Both Nightcrawler and Take Shelter are really engaging watches. I do think Gyllenhaal is fantastic. I hear his new film - Southpaw - is really good.
If you see The Pledge on TV or Netflix anywhere, and you haven't seen it obviously, give it a shot. Like Take Shelter it's one of those little-seen hidden gem dramas.
Nightcrawler was in my top 3 of last year. How that film didn't get many nominations during award season is puzzling
Both Nightcrawler and Take Shelter are really engaging watches. I do think Gyllenhaal is fantastic. I hear his new film - Southpaw - is really good.
If you see The Pledge on TV or Netflix anywhere, and you haven't seen it obviously, give it a shot. Like Take Shelter it's one of those little-seen hidden gem dramas.
Nightcrawler was in my top 3 of last year. How that film didn't get many nominations during award season is puzzling
I think it was a lack of marketing. I don't think the studio got behind it. Winning awards is as much about a studio getting it in the faces of the voters as it is being any good. It's why Harvey Weinstein movies win so much. He knows how to produce a film and make it look like it HAS to win awards (Imitation Game, The Artist, King's Speech...)
Both Nightcrawler and Take Shelter are really engaging watches. I do think Gyllenhaal is fantastic. I hear his new film - Southpaw - is really good.
If you see The Pledge on TV or Netflix anywhere, and you haven't seen it obviously, give it a shot. Like Take Shelter it's one of those little-seen hidden gem dramas.
I absolutely loved Nightcrawler. People were comparing it with Gone Girl because of the similar creepiness the leading characters have but I like Nightcrawler much more. I think Jake Gyllenhaal's been very good at picking quality films and roles, especially in the past ten years. I don't particularly follow his career but I've watched many of his films, from Brokeback Mountain to last year's Nightcrawler, most of which are very good ones. I look forward to seeing Southpaw, too.
Nightcrawler Enemy (yet to watch) Prisoners End of Watch Source Code Love & Other Drugs (not very good but okay) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (I haven't seen this one, not my cup of tea) Brothers Rendition Zodiac Jarhead (yet to watch) Proof Brokeback Mountain
1999's October Sky is also a great film.
Enemy is much stranger than I expected after Prisoners. Plus I'm hugely arachnophobic which was an issue. I also like Prince of Persia and don't entirely understand why it gets slagged off. The rest of those are all 4 star movies at least though. Except maybe Love and other Drugs, but at least that movie has a heart and deals with some serious themes.
It's just spiders. It opens with a tarantula and occasionally you see the odd flash of spider. I think it represents the character's fear or something. The giant, room-sized variety was a bit much for me.
I too am looking forward to Southpaw. Kurt Sutter wrote it (also created Sons of Anarchy) so expected it to be very bloody and violent. Interesting that Eminem was due to play the lead originally.
Jurassic World - I haven't seen any of the previous films, and thought it was quite good. Easy to follow and fun to watch. Yes it is ridiculous, but then again what do you expect when you see a film that is based on a theme park where you can go and watch dinosaurs.
Terminator Genisys - Spent most of the film trying to work out how it fits in with the rest of the series, and was completely baffled. Shame as I am a huge fan of the T2 and T3. It just seemed like an unnecessary film.
This is the Brian Wilson biopic, which alternates between the 60s (Paul Dano) and the 80s (John Cusack), as it charts Wilson's mental health issues and musical triumphs. An interesting film with some strong performances, especially from Dano and the magnetic Elizabeth Banks.
A lot of people are after Rose. Mainly for the bounty but there is one young man who want's to see her for different reasons and that man is Jay. Slow West is a superb western . It looks amazing , has a lovely feel about it yet still has the grit of the old style westerns. Great performances from Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender make this a great hidden gem of a film. Recommended
Insidious chapter 3: best and scariest one yet 10/10
Jurassic World: I thought was pretty decent 8/10
Minions: dragged by the other half to this but was ok 6/10
Terminator Genisys: hard to follow to start with, going back to 1984 but a different 1984, the 1984 Arnie was poor but the movie was funny in parts and was still very good 9/10
Coming up this month:
The Gallows Ant-man Inside out (another movie I am being dragged to) Mission impossible
Watched 'The second coming' last night on BFI player. UK release, based in South London about a mother and her family trying to cope with an 'immaculate conception' Script and acting was very strong and natural, I don't know if its my set up but I found the dialogue hard to decipher in places. But apart form that an enjoyable thought provoking film that had humanity and humour.
A friend in the business recommends Ant Man and Trainwreck. Bear in mind, though, he doesn't pay for his tickets so he may not be sufficiently critical.
Terminator Genisys: hard to follow to start with, going back to 1984 but a different 1984, the 1984 Arnie was poor but the movie was funny in parts and was still very good 9/10
Terminator shouldn't be funny. It shouldn't be complicated. It certainly shouldn't have a robot called pops.
As for inside/out, the reviews I've heard thus far are either "best Pixar movie ever" or "best movie ever" !!
Ant Man is apparently half genius and half generic marvel movie. The half genius comes from Edgar Wright, who was effectively sacked for not carrying the corporate can and including wider Marvel story elements. Same problem messed up Avengers 2.
Caught the Minions film last night. It's very patchy, and a bit like the Mr Bean movie in that they clearly did'nt have enough funny stuff to do a whole movie, just a half hour show. Better seen on DVD if you have'nt got children demanding to go.
It's good to see the likes of Jonah Hill and James Franco getting back to the serious stuff after appearing in more naff comedies. The thing is these two can really act. True Story is about Christian Longo ( James Franco) , a man on the FBI's most wanted list for murdering his wife and three children who , while on the run , takes the identity of journalist Michael Finkel ( Jonah Hill). Finkel , who has his own problems , then wants to tell the story and find out the truth about Longo. This is a true story which makes some of this film quite difficult to watch at times and on the whole i thought this was pretty good. It did feel a little rushed at times and could have been at least half an hour longer ( i don't often say that) but Franco and Hill hold this together pretty well.
Opened tonight in Spain, so I was there with the kids. You have to hand it to Pixar, they do a seriously good animated movie, and this is another work of genius. Was it up to the level of Wall-E or Toy Story I and Toy Story III ? Dificult to say, but it hit some real high's, and for a parent, it also touched some points about childhood memories which made it hard to keep a stiff upper lip. In fact, I thought it was probably tilted more towards adults tan the children, and it succeeded in making a cinema full of youngsters go very very quiet. Great film, probably the best I've seen this year (better even tan Ex Machina and 50 Shades!!) and I dare say I'll be buying it when it comes out on DVD.
It's just spiders. It opens with a tarantula and occasionally you see the odd flash of spider. I think it represents the character's fear or something. The giant, room-sized variety was a bit much for me.
Finally watched it last night. I can't remember the last time I watched a film and was left like 'wtf'. Totally shocked by that last scene despite your 'warnings'..... I must admit there were a few times during the film that I couldn't tell whether it was the history teacher or the actor. Perhaps it was actually the same person and Melanie Laurent was an imaginery character? Anyway, I think overall it's a pointless film.
From what I've read I believe the idea was that he was really just one person, and struggling to be the person he knew he should be hence why we saw two different sides. The car crash represented his acceptance of becoming the devoted family man, and the spider was his fear. At the end he all but ignored the spider, because he was now ready to deal with what he was scared of. Or something.
Comments
Terminator Genisys - Spent most of the film trying to work out how it fits in with the rest of the series, and was completely baffled. Shame as I am a huge fan of the T2 and T3. It just seemed like an unnecessary film.
Tom Grant, a private investigator once hired by Courtney Love, reveals his take on the death of Kurt Cobain.
Real eye opener and makes you think. Well worth a watch
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3253624/?ref_=nv_sr_1
This is the Brian Wilson biopic, which alternates between the 60s (Paul Dano) and the 80s (John Cusack), as it charts Wilson's mental health issues and musical triumphs. An interesting film with some strong performances, especially from Dano and the magnetic Elizabeth Banks.
Slow West
A lot of people are after Rose. Mainly for the bounty but there is one young man who want's to see her for different reasons and that man is Jay.
Slow West is a superb western . It looks amazing , has a lovely feel about it yet still has the grit of the old style westerns.
Great performances from Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender make this a great hidden gem of a film.
Recommended
8 out of 10
Still can't believe anyone over the age of 9 likes Terminator though. Mental.
Poltergeist: not as good as the original 5/10
Insidious chapter 3: best and scariest one yet 10/10
Jurassic World: I thought was pretty decent 8/10
Minions: dragged by the other half to this but was ok 6/10
Terminator Genisys: hard to follow to start with, going back to 1984 but a different 1984, the 1984 Arnie was poor but the movie was funny in parts and was still very good 9/10
Coming up this month:
The Gallows
Ant-man
Inside out (another movie I am being dragged to)
Mission impossible
As for inside/out, the reviews I've heard thus far are either "best Pixar movie ever" or "best movie ever" !!
Ant Man is apparently half genius and half generic marvel movie. The half genius comes from Edgar Wright, who was effectively sacked for not carrying the corporate can and including wider Marvel story elements. Same problem messed up Avengers 2.
It's good to see the likes of Jonah Hill and James Franco getting back to the serious stuff after appearing in more naff comedies. The thing is these two can really act.
True Story is about Christian Longo ( James Franco) , a man on the FBI's most wanted list for murdering his wife and three children who , while on the run , takes the identity of journalist Michael Finkel ( Jonah Hill).
Finkel , who has his own problems , then wants to tell the story and find out the truth about Longo.
This is a true story which makes some of this film quite difficult to watch at times and on the whole i thought this was pretty good. It did feel a little rushed at times and could have been at least half an hour longer ( i don't often say that) but Franco and Hill hold this together pretty well.
7 out of 10
Opened tonight in Spain, so I was there with the kids. You have to hand it to Pixar, they do a seriously good animated movie, and this is another work of genius. Was it up to the level of Wall-E or Toy Story I and Toy Story III ? Dificult to say, but it hit some real high's, and for a parent, it also touched some points about childhood memories which made it hard to keep a stiff upper lip. In fact, I thought it was probably tilted more towards adults tan the children, and it succeeded in making a cinema full of youngsters go very very quiet. Great film, probably the best I've seen this year (better even tan Ex Machina and 50 Shades!!) and I dare say I'll be buying it when it comes out on DVD.