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Post by Dave on Sept 28, 2011 20:46:49 GMT
102 Minutes That Changed America
This is the documentary about the events of 9/11 almost entirely put together from footage captured by members of the public. The only other stuff is kind of news camera footage, but even that is usually footage that is captured before they broadcast or between broadcasting.
The nature of the footage means for the most part you get a street level view of the mornings events unfolding, which gives it another dimension. You get the instant reactions and disbelief of people trying to comprehend what is going on as each major catastrophic element occurs. It's distressing obviously, but it is amplified even further by the viewer knowing what is still yet to occur while the people you are watching have no idea. Rumours and speculation spreads throughout the public which is interesting to see just how way off the mark they sometimes are, but also how prophetic they also sometimes are. There are some excellent sections which use emergency radio chatter to remind you about the people in the buildings just before the first catastrophic collapse. Too often, the footage of the collapses and the plane crashes seem too huge and faceless to comprehend the amount of lives being lost. A huge list of the numerous fire department teams, ladders, battalions, etc situated in and around the south tower is relayed over the emergency radio just before the collapse occurs.
So, it's pretty excellent, and really well put together. Worth seeing for a new perspective on the days events.
BLITZ The Jason Statham and Paddy Considine cop thriller! What a pairing! ;D I liked it. Not brilliant by any means, but solid stuff. Considine plays a gay copper and Statham doesn't haha Would love to see Statham playing a gay character though. Not entirely sure why Considine's character had to be gay, other than to show inherent homophobic tendencies in the police force. There's a mad cop killer on the loose, and Statham and Considine team up to sort it out. Not too many surprises along the way, but it's nicely directed (think I heard it was a first time director somewhere) and shot.
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Post by cookyman on Sept 29, 2011 14:23:40 GMT
The wanderers. great movie about friendship and times generations moving on!
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Post by Bill Edwards on Oct 2, 2011 7:21:30 GMT
Tyrannosaur
Powerful and moving with astonishing performances from all. Olivia Colman was heartbreaking. There was just enough humour too to stop it from being too bleak and bruising and the sense of hope at the end was a reward in itself.
The Q&A after with Paddy Considine was detailed, informative and funny. Loved the story about how the guitar player in the wake scene got on board. I thought he was Peter Mullan's brother. They looked very similar. Also finding out that the original budget of £1.5 million was cut to $750k made me appreciate the film and its makers all the more. It got made against the odds.
Said hello to Thribb/Paul there and had a drink with Jill. Also saw Paddy outside QUAD talking to a bunch of people which included Paul Hurstfield who played Mark in DMS! For reasons I won't go into, and to avoid spoilers, that was pretty metaphysical... ;D
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Post by jill on Oct 2, 2011 10:03:04 GMT
Tyrannosaur Was nice to see Bill (and co) and nod to Thribb . If you're checking in Paddy-we were just on the point of coming over to say hello, when you took off. The Q and A was good. As Paddy acknowledged, Nil by Mouth was an influence/inspiration and the anacdote about Gary Oldman imput was interesting. Olivia Coleman's performance was a revelation-real depth and sublety to an incredibly difficult role. I'm still processing the film, so I'll post something later.
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Post by Bill Edwards on Oct 4, 2011 22:55:09 GMT
George Harrison: Living In The Material WorldA level headed but warm look at the quiet Beatle. Loads of interesting archive material. The film had a nicely loose narrative flow. Just as the film was ending I was going to moan that my fave Harrison song didn't feature. No need to whine as it played over the end credits.
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Post by Gareth on Oct 6, 2011 1:14:58 GMT
Tyrannosaur Was nice to see Bill (and co) and nod to Thribb . If you're checking in Paddy-we were just on the point of coming over to say hello, when you took off. The Q and A was good. As Paddy acknowledged, Nil by Mouth was an influence/inspiration and the anacdote about Gary Oldman imput was interesting. Olivia Coleman's performance was a revelation-real depth and sublety to an incredibly difficult role. I'm still processing the film, so I'll post something later. what was the anecdote about his input Jill? I asked a question at a Q&A the other week and was torn between the question I asked and one about Gary Oldman, I thought surely it must have been speaking to Oldman that made him sit in his trailer and write the short (maybe he's even said that in interviews/ his forum actually)
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Post by jill on Oct 6, 2011 5:48:35 GMT
what was the anecdote about his input Jill? I asked a question at a Q&A the other week and was torn between the question I asked and one about Gary Oldman, I thought surely it must have been speaking to Oldman that made him sit in his trailer and write the short (maybe he's even said that in interviews/ his forum actually) He said that he'd always admired Nil by Mouth and that he had written the initial script for Dog Altogether very quickly and then developed it into a full length feature. I can't remember now if he said he had shown Oldman the short, but he said he'd sent him the script for Tyrannosaur. Oldman said how much he liked it and that he 'shouldn't let them change a fucking thing' (nice impression at that point ). There was a bit more, but mainly the same thing-inspiration, encouragement and feedback-not direct imput into the writing. Nice to have Oldman on hand as a script reader eh
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Post by jill on Oct 6, 2011 7:05:03 GMT
George Harrison: Living In The Material WorldA level headed but warm look at the quiet Beatle. Loads of interesting archive material. The film had a nicely loose narrative flow. Just as the film was ending I was going to moan that my fave Harrison song didn't feature. No need to whine as it played over the end credits. Pity I missed this-definitely going to try to see it over the w/e. See it's got a whopping 9.3 on imdb. Give Me Love? My favourite. Edit: Damn, looks like it played for just the one night in Nott'm and Derby. The DVD is released on Monday.
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Post by large michael on Oct 6, 2011 15:04:33 GMT
Cyrus - i think this slipped through the net a little. despite the huge stars involved, i dont know anyone who has seen it, its very unhollywood, just a very well acted piece of realism (well, Almost anyway) well written, and it stayed in my head long after it had finished. A gem , i think, and Marisa Tomei is just sensational in it. Highly recommended.
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Post by Bill Edwards on Oct 7, 2011 23:23:44 GMT
I do like Give Me Love, Jill, but my fave is Long Long Long. Great hearing it in a cinema.
Kill List
Very creepy and very violent with and excellent soundtrack by a chap call Jim Williams. One of the best I've heard for a while.
I didn't understand the film to be honest but it was quality and I do enjoy a mystery.
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Post by Dave on Oct 8, 2011 19:30:10 GMT
THE HEREAFTER
Clint Eastwood directs! It's a big corny film with three story threads that interconnect which all have some element of the afterlife to them. Matt Damon is a psychic, but doesn't like to do it any more, but people want to use his skills! It's actually okay overall I thought. It starts with a big CGI disaster (in both senses) where a character has a near death experience at the hands of an immense CGI and green screen happening! Thankfully they leave the CGI alone for the rest of the film.
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Post by RydCook on Oct 10, 2011 17:58:23 GMT
Cyrus - i think this slipped through the net a little. despite the huge stars involved, i dont know anyone who has seen it, its very unhollywood, just a very well acted piece of realism (well, Almost anyway) well written, and it stayed in my head long after it had finished. A gem , i think, and Marisa Tomei is just sensational in it. Highly recommended. Great film that isn't it? I would highly recommend it too. I've seen tonnes of films... behind with writing about them! Will at some point.
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Post by Dave on Oct 10, 2011 18:17:12 GMT
A couple of LoveFilm streamed films via the PS3!
SPLICE Rubbish genetic engineering sci-fi mess where Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley 'splice' human DNA with some other animal DNA (seemed to be all manner of animals included going by the end results!). Starts of okay ish, and mildly intriguing, but gets worse and worse as it goes on.
THE BRIDGE Found this documentary on LoveFilm, and I've been wanting to see it for a while. Basically it's about the suicides and attempts that occurred on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004. The film is full of talking head interviews with relatives and friends of those who committed suicide, and at one point, there's even an interview with someone who survived his suicide attempt. Most striking of all though, is that a significant part of the film is made up of footage that the film making team collected over the whole of 2004. They filmed the bridge from afar (using high-powered zooms) for every day-light hour of the year and watched and waited, knowing that the bridge is the location of regular suicide attempts. In 2004 the total number of suicides was 24.... the film crew caught many of these on film, aswell as some thwarted attempts too. It's understandably haunting to watch, and the interviews they have collected reveal the people and personalities that decided to end it all. The film makes sure that most of these people are no longer just strangers to the audience when you see them jumping to their death.
It's quite mind bending sometimes hearing the interviews, and then cutting to the actual event. It's hard to comprehend that it is the real event.
The whole film is expertly judged, and is in no way distasteful or disrespectful. Two little uses of music in the film I thought were a bit heavy handed and unnecessary, but I'm just being picky.
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Post by RydCook on Oct 13, 2011 20:46:57 GMT
So, a rundown of the films I saw at the Cambridge Film festival, which finished weeks ago now... Bombay Beach - One of the best films of the festival. A documentary set in the titular Bombay Beach, a town created next to a man made sea (Salton Sea) in the middle of a dessert. Was all built in the 50's and aimed at being an awesome place to live. Now its just a bit of a wasteland really. The film follows 3 people of varying ages, cutting between each 3 in order. All we see is them, and all we hear is their voices, they never talk to camera though. Most striking are the dance numbers that all of the 3 characters perform. Obviously choreographed, but it somehow really, really works. Also, scenes are shot like a drama. Its kind of like The Only Way is Essex at times... accept not shit. Basically real people, discussing real things, but its shot like a drama. Odd, but it works, because you know they're not acting. The film is beautifully shot, and the stories are heartwarming, and shocking in equal measure. And just completely honest. Brilliant film. bombaybeachfilm.com/Cartography of Loneliness - A documentary about Woman's rights after losing their husbands; in 3 countries; India, Afganistan, and Nepal. Incredibly eye opening. Upsetting, but also inspiring stories too. Very good. www.cartografiadelasoledad.com/Red State - Another favourite. This is the best film I've seen by Kevin Smith. Superb stuff. Original concept, expertly scripted. Some brilliant performances too. Funny and shocking. Loved it. A must see. Late September - Worst film of the festival for me. Kind of like Another Year accept completely shit. All dialogue was completely improvised in front of camera. This did not work, it made performances feel very odd indeed. You can see they're improvising, you can see them thinking of the next line. The aim was for something natural, but its the complete opposite. Unnecessarily long shots. One particular shot is a space in the garden, someone walks in and then out of shot, and the shot stays there for seconds before and after, for absolutely no good reason. Rubbish. The one dude who came to see it liked it though. I think. The Forest Prince and The Pig Man & The Stranger - Another documentary (i saw a lot! Not always out of choice) this one about the history hitchhiking in America. Trying to expel the myth that its somehow dangerous. Gives a run down decade by decade, and several interviews with hitchhickers. As well as following one hitchhiker dude, who interviews all the people who pick him up, which is a clever idea. Its interesting that there's such a stigma around hitchhiking. Its also an insight into the everyday person who will pick up a hitchhiker. A lot say they have never picked one up before. ha ha. We hear all their interesting stories. Great doco about people really. The Camera That Changed the World - Doco (!) about people in America, and France who developed cameras that could shoot footage that would give the audience the feeling of "Being there" while watching it. Interesting seeing interviews with people who were the first people to do this. Mostly because nowerdays its so common with phone cameras and all, we don't even think about it. These filmmakers revolutionised documentary filmmaking. Gave a good insight into the cameras they used. It was a bit by the numbers, so not an outstanding doco, but if you're interested in the subject its well worth checking out. El Buli - This was not for me at all. Doco on some restaurant in Barcelona where cooking is some sort of science. It'd be interesting if you're into food I guess. Watching chefs tasting mushroom juice and discussing how they could make it taste better is completely bland for me. The Oak - Freakin crazy Romanian New Wave film that you wont have seen, as it hasn't been released outside of Romania I don't think. Basically a very surreal film, along the lines of Luis Bunuel stuff. Strangely funny, but I think a lot of it went straight over my head. The Lulu Sessions - a very intimate doco about a filmmaker filming her last days with a friend with cancer; Lulu. A very moving film that reminds you what's important in life. The Seventh Seal - Classic i'm sure you'll know about. First time I've seen it. Great concept, and brilliant film. Some brilliant scenes, and genius bits of writing. Enjoyed this. Red White & Blue - Definitely the most brutal violence I have ever seen in a film. This is a horror that is literally just horrible. It starts off well, with mysterious characters and some very awesome editing. When you figure out what's going on though it gets worse. Characters arn't really believable at all. One in particularly is so hateable. I'm certain this film will be cut, as one scene really crosses the line in my opinion. It just annoyed me as the whole story seemed to be a set up just as an excuse for the violence. Its really tough to care about any of the characters at all. Grim. Also saw Tyrannosaur, but you know what I thought of that. Brilliant. Saw Drive not long after the festival Thought it was awesome. Great soundtrack, story surprised me, and the characters are good. Sometimes slightly over stylised. Still, one of the best films I've seen this year.
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Post by Bill Edwards on Oct 16, 2011 19:36:07 GMT
Troll Hunter Big trolls and plot holes but jolly good fun. Mountain Kings were my favourite.
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