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What movie did you watch last night? (14 Viewers)
- Thread starter nlgbbbblth
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hermie
Well-Known Member
It's great, probably better than the first part which I also love. And it has Emmanuelle Beart *drool*
Before Midnight.
Bloody couples!
Bloody couples!
I thought it was beautiful. A few things I'd love to discuss but don't want to spoil it. I'm tempted to watch the first 20 minutes again because I have questions. This is when watching a film with someone is helpful.
David Kronenbourg
Well-Known Member
spoiler tags?
Upstream Colour
Shane Carruth's work is it seems always going to be cinematic marmite. And really that's fine plenty of directors work is either loved or loathed in equal measure. For every person asserting that David Lynch is the worlds most gifted film maker there is another soul who is equally convinced that the man is a charlatan, that he wears the emperors cast offs and simply doesn't now his way around plausibility and plot, choosing instead to mask his short comings with excessive amounts of tone and mood and downright insanity and flights of imagination. Frankly it's easy to see why people feel this. I don't agree but I can see their point. I can see why Lynch could leave people cold. There are of course the folks who love Lynch and espouse at great length ignorant elitist rhetoric, the general basis of which is if you don't like Lynch it's because you just "don't get him". It’s an irritating example of how people who are satisfied with there own level of intelligence assume that if you don’t share the same high brow interests as them you must be intellectually inferior.
So what if I’d rather listen to The Beastie Boys and pound Buckfast into me on a Saturday night ? Huh ?
You just can’t intellectualise taste in art nor in food nor in food nor in sex or any of the great things in life. And that’s why Caddyshack is as good as 2001.
Ahem, eh what was I talking about ?
Oh yes.
Carruth, occupies a similar position in the movie world and unfortunately the same rhetoric exists. If you didn't like Caruths previous film "Primer" a film with a plot so complicated there are actually diagrams available on the internet explaining what is going on and even the fucking diagrams are near impenetrable, then you "didn't undertand it". I didn't like Primer. I understood the plot mechanics, however, I still didn't like it. It's not that I didn't get it. In reality there really isn't that much to get. Primer is a film of such complexity of plot that it's hard to take in what's happening on any other level than just that, the plot is the surface of the film and in reality it might be enough to drive the film along but there is nothing else going on. there are in essence no memorable lines of dialogue, no characters to speak of and though it looks eye catching it's hard to say it's really beautiful in any way. It's this lack of depth that i don't like But try having that discussion with Primer fans and all you'll probably get back is "You obviously didn't understand it" followed by a patronisng nod and a smug smile. Sometimes I'm surprised there aren't more acts of violence carried out during film discussions.
It's this self same flaw which also sinks Carruths new film Upstream Colour (and yes I realise it's American and therefore spelt differently, I just don't care) so prepare for the smirk and nod test when you discuss it with your college mates.
To try to explain the plot would be an exercise in futility. As with Primer there is a very high "concept" driving the plot forward, there's a plant there are some pigs and there are a guy and a girl who meet and seem to fall in love. Imagine if Charlie Kaufman had written a heist movie is the only way I can describe it. All of that works, though at times you may find yourself scratching your head as to who is leading who around by the nose it still makes a Carruth kind of sense and to be honest even now thinking about how bonkers the plot is i find myself half smiling and also really frustrated.
If Upstream Colour was to be accurately described in terms of other directors work then Kaufman is the major touchstone in terms of plot however in terms of direction it's as though he handed the screenplay over to David Fincher, who unfortunately always directs as though he is performing surgery. Carruth simply cannot write or direct characters and even though he manages to make the film look beautiful and there are committed performances from himself and Amy Seimetz, they simply don't say or do anything particularly personable. As a result the "romance" between the two which makes up a large section of the middle of the film feels awkward and simply dull. Scenes which cry out for some sort of humour or humanity are left to linger in what I can only imagine is an attempt at profundity but instead just feel over wrought and too heavy handed and emotionally stunted. It's extremely damning, but for the most part the two characters I felt most emotionally engaged with were pigs.
The plot has enough going for it to keep you watching but there is no warmth to be found here and so as the film neared it's conclusion I found myself not really caring about the lives of the protagonists.
Don't get me wrong there are good things here, Carruths directorial decisions are occasionally spot on,
The "concept" is great, the mysterious, ominous tone, the pace is deliberate and changes at just the right moments to jolt the film forward and there are times that the film looks as though Terrence Malik had turned up to lend a hand. This is willfully difficult watching and that is commendable. In the end though for all it's promise I couldn't help but wish that Carruth had a writing partner, someone like Kaufman who understands implicitly that all film, and all great art deals with humanity, and that focussing solely on a feast for the head means sacrificing any connection to the heart, Upstream Colour is a film with a relationship at it's centre which looks like it was written by empirical observation, perhaps by the tin man, instead of by someone who can connect to the sort of bipolar shifts which occur when two damaged people interact.
If you like Primer you'll probably love this, if you like people you may struggle.
Shane Carruth's work is it seems always going to be cinematic marmite. And really that's fine plenty of directors work is either loved or loathed in equal measure. For every person asserting that David Lynch is the worlds most gifted film maker there is another soul who is equally convinced that the man is a charlatan, that he wears the emperors cast offs and simply doesn't now his way around plausibility and plot, choosing instead to mask his short comings with excessive amounts of tone and mood and downright insanity and flights of imagination. Frankly it's easy to see why people feel this. I don't agree but I can see their point. I can see why Lynch could leave people cold. There are of course the folks who love Lynch and espouse at great length ignorant elitist rhetoric, the general basis of which is if you don't like Lynch it's because you just "don't get him". It’s an irritating example of how people who are satisfied with there own level of intelligence assume that if you don’t share the same high brow interests as them you must be intellectually inferior.
So what if I’d rather listen to The Beastie Boys and pound Buckfast into me on a Saturday night ? Huh ?
You just can’t intellectualise taste in art nor in food nor in food nor in sex or any of the great things in life. And that’s why Caddyshack is as good as 2001.
Ahem, eh what was I talking about ?
Oh yes.
Carruth, occupies a similar position in the movie world and unfortunately the same rhetoric exists. If you didn't like Caruths previous film "Primer" a film with a plot so complicated there are actually diagrams available on the internet explaining what is going on and even the fucking diagrams are near impenetrable, then you "didn't undertand it". I didn't like Primer. I understood the plot mechanics, however, I still didn't like it. It's not that I didn't get it. In reality there really isn't that much to get. Primer is a film of such complexity of plot that it's hard to take in what's happening on any other level than just that, the plot is the surface of the film and in reality it might be enough to drive the film along but there is nothing else going on. there are in essence no memorable lines of dialogue, no characters to speak of and though it looks eye catching it's hard to say it's really beautiful in any way. It's this lack of depth that i don't like But try having that discussion with Primer fans and all you'll probably get back is "You obviously didn't understand it" followed by a patronisng nod and a smug smile. Sometimes I'm surprised there aren't more acts of violence carried out during film discussions.
It's this self same flaw which also sinks Carruths new film Upstream Colour (and yes I realise it's American and therefore spelt differently, I just don't care) so prepare for the smirk and nod test when you discuss it with your college mates.
To try to explain the plot would be an exercise in futility. As with Primer there is a very high "concept" driving the plot forward, there's a plant there are some pigs and there are a guy and a girl who meet and seem to fall in love. Imagine if Charlie Kaufman had written a heist movie is the only way I can describe it. All of that works, though at times you may find yourself scratching your head as to who is leading who around by the nose it still makes a Carruth kind of sense and to be honest even now thinking about how bonkers the plot is i find myself half smiling and also really frustrated.
If Upstream Colour was to be accurately described in terms of other directors work then Kaufman is the major touchstone in terms of plot however in terms of direction it's as though he handed the screenplay over to David Fincher, who unfortunately always directs as though he is performing surgery. Carruth simply cannot write or direct characters and even though he manages to make the film look beautiful and there are committed performances from himself and Amy Seimetz, they simply don't say or do anything particularly personable. As a result the "romance" between the two which makes up a large section of the middle of the film feels awkward and simply dull. Scenes which cry out for some sort of humour or humanity are left to linger in what I can only imagine is an attempt at profundity but instead just feel over wrought and too heavy handed and emotionally stunted. It's extremely damning, but for the most part the two characters I felt most emotionally engaged with were pigs.
The plot has enough going for it to keep you watching but there is no warmth to be found here and so as the film neared it's conclusion I found myself not really caring about the lives of the protagonists.
Don't get me wrong there are good things here, Carruths directorial decisions are occasionally spot on,
The "concept" is great, the mysterious, ominous tone, the pace is deliberate and changes at just the right moments to jolt the film forward and there are times that the film looks as though Terrence Malik had turned up to lend a hand. This is willfully difficult watching and that is commendable. In the end though for all it's promise I couldn't help but wish that Carruth had a writing partner, someone like Kaufman who understands implicitly that all film, and all great art deals with humanity, and that focussing solely on a feast for the head means sacrificing any connection to the heart, Upstream Colour is a film with a relationship at it's centre which looks like it was written by empirical observation, perhaps by the tin man, instead of by someone who can connect to the sort of bipolar shifts which occur when two damaged people interact.
If you like Primer you'll probably love this, if you like people you may struggle.
I disagree with some of that above but I don't have time to elaborate now. I aslo have a question about a choice made, that I would like clarification or at least a different perspective on. Not sure if it was deliberate or I'm just reading into something I shouldn't.
Cormcolash
Well-Known Member
But it sounds like you struggled, and surely you don't like people?
The more time I spend in exile the rosier the tint of my glasses gets.
george mcfly
My Name Is Prince.
I saw World War Z last night. It's terrible but I enjoyed it.
It has the most amazing product placement i've ever seen involving a can of Pepsi
It has the most amazing product placement i've ever seen involving a can of Pepsi
- Joined
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- Messages
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- 3
Pep-Z
Mother.
If Shane Carruths film are marmite then Joon Ha Bongs are far more like Jaffa Cakes or anything with fizz involved. His previous film The Host was part family drama part monster movie and all completely nuts and wildly entertaining. Mother is a less nuts, but an equally wildly entertaining piece of fare. This time instead of lunacy and genre bending Bong has decided to go down a suspensful Hitchcock route and it's a damn fine effort indeed. The enigmatically named Mother which has one of those posters that suggests a harrowing 2 hours, begins with a dance routine in a field of long grass. Yes it's Asian alright. This is a film which almost wants to be misrepresented. When the plot gets into motion however this is a fairly straight forward thriller which twists and sinews through it's running time held aloft by plenty of deft directorial touches and excellent performances from a well chosen cast. This is the type of film which is guaranteed to be remade in a few years by the yanks (I'm putting my money on Rian Johnson of Looper and Brick to direct it, as it's very like the kind of films he's already made, although better) so the less I say the better. See it now so you can tell your mates that remakes are nearly aways shite and then ruin their evening by revealing the twists before they happen. Dark, brooding and pacey with lots of nice touches Mother is as good a thriller as you get these days as I expected it to be. It's nice when that happens isn't it ? and whatever Bong does next I'll definitely be checking out.
If Shane Carruths film are marmite then Joon Ha Bongs are far more like Jaffa Cakes or anything with fizz involved. His previous film The Host was part family drama part monster movie and all completely nuts and wildly entertaining. Mother is a less nuts, but an equally wildly entertaining piece of fare. This time instead of lunacy and genre bending Bong has decided to go down a suspensful Hitchcock route and it's a damn fine effort indeed. The enigmatically named Mother which has one of those posters that suggests a harrowing 2 hours, begins with a dance routine in a field of long grass. Yes it's Asian alright. This is a film which almost wants to be misrepresented. When the plot gets into motion however this is a fairly straight forward thriller which twists and sinews through it's running time held aloft by plenty of deft directorial touches and excellent performances from a well chosen cast. This is the type of film which is guaranteed to be remade in a few years by the yanks (I'm putting my money on Rian Johnson of Looper and Brick to direct it, as it's very like the kind of films he's already made, although better) so the less I say the better. See it now so you can tell your mates that remakes are nearly aways shite and then ruin their evening by revealing the twists before they happen. Dark, brooding and pacey with lots of nice touches Mother is as good a thriller as you get these days as I expected it to be. It's nice when that happens isn't it ? and whatever Bong does next I'll definitely be checking out.
David Kronenbourg
Well-Known Member
Spring Breakers. First 20 minutes or so I was kind of at a loss for words. After that I settled in. Possibly a work of mad genius, possibly an enormous pisstake. Franco is brilliant in it. Harmony Korine's camera goes where even Larry Clark's fears to tread! Never have I seen so many jiggling bums onscreen before. Having the girls in their pants in the court scene was a touch too far perhaps...
Monsters University. Pixar still rockin. Not as solid as monsters inc. but still very good.
A Serious Man. Excellent.
John hodgman's Ragnarok. Really enjoyable, that is all.
Date Night. How bad can something with Tina fey in it be?
A Serious Man. Excellent.
John hodgman's Ragnarok. Really enjoyable, that is all.
Date Night. How bad can something with Tina fey in it be?
Radio Bikini
Though only about an hour long, this was nominated for the oscar for best documentary feature in 1988 apparently. Everything was just shorter in the eighties, except porn, that was longer and had plots. What a strange time it was. John Stones documentary follows the first testing of the atom bomb at sea at the Bikini atoll in the pacific ocean. Being such a short film which deals with such heavy subject matter and of course coming before the likes of Micheal Moore injected humour and irony into documentary and released in the same year that Eroll Morris made The Thin Blue Line and altered the course of documentary features irrevocably by using techniques which were previously only used in the realms of fiction and absolute rubbish tv documentaries. This feels a bit straight forward. However it is still gripping stuff, featuring as it does - first hand footage and radio reports of what is now regarded as one of the key moments in the beginning of the cold war. Stone waits patiently to really engage on a personal level with both the US sailors responsible for the tests and with the Bikini islanders who were forcibly removed from their homes. When the pay off arrives it's pretty ugly stuff indeed. Well Worth a look.
The Trip
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon go on the road to eat food in fancy restaurants and annoy the hell out of each other. That's it really. Michael Winterbottom creates an odd and very british atmosphere and in reality it's less a comedy than a meditation on friendship, family and loneliness. So British comedy at it's best then. Well, it's not laugh out loud funny but it is always witty and occasionally raises a smile. Mostly though it's honest in how it deals with selfishness and boredom. and in the end if it manages only one thing it makes ABBA seem poignant, which is a feat in its self. Kind of like Old Joy if Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon were in it. Not for everyone but I liked it.
Though only about an hour long, this was nominated for the oscar for best documentary feature in 1988 apparently. Everything was just shorter in the eighties, except porn, that was longer and had plots. What a strange time it was. John Stones documentary follows the first testing of the atom bomb at sea at the Bikini atoll in the pacific ocean. Being such a short film which deals with such heavy subject matter and of course coming before the likes of Micheal Moore injected humour and irony into documentary and released in the same year that Eroll Morris made The Thin Blue Line and altered the course of documentary features irrevocably by using techniques which were previously only used in the realms of fiction and absolute rubbish tv documentaries. This feels a bit straight forward. However it is still gripping stuff, featuring as it does - first hand footage and radio reports of what is now regarded as one of the key moments in the beginning of the cold war. Stone waits patiently to really engage on a personal level with both the US sailors responsible for the tests and with the Bikini islanders who were forcibly removed from their homes. When the pay off arrives it's pretty ugly stuff indeed. Well Worth a look.
The Trip
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon go on the road to eat food in fancy restaurants and annoy the hell out of each other. That's it really. Michael Winterbottom creates an odd and very british atmosphere and in reality it's less a comedy than a meditation on friendship, family and loneliness. So British comedy at it's best then. Well, it's not laugh out loud funny but it is always witty and occasionally raises a smile. Mostly though it's honest in how it deals with selfishness and boredom. and in the end if it manages only one thing it makes ABBA seem poignant, which is a feat in its self. Kind of like Old Joy if Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon were in it. Not for everyone but I liked it.
David Kronenbourg
Well-Known Member
The Trip
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon go on the road to eat food in fancy restaurants and annoy the hell out of each other. That's it really. Michael Winterbottom creates an odd and very british atmosphere and in reality it's less a comedy than a meditation on friendship, family and loneliness. So British comedy at it's best then. Well, it's not laugh out loud funny but it is always witty and occasionally raises a smile. Mostly though it's honest in how it deals with selfishness and boredom. and in the end if it manages only one thing it makes ABBA seem poignant, which is a feat in its self. Kind of like Old Joy if Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon were in it. Not for everyone but I liked it.
their sparring impressions are great, particularly ray winstone. there's a sequel in the works.
"The come come mister Bond" Bit was fucking class.
Watched Stand By Me with the boys. They were hesitant to sit through such an "old film" but they loved it.
Saige Paints The Sky - Unbelievably atrocious film for 7 year old girls.But its got horses,art,music and a bunch of other shit little girls love.And my little girl fucking loved it.
Alvin and the Chipmunks- Chipwrecked ..My name is Earl in atrociously bad pay the rent kids flick about singing squirrels or something.My viewing partner watched it three times.
Alvin and the Chipmunks- Chipwrecked ..My name is Earl in atrociously bad pay the rent kids flick about singing squirrels or something.My viewing partner watched it three times.
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