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Post by RydCook on Dec 1, 2009 15:30:33 GMT
Waltz with Bashir - Harrowing but great. It reminded me a bit of Come and See in the way it approached the subject of the senselessness and devastation of war, showing both the soldier and the civilian as victims. It was potentially a sensitive subject, especially considering recent developments in Palestine, but despite the fact that it was told by an Israeli (and Jewish) soldier, it didn't seem at all flavoured by prejudice. It was commendably objective, portraying war as tragedy irrespective of religion or nationality. *SPOILERS* I thought the use of real footage at the end of the film might have been a bit manipulative, but it worked well, it kind of worked as the point at which, in switching from animated to real footage, Ari finally reaches his point of horrible lucidity. *SPOILERS OVER* Obviously it looked absolutely stunning too, I'd love to see it on Blu-Ray. The score/soundtrack were perfect as well. Completely agree. I too would love to see this on Blu-Ray.. I have yet to see a whole film on Blu-Ray! By the way you can listen to the excellent score/soundtrack on Spotify.
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Post by marksherbert on Dec 1, 2009 16:47:11 GMT
Nice, I'll be sure to have a listen. I liked the way that it balanced score and soundtrack perfectly. Like that classical piece that plays over the top of the main flashback sequence served its purpose just as effectively as 'Enola Gay' did over the boat scene. It isn't easy to find and maintain that balance.
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Post by Dazza on Dec 1, 2009 21:18:04 GMT
Just watched Sweet Sixteen and WOW raw, brutal, excellent performances, I've been a late developer in watching Loach having previously only owned My name is joe and Kes, but now am making amends and for the weekend I have Its a free world and The wind that shakes the Barley.
Rat Catcher, again raw with excellent performances from the child star, why has Lynne Ramsay not done more.
Watched Bruno, it was funny and stupid that about sums it up.
Le Donk, great little funny film, enjoyed it for what it was but no spectacular feeling afterwards like with ARFRB, DMS or TIE, nice little film though and i love the idea behind it and the five day features.
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kidder
Junior Member
Posts: 33
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Post by kidder on Dec 2, 2009 0:59:56 GMT
Just watched Sweet Sixteen and WOW raw, brutal, excellent performances, I've been a late developer in watching Loach having previously only owned My name is joe and Kes, but now am making amends and for the weekend I have Its a free world and The wind that shakes the Barley. Rat Catcher, again raw with excellent performances from the child star, why has Lynne Ramsay not done more. Watched Bruno, it was funny and stupid that about sums it up. Le Donk, great little funny film, enjoyed it for what it was but no spectacular feeling afterwards like with ARFRB, DMS or TIE, nice little film though and i love the idea behind it and the five day features. Rat Catcher is one of my favorite movies. Love it as a story and a movie but also because it is filmed in the area I grew up, Ruchill in Glasgow. It captures the area and period perfectly. For me it is the best depiction of working class Glasgow on film. It works because Lynne Ramsey is telling her own story. Sorry to have a go at Ken Loach but have to say Sweet Sixteen and My Name is Joe are for me the polar opposite to Rat Catcher( and for that mater most of Mr.Meadow's movies). Good as Ken Loach is his leftie middle class perspective on working class life never quite rings totally true in most of his films. His characterisation always seem to be to idealised and romantisied and clearly appear to be from the view of some one looking in and never quite getting it. The exceptions for me in his work are Kes, Raining Stones, and Ladybird,Ladybird. Looking For Eric is also very good.
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Post by Companero on Dec 2, 2009 10:25:50 GMT
Waltz with Bashir - Harrowing but great. It reminded me a bit of Come and See in the way it approached the subject of the senselessness and devastation of war, showing both the soldier and the civilian as victims. It was potentially a sensitive subject, especially considering recent developments in Palestine, but despite the fact that it was told by an Israeli (and Jewish) soldier, it didn't seem at all flavoured by prejudice. It was commendably objective, portraying war as tragedy irrespective of religion or nationality. *SPOILERS* I thought the use of real footage at the end of the film might have been a bit manipulative, but it worked well, it kind of worked as the point at which, in switching from animated to real footage, Ari finally reaches his point of horrible lucidity. *SPOILERS OVER* Obviously it looked absolutely stunning too, I'd love to see it on Blu-Ray. The score/soundtrack were perfect as well. Completely agree. I too would love to see this on Blu-Ray.. I have yet to see a whole film on Blu-Ray! By the way you can listen to the excellent score/soundtrack on Spotify. I agree with your comments completely, Dave. It's a brilliant film and very even-handed. It was on Blu-ray when I saw it: it looks great and the sound is very, very good too. The opening scene with the dogs and the enveloping music score was phenomenal... Last night I saw the new Woody Allen flick, WHATEVER WORKS, starring Larry David. The film ha a fairly flimsy premise at its centre but there's enough sardonic dialogue and witty banter to make it worth watching.
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Post by jill on Dec 3, 2009 0:35:35 GMT
The Cremator (Juraj Herz)
Late 60s Czech film that only came out on DVD (with English subs) a few years back, so I think maybe not many people have seen it.
Really brilliant film. Bit hard to categorise, but probably fits closest into psychological horror. Set just before/after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, the film's drawing an analogy between the main character's descent into madness (it's a little bit reminiscent of Repulsion in that aspect) and the country's slide into-in some cases-collaboration (lots of stuff about disease etc and of course the ovens!). Incredibly well done-fantastic eerie score, Goth mood, brilliant shots and visuals. Everything you'd expect from horror then, but surprisingly little blood and gore. Instead manages to make your skin crawl using some very small actions/moments. Fantastic performance from the lead actor; chilling.
I think this might be the best film I've seen this year-try to see this if you get a chance.
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Post by Bill Edwards on Dec 4, 2009 23:46:20 GMT
Bunny and the BullKind of enjoyed this. It was gently amusing with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments. I felt though that was a more affecting, moving film, buried under the art design. The two main actors bore an uncanny resemblance to The Boosh but with different personalities. Made me wonder why The Boosh weren't used as the main characters. Too distracting I imagine. Visually it was very Booshy which I enjoyed. Not quite as mind bending as Michel Gondry. Quite sweet really. I awaited the credits with anticipation coz I swore I spotted a resident of Casa de Meadows. But the cast list was very short and incomplete! Just the main actors! Is that allowed? A quick Google though and look at IMBD confirmed my suspicions! It was who I thought it was. I'll not spoil the surprise. I did however spot quite a few fellow occupants of Intergalactic Planetary Craft S.A.Meadows in the credits – not surprising really as it was a WARP X film – including this forum's very own Mr RichK, his sister Louise, Dean Rogers, Kate Fewins (a WARP Angel) and of course Mark Herbert. I kept saying, "I've met 'im!" and "I've met 'er!". Edgar Wright was in the 'thanks' section and I guy I know who's a film maker and who used to work at The Metro before it became QUAD, Owen Tooth! Small world... Owen Tooth, incidentally, has worked with Shane Meadows on one of the ASDA ads. PS. Went to The Dolphin here in Derby for a drink before hand and David Morrisey, voice of Bob The Builder no less, was in there! So was one of my old foreman from when I worked at RR but that wouldn't be of interest to any of you...
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Post by jill on Dec 7, 2009 11:13:26 GMT
The Panic in Needle Park.
There have been so many films on drug addiction that it's hard to judge what kind of impact this film would have had on an audience way back then ('72 I think), but still a powerful film that has stood the test of time. Pacino really was great back then.
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Post by cliftonestate on Dec 7, 2009 18:45:26 GMT
Just got round to seeing The Hurt Locker..............WOW
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Post by Gary on Dec 7, 2009 19:31:56 GMT
I'm going through Michael Winterbottoms back catalog at the moment and watched "Genova" the other night after seeing this trailer and looking forward to it... Well the movie is just the trailer padded out, none of the story lines are concluded, I learned nothing new about the characters than from the trailer. Anyone else seen it? Any Winterbottom film I should hurry up and see?
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Post by Dave on Dec 7, 2009 19:47:15 GMT
I'm going through Michael Winterbottoms back catalog at the moment and watched "Genova" the other night after seeing this trailer and looking forward to it... Well the movie is just the trailer padded out, none of the story lines are concluded, I learned nothing new about the characters than from the trailer. Anyone else seen it? Any Winterbottom film I should hurry up and see? I really like A Cock and Bull Story, Welcome to Sarajevo and, 24hour Party People. Code 46 bored me quite badly despite featuring Benedict Wong!
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Post by marksherbert on Dec 8, 2009 9:24:24 GMT
Wonderland is pretty great.
A Serious Man - close in tone to Barton Fink, and about as dry as is possible. Everything about it is as great as you'd expect from a Coens film - the cinematography, the music, the performances (especially the main guy), the dialogue etc... But I couldn't help feeling underwhelmed by the ending.
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
It felt like the ending was saying somthing like 'there isn't a point to existence, so stop worrying about finding the answer and get on with things', which is similar really to the endings of their last two films. Which is all good, it just doesn't make for a very satisfying or complete experience as a viewer. Maybe I just need some more time to mull over it, apart from that I liked it a lot.
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Post by RydCook on Dec 8, 2009 12:25:56 GMT
Happy Go Lucky - First time since cinema. Great film. 1 performance (or character) annoyed me though, Poppy's friend Zoe. Her monotone voice really annoyed me this time round! Also with the improv (my gf tells me Mike Leigh improvs all scenes?) seemed like people needed to be saying something, all the time, one thing after another, bang bang. Very un-like real life in my opinion. Neither of these things bothered me first time I watched! Anyway, it is a good film. Hawkins is excellent as Poppy, as is matey who plays Scott. Very powerful near the end.
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Post by Companero on Dec 8, 2009 15:56:49 GMT
Wonderland is pretty great. A Serious Man - close in tone to Barton Fink, and about as dry as is possible. Everything about it is as great as you'd expect from a Coens film - the cinematography, the music, the performances (especially the main guy), the dialogue etc... But I couldn't help feeling underwhelmed by the ending. *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* It felt like the ending was saying somthing like 'there isn't a point to existence, so stop worrying about finding the answer and get on with things', which is similar really to the endings of their last two films. Which is all good, it just doesn't make for a very satisfying or complete experience as a viewer. Maybe I just need some more time to mull over it, apart from that I liked it a lot. Couldn't agree with you more, Dave. I was sat watching the film grinning from ear to ear but felt a little short-changed by the ending too. It's funny you should mention BARTON FINK, as I had exactly the same reaction to that and absolutely love that now. Last film I saw was LAW ABIDING CITIZEN. Now I am a massive fan of vigilante flicks and revenge movies: I even like some of the lesser respected stuff like MAN ON FIRE, THE BRAVE ONE and TAKEN. Yes, they're far fetched and you have to suspend your disbelief. Some of them even feature borderline offensive characterizations but to me they're enjoyable "Bubblegum for the eyes". I didn't have great hopes for LAW ABIDING CITIZEN going in but did think it would be an enjoyable waste of time. The truth is, it is enjoyably stupid for the first ¾ but then gets so ridiculous even I felt like I'd had my intelligence insulted. This really is a rather lousy film.
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Post by Companero on Dec 8, 2009 15:58:15 GMT
I'm going through Michael Winterbottoms back catalog at the moment and watched "Genova" the other night after seeing this trailer and looking forward to it... Well the movie is just the trailer padded out, none of the story lines are concluded, I learned nothing new about the characters than from the trailer. Anyone else seen it? Any Winterbottom film I should hurry up and see? GENOVA is really good. It's a real mood piece. Not a lot really happens but I was glued throughout.
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