Straight Outta Compton - not a milestone in the history of cinema but very enjoyable. Excellent casting, too - the guy playing Snoop looks more like Snoop that Snoop does.
Caught up with Legend last night. Really enjoyed it and can see Hardy picking up a lot of awards in the New Year but was very, very impressed with the performance of Emily Browning as Frances. This was the first time I'd seen her in anything and she more than held her own in what could have turned out just to be a Tom Hardy love in.
Felt some of the other characters central to their story were under utilised, Violet Kray gets about 5 lines when she was an essential part of who they were, and they should have made more use of an actor of Christopher Ecclestone's ability. But essentially it was set up to tell their story from Frances's perspective so perhaps they can be forgiven.
Also, I spent far too long trying to place the female nightclub singer than I should have and blimey has John Sessions piled on the timber!
M. Night Shyamalan has had many critics over the years and quite rightly so because since making The Sixth Sense he has made some shockingly bad films. The Visit is not up there with the worst films he has made but as with a Shyamalan film it has many faults. This is the story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents in the country , who they have never met before , while their mum goes on vacation . Predictably they turn out to be just a little bit odd. The biggest problem i have with this is surprisingly not the story but it's the kids , or one in particular . The boy. I can't remember seeing a screen kid more annoying and i was willing bad things to happen to him. There are some spooky moments but not nearly enough and the director's attempt to add humour to the film , failed miserably . Evil Dead it ain't.
I only watch my daughter's films... (which is not actually true) but Captain Sabertooth and the search for the treasure of Lama Rama is a pretty good kiddie movie, despite the dubs (it was filled in Norway). Methinks, much influenced by Captain Hook and pantomime. I don't have any nippers anymore but if I did I would let them watch this. (daughter made the egg). Plus you start to think you could write a script after watching stuff like this but it is actually based on a much loved Norwegian book/s.
Saw the Martian on the weekend. I enjoyed it a lot. Damon was brilliant as usual but for me the best was how Scott managed such a sense of scale of the whole thing. You really did believe he was stranded alone on an entire planet (sorry spoilers) but he also managed the feeling of dread throughout. Easily in my top 5 this year.
The Gift is an intelligent physiological thriller that starts out in the vein of films like Arlington Road or Single White Female and then takes an unexpected turn that makes the viewer really question their loyalties. Joel Edgerton is the writer & director and he also plays Gordo in this , the so called bad guy and he does really good job. Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall are good too as the couple who move into a new house in California only to find an old friend hanging around more than they would like. I enjoyed this because it has you guessing the characters motives throughout and it had a real edge of the seat feel about it .
Well I'm going to see 'Compton' tomorrow, personally I think NWA are a bunch of dicks but I expect to enjoy the film. I like true life stories of how people have fought against whatever has been put in there way & strived to success. As you will have worked out I can't stand rap but 9 Mile was an awesome film, I think Eminem is complete twat but I can appreciate & respect where he has come from & the work he has put in to get where he is. Will share my opinion on the NWA film after watching
Why the flag @Charlton Road James You said 9 mile i tried to be funny about the fact you got the title wrong... don't think that can be defined as abuse.
Set in an unnamed African country, this is about a young boy who, following the slaughter of his father and brother by government forces, is forced to join rebels led by a local warlord (Idris Elba). A powerful film, for sure, but it is unremittingly grim and violent and I personally found it just too one dimensional - 6/10.
This is the first film actually made by Netflix and, following a limited run at Curzon, it will be screened on Netflix later this month.
Well I'm going to see 'Compton' tomorrow, personally I think NWA are a bunch of dicks but I expect to enjoy the film. I like true life stories of how people have fought against whatever has been put in there way & strived to success. As you will have worked out I can't stand rap but 9 Mile was an awesome film, I think Eminem is complete twat but I can appreciate & respect where he has come from & the work he has put in to get where he is. Will share my opinion on the NWA film after watching
Why the flag @Charlton Road James You said 9 mile i tried to be funny about the fact you got the title wrong... don't think that can be defined as abuse.
Oh yeah it's 8 mile! Ok fair enough my fault. I've removed it sorry about that
Macbeth - this one didn't really do it for me, although I had trouble following some of the Shakespearean language and the Scots accents, so perhaps it was just me. Very good cinematography and Marion Cotillard is always worth watching. 6/10
Spectre ...enjoyed it , more light-hearted than Skyfall and does not meet its heights but definitely worth a watch. Christoph Waltz and Ben Whishaw are excellent.
Spectre ...enjoyed it , more light-hearted than Skyfall and does not meet its heights but definitely worth a watch. Christoph Waltz and Ben Whishaw are excellent.
Spectre ...enjoyed it , more light-hearted than Skyfall and does not meet its heights but definitely worth a watch. Christoph Waltz and Ben Whishaw are excellent.
Saw spectre on Monday. I thought it was better than Skyfall. Interesting opening scene, impressive how long they only used one shot. 7/10 though. Lots of Bond bullshit, but still good fun.
If you watch it, look out for M's line near the end, very funny.
Really enjoyed Skyfall, less so Spectre. I felt Waltz was under utilised and his backstory and motivations weaker than they ought to have been. Some stunning set pieces, but if this was Mendes and Craig's last outing, it's a pity, as the bang could have been louder 6/10 from me and I love a Bond flick...
Spectre is another thoroughly entertaining movie that appeals not only to Bond fans but to general movie goers too . There is everything in this you would expect from the Franchise. Great action , a good story , romance and lots of references to previous bond movies. There is also more humour in this than we have seen in the last few films. We also see more of Ben Wishaw as Q which is a good thing. My kids were pleased to see WWE wrestler Dave Bautista as the muscle in the film. If i had to be critical i would say it's probably a little too long and i would like to have seen a little more of Christoph Waltz. There have been a lot of people saying this isn't quite as good as Skyfall but i disagree. I would say it's just as good. I really hope this isn't the last Daniel Craig / Sam Mendes collaboration because between them they seemed to have cracked 007 .
This is an eye opening documentary which follows groups of vigilante's who are so fed up with Mexican drug cartels they have decided to do something about it. The problem is that the lines are blurred as to who the criminals are and on what side they are on. Watching this film you cant hep but think Mexico is buggered. There seems to be no order and the country is entirely corrupt. If i was a Mexican it would totally depress me. There are some very gruesome scenes of what happened to some of the Cartel members and their victims and it's not for the faint hearted but don't let that put you off what is a fascinating look into another world.
- like Skyfall, Mendes seems to assume his audience has no patience or not enough intelligence to appreciate extended plot devices. It is somewhat annoying to see a plot element introduced and then executed in either the same or directly following scene. - the opening set piece was big, brilliant and ridiculous, everything a Bond opening should be, but then every set piece becomes almost tedious in that Bond's wanton recklessness and moments of complete idiocy never seem to have any consequences or risk. You simply cannot feel any sense of peril as Bond pilots what's left of his plane through a ski village when every action point so far has left him completely unscathed. Even Craig himself seems to understand how boring this is at the end when he is literally walking stone-faced into a barrage of bullets and effortlessly picking off baddies with a sub-machine gun. - like Skyfall, we see a chart-topping vocalist matched with a completely naff song designed for Radio 1 listeners. - probably the most boring car chase I've seen in any movie, with a villain who seems about as menacing as Dick Dastardly. - the plot is nearly identical to The Winter Soldier.
More of the same for Skyfall fans I suppose. I do hold the unpopular opinion that Quantum of Solace was actually a good film. If I had to rate Craig's Bond films I would rate them in chronological order (Casino Royale best, Spectre worst) but that said Spectre was decent enough, certainly better than Brosnan's last 3 films. At least it finally tied up the whole Quantum storyline that was left out of Skyfall.
Spectre - entertaining nonsense. Plenty of holes in the plot (thus it ever was) but there's no time to think of that, given the unremitting action. Some quality actors, great scenery and humorous in parts.
Just been to see Spectre. Can't believe that no-one else has mentioned the fairly obvious resemblance between Blofeld (particularly in silhouette) and our very own Duchatelet. Even calls himself a visionary at one point and he tortures the goodies...
Just been to see Spectre. Can't believe that no-one else has mentioned the fairly obvious resemblance between Blofeld (particularly in silhouette) and our very own Duchatelet. Even calls himself a visionary at one point and he tortures the goodies...
Hadn't seen that thread, Mendonca - it was startlingly obvious to me and hubby...not sure what the rest of the Glasgow cinema audience thought when we both shouted, "It's Roland!"
Comments
Felt some of the other characters central to their story were under utilised, Violet Kray gets about 5 lines when she was an essential part of who they were, and they should have made more use of an actor of Christopher Ecclestone's ability. But essentially it was set up to tell their story from Frances's perspective so perhaps they can be forgiven.
Also, I spent far too long trying to place the female nightclub singer than I should have and blimey has John Sessions piled on the timber!
The Visit
M. Night Shyamalan has had many critics over the years and quite rightly so because since making The Sixth Sense he has made some shockingly bad films.
The Visit is not up there with the worst films he has made but as with a Shyamalan film it has many faults.
This is the story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents in the country , who they have never met before , while their mum goes on vacation . Predictably they turn out to be just a little bit odd.
The biggest problem i have with this is surprisingly not the story but it's the kids , or one in particular . The boy.
I can't remember seeing a screen kid more annoying and i was willing bad things to happen to him.
There are some spooky moments but not nearly enough and the director's attempt to add humour to the film , failed miserably .
Evil Dead it ain't.
5 out of 10
Plus you start to think you could write a script after watching stuff like this but it is actually based on a much loved Norwegian book/s.
The Gift
The Gift is an intelligent physiological thriller that starts out in the vein of films like Arlington Road or Single White Female and then takes an unexpected turn that makes the viewer really question their loyalties.
Joel Edgerton is the writer & director and he also plays Gordo in this , the so called bad guy and he does really good job.
Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall are good too as the couple who move into a new house in California only to find an old friend hanging around more than they would like.
I enjoyed this because it has you guessing the characters motives throughout and it had a real edge of the seat feel about it .
7 out of 10
2 very good films. Would happily recommend either.
Some very good films out lately.
7/10
If you watch it, look out for M's line near the end, very funny.
Spectre is another thoroughly entertaining movie that appeals not only to Bond fans but to general movie goers too .
There is everything in this you would expect from the Franchise. Great action , a good story , romance and lots of references to previous bond movies. There is also more humour in this than we have seen in the last few films.
We also see more of Ben Wishaw as Q which is a good thing. My kids were pleased to see WWE wrestler Dave Bautista as the muscle in the film.
If i had to be critical i would say it's probably a little too long and i would like to have seen a little more of Christoph Waltz.
There have been a lot of people saying this isn't quite as good as Skyfall but i disagree. I would say it's just as good.
I really hope this isn't the last Daniel Craig / Sam Mendes collaboration because between them they seemed to have cracked 007 .
9 out of 10
Cartel Land
This is an eye opening documentary which follows groups of vigilante's who are so fed up with Mexican drug cartels they have decided to do something about it. The problem is that the lines are blurred as to who the criminals are and on what side they are on. Watching this film you cant hep but think Mexico is buggered. There seems to be no order and the country is entirely corrupt.
If i was a Mexican it would totally depress me.
There are some very gruesome scenes of what happened to some of the Cartel members and their victims and it's not for the faint hearted but don't let that put you off what is a fascinating look into another world.
6 out of 10
http://www.steynonline.com/7252/keeping-the-british-end-up
- like Skyfall, Mendes seems to assume his audience has no patience or not enough intelligence to appreciate extended plot devices. It is somewhat annoying to see a plot element introduced and then executed in either the same or directly following scene.
- the opening set piece was big, brilliant and ridiculous, everything a Bond opening should be, but then every set piece becomes almost tedious in that Bond's wanton recklessness and moments of complete idiocy never seem to have any consequences or risk. You simply cannot feel any sense of peril as Bond pilots what's left of his plane through a ski village when every action point so far has left him completely unscathed. Even Craig himself seems to understand how boring this is at the end when he is literally walking stone-faced into a barrage of bullets and effortlessly picking off baddies with a sub-machine gun.
- like Skyfall, we see a chart-topping vocalist matched with a completely naff song designed for Radio 1 listeners.
- probably the most boring car chase I've seen in any movie, with a villain who seems about as menacing as Dick Dastardly.
- the plot is nearly identical to The Winter Soldier.
More of the same for Skyfall fans I suppose. I do hold the unpopular opinion that Quantum of Solace was actually a good film. If I had to rate Craig's Bond films I would rate them in chronological order (Casino Royale best, Spectre worst) but that said Spectre was decent enough, certainly better than Brosnan's last 3 films. At least it finally tied up the whole Quantum storyline that was left out of Skyfall.
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/69777/ever-wondered-why-rolands-not-at-the-valley-much#latest