasion. Judy only has 48 hours to crack the case or she'll have to quit, but nothing in this case is what it seems. It's Disney back to the anthropomorphic animal format of films like Robin Hood (1973), but updated with a modern attitude with thought-provoking skulduggery under it's bright, colourful shell. It's one of Disney's better recent films, and they manage to have a laugh at themselves too. 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:48 pm | |
| The Lobster (2015), the English language debut of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (Kinetta (2005), Dogtooth (2009) and Alps (2011)), this is a contender for one of the most insane films of recent years. It depicts a dystopian near-future which doesn't look futuristic, and the characters all act unnaturally. It's got nearly the same tone as Lanthimos's Dogtooth, and which it's premise is nutty, it makes for a good film. According to the rules of the City, single people are to be sent to the Hotel, where they are given 45 days to find a partner, or they will be turned into an animal of their choice and released into the Forest. One new arrival to the Hotel is David (Colin Farrell), who comes with his brother, a former resident of the hotel who was turned into a dog. David makes friends with the Lisping Man (John C. Reilly) and the Limping Man (Ben Whishaw). David begins a relationship with the Heartless Woman (Angeliki Papoulia), but when that goes badly, David escapes into the Forest, where he is accepted amongst the Loners, one of which is Short Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz), who David likes. It's impossible to catergorise this film, non of it seems to make logical sense, but it's brilliant to watch, and it's very engaging and it has a good ensemble cast as well. It'll be interesting to see what director Lanthimos comes up with next. 4/5 Macbeth (2015), based upon William Shakespeare's play from around 1611, and directed here by Justin Kurzel, (Snowtown (2011), The Turning (2013) and Assassin's Creed (2016)), this is a powerful and bloody adaptation of the Scottish Play, which is benefitted from a powerhouse lead performance by Michael Fassbender, who makes the part his own, and it's also a sumptious yet dark visual feast. Macbeth (Fassbender) leads the armies of King Duncan (David Thewlis), and emerges victorious, despite heavy losses. After the battle, Macbeth is approached by three witches (Seylan Baxter, Lynn Kennedy and Kayla Fallon), who claim that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and future King of Scotland. When Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor, he tells his wife Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard) of the witches and their prophecies. When it's announced King Duncan will be staying with Macbeth as his guest, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to kill Duncan, to fulfill the prophecy. The deed is carried out, and Macbeth becomes king but with heavy, psychological consequences. It's a powerful take on the play, which has been adapted many times before on screen, but this is a dark, brooding version which benefits from brilliant cinematography by Adam Arkapaw, and some brilliant performances throughout. 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:22 pm | |
| The Gruesome Twosome (1967), produced and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, creator of trashy exploitation films like Blood Feast (1963), Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), She-Devils on Wheels (1968) and The Wizard of Gore (1970). This is an insane splatter comedy film which was made for a meagre $40,000. It has some very gory moments, but it was underground films like this at the time that had an endearing cult appeal. In Florida, Mrs. Pringle (Elizabeth Davis) runs a wig shop in a small town, she lives with her mentally retarded son Rodney (Chris Martell). Mrs. Pringle's shop also has rooms which she rents to students who study at the nearby university. However, girls are going missing, and a lot of wigs are appearing in Mrs. Pringle's shop window. The bodies of said girls turn up dead and scalped as well. The police don't suspect Mrs. Pringle for a minute, but when student Kathy Baker (Gretchen Wells), notices that students who stay at the wig shop are never seen again. It takes time for her to convince the police that Mrs. Pringle might not be as innocent as she seems. It's incredibly daft, and Herschell Gordon Lewis' films have the same camp tone as the early films of John Waters, only they're more gory and don't have the sickly charm Waters' films did. But, this one is short, complete with stop-motion mannequin heads. 3/5 The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), the sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), although there is no Snow White in this film, and it effectively acts as prequel and sequel in the same way that 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) was. It was the directorial debut of second unit director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, and it's not as bad as the critics say, but it's not perfect, and it's tone is all over the place. Long before her defeat, the evil sorceress Ravenna (Charlize Theron) unleashed the cryokinetic powers in her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) by killing Freya's daughter. Freya goes to start her own kingdom, and raising an army, including warriors Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain). Love is forbidden in Freya's kingdom, and Eric and Sara fall in love, they're separated, and years later, after Ravenna's defeat, Eric goes on a mission with dwarves Nion (Nick Frost) and Gryff (Rob Brydon) to find Ravenna's magic mirror, which has since vanished, and that means heading north into Freya's kingdom again, and Eric finds himself reunited with Sara, who thinks Eric abandoned her. It's a daring sequel, especially as there's no Snow White in this film, but parts of it end up looking derivative, especially with the live action fairy tales that Disney are making, plus The Snow Queen was done better with Frozen (2013). 3/5 | |
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Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Sun Apr 17, 2016 12:39 am | |
| The Sessions (1st view) - A man paralysed by polio hires a sex surrogate to help him lose his virginity. Helen Hunt was rightly oscar-nominated but John Hawkes really should have been too. He's fantastic - 4/5* Zazie dans le metro - An annoying girl want to ride the Paris metro but can't due to a strike - 3/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:15 pm | |
| Hardcore Henry (1st view) - Basically a first person shooter game on film. Those who dislike shaky-cam may want some aspirin before they watch. It's been getting some stonkingly bad reviews but I loved it from start to finish. I'd welcome more films shots like this - 4/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Mon Apr 25, 2016 1:37 am | |
| Une femme est une femme - I don't recall doing so but at some point in my life I must've made a deal with the Devil and then reneged on it, because I can think of nothing else that warrants being made to watch this film as punishment - 1/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:11 am | |
| Eye In The Sky (1st view) - For what is basically people in seven differnt rooms across the globe watching Tv screens, this maneges to be thrilling, tense and somewhat morally complex. I've never cared for Helen Mirren and  I didnlt here, but the rest of the cast are on fine form, especially Aaron Paul showing off those sad eyes he perfected with five years of Breaking Bad and Alan Rickman, who in his last role remains as good as ever and reminds us what a loss he is to the world of cinema - 4/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri May 06, 2016 9:09 am | |
| Zootopia (1st view) - A lot of fun. Bateman and Goodwin are both excellent, excellent animation as expected and some hilarious moments. The entire sloth sequence has be breathloess with laughter. Liked the nods toward Breaking Bad and Frozen, and love the idea of Wreck-It Rhino. Not sure why Shakira was there though, and Idris Eldra seemed out of place but these are minor niggles - 4/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Mon May 09, 2016 2:17 am | |
| A Most Violent Year (1st view) - Who knew that a man trying to get a loan to help his heating oil business could be so enthralling? Not quite on a par with Chandor's previous All Is Lost but great all the same and Oscar Isaac is superb - 4/5* Regression (1st view) - I was going to say that this was Amenabars's best film but then realised I was getting him mixed up with Alexandre Aja, and then remembered Aja directed Haute Tension so even if he had directed Regression it wouldn't have been his best - 3/5* | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri May 13, 2016 7:59 am | |
| Memories Of Matsuko (1st view) - After an aunt he never knew he had dies, a youing man looks into her life. I saw it less than 12 hours ago and can't remember a thing about it - 2/5* Harakiri (1st view) - Excellent. Wipes the floor with any other samurai film I've seen. I'm looking at you, Kurosawa - 4/5* It's Such A Beautiful Day (1st view) - Animation featuring stick figures. The animation itself is the only good thing. I've read nothing but race reviews for this film but I just didn't care - 2/5* | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri May 13, 2016 5:12 pm | |
| Arizona Dream (1993), written and directed by Emir Kusturica (When Father Was Away on Business (1985) and Time of the Gypsies (1988)), who made his English language debut with this surrealist comic oddity. It proved to be a nightmare to make, Kusturica suffered a nervous breakdown during filming, holding up production for 3 months. But, despite this, an original and ambitious film came out of the chaos. It's truly one of a kind. New York fish tagger Axel Blackmar (Johnny Depp) is persuaded by his cousin Paul Leger (Vincent Gallo) to take a trip to Arizona to attend the wedding of their uncle Leo Sweetie (Jerry Lewis) to his younger trophy wife Millie (Paulina Porizkova). Leo runs a Cadillac dealership, and convinces Axel to stay and join him in the business. Whilst out in Arizona, Axel encounters two women, Elaine (Faye Dunaway), who dreams of building a flying machine, and her step-daughter Grace (Lili Taylor), who dreams of being reincarnated as a turtle. Meanwhile, Paul dreams of becoming a great actor, mainly by acting out scenes from Raging Bull and North by Northwest, while Axel helps Elaine build her flying machine. There's certainly no other film quite like Arizona Dream, and while it's offbeat tone won't be for everyone, it manages to hold the attention for it's duration, as you simply don't know what lunacy is going to happen next. But, it's well made and quite funny. 4/5 The Jungle Book (2016), directed by Jon Favreau (Elf (2003), Iron Man (2008) and Cowboys & Aliens (2011)), this adventure is both based on Rudyard Kipling's collective works of The Jungle Book published in 1894, and also the 1967 Disney film, heavily leaning towards the latter. It could have been an all out disaster, but amazingly, against all the odds, it's a great film, and it does the original film and the stories justice. Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a man-cub who was raised by Indian wolf Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o), with panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) training Mowgli how to survive. During a drought, scared Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) warns the wolf pack that he'll be back to kill Mowgli once the drought is over. Bagheera takes Mowgli to the man village, but on the way, they're ambushed by Shere Khan. Mowgli escapes and ends up with slacker bear Baloo (Bill Murray), and they use teamwork to help Baloo get honey, much to Bagheera's annoyance, but it's not long before Mowgli is captured by monkey's and put before giant orangutan King Louie (Christopher Walken), who wants the "red flower". It's a film which captures the upbeat colourfulness of the original, but manages to keep it on it's toes with danger and suspense. It reimagines the classic story, yet keeps it faithful but updates the attitude. A sequel has already been greenlit... 4/5 | |
| | | Donald McKinney Admin
Posts : 24471 Join date : 2008-07-21
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri May 13, 2016 9:37 pm | |
| 200 Motels (1971), A very weird oddity indeed, but maybe one of the best films ever made, because it's so different from all the rest, and it was quite groundbreaking for it's time. To explain the film's plot is almost impossible, as it's just a series of unconnected vignettes and musical performances all randomly stuck together. Shot on videotape at Pinewood Studios in early 1971, Zappa does prove that "Touring can make you crazy", and so does a film like this without a plot!! This is a wild and wacky vision of small town America, with Theodore Bikel as demonic manager Rance Muhammitz, Ringo Starr as Larry the Dwarf, Keith Moon as a Nun and Zappa's Mother's of Invention, who perform all the psychedelic rock music, while The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra do all the classical stuff, from inside what seems to be a concentration camp. It's the sort of film that's guaranteed to give you a headache, but it was well ahead of it's time, Zappa was a genius, but a complete lunatic to dream this up, and co-director Tony Palmer is a technical genius as the video-effects he oversaw were for it's day are jaw-dropping. The music helps makes up for a completely bonkers film!! 5/5 Captain America: Civil War (2016), Marvel rides again, and it's Captain America returning for his third film. After the ever-so slight let down of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), this one more than makes up for any short comings, it focuses on collateral damage and consequences. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have great fun with the story, which is engaging and exciting in equal measure, and it's got a great ensemble too. After Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) try to stop the theft of a biological weapon in Lagos, which ends in the death of civilians. The UN want to put in measures to control and regulate the Avengers so no more innocent people die. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) supports the idea, feeling responsible for previous actions, but Captain America disagrees. After a bombing in Vienna, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) is identified. When Captain America goes to bring him in, but it wasn't the Winter Soldier, so they go rogue to find the real culprit, while Stark wants them to put a stop to it, but they won't. This is the film that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice should have been. Fun, clever and engaging, less dark too. It benefits from a good ensemble cast, which manages to have time for everyone too, unlike Batman V Superman. 4/5 | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Mon May 23, 2016 1:34 am | |
| John Wick (1st view) - Super slick thriller with Keanu Reeves as a forrmer hitman on a revenge mission - 4/5 The Last Witch Hunter (1st view) - Riddick! Frodo Baggins! Ygritte! Alfred The Butler! It's nerd nirvana in this film! It's also clunky, idiotic and oftentimes just plain bad. Of course I liked it - 4/5 | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Fri May 27, 2016 8:13 am | |
| Captain America: Civil War (1st view) - Civil War seems a bit too extreme. Maybe "Captain America: Slight Fisticuffs" would have been a more sujitable title. There's never really any sense of danger or true threat between the two faction of Avengers but in the end it doesn't really matter and the film works as both sequels to both The WInter Soldier and Age Of Ultron, and as an opener to the next stage of the MCU. A whopping ensemble cast means that a few characters do get a bit lost in the mix, most notably Spiderman, but the film does justice to most. The Black Panther story offers promise for his solo film, and expanded roles for Vision and Scarlet Witch make me want a film with them two teaming up. It's Cap's film though, neatly continuing an arc he's had over all five appearances. Now, roll on Doctor Strange! - 4/5( | |
| | | Gimli The Avenger Admin
Posts : 27723 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : Middle Earth
| Subject: Re: What I've Just Watched Part 4: There And Back Again Tue May 31, 2016 1:57 am | |
| The Green Inferno (1st view) - From Eli "Couldn't Make A Good FIlm If You Paid Me" Roth comes this horror abouit a group of activists youy travel to the Amazon to try and save a native tribe from being killed due to deforestation. Unfortunately, the tribe turn out to be cannnibals. Cue lots of blood and guts. It's meant to be an homage to films like Cannibal Holocaust. In as much as that film sucked as well, it succeeds - 2/5* The Reflecting Skin (1st view) - Slow-burning horror about a boy who think's his older brothers girlfriend is a vampire. Good turn from Viggo Mortensen and Lindsay Duncan - 4/5* Brooklyn (1st view) - Perfectly reasonable and pleasant film but rather insubstantial and forgettable. Hard to fathom all the praise and awards heaped upon it - 4/5* | |
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