Just watched this. It was OK until about half hour in where the storyline just doesn't make sense to me. I like things to be explicable and for the characters to be believable. This however was a storyline set in a fantasy world where people seem to just be able to do what they want, and in which the 'adventure' just runs and runs and runs and runs until it just gets monotonous and pointless. It reminds me in some ways of A.I. which is my personal most hated film of all time (Jude Law in both - a coincidence?).
Perhaps saying to the wife 'you choose a film and we'll watch it' wasn't such a good idea.
I have absolutely no idea why so many people keep raving about this film. And it's got a 8.2 score on IMDB. I watched it last week and stopped when Ralph Fiennes appeared - nothing against him of course, I just found the film really boring and didn't care about any of the characters or the storyline (actually I didn't see there was any story in it). I remember the director's previous work (Moonrise Kingdom), very similar style, also got extremely high ratings. Weird to say the least.
Phew ! Thought it was just me !
That was also my reaction when I saw jimmymelrose's comment. Guess the film was not my cup of tea (all style and no substance) and I probably will not watch any of the director's future films.
The Virginian has that straight to DVD feel . The plot is pretty weak and it looks like it should be shown on some obscure movie channel at 4am but it's not all bad. The lead is played by country and western star Trace Adkins and he has a lot of charisma and add Ron Perlman to the cast it almost makes this film watchable.
The Virginian has that straight to DVD feel . The plot is pretty weak and it looks like it should be shown on some obscure movie channel at 4am but it's not all bad. The lead is played by country and western star Trace Adkins and he has a lot of charisma and add Ron Perlman to the cast it almost makes this film watchable.
4 out of 10
I personally know the director, so having met him, I can't give the film more than 2/10..
Pride - like Made in Dagenham set in the 80s. Decent enough, if somewhat predictable, a few laugh out loud moments, and a nostalgic soundtrack if you're getting on a bit now. 7/10.
Old Boy - the remake. Could have been a good film and had quite a list of great actors but totally sanitized even with the ultra violence. If you have seen the original then you know what's going to happen and this version tries to be different and fails. If you haven't seen the original then what are you waiting for!
I must admit my heart sunk when i saw this was going to be another film that relied on handheld camera footage as it's become a very dated method of telling a story , especially horror films and to be honest this could have done without it also. having said that that , this film started off very well. The first hour is pretty good , it's just a shame that when things start to go wrong for the journalists on the island that's when the film loses its way. Not half as bad as the poster for the film might suggest.
Thanks to Beds for Calvary.Yes,very dark,but I found it engrossing.More of a 'Who's gonna do it? rather than the stock 'Whodunnit'. Gleeson fabulous as ever.
Average revenge thriller that could have starred any number of people such as Jason Statham or Liam Neeson. Violence over plot rules the roost here but it's not terrible , just very unremarkable. Nicolas Cage does a pretty good job.
I saw quite a few films last week during London Film Festival preview screenings, including the following (I’ll refer to a couple of others on the Foreign Language Film thread):
Camp X-Ray (USA)
Kristen Stewart (she of 'Twilight' fame) plays a young army recruit, who ends up as a guard at Guantanamo Bay, where she forms an unlikely bond with one of the long term ‘detainees’ (as she points out at the outset, detainees, unlike ‘prisoners’, have no rights under the Geneva Convention).
There are strong performances from the two leads and the film certainly conveys the claustrophobic and dehumanising effect of the detention camp on all concerned. It does, however, become a little cliched in parts and lapses into US style melodrama towards the end. Whilst it is a decent film, it didn’t really do it for me - 6/10.
The Duke of Burgundy (UK)
This is all about an intense dom/sub (to adopt the technical vernacular) lesbian relationship, in which the protagonists express their love for each other through ritual sado-masochistic role play (although it’s all done in the best possible taste). The fact that it stars Sidse Babett Knudsen ( ie.Borgen) and is described by the Telegraph and Guardian as 'hair-raisingly kinky' and ‘ filthy and fraught with genuine emotion’ will doubtless encourage commercial success at the box office.
The film is amusing and tender in parts but is, for me, too heavily stylised by the director, Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio). It also contains elements of repetition - rather like the S & M rituals - and it felt longer than 104 minutes. In addition, although I can understand the thinking behind the lingerie credit at the beginning of the film (for there is, indeed, a lot on display), I am a tad suspicious of any film that includes a perfume credit. Overall, it is not without merit, but I personally found it a little silly - 6/10.
’71 (UK)
Jack O’Connell plays a young British soldier, fresh out of basic training, who gets separated from his unit during a riot and trapped in a hostile area of Belfast in 1971 (one of the most violent periods in Northern Ireland’s history). He finds himself a pawn in the bigger picture, as conflicting issues and agendas are played out as between different factions of the IRA, the loyalist paramilitary and an undercover unit of the British army.
This is a very powerful and gripping thriller (including some brilliant foot chases), which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The characters are well developed and credible and, although O’Connell’s role doesn’t provide him with the same platform for his considerable talents as his last film, 'Starred Up', he is very good, as is a strong supporting cast. The film looks and feels brutally realistic and the period reconstruction is also very impressive.
@Blucher Thanks for the comments on Camp X-Ray and 71. I saw both trailers a few weeks ago and quite liked them. I plan to see them if and when they become available here in China. Will probably end up watching them on the internet though as they don't fit in the category of big Hollywood blockbusters which have been dominating the market of foreign films here.
Saw Walk Among The Tombstones. Not bad, Neeson doing his 'aging badass' routine but he does it very well. Makes a massive point of it's 90s setting but the plot would not work set in the current age without stretching credibility or making the hero look a total moron.
A comedy drama about the relationship between two social misfits: she is a former rocker, turned suburban mum, who is losing touch with her emotionally distant husband and struggling to cope with motherhood and her new surroundings; he is an energetic and charismatic late teen, who is trying to come to terms with a crippling spinal injury.
It is amusing in parts and fairly well scripted, only occasionally lapsing into cliche and over-sentimentality - 6/10.
Dear White People (USA)
Another comedy drama, this time revolving around the lives of students at a fictitious Ivy League College. The sole black-only fraternity is to be diversified - much to the disgust of a number of its members - and trouble is brewing when a rival, posh kids’ white college plan an ill-conceived ‘Afro-American’ themed Halloween party.
This is a fresh, amusing and relatively lighthearted film. It does not take itself too seriously (illustrated by the fact that most of the principal characters are riddled with contradictions), although it does contain some sharp satire and smart humour. It wears its Spike Lee influence very much on its sleeve and there are some very good performances, including from the guy who played the young Chris Rock in the mid-90s TV series ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ and the female lead, Tessa Thompson. Its writer/director, Justin Simien, won awards at the 2014 Sundance and Palm Springs Festivals and the screening at the BFI attracted a full house - 7/10
Small Time is a gentle comedy/drama about the relationship between a father and son and how expectations and ambition really mean nothing as long as you have each other. You could accuse this of lacking bite or grit but if it had that i don't think this would be the same film. There are some good performances from Christopher Meloni and Breaking Bad's Dean Norris but ultimately this won't stay in the memory for too long.
I found this a sumptuous period piece (no one does them better than us) and a thoroughly interesting and entertaining biopic of Turner’s last 25 years. There are powerful performances throughout and it is extremely funny in parts. Although the film runs for two and a half hours, not once did it feel overlong - always a good test, I think.
Strongly recommended. This one is, in my view, definitely worth shelling out for - 9/10
The Falling
This film stars Maisie Williams (Arya, one of my favourite characters from ‘Game of Thrones’) and an impressive young newcomer, Florence Pugh. They have an intense friendship at an English girls’ school in the late 60s, which appears to be heightened by Maisie’s emotional disengagement with her agoraphobic single mother, Maxine Peake (another favourite of mine).
Following a tragic incident, hysteria and delirium go into overdrive right across the school and there are shades here of the mid-70s Australian film, ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, although I don’t think that this offering is a patch on it. ‘The Falling’ is one of the twelve films in ‘official competition’ for the best film award at the London Film Festival. I see that Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian has awarded it five stars, describing it as “brilliant and distinctive” and having “a seductive prog-rock sensibility” (whatever that means). Overall, I think it promised far more than it delivered (especially given the cast) and I found it disappointing - 6/10
Rosewater (USA)
The is based on the real-life story of a London-based Iranian journalist (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), who returned to Tehran in mid-2009 to report on the Iranian elections. He remained to cover major street protests following the victory declaration of the existing president, the opposition alleging that the result had been ‘rigged’. After filing certain footage of the protests, the journalist was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard and incarcerated in prison for 118 days. (Interestingly, his interrogator there was played by Kim Bodnia, the Danish guy who was the homicide detective, Martin, opposite Saga in ‘The Bridge’).
Not a new film, but I watched "All is Lost" last night on Sky. Has a cast of just 1 -Robert Redford - and is about a man all alone on a sinking boat. Great performance by old Bob and is very gripping. Also very little dialogue but makes it all the more watchable.
Girl Gone - the two leads are excellent, and the film is suspenseful with plenty of plot turns. At 2 1/2 hours it didnt feel long, but the ending was disappointingly weak and even more unlikely than anything that had gone before. I'd still give it a 7.
Not a new film, but I watched "All is Lost" last night on Sky. Has a cast of just 1 -Robert Redford - and is about a man all alone on a sinking boat. Great performance by old Bob and is very gripping. Also very little dialogue but makes it all the more watchable.
8/10
Yeah I saw that - much more engaging than it had the right to be. Was the last scene real or surreal though?
Not a new film, but I watched "All is Lost" last night on Sky. Has a cast of just 1 -Robert Redford - and is about a man all alone on a sinking boat. Great performance by old Bob and is very gripping. Also very little dialogue but makes it all the more watchable.
8/10
Was the last scene real or surreal though?
that was my thought as well. Reading up on the film I think they mean it to show that he does get rescued, but the ending was a bit ambiguous
This is one of those films about the movie industry that critics and people of Hollywood love because it's about their business but to be honest it's just a case of The Emperors new clothes . Maps to the stars is pretentious nonsense which made very little sense and bored me silly but i suppose that is hardly a surprise because it was directed by the most up & down director around, David Cronenberg. Give it a wide berth.
Beasts of the Southern Wild: 7/10 - a kind of modern fairy tale about a little girl growing up in a group of social outcasts in the deep south. Very impressive acting from the child lead.
Calvary: 8/10 - a different take on the 'Whodunnit' genre. Brilliantly acted by Brendan Gleeson and various supporting acts. Dylan Moran and Chris O'Dowd showing that it's usually a lot more successful when comedic actors go straight than when straight actors try to venture into comedy. A relentlessly grim tale though.
Wow. What a film Drive is. I had heard of the Dunlop name many years ago but not being a road racing fan i never knew their story other than hearing Joey's name when i was a kid. This remarkable documentary tells the story of Brothers Joey and Robert , intermingled with footage of Robert's two sons and how road racing is their life . I can't imagine what makes these men play with their lives , road racing on these extremely dangerous machines but this film gives some sort of insight in to how dedicated these men were. Narrated by Liam Neeson with moving interviews from family and friends and some amazing race footage , this is one of the best films i have seen in a very long time.
Wow. What a film Drive is. I had heard of the Dunlop name many years ago but not being a road racing fan i never knew their story other than hearing Joey's name when i was a kid. This remarkable documentary tells the story of Brothers Joey and Robert , intermingled with footage of Robert's two sons and how road racing is their life . I can't imagine what makes these men play with their lives , road racing on these extremely dangerous machines but this film gives some sort of insight in to how dedicated these men were. Narrated by Liam Neeson with moving interviews from family and friends and some amazing race footage , this is one of the best films i have seen in a very long time.
Went to see Maze Runner, sometimes predictable, but plenty of twists and turns, enjoyed it more than Hunger games, 8 out of 10, made me download the book.
Comments
The Virginian has that straight to DVD feel . The plot is pretty weak and it looks like it should be shown on some obscure movie channel at 4am but it's not all bad. The lead is played by country and western star Trace Adkins and he has a lot of charisma and add Ron Perlman to the cast it almost makes this film watchable.
4 out of 10
I must admit my heart sunk when i saw this was going to be another film that relied on handheld camera footage as it's become a very dated method of telling a story , especially horror films and to be honest this could have done without it also. having said that that , this film started off very well. The first hour is pretty good , it's just a shame that when things start to go wrong for the journalists on the island that's when the film loses its way.
Not half as bad as the poster for the film might suggest.
6 out of 10
Gleeson fabulous as ever.
Average revenge thriller that could have starred any number of people such as Jason Statham or Liam Neeson. Violence over plot rules the roost here but it's not terrible , just very unremarkable. Nicolas Cage does a pretty good job.
6 out of 10
Camp X-Ray (USA)
Kristen Stewart (she of 'Twilight' fame) plays a young army recruit, who ends up as a guard at Guantanamo Bay, where she forms an unlikely bond with one of the long term ‘detainees’ (as she points out at the outset, detainees, unlike ‘prisoners’, have no rights under the Geneva Convention).
There are strong performances from the two leads and the film certainly conveys the claustrophobic and dehumanising effect of the detention camp on all concerned. It does, however, become a little cliched in parts and lapses into US style melodrama towards the end. Whilst it is a decent film, it didn’t really do it for me - 6/10.
The Duke of Burgundy (UK)
This is all about an intense dom/sub (to adopt the technical vernacular) lesbian relationship, in which the protagonists express their love for each other through ritual sado-masochistic role play (although it’s all done in the best possible taste). The fact that it stars Sidse Babett Knudsen ( ie.Borgen) and is described by the Telegraph and Guardian as 'hair-raisingly kinky' and ‘ filthy and fraught with genuine emotion’ will doubtless encourage commercial success at the box office.
The film is amusing and tender in parts but is, for me, too heavily stylised by the director, Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio). It also contains elements of repetition - rather like the S & M rituals - and it felt longer than 104 minutes. In addition, although I can understand the thinking behind the lingerie credit at the beginning of the film (for there is, indeed, a lot on display), I am a tad suspicious of any film that includes a perfume credit. Overall, it is not without merit, but I personally found it a little silly - 6/10.
’71 (UK)
Jack O’Connell plays a young British soldier, fresh out of basic training, who gets separated from his unit during a riot and trapped in a hostile area of Belfast in 1971 (one of the most violent periods in Northern Ireland’s history). He finds himself a pawn in the bigger picture, as conflicting issues and agendas are played out as between different factions of the IRA, the loyalist paramilitary and an undercover unit of the British army.
This is a very powerful and gripping thriller (including some brilliant foot chases), which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The characters are well developed and credible and, although O’Connell’s role doesn’t provide him with the same platform for his considerable talents as his last film, 'Starred Up', he is very good, as is a strong supporting cast. The film looks and feels brutally realistic and the period reconstruction is also very impressive.
Recommended - 8/10
7/10
Kelly and Cal (USA)
A comedy drama about the relationship between two social misfits: she is a former rocker, turned suburban mum, who is losing touch with her emotionally distant husband and struggling to cope with motherhood and her new surroundings; he is an energetic and charismatic late teen, who is trying to come to terms with a crippling spinal injury.
It is amusing in parts and fairly well scripted, only occasionally lapsing into cliche and over-sentimentality - 6/10.
Dear White People (USA)
Another comedy drama, this time revolving around the lives of students at a fictitious Ivy League College. The sole black-only fraternity is to be diversified - much to the disgust of a number of its members - and trouble is brewing when a rival, posh kids’ white college plan an ill-conceived ‘Afro-American’ themed Halloween party.
This is a fresh, amusing and relatively lighthearted film. It does not take itself too seriously (illustrated by the fact that most of the principal characters are riddled with contradictions), although it does contain some sharp satire and smart humour. It wears its Spike Lee influence very much on its sleeve and there are some very good performances, including from the guy who played the young Chris Rock in the mid-90s TV series ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ and the female lead, Tessa Thompson. Its writer/director, Justin Simien, won awards at the 2014 Sundance and Palm Springs Festivals and the screening at the BFI attracted a full house - 7/10
Small Time is a gentle comedy/drama about the relationship between a father and son and how expectations and ambition really mean nothing as long as you have each other. You could accuse this of lacking bite or grit but if it had that i don't think this would be the same film. There are some good performances from Christopher Meloni and Breaking Bad's Dean Norris but ultimately this won't stay in the memory for too long.
6 out 10
I found this a sumptuous period piece (no one does them better than us) and a thoroughly interesting and entertaining biopic of Turner’s last 25 years. There are powerful performances throughout and it is extremely funny in parts. Although the film runs for two and a half hours, not once did it feel overlong - always a good test, I think.
Strongly recommended. This one is, in my view, definitely worth shelling out for - 9/10
The Falling
This film stars Maisie Williams (Arya, one of my favourite characters from ‘Game of Thrones’) and an impressive young newcomer, Florence Pugh. They have an intense friendship at an English girls’ school in the late 60s, which appears to be heightened by Maisie’s emotional disengagement with her agoraphobic single mother, Maxine Peake (another favourite of mine).
Following a tragic incident, hysteria and delirium go into overdrive right across the school and there are shades here of the mid-70s Australian film, ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, although I don’t think that this offering is a patch on it. ‘The Falling’ is one of the twelve films in ‘official competition’ for the best film award at the London Film Festival. I see that Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian has awarded it five stars, describing it as “brilliant and distinctive” and having “a seductive prog-rock sensibility” (whatever that means). Overall, I think it promised far more than it delivered (especially given the cast) and I found it disappointing - 6/10
Rosewater (USA)
The is based on the real-life story of a London-based Iranian journalist (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), who returned to Tehran in mid-2009 to report on the Iranian elections. He remained to cover major street protests following the victory declaration of the existing president, the opposition alleging that the result had been ‘rigged’. After filing certain footage of the protests, the journalist was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard and incarcerated in prison for 118 days. (Interestingly, his interrogator there was played by Kim Bodnia, the Danish guy who was the homicide detective, Martin, opposite Saga in ‘The Bridge’).
Pretty good - 7/10
8/10
that was my thought as well. Reading up on the film I think they mean it to show that he does get rescued, but the ending was a bit ambiguous
This is one of those films about the movie industry that critics and people of Hollywood love because it's about their business but to be honest it's just a case of The Emperors new clothes . Maps to the stars is pretentious nonsense which made very little sense and bored me silly but i suppose that is hardly a surprise because it was directed by the most up & down director around, David Cronenberg. Give it a wide berth.
4 out of 10
Very well acted but full of cliche
Beasts of the Southern Wild: 7/10 - a kind of modern fairy tale about a little girl growing up in a group of social outcasts in the deep south. Very impressive acting from the child lead.
Calvary: 8/10 - a different take on the 'Whodunnit' genre. Brilliantly acted by Brendan Gleeson and various supporting acts. Dylan Moran and Chris O'Dowd showing that it's usually a lot more successful when comedic actors go straight than when straight actors try to venture into comedy. A relentlessly grim tale though.
Wow. What a film Drive is.
I had heard of the Dunlop name many years ago but not being a road racing fan i never knew their story other than hearing Joey's name when i was a kid. This remarkable documentary tells the story of Brothers Joey and Robert , intermingled with footage of Robert's two sons and how road racing is their life .
I can't imagine what makes these men play with their lives , road racing on these extremely dangerous machines but this film gives some sort of insight in to how dedicated these men were.
Narrated by Liam Neeson with moving interviews from family and friends and some amazing race footage , this is one of the best films i have seen in a very long time.
10 out of 10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Enjoyed it, probably a 7 or 8 out of 10 and features the most bat-shit-crazy bigscreen-bad-guy I've seen for a long while.