Films

Hadn't heard of that one so googled it. Ballet is very much in vogue at the moment, what with the last Coco Chanel film [which I haven't seen yet] and the Ballet Russes exhibition in London [along with the Sadlers Wells production of the Rite of Spring which I'd love to see]. Was it French and Saunders that did a sketch about a retired ballet dancer who kept going into work every day because they didn't know what else to do with their lives? Probably the most consuming of careers [along with being a jockey] because of the importance of weight control [like jockeys] and appearance [not like jockeys]. Of course, you may want to see it because of Natalie Portman?
 
I do like (and rate) Natalie Portman, but Vincent Cassel would be the reason an actor would make me watch it if that is all it was. I liked Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream (if liked is the right word) and can't think of many better soundtracks than those Clint Mansell has produced.
 
The Art Of Negative Thinking

Anticipation: Sounds like a great premise for a dark comedy. 4

Enjoyment: Funny, sad, uncomfortable, funny, uncomfortable, happy, sad, funny... The audience's emotions were tugged back-and-forth with every twist and not always in the same direction! The film remained in the balance right up until the end, never clear upon which note it would end. 5

In Retrospect: The best film that I saw at the festival. 5

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945356/

That's all folks - 20 features in two weeks. Back to some sense of normality. I even watched a DVD last night...
 
Of gods and Men one of those films that will live in memory for a while. One scene is asfine a piece of cinema as i have seen. A great film which is more about comradeship than religion in many ways. has to be seen
 
I've heard a few good things about Of Gods And Men. Definitely one for the list.

My anticipation for Black Swan is really building now...
 
Saw Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives on Sunday; a film to be avoided at all costs, although I would like others to see it to reinforce my opinion..on no account pay money to see this..one should be paid to do so. So much for The Times and The Independent giving it a 4/5 star rating in their 'must see' section. Going to see The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest tonight. Got a couple of days off work, so watched Bright Star and Benjamin Button..thoroughly enjoyed both of them [if enjoyed is the correct term; lots of blubbing, although BB had a lot of humour to it as well]. Bright Star was so beautifully filmed; a sheer delight to the senses. I always fell in love with the poetic types in my youth; alas, it was always unrequited pour moi. At least Fanny 'got her man' even if he did die young, impoverished and alone. Could just picture myself wandering the heath, dressed in black, mourning my lost love...alone and palely loitering [sigh].
 
I've seen the American which is worth a look, great shots but weak characters and plot.

Don't make the mistake I did Sunday - Practice makes easier (turned up late to the film I wanted to see and saw Little White Lies had given this a great review so thought why not) - an awful awful film which is basically 2 hours of a guy repeatedly masturbating during phone sex with a random girl who had randomly called him one night - turns out at the end when he finally meets her that the girl is a weedy black guy. I am telling you the end so you don't make the mistake I did of losing 2 hours of your life watching such drivel. More proof very few good films come america.

What's the Mallow cinema like? Oh for the days of the Capitol...
 
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:lol: Cheers, Hamm, for the warning! I have to hand it, as it were, to any chap who can manage self-pleasuring for two hours, though! (Shouldn't this have been called Marathon Man?)
 
krizon said:
:lol: Cheers, Hamm, for the warning! I have to hand it, as it were, to any chap who can manage self-pleasuring for two hours, though! (Shouldn't this have been called Marathon Man?)
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To be fair, the fella was at himself over a period of 2 months or so - I would have left early but had bags and was pretty dark so would have been awkward - the only film I remember walking out on was team America!
 
Gearoid said:
Cheers Hamm! The Capitol?! Your going back a bit! Do you remember any of the bars?
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A real institution!

Bars - there were a lot that wouldn't let me in on any particular night - 'too many guys','wrong shoes' 'your eyes are quite red' (of course they are, ive been out since lunchtime!) etc etc - an brog used to be good (but then I was young once and that isn't the case anymore) - I can remember many an evening messing things up with a girl or 2 in there, mutton lane in was good, especially their 9% cider which always had you home early, that one behind the gate cinema, the roundy for 6 months when it was less cool.

You?

Looking forward to Xmas now!
 
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Hamm, The American doesn't seem to have drawn much praise from anyone. I'm looking at a precis of reviews in The Week magazine, and the Daily Telegraph opines "prizes mood - more precisely, moodiness - over drama", while the Sunday Times's Cosomo Landesman says that director Corbijn stated that he's not the sort of director who wants to please the masses. "Well, mission accomplished, Anton." "It considers itself a touch too sophisticated, too serious and too European to offer the brute pleasures of a mainstream Hollywood genre film."

The Independent said it "wears its lack of thrills as a badge of honour... it would be intolerable if every thriller was as hectic and tightly wound as a Bourne movie, but this goes too far in the other direction. Its movement isn't so much ponderous as arthritic, and its thrill quotient is virtually nil."

London Boulevard, dir. William Monahan with Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley: Monahan won an Oscar for The Departed's screenplay - the film is terrific for about 20 minutes but soon runs out of "energy, wit and ideas", says The Guardian, "before collapsing into a flurry of boring violence". There's wonderful cameo by David Thewlis, but Knightley gives an "atrocious, mannered performance".

The Sunday Express, though, says the dialogue's as good as anything since Sexy Beast and Monahan paints "a very convincing portrait of London's seamy underbelly, even if the story won't win any prizes for originality".
 
Yep - if you put a good screenwriter/script with Corbijn, you would have a great film. It's the archetypal 3 star film - good parts, promising, but missing something rather fundamental.

As for the second one, I couldn't watch Colin Farrell for love nor money nowadays. The biggest embarassment to come out of Ireland since Bono. If you are in any doubt about this, watch the videos on youtube of him on the Jonathan Ross show.

The film I enjoyed him in most is Intermission, one of the best Irish films I've ever seen. I'm not a fan of comedy's all that much, but found this absolutely hilarious - the portrayal of various personalities in Dublin/Irish life is fantastic.
 
Ooh, you are brutal! I'm sure I saw Intermission, but for the life of me, it can't have made a vast impression, and physically I find him a bit prissy-looking (which I'm sure he isn't). Hasn't got enough generosity of features for me, although that's just aesthetic and nothing to do with whether the lad can act!

A film I saw ages ago with Anthony Paglia (of the series Without A Trace) in it was Lantana - Australian direction and setting. Very interesting. A thriller on the face of it, but a wonderful intertwining of relationships, emotions, lots of layers to it, which is what I like. I do also enjoy straightforward action wham-bams like the Bourne films, too - in fact anything that's well acted, has an identifiable story, and where the camerawork doesn't require anti-nausea pills beforehand.
 
Oh, that's the one I last saw him in. I liked that film, though I'm not sure I'd be mad to sit through it again.

Now, you're all bright young men and keen film buffs. Can you please tell me about Memento? Did lovely Guy Pearce kill her, or didn't he? I've watched it twice and can't bear the thought of a third attempt to know what really went on, and film sites don't like to give spoilers!
 
... I think I've just gone slightly mad... :surrender: Thanks, Bets - I don't think 10 viewings will help me that much!

It makes The Sixth Sense look like a Noddy nursery book. I thought it was pretty obvious what the schtick was from when the little kid whimpers "I see dead people all the time", and was surprised that a psychologist wouldn't have picked up on the key word. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the director of Memento needed a psychiatrist after making the film, though!
 
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Just got the Christmas Radio Times and see that Lantana is on over Christmas....had never heard of it before but will make a point of watching it.
 
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