Films

betsmate

betsmate

At the Start
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
5,752
The usual wrap, anyone seen anything good recently that they would recommend, read a good review, turned something off it was so bad?

I watched three this weekend:

Smokin' Aces - Easy to watch, decent cast, kinda like Lock, Stock or Snatch but American. I felt like I knew the story already, not surprising as its story clearly borrows themes from Bugsy and Casino (although it will never be the classic that these two are). Favourite bit - when Buddy Israel takes an assassin down with a playing card. I wouldn't but people off if they didn't have too high expectations.

Jean de Florette & Manon De Source - Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, beautifully French. Autueil is excellent as per usual, Yves Montand is great. The first film leaves you very much wanting to watch the second and you are not disappointed with the introduction of the enchanting Emmanuelle Beart. The ending of the second film is everything that a Hollywood remake wouldn't be.

Grindhouse - well when I say watched, I managed to stomach the first 45 minutes of the first feature. If this is your cup of tea then it might be great. It isn't mine and I didn't hang around long enough to find out.


Anyone seen anything of Michael Moore's new offering Sicko? Looks like the American health system gets both barrels - no idea whether it is a balanced appraisal though - perhaps wrongly I am guessing that because of the Director it won't be.
 
I think i`ve already mentioned on here that i take part in a film club with a couple of relatives.

Recently we have seen the following very good films:

Memento
Shaun of the Dead
Big Fish
As Good As It Gets

And the following stinkers:

A Bronx Tale
The Girl Next Door
The Descent
The Constant Gardener (i like they hated)
 
I recently watched This is England, its the latest film by Shane Meadows who also made Dead Mans Shoes, as with that film This Is England also features a strong performance in the lead role, this time a young boy, Sean, is a 12 year old boy who is grieving for his father who was killed in the Falklands.

Thomas Turgoose gives an extraordinary perfomance as the sad lonely boy who finds friendship with a good natured bunch of older skinheads who take him under their wing. At first he has the time of his life in the company of his new friends, until the arrival of the gang leader Woody's mate Combo (the other stand out performance from Stephen Graham) Combo has recently spent time in prison and has become a National Front supporter, his sympathetic views towards the NF aren't shared by some of the group and creates an atmosphere that leads to a split. Sean desperate for a father figure quickly falls under Combo's influence, when his friend Woody decides to leave the group he is upset at being forced to choose between the two but chooses Combo, but Combo's violent nature sometimes hinted at eventually comes to the surface .

The attention to detail is great and the film overall is good. Apart from a couple of standout performances the two mentioned in particular, as well as Woody (Eli Dingle in Emmerdale) most of the acting is not very strong but that doesn't distract, I thought it added a sort of documentary feel to the film. The music featured in the film is good too.
 
Saw Zodiac tonight. Fans of 70s films like The French Connection and All The President's Men should go see asap. Hollywood can do it right sometimes...

BTW Euro, with a couple of minor caveats, I thought The Constant Gardner was brilliant.
 
The NTL/Virgin engineer is due round tomorrow to fix a serious problem with my Film Flex shows - after 15 minutes, the picture and sound skips about 3 seconds every ten seconds, which is incredibly annoying and eventually wrecks the sense of whatever I'm trying to watch. If/when he fixes it, I'm going to see HOLLYWOODLAND, which is about the 'mystery' surrounding the suicide of George Reeves, who played the tv version of Superman.

Films seen this year via cable have been: LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (funny, brilliantly acted); NACHO LIBRE (good fun); RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR (harrowing, but let down by a long, flat spot where sleep is a distinct possibility); A SCANNER DARKLY (the blurb said 'visually stunning sci-fi' and it wasn't wrong); TOUCH THE TOP OF THE WORLD (blind man climbs Everest, true story. Watched it because a friend wanted to see it as she's mad about 'true adventure' tales. It's good, but we're waiting to see TOUCHING THE VOID, which is as equally gutsy, but with a major accident thrown in.)

I'm pencilling in to see VOLVER, CASINO ROYALE, THE PRESTIGE, CHILDREN OF MEN and the 'unsettling documentary' WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
 
Watched 'Munich' (Steven Spielberg) last night.

It's about Israeli revenge for the Munich hostage massacre. A bit like The Day Of The Jackal and All The President's Men but I was disappointed considering it's a Spielberg film. I thought the lead actor was unconvincing and it was a bit long. (Any film that goes beyond 2 hours really needs to grab me all the way or I fall asleep.)
 
Lucky You (Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore) - A hotshot poker player tries to win a tournament in Vegas, but is fighting a losing battle with his personal problems.

The Last Legion (Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley) - As the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a legion of supporters.

Spider-Man 3 (Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst) - A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.

The Astronaut Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen) - A NASA astronaut (Thornton), forced to retire years earlier so he could save his family farm, has never give up his dream of space travel and looks to build his own rocket, despite the government's threats to stop him.

Fracture (Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling) - An attorney intent on climbing the career ladder toward success, finds an unlikely opponent in a manipulative criminal he's trying to prosecute.

Breach (Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe) - Based on the true story, FBI upstart Eric O'Neill enters into a power game with his boss, Robert Hanssen, an agent who was ultimately convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union.

Perfect Stranger (Halle Berry, Bruce Willis) - A journalist (Berry) goes undercover to ferret out businessman Harrison Hill (Willis) as her best friend's killer. Posing as one of his temps, she enters into a game of online cat-and-mouse.

Notes on a Scandal (Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett) - A pottery teacher (Blanchett) enters into an affair with one of her students, causing upheaval in her personal and professional lives.

Sunshine (Paloma Baeza, Rose Byrne) - A team of astronauts are sent to re-ignite the dying sun 50 years into the future, directed by Danny Boyle.

The Lookout (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels) - Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.

Apocalypto (Rudy Youngblood) - As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar Paw (Youngblood), a young man captured for sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate.

Next (Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore) - A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.

Letters from Iwo Jima (Ken Watanabe) - he story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Flags of Our Fathers (Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford) - The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

Seraphim Falls (Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan) - At the end of the Civil War, a colonel hunts down a man with whom he has a grudge.

Black Snake Moan (Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci) - A God-fearing bluesman (Jackson) takes to a wild young woman (Ricci) who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, looks everywhere for love, never quite finding it.

The Hoax (Richard Gere, Alfred Molina) - In what would cause a fantastic media frenzy, Clifford Irving (Gere) sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.

Disturbia (Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer) - A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.

Just a few ive seen over the last couple of months that are worth watching. :)
 
Anything of Zhang Yimou or Wong Kar Wei can be watch in any moment.

I the cinema,recently

Zodiac is fine.

Live of the others, very good.
 
Like suny - watched Zodiac this weekend. Good solid entertainmnet without being a classic. I recommend it is worth the price of a ticket.

I had hear the Lives of Others is incredible too, Ardross, but havn't got around to it yet. Will do so this week. If it is bad I will hold you acountable.


:P
 
Cheers guys, some added to my list there.

@ The Pro - you are watching too may films with Ryan Phillippe in them, I am worried for you.
 
So you did, Pro! :shy: Cheers. Well, that's my home viewing pleasure buggered for the foreseeable future, then: the Virgin engineer who came round this a.m. to 'fix' the problem with my multiply-breaking picture and sound on the pay-per-view channel says it's been going on nationally for ages, Virgin (and previously NTL) have no idea what's causing it and therefore have no idea how to fix it. Super, smashing, marvellous. :rant:
 
2 new trailers released this last week, the first for John Rambo which is pretty cool and the second for TRANSFORMERS which rules!!!
 
Originally posted by an capall@May 21 2007, 10:29 AM
Like suny - watched Zodiac this weekend. Good solid entertainmnet without being a classic. I recommend it is worth the price of a ticket.

I had hear the Lives of Others is incredible too, Ardross, but havn't got around to it yet. Will do so this week. If it is bad I will hold you acountable.


:P
Click to expand...
I shall have to take that on the chin if so

Remember though I was the first to say The Wind that Shakes the Barley was a travesty!
 
Short excerpts of The Golden Compass have been shown at Cannes and the reviews I've read have been very good. I loved the book, which was published in the UK as Northern Lights, and I hope the film can maintain the standard without simplifying the story.
 
Originally posted by betsmate@May 21 2007, 11:39 AM
Cheers guys, some added to my list there.

@ The Pro - you are watching too may films with Ryan Phillippe in them, I am worried for you.
Click to expand...
I know, ever since i sat & watched Cruel Intentions he's been on my *** fun list. :P
 
Remember though I was the first to say The Wind that Shakes the Barley was a travesty!
Click to expand...

Remember I agreed.

I agree with overbruv on Sideways. I found it a little cheeky, but not too impertiment.
 
Originally posted by an capall@May 22 2007, 08:52 AM
Remember though I was the first to say The Wind that Shakes the Barley was a travesty!
Click to expand...

Remember I agreed.

I agree with overbruv on Sideways. I found it a little cheeky, but not too impertiment.
Click to expand...
As a winesnob I loved it - I am not drinking Merlot this evening by the way !
 
Back
Top