What movie did you watch last night? (12 Viewers)

[east hastings]

Was Jurrassic Park 2 his last big balls out crowd pleaser (apart from Tintin) ?

Indiana Jones

 

[washingcattle]

Indiana Jones

I said "crowd pleaser" not criminal act.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Brilliant remake of Wages of Fear and directed by Willem Friedkin- the movie never made an impact at the box office upon it's release in 1977 but that might have had something to do with it being out the same time as Star Wars! A real gem of a movie, great characters and performances all round and the tension cranked up to the max esp the bridge scene. Scheider's best movie after Jaws imo.

I love this film. Friedkin made some excellent films throughout his whole career and this is one of his best. It's a shame most of his later output gets overlooked in favour of his admittedly groundbreaking early 70s films. Cruising, To Live & Die in L.A., Rampage, Bug and Killer Joe are all excellent.

 

[Anthem]

There's a hollywood remake of this? The original is one of my dad's favourite films and he would never watch foreign movies. I really like it too.

Thats right Unicorn-the-make is called The Sorcerer.

 

[Anthem]

One of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time. It really is impossible to believe that this is a true story- that is how bizarre it is.

The documentary I am referring to is The Imposter.

 

[ann post]

Saw the field, start to finish for the first time ever. Amazing script.

 

[east hastings]

The documentary I am referring to is The Imposter.

deadly film

I added yer man as a friend on facebook, he accepted and sent me a message asking me why i wanted to be his friend

 

[washingcattle]

Jiro dreams of Sushi

I'm going to try to be brief because i've got a lot to get through here. First up is Jiro dreams of sushi. A documentary about Jiro Ono, whose family own and run a restaurant in Tokyo sells rather ridiculously priced sushi, and only sushi. No drinks, no frills, you sit at the counter and the chef prepares and serves you one piece of sushi at a time and then you eat it in front of him. It seems like the most intimidating dining experience on the planet. The film is an elegy to the simplicity and dedication, the singleness of purpose which is required to be the best. Jiro and his sons relationship is explored through their working lives and the film also has a bit to say about food as a commodity, it's fetishism and ultimately it's relationship to the earth and the creatures which live there. It's all filmed beautifully and allows the main protagonists to have expound their philosohpies in the typically Japanese polite and assured fashion. Jiro is a magnetic character at the heart of the film, more open than most Japanese men of his generation, his account of his life up to that point and his discussion of family make for some fine moments. Accompanied by the obligatory Phillip Glass score this is pretty much as close to Foodaquatsi as you'll get. Well worth a look if you want a gentle portrait of a real life non-sporting Rocky
Red State

Kevin Smith thinks he's so fucking smart doesn't he ? Well sometimes he is, and then sometimes he's not as smart as he thinks he is. To go into the finer points of the plot of Red State would be folly as on paper it seems quite straight forward, i.e Westbourough baptist church (the god hates fags bunch who protest the funerals of american service men and women, you know the lads made famous by Louis Theroux) style lunatics go nuts and bad shit happens. However, in the hands of Smith, the film moves from genre to genre at will, and as the tone changes from horror, to thriller, to satire to whatever he feels like. You do feel that Yes - Kevin Smith is very clever. And he is, but unfortunately he's not as clever as he thinks he is. The central character is a demented preacher played ably by Michael Parks who Smith gives one 15 minute scene to wax lyrical on his beliefs regarding the gays and how they are poisoning christian values and so on. Unfortunately, though Parks delivers the lines with admirable gusto and there are no doubt American preachers who do actually give sermons like this every chance they get. On film it all seems like empty rhetoric, it seems as it undoubtably is, simply shallow hate and scare mongering. Smith clearly has a lot to say on the topic of religion and on the kind of tactics that are employed by these evangelists but unfortunately, none of this is anything new. About 5 minutes into the seemingly never ending speech I felt like saying "Yes Kevin we get it he's the bad guy, can we please get on with this" From that moment on the film shifts tone and shape with abandon, however as with most action or horror films, as the body count rises the tension diminishes. Even though the violence itself veers between sometimes shocking and amusing. In the end Smith throws in one twist too many and for all the good work he puts in it's hard to see Red State as anything other than an interesting little piece of genre bending, cinema which touches on many large American social issues without ever having much to say on any of them. Interesting in a formal sort of way but not enough to be considered great.
Jarhead

Sometimes films are like very well spoken tour guides who don't have a clue how to read a map. Jarhead is exactly such a film. It's opening twenty minutes or so genuinely had me expecting a masterpiece which unfortunately never arrives. Sam Mendes directed it, so it looks amazing, nearly every frame is a joy to behold and at times Mendes gets close to achieving something akin to a Werner Herzog oddyssy. One sequence which begins with soldiers marching towards burning oil fields and ends with an oily horse for is astounding. Jarhead unfortunately falls between two stools, firstly it sets itself up as a satire of the American military and some of it's best moments are in the early part of the film when the uber-masculine behaviour of the recruits and the tactics employed by the instructors during basic training offers up ample fodder for such discussion. The film however can't keep this tone up as it moves to the monotony and surreallity of the gulf war . By the end it feels more like a love letter to the marines and as such it really can't make up it's mind what it's trying to say. Which is fair enough I suppose, because the film is based on a first hand account of the events and I can imagine this dichotomy of disgust and fear along with belonging and pride is an aspect of many Marines experience. It doesn't however completely work on screen and as a result is somewhat lopsided.
Bullhead

Lots of head this week huh ? ooh matron!
Set in rural Belgium Bullhead is both a character study and a crime thriller and is brilliant at being both. The central character, the Bullhead of the title if you will is a cattle dealer from the flemish side of the divide in Belgium. A brooding hulking figure who is played perfectly by Matthias Schoenaerts equal parts pitiful and terrifying Schoenaerts manages to imbue the man with a presence which devours the film. It's plot and pacing is perfectly executed by writer/director Michael R Roskom. He keeps the tone somewhere between an out and out thriller and a family drama delivering a quite sinewy plot along side the quite shocking and affecting back story of the films major protagonists. This is Schoenaerts film he delivers such a powerful performance of melancholy and menace and easily takes the film across his broad shoulders and heaves it into a different class. Highly recommended.
Safety Not Garunteed

Based on a real advert which was read by Jay Leno during his weird headlines section on the tonight show apparently.
It's the usual indie fare, nice characters doing nice things, with a nice soundtrack, and a quirky plot. The performances are nice, and yeah it's nice if you like that sort of thing. Nice
you know like stroking a cat or watching a sunset. It's okay for a while then it gets a bit too, you know, bland.
There are some twists, inevitably towards the end since ...Oh did I mention that the quirky plot involves time travel ?....No... oh right it's got time travel in it so yeah there are a few twists in the tale and, c'mon if you like American indie charm you'll probably love it and since I don't like that sort of thing nothing I say will make any difference anyway.
It's like having a nice dry hanky at hand after you sneeze.
I'm taking a break, more later

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Undertow. David Gordon Green's southern gothic thriller about two teenage boys on the run from their piece of shit uncle. Bit of a Night of the Hunter vibe off this one. Decent enough if a little slight. Takes a while to get going but once Josh Lucas arrives things pick up.

I think I've gotten far more enjoyment out of David Gordon Green's stoner comedies than I have his Malick-esque dramas. That was a serious career U-Turn there for a while but judging from their synopsis on IMDB it looks like his next two films, both released this year, will be a return to his indie drama roots.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382396/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2195548/

 

[Anthem]

Just saw...

The Hunt ,

Danish film directed by Thomas Vinterberg (Festen). Dark drama starring Mads Mikkleson. Bleak but riveting from start to finish.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

From the VHS mountain - The Last Run.
Desolate driving and double-crossing in Portugal.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Two more top-shelf VHS today.

First up was The Gambler. Recorded from BBC2 in 1997.
James Caan plays the part of a compulsive gambler who doesn't know when to quit.

Cool scene here.

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[nlgbbbblth]

The Late Show. Taped from RTE1 in 2002.

Classic 70s noir with a fun feel. Lily Tomlin plays a kooky hipster. Menacing undertones.

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[Jim Daniels]

The Late Show. Taped from RTE1 in 2002.

Classic 70s noir with a fun feel. Lily Tomlin plays a kooky hipster. Menacing undertones.

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That looks deadly!
Great trailer

 

[hermie]

Recently watched:

Good Vibrations
The Day of the Jackal
District 9
Wall-E
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

All pretty good. None worth raving about.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

All pretty good. None worth raving about.

this is a good un i thought

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

What does Foodaquatsi mean?

 

[hermie]

this is a good un i thought

What is? Is there an image I'm not seeing or something?

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Jiro dreams of SushiAccompanied by the obligatory Phillip Glass score this is pretty much as close to Foodaquatsi as you'll get. Well worth a look if you want a gentle portrait of a real life non-sporting Rocky

Foodaquatsi

 

[David Kronenbourg]

What is? Is there an image I'm not seeing or something?

sorry i thought i quoted you. it was the bird with the crystal plummage i was talking about.