What movie did you watch last night? (19 Viewers)

[David Kronenbourg]

You didn't like Jared Leto in this?

He was good but fairly one note. McConaughey was riveting. Fairly standard film aside though.

 

[hermie]

In the past week:

Blue is the Warmest Colour

So glad I caught this in the cinema, best new film I've seen in quite a long time. Easily jumps to the top of my list for 2013 even if I saw it a couple of days into the new year. An incredible achievement. In a way it's the ultimate voyeur movie because with all the close-ups and the naturalistic portrayal you feel like you're in each scene with them. But it's a work of art first and a realistic snapshot of a relationship second. You know the characters so well by the end having watched them eat, sleep, dance and fuck for 3 hours (which zips by). It might sound a bit crass but I don't think it is at all. It allows an intimacy between the characters and audience and an emotional investment you rarely get these days.

Primer

Enjoyed this even though I had zero clue what was going on. And I don't think even repeat viewings will clear up all that much. Anyone seen Upstream Colour? Is it something similar?

Dial M for Murder

Really good watch. Possibly the most Hitchcockian of all his films that I can think of. Surprised I'd never seen it before.

 

[hermie]

Also tried to watch The Act of Killing a couple of weeks ago but was way too hungover for it. Grim beyond belief.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Primer

Enjoyed this even though I had zero clue what was going on. And I don't think even repeat viewings will clear up all that much. Anyone seen Upstream Colour? Is it something similar?

It is really only similarly bewildering.
Enjoyable for all that though.

 

[hermie]

It is really only similarly bewildering.
Enjoyable for all that though.

Cheers will give it a goo

 

[Splunk]

Grown Ups 2 - If you liked the first one then you will love this. V funny.

Gravity - A snore fest of epic proportions.

Francis Ha - Pretentious shite altogether.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Grown Ups 2 - If you liked the first one then you will love this. V funny.

Gravity - A snore fest of epic proportions.

Francis Ha - Pretentious shite altogether.

How bizarro

 

[Splunk]

How bizarro

Why?

 

[washingcattle]

Primer
Anyone seen Upstream Colour? Is it something similar?

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.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Why?

We had the opposite reaction to each movie

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Arbitrage. Decent thriller about bad rich people doing nasty things. Richard Gere is good in this. Tim Roth impresses too.

 

[Unicron]

Barton Fink, hadn't seen it before. It was terrific, one of the very best Coen films that I've seen.

 

[Splunk]

42

I know this was slammed by the critics but that's because they didn't get it. One of last years funniest movies.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Cosmopolis. Second viewing. Pattinson does well but the whole thing is lifeless and stilted. I'm sure it is supposed to be but it doesn't make for interesting viewing.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

it doesn't make for interesting viewing.

Exactly right.

Also, Kevin Durand should be in more stuff.

 

[washingcattle]

Cosmopolis. Second viewing. Pattinson does well but the whole thing is lifeless and stilted. I'm sure it is supposed to be but it doesn't make for interesting viewing.

Why on earth would you watch that again ?

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Why on earth would you watch that again ?

Cronenberg is one of my favourites. I thought it might be more rewarding on a second viewing. I was wrong. His new one sounds interesting. I've read a book written by the guy who wrote the script which was very good.

Maps to the Stars (2014) - IMDb

 

[hermie]

Serpico. Decent but far from Lumet's best, let alone Pacino's. Seems very much of it's time, especially if you're a New Yorker you might be more interested.

 

[pete]

Anchorman 2. Uneven and patchy, but when i laughed, I laughed.


I think it suffered from there only being 8 people in the cinema.

 

[xsteox]

American hustle. Good solid 8/10. Did drag in parts but the comic undertones complimented the more serious/dramatic parts.