Re: Seen any good films lately? [3]

by Eldorion Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:49 am

I haven't seen Legend but I can't say that what I've seen/heard of it has made me especially eager to. Shrugging

We watched The Matrix tonight. I hadn't seen it since ... maybe 2009? Give or take a year. I was pretty underwhelmed the first time but I realized that was mainly just due to my expectations for it having been so immensely hyped up. Forget the sequels (though I did eventually see the second one at GB's urging; wasn't interested enough by it to see the third), I just wasn't hugely enamored of the original. Watching it again, it's definitely a fun movie with some cool action, but the philosophy is still fairly shallow and it's pretty over the top (the dated Rage Against the Machine soundtrack doesn't help). If I was in my late teens or 20s in 1999 though I'd probably have fucking loved it.

by Mrs Figg Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:04 pm

halfwise wrote:Well, I finally saw Legend. I know some people on here love it, but I have to say that barely a damn thing about it worked for me. Just a repeat of Excalibur in that it was full of a cast trying to inhabit a mythical space and failing miserably.

Myth and legend should feel expansive, this largely felt like it was filmed in someone's cramped attic (the underworld, not the forest). Characters should feel like they could have existed; instead we have a bunch of archetypes spouting archetype lines with barely anything to make you feel these are real people and feelings. They shoveled in a cottage scene to go through the motions, and a couple of lines of love dialogue at the end that sort of rang true, but that was it. It was no Princess Bride, where you feel like these are real people you'd like to spend some time with.

It's too bad, I'm an admirer of Ridley Scott - but how he could have gone so far off target baffles me.

It may be hammy but it is still one if not the most beautiful films I have ever seen. I don't really notice the characters or the romance, its the visuals which pull it out of the norm. I don't love it for the reasons you mention, its definitely not the best acted film in the world. The music makes up for a lot.

by halfwise Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:44 pm

the forest looks good, which, by the way, was entirely plastic. Built in a sound stage at Pinewood studios. They put up plastic reflecting sheets to provide an illusion of depth. Scott has a great line in the commentaries: "Pigeons don't do call backs, so every scene filmed was a new set of pigeons." They ended up with about 400 of them up in the rafters, bouncing against the reflecting sheets a few times until they gave up and took up residence above the forest.

I wasn't so enamoured of the underworld, which I suppose is supposed to look vast but felt cramped to me. And is only inhabited by a handful of characters: my same complaint about the upper world. You get no sense of society, just a handful of characters running about the stage who pop out of nowhere.

by halfwise Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:07 pm

Mrs Figg wrote:I don't camp because I did too much of it as a kid and it scarred me for life. My idea was more of a disposable potty for emergencies, its not for the faint hearted pooing in a tent, but if you are desperate and don't want to go outside and don't have a well epuipped tent.

I spent most of my youth at festivals in tents that were basically two bits of canvas sewn together, these things go through your mind at 3am and its freezing and raining outside, and you have the shits.

Just re-read this, and it registers that Eldo and I wasted a lot of time trying to convince you to try something you were obviously well acquainted with. Foul weather camping with shitty porta-loos sucks rotten eggs. pig

Fair weather camping is dreamy if it's not buggy and you have a clean loo (or uninhabited forest to use) and you have a nearby and pleasant body of water to dip in and wash off the camping scunge. sunny

Sounds like you mainly dealt with the first, and understandably don't want to risk a repeat.

by Mrs Figg Sun Mar 15, 2015 1:47 am

camping in the north of England is no joke. We don't have bears but we do have grizzly weather. Very Happy

its a miserable experience. dank, wet, chilly, windy, muddy, horribleness.

by azriel Sun Mar 15, 2015 12:15 pm

I feel that Tim Curry was by far the best "devil" id seen so far ! How he put up with that makeup. He scared the pee out of me Laughing

Tom Cruise I have to admit made me cringe. He acted like a schmuck.

by Mrs Figg Sun Mar 15, 2015 5:33 pm

Unicorns people! UNICORNS! Mad

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:09 pm

National animal of Scotland the Unicorn Nod

(This is what happens when you ask a country of buckied people to vote!)

by Bluebottle Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:26 pm

azriel wrote:I feel that Tim Curry was by far the best "devil" id seen so far ! How he put up with that makeup. He scared the pee out of me Tom Cruise I have to admit made me cringe. He acted like a schmuck.

Seen any good films lately? [3] - Page 18 11074814_sma

by azriel Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:29 pm

Alright Blue, we all have our favourites Very Happy

by Bluebottle Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:30 pm

by azriel Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:33 pm

Ive seen that version Blue & I admit I liked it better than the Brendan Fraser & Elizabeth Hurl-up one.

by Bluebottle Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:36 pm

I never saw that one, but always liked the original. Nod

by azriel Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:41 pm

You havent missed anything good in the later version, quite cheesy really. Tho I dont doubt some men would love the Devil looking like Elizabeth Hurley Rolling Eyes

by Bluebottle Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:44 pm

I prefer Peter Cook. Nod

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:45 pm

She does look particularly good in that film, however expecting her to take on and compete with the performance of a comedy legend like Cook, its not just not going to happen (and doesnt).

by halfwise Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:02 pm

the whole late 60's early 70's polyester lite jazz vibe in that clip turns me off so much I'd have a hard time making myself see it. And Dudley Moore seems a pale shadow of his later self.

by Bluebottle Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:14 pm

It's a lot better than the theatrical trailer makes it look. But, hey. To each his own. Wink

Dudley Moores original music is pretty good too.

by Eldorion Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:43 am

Watched The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. I'd heard good things about it and we were having a belated Irish dinner so it seemed fitting. Razz

It was kinda weird and, well, very Irish. But I enjoyed it. I didn't really know what to expect about it going in. I had seen the trailer, but I sort of suspected that it wasn't very representative of the film. It kinda was, though it didn't touch on the more melancholy aspects of it and made it seem more upbeat and action-y than it actually was. I could definitely see the Martin McDonagh influences coming through (he was credited as an executive producer and is apparently the brother of the director). It was a little more conventional than A Skull in Connemara but it didn't have quite the same effortlessness of In Bruges. It had a great cast though -- at this point I'll pretty much watch Brendan Gleeson and Liam Cunningham in anything, and Mark Strong and Don Cheadle rarely disappoint -- and the overall story was good. I did have a little trouble understanding some of the accents though.

by Bluebottle Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:03 am

It's really odd when they do a GoTs red carpet. Suddenly everyone is talking with a heavy Irish/Northern Irish accent. (I guess it's kind of noticable with some people that that they speake a very theatrical queens engish. Mostly not though. (Though I still don't know why Davos is a geordie. (Not that I'm complaining. It's just a bit random))

by Sinister71 Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:14 pm

"Run All Night" wasn't bad, wasn't Oscar worthy either, but it was entertaining. As long as you like chase/action films. Similar to Taken in a way. Liam Neeson was pretty good as usual

by Forest Shepherd Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:37 am

Eldorion wrote:Watched The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. I'd heard good things about it and we were having a belated Irish dinner so it seemed fitting.

It was kinda weird and, well, very Irish. But I enjoyed it. I didn't really know what to expect about it going in. I had seen the trailer, but I sort of suspected that it wasn't very representative of the film. It kinda was, though it didn't touch on the more melancholy aspects of it and made it seem more upbeat and action-y than it actually was. I could definitely see the Martin McDonagh influences coming through (he was credited as an executive producer and is apparently the brother of the director). It was a little more conventional than A Skull in Connemara but it didn't have quite the same effortlessness of In Bruges. It had a great cast though -- at this point I'll pretty much watch Brendan Gleeson and Liam Cunningham in anything, and Mark Strong and Don Cheadle rarely disappoint -- and the overall story was good. I did have a little trouble understanding some of the accents though.

I watched this with my film class when it was showing in theatres; I thought it was excellent!
I actually prefer it to In Bruges because I found it less dark. The father-son theme that was prevalent between Farrel's and Gleason's characters in Bruges was sadly missing from this film (although Don Cheadle filled Farrel's role to an extent), but Gleason's character is so enjoyable in his irreverence and Irish-ness that I think it makes up for it. It's a one-man show, but Gleason is just so excellent that you can't complain.

His character comes off as rude, uncaring and a bit carnal, but that dynamic is undermined by his good qualities as the film progresses. We hear about how he was an Olympic swimmer (whether or not we believe him) and we see that he does actually care about his community (to an extent). Towards the end of the film he attains an action-hero lone wolf status that is primarily driven by his disrespect of his peers and superiors and an immunity to corruption that stems from his basically good core beliefs.

The villains of the story are perfectly juxtaposed against him. Where they quote Nietzsche to one another, he speaks roughly and with much swearing. They pretend to a certain business-like level of behaviour, a sort of professional's code. He has no such pretensions (at one point shooting a man unawares with a gun he has hidden in his crotch), but in the end demonstrates an adherence to his professions' goals of justice and incorruptibility that makes him heroic. Gleason is playing an anti-hero that is the other side of the coin to his character in In Bruges. The one is a criminal that is respected (although a bit abused) by his colleagues, while the other is a policeman that is despised by both his colleagues and the criminals he opposes while appealing to the community he protects and the audience themselves.

I also love the visuals of the film, and the pacing, and the dialogue. Just everything really. The film has several sad or grim moments, but I loved how upbeat the ending credits were. They were reminiscent of classic action thrillers and, like a Tarantino film, gave you a sense of where the filmmakers were getting their inspiration.

Anyway, I'm glad you got to see it Eldo. I've had it on my Netflix queue for a few months, and now I'm definitely moving it up to the top and bringing it over to my sister's house for the next movie night! Very Happy

by azriel Sun Mar 22, 2015 12:10 pm

I saw this film also, mainly cos I was attracted by Brendan Gleeson, Ive liked him as an actor for a while now Very Happy

Spoiler:

.

by Eldorion Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:40 pm

I'm glad that someone else here has seen and enjoyed The Guard! You've got a lot of interesting thoughts on it Forest, thanks for sharing them. Smile

I hadn't known that Gleeson's character was a corrupt cop before I started watching the movie, so that sort of took me off guard. He was a very, shall we say, earthy character, and he had an abrasiveness and guardedness that I don't recall Gleeson's character from In Bruges as having. But his moments of compassion when they shined through (especially with the Croatian lady and eventually with Cheadle's character) felt really genuine and moving. His vulgarity was entertaining and moments like the gun in his crotch were, a little surprisingly, real cheering moments.

In Bruges really spoke to me because of the themes of depression and suicidal ideation that ran through it, particularly as expressed through Farrell's character. Obviously it's an extremely good film on its own merits, but it was that aspect that made me really take it to heart and catapulted it to among my all-time favorites. The fish out of water element of the two Irish assassins in Belgium also made it a little more accessible to me. I don't really have a frame of reference for Irish culture, especially not in the Gaeltacht, so it took me a while to really follow what was going on with Gleeson's character in The Guard. With In Bruges it was easier for me to identify with the protagonists earlier in the film. Not that that's a knock against either film.

It's interesting that you bring up Tarantino. My first ever exposure to Martin McDonagh was a performance of A Skull in Connemara at Baltimore's Center Stage, and the little pamphlet they handed out there stated that McDonagh named Tarantino as one of his major influences. I was kinda skeptical about the idea of Tarantino and theatre at first, but I could see elements of his influence through the dialogue-heavy nature of Connemara. Somewhat moreso in the films I've seen since then.

by Forest Shepherd Mon Mar 23, 2015 10:21 pm

azriel wrote:I saw this film also, mainly cos I was attracted by Brendan Gleeson, Ive liked him as an actor for a while now
Spoiler:
.

Yes I think he's awesome.

I'm really excited to see the film Calvary for the sole reason that it's another Irish film starring him. Well, the themes speak to me as well, but regardless.