Seen any good films lately? [2]

I dont think people are really that fussed about gaelic. The people in the Highlands who already speak it dont need lessons and the people in cities probably dont care either way.

There are only about 200,000 people live in the entire Highlands, the population never recovered there from the Clearances.

But Gaelic proved very popular elsewhere, parents have been enthusiastic to get their children to learn it. Schools who began teaching it soon had no places left, so more schools started to teach it.
I think people here do care, whether its too little too late remains to be seen, but the language has a chance now at least of not just hanging on but growing.

edit add- and I should probably get Eldo to move this conversation when he has a chance to either the Freedom or Linguistic thread.   

I dont think Learning Gaelic is high up on the average Scots to-do list, even if the lessons were free, and if you agree that Scottish education is better funded and more generous than in England, its us English who should be moaning, we have to get in debt up to our eyeballs to get higher education.

Thats Westminster's fault- they voted for tuition fees after promising they would not.
We dont get some mysterious free money to have our system, its just where we choose to spend the money, its on what we prioritise, England has other decisions to make unique to it- like spending a fortune on flood defences when we dont have to do, or using the money to create Free Schools (or whatever the latest bit of destruction of your education system it is this week from Grove) or to privatise your NHS in a top down reform they also promised you would not happen before the last election.

plus theres more of us, theres probably more people in Manchester than the whole of Scotland and the Islands put together.

Very true- its more economic to do in Scotland with a population of around 5 million, especially as we produce considerably more per head that most (if we were independent its estimated we would be about no6 in the world richest countries list instead of about 14 where the UK is)

X-men 1 & 2. Not bad

Grown ups. Quite funny in parts.

1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame. Great classic Hollywood with a wonderful score by Alfred Newman. Probably not the best adaptation of the story, but I'm not attached to the source material enough to get uppity about it.

Here GdT explains why it's his favorite version.

chris63 wrote:X-men 1 & 2. Not bad

Grown ups. Quite funny in parts.

!!!


(Well played Bungo.)

I watched Super a few nights ago, and although I started out liking it, my appreciation for the film slowly regressed into impatience with its violence. The combination of a "loser" main character for whom we can feel sympathy, and extremely excessive violence played for comedy does not a good movie make.
Well... Then again, the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy...

But then again, not really, because the violence in those movies (in Shaun of the Dead anyway) is against zombies, and is not terribly excessive. I feel absolutely no moral qualms about Shaun and his group dishing out beatings and death to the undead, but I can't sit and watch a movie about a depressed loner with psychotic tendencies who regularly maims people because of supposed infractions of the local laws (or even social customs (e.g. waiting in line)), Especially when said infractions are oftentimes border-line immoral(I would be a liar if I said that I would never sell pot to someone).
It just didn't work. All the manic energy coming from Ellen Page was wasted in a role that half the time attracted me and half the time strongly repelled me.
The film did not work as comedy, the violence was too messed up and morally degrading. It did not work as drama, because of the intermittent comedic interludes, and it did not work as action because it wasn't an action film; it was some kind of indie mashup.

Well that wasn't a good film. Oops.

I saw Airplane! That was fun to watch. It was tame by todays standards, and although the comedy was not particularly funny most of the time, it had some good moments too. Mostly it was just enjoyable.

Not seen the others you mentioned, but got a soft spot for Airplane, mainly because if you dont like a gag just look into the background of any scene and see if you prefer one of the several going on there instead!   

I still think 'Elf' is one of the funniest films I ever saw      

"The Burbs" & "Hot Shots" are my favs, I like the bit in Hot Shots (1) where the men are Can-Can dancing across the yard. There's plenty of silly little bits in it tho    

I liked The Burbs   

Mrs Figg wrote:I still think 'Elf' is one of the funniest films I ever saw      

I haven't seen it in ages but I loved Elf growing up.

american hustle is a really good movie i recommend it

I watched Nebraska last night Bungo & its a lovely film !! I was absorbed from the opening shot, It grabbed your attention in a quiet, subtle way & kept you hooked throughout. It carefully & skillfully mixed in feelings & issues seamlessly & told you more than you thought you were gonna get. Its a great piece of cinema telling a story of real people & real lives. Probably Dern's best to date ! He played it so convincingly & humbly, Im sure lots of us know or have family like this one depicted. I agree it should pick up at least ONE Oscar !  

Over the last two days I watched first 2001: A Space Odyssey and then 2010: The Year We Made Contact.

Such different films from each other.

First 2001 is as much a masterpiece as its reputation speaks of. Its a visual and aural tour de force. An opera in film format.
I think its about 20 minutes in before the first (muffled and insignificant) dialogue is heard.
I lost count of the amount of other films scenes had influenced, and some shots, such as the jog round the inside of the space station still all but defy belief. Simply stunning, memorizing and convincing.

Is it slow? Yes. Is it brilliant? Most definitely.
The plot is good if short enough for a half hour film told in nearly three hours of film, but its how its done how its all depicted that is simply stunning.
A thing of beauty indeed.

2010 on the other-hand is much more conventional in structure, how its shot and how the story unfolds.
Its not bad, and it actually has more story and a lot more explanation than 2001 does. But that is kind of its flaw.
At the end of 2001 you havent been told what has happened, or what is going on. It just gives you enough for you to build your own theories on as to what has happened and what that all means. And I like that freedom to reside in the mind of the viewer.

So whilst they certainly could have made a much worse sequel than the did it just cannot compete with the vision and the innovation of Kubricks 2001.

Heres the brilliant opening 10 minutes of 2001- cinema in its purest form, stories without words-



And the famous docking scene (well a bit of it anyway)-



And that incredible jogging scene (55ecs)

yeah I have yet to see a film that beats the sheer mind blowery of Space Odyssey. considering it was made over 40 years ago

Karen Gillans first major US starring role seems to be going down quite well with critics, the horror flick Oculus.
I thought her American accent sounded dodgy in the trailer (it still sounds Scottish to me) but she is getting good reviews for her role-

"For the next 100 minutes, you could hear a pin drop. Well, except for the moments where everyone broke out into loud applause. But for the most part, one quick glance around the Ryerson Theatre's attendees confirmed one thing: There wasn't a single person whose eyes weren't facing forward, directly at the screen, in pure, nerve-wracked silence. Oculus had them all. And it wouldn't let go, from its instantly brooding opening to the disturbingly grim ending."- Toronto Film review

"This is a finely crafted film from start to finish. It is deeply scary and sad, unsettling and exciting; hitting all the right notes at the right times." - SXSW

"If it sounds like much of Oculus is broad or goofy, rest assured that director Mike Flanagan (Absentia) and co-writer Jeff Howard (and a superlative cast) seem well aware of how silly this tale could be. The dialogue between Kaylie (Karen Gillan) and Tim (Brenton Thwaites) is legitimately interesting, insightful talk about fantasy, reality, memory, and dreams, and the simple yet effective plot details are doled out in sly and subtle fashion.
Ms. Gillan and Mr. Thwaites are simply excellent, particularly in the film's mid-section -- which is precisely when a horror movie needs some narrative meat or some emotional roughage to stay interesting." - Fearnet

Maybe I should be hung, drawn and quartered for this... but I am quite looking forward to the new Godzilla.

I've not seen the film yet, but I rather liked these interviews with Bret Mckenzie and Hamish Blake.





Apparently the movie starts with a Norwegian football star/backpacker being run over and killed. Strange start to a comedy.

Might have to see it now.  

Inglourious Basterds was on last night, and on a commercial-free channel at that, so I used the opportunity to re-watch it. I had forgotten much, so it was almost like watching it for the first time. I can't understand why people think this is a bad movie - the dialogues are fantastic, and watching Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt in this movie is an experience in itself. I've tried to find clips on youtube to show why, but this movie has to be watched in its entirety

Ringdrotten wrote:I can't understand why people think this is a bad movie - the dialogues are fantastic, and watching Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt in this movie is an experience in itself.  

I thought Christoph Waltz, and his character, were brilliant. I thought the searching scene at the beginning was an example QT at his best.

But Brad Pitt's character, while it had it's moments, hit a lot of false notes for me.  And the whole "Bear Jew" thing was head-bang face-palm worthy    

Like Kill Bill, there were a lot of good scenes, but the false notes kept me from fully enjoying it.  And probably because if that, the ending fell flat for me.  
(On the other hand I loved the KB ending, but then, I've been a David Carradine fan since "Kung Fu"  )

I noticed right at the end of this clip that, old Prof & young Prof each have a different nose ? I dont think your Rosey-Nosey changes that much over time ? Little things like that in films erk me a tad.