Films

Coriolanus then Krizon..im getting lazy!

Strange, but the four best films ive seen in last 12 months ahve all been British productions (Archipelago, We need to talk about kevin, Shame and Coriowhatshisface). Is this a renaissance?

Theres always stuff on here about the cheeseeatingsurrendermonkeys cinema but little seems to have come out of there recently that is worth crossing the road for

The Clooney film is an Alexander Payne job. About Schmidt and the wonderful Sideways. Got to be very hopeful it will be a cracker
 
Cheeseeatingsurrendermonkeys cinema - should go down a treat with Rotten Tomatoes!

Just watching Bee Movie - the mosquito pal comes flying in and is introduced as a lawyer. "You're a lawyer?" asks the cow client. "Yes! I was already a bloodsucking parasite - all I needed was a briefcase!"
 
MyFrenchFilmFestival has some good shorts in competition. They cost a few pence each to watch on their site, but...

...they are included in a Mubi.com subscription (where there is currently a 30-day free trial).
 
Annoyingly missed the begining of 'Doubt' last night as we were watching the Danish thing, then, when I put it on I fell asleep [it's what happens if I don't maintan the vertical position on the sofa after 9 o'clock]. Will now have to get the dvd because it looked very good. Even more annoyingly saw a trailer for Mr Poppers Penguins, and want to see that, also. As an antidote to tonights episode of Birdsong.
 
I also missed a lot of the start of Doubt for the same reason - but if you know what it's about, I don't think it'll matter overall, Moe. It is good - it's amazing that just three thesps hold together an entire film. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a darn good actor - I want to see him in the biopic about Warhol now. Meryl Streep was all steely belief in her rightness and there's quite a nice wee twist at the end.

I gallantly sat through the three hours of Ollie Stone's Alexander last night, too. Bit difficult at first to take Colin Farrell in a curly blonde syrup too seriously, as his features are 'cute' rather than 'noble'. The stars of the show, for me, were Bucephalus, a superb (Lusitano?) horse and the war elephants in the Indian battle scene. The final denouement, where Bucephalus rears up to fight the Indian general's elephant, which does likewise, is just stunning. I had a silk painting I bought in Agra a long time ago, showing Lord Jahangir going into battle in a very similar fashion to what was depicted, and Stone's all-action show really does quicken the blood. And, oddly, although the Radio Times review panned the film as pompous and windy, I found it clicked along pretty well. Putting aside some dodgy accents on occasion, it was beautifully filmed, luscious in sets, and there are two lengthy and very well-researched battles which look and sound frighteningly authentic. (And the factual stuff is kept going in retrospectives by Anthony Hopkins, as the court historian.)
 
Whilst channel hopping I caught the fight battle scene from that,and couldn't work out what was happening at all. Bucephalus was blind in one eye, was he not? Darn it; missed his big scene with the elephant.
 
I've never read of Bucephalus being blind in one eye, but he would've benefitted from the application of a sheepskin noseband! He was a shadow jumper, which is what the young Alex found out when he demanded the horse be bought for him. He cleverly turned Bucie towards the sun to ride him, so that he wouldn't spook at his shadow and the rest, as they say, is history.

Bucie died of his wounds sustained during the final battle, having trundled his ambitious master over thousands of miles, then being asked to zip back and forth under arrow, spear and sword for hours while the various battles ground on. All without the benefit of interval training, Lasix or Bute... they don't make 'em like that any more!

Trained to war like the Byerley Turk, the two horses seemed to have lived similar lives as battle steeds. Sadly, poor Bucie was destined to die as a result of such a demanding career, but was honoured with a marked grave in India. Not all the soldiers got that!
 
Definately read that he was blind in one eye, but have now read that he had been blinded in one eye as a young horse, recovered after 18 months but it left him a bit spooky.
 
Interesting - after the film, although I'd read about him as a kid, I looked up lots of sites and nothing mentioned a blind eye. Not even mentioned in the film. Being one-sided for a time would no doubt account for his spooking.
 
Can't cut and paste things or I'd show you what I read! not sure how a horse can be blind for 18 months and then regain it's sight, though. Anyways; just been to see War Horse and it has definately been Spielberged and Lassified with a bit of Fury and Champion the Wonder Horse thrown in for good measure. Would like to have seen it without knowing what happens at the end. The bit at the end with Albert in the trenches and Joey galloping through no mans land slightly saved it, but a lot of it was sickly and chocolateboxy. The puppet horses in the play were far more real than the horses in the film. I still cried, though....
 
The six films that I have watched in the last week are:

Roadhouse, Bob Le Flambeur, Pretty in Pink, No one knows about Persian Cats, Muriel's Wedding and Silence of Lorna.

Mixing it up.
 
betsmate said:
The six films that I have watched in the last week are:

Roadhouse, Bob Le Flambeur, Pretty in Pink, No one knows about Persian Cats, Muriel's Wedding and Silence of Lorna.

Mixing it up.
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Cars 2, Shame, El secreto de sus ojos and half of something from the late 80s called The Man Inside involving Jurgen Prochnow playing an undercover journalist posing as a, um, journalist inside a right-wing German paper. In English.
 
Ta, Bets. I saw a documentary a year or so ago about Iranian girls doing rap, and some of the bands that perform out of sight of the mullahs. Amazing how so much has to be 'underground' in fundamentalist countries, like being gay, dancing, singing, making films, socially mixing with the opposite sex, and a host of things we all take as our daily norm. I wouldn't be surprised that if Ahmedinajad makes good on his threatened blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the internal rebellion will flare up really significantly, as young people will see even their smallest freedoms threatened by total isolationism.
 
Just watched Moneyball. I wanted to see it since Kevin Pullen wrote about it in the Racing Post. Very enjoyable film but the story it's based on us fascinating by itself.
 
SlimChance said:
Just watched Moneyball. I wanted to see it since Kevin Pullen wrote about it in the Racing Post. Very enjoyable film but the story it's based on us fascinating by itself.
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Have you read the book? Fantastic.



Exils. Yer typical nice, meandering Frenchie affair where little happens but it doesn't matter. The soundtrack is ace and I snapped it up on I Tunes immediately after finishing the film. As ever Romain Duris is excellent but I thought his female co star was actually the star. Shock.
 
Just posted about his latest, Boomerang on another thread. Liars Poker is a classic too. a great writer
 
SlimChance said:
Just watched Moneyball. I wanted to see it since Kevin Pullen wrote about it in the Racing Post. Very enjoyable film but the story it's based on us fascinating by itself.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't argue with anyone who suggested Moneyball was the best film of the last year.
 
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