Saw The Salesman on Monday. (£7 a head for films on Mondays at Greenwich Picturehouse. So a good cheap night out.) A good film. Well made, interesting story, well plotted, good acting and a fascinating insight into modern life in Iran. I didn't know anything of the plot when I went and was hooked early on. Go and see it. 7/10.
'Get out'. Wouldn't usually watch something in the horror genre but glad I did. Horror comedy is more accurate. Definitely thought provoking. Watched a lot if it through my fingers admittedly. Black boyfriend meets white parents, with a few twists. I cringed a lot at what I thought was just clumsy efforts to portray racist parents. But then the twists kick in and it wasn't the film I was first thinking.
Saw "Elle" last night, French with sub-titles. Ostensibly about the rape of the main character but a lot more texture. Some very amusing moments. Very French. Recommend it if language films don't put you off.
Life. Decent, silly, mildly surprising, fairly ballsy, but mostly predictable sci-fi horror. Doesn't add anything new to the Alien sun-genre but the quality of the cast and (most of) the effects carry it through.
Saw "Elle" last night, French with sub-titles. Ostensibly about the rape of the main character but a lot more texture. Some very amusing moments. Very French. Recommend it if language films don't put you off.
I watched it as well but to be fair I thought it just dragged on and on and on......decent acting but as boring as batshit after the first 40 minutes. 5/10
Saw "Elle" last night, French with sub-titles. Ostensibly about the rape of the main character but a lot more texture. Some very amusing moments. Very French. Recommend it if language films don't put you off.
I watched it as well but to be fair I thought it just dragged on and on and on......decent acting but as boring as batshit after the first 40 minutes. 5/10
It was reviewed on Newsnight last week & one critic (a women) said that the basis of the film is that the main character basically initiates being raped, both by her partner & by the intruder. Pretty strong stuff.
Life. Decent, silly, mildly surprising, fairly ballsy, but mostly predictable sci-fi horror. Doesn't add anything new to the Alien sun-genre but the quality of the cast and (most of) the effects carry it through.
Just got back from Life. Really enjoyed it, as did the missus who's not the biggest si-fi fan. Very good looking film and the cinematography, especially them careering around inside was excellent. They've really cracked this looking weightless thing. Thought it ramped up the tension very well and didn't have to resort to 'in your face' gore or throwing in multiple buses to do so.
Both leads play it really well but having also seen Rebecca Ferguson recently in Girl On The Train she seems to be a real star in the making. And she's not too shabby to look at for a couple of hours either.
Logan. Impressive film, but I was kind of thrown a little by Patrick Stewart's fuck infested dialogue, seemed out of character. However, I really enjoyed it and it was a fitting finale to the Wolverine. 7.5/10
The Prof has Alzheimer's or dementia, can't remember which, hence all the 'fucks'.
Allied ... very disappointing. Dull, dull, dull. 3/10
Rogue One ... I enjoy the Star Wars franchise but this did not meet expectations. 5/10
Snowden ... excellent depiction of a very important subject, stayed very close to the real story line and a terrific portrayal of Snowden by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 9/10
Snowden was much better than the reviews suggested, although the final minutes nearly messed it all up.
The final minutes were too much about how important The Guardian/Rusbridger are rather than on how critical Snowden has been.
Exactly. And the transition into the real Snowden was stupid. It's good that Stone took this movie on, but his visual flourishes didn't do anything for it.
Yikes, that was poor. Derivative of every sifi film you've ever seen, packed with clichéd, wooden characters you couldn't care less about and cgi that made my eyes sore and gave me a migrane. I can see why the manga geeks hate it and not even Scarlett Johansson in a body suit can save it. Avoid like the plague unless you're a 14 your old boy.
I thought Johansson was one of the biggest problems. I'd have much preferred it if they'd cast someone unknown in the role.
The Anime style stuff was great. I enjoyed that. Some of the visuals were fantastic. The plot-heavy dialogue and rather lacklustre plot made it a far more basic film than I was expecting.
Just watched I, Daniel Blake. Bloody hell. A tough watch, but well worth it. Especially if, like me, you only have a dim idea what a foodbank is. Hats off to Mr Loach.
A doctor, disappointed with his lot post-Ceausescu Romania, is desperate for his very bright daughter to earn a scholarship to Oxbridge and what he perceives to be an altogether better future in the UK. When she suffers a traumatic and debilitating assault the day before a critical exam, he has to decide how just far he is prepared to go in order to ensure that she achieves the necessary grades, by fair means or foul. Director Cristian Mungiu examines the corrupt underbelly of Romanian society, in tandem with a study of parental obsession and a man under acute pressure on a number of fronts.
I found this an intense, engrossing and very intelligent film. It is (unsurprisingly) not at the level of Mungui's 2007 masterpiece, '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days', but it is, in my view, very good and well worth seeing - 8/10.
Get Out - unusual, twisty plot with some really good jump out of your seat shocks at the same time as being a funny satire about black/white relationships.
I thought Johansson was one of the biggest problems. I'd have much preferred it if they'd cast someone unknown in the role.
The Anime style stuff was great. I enjoyed that. Some of the visuals were fantastic. The plot-heavy dialogue and rather lacklustre plot made it a far more basic film than I was expecting.
Fair enough, I'll concede that it looked quite pretty in patches and you can certainly appreciate the skill of the animator.
On the whole though I found the 'brasheness' of the visuals a bit over powering and as I said derivative. It was like "Okay drop a sequence from Bladerunner in here, then we stick in that bit from Minority Report followed by that bit in Predator where she can go invisible...". Just not keen myself on the overall effect and the weakness of the plot couldn't redeem it for me.
I thought Johansson was one of the biggest problems. I'd have much preferred it if they'd cast someone unknown in the role.
The Anime style stuff was great. I enjoyed that. Some of the visuals were fantastic. The plot-heavy dialogue and rather lacklustre plot made it a far more basic film than I was expecting.
Fair enough, I'll concede that it looked quite pretty in patches and you can certainly appreciate the skill of the animator.
On the whole though I found the 'brasheness' of the visuals a bit over powering and as I said derivative. It was like "Okay drop a sequence from Bladerunner in here, then we stick in that bit from Minority Report followed by that bit in Predator where she can go invisible...". Just not keen myself on the overall effect and the weakness of the plot couldn't redeem it for me.
This is disappointing, I thought it had a great trailer but I realise now that may have been more to do with the score....
I thought Johansson was one of the biggest problems. I'd have much preferred it if they'd cast someone unknown in the role.
The Anime style stuff was great. I enjoyed that. Some of the visuals were fantastic. The plot-heavy dialogue and rather lacklustre plot made it a far more basic film than I was expecting.
Fair enough, I'll concede that it looked quite pretty in patches and you can certainly appreciate the skill of the animator.
On the whole though I found the 'brasheness' of the visuals a bit over powering and as I said derivative. It was like "Okay drop a sequence from Bladerunner in here, then we stick in that bit from Minority Report followed by that bit in Predator where she can go invisible...". Just not keen myself on the overall effect and the weakness of the plot couldn't redeem it for me.
This is disappointing, I thought it had a great trailer but I realise now that may have been more to do with the score....
All about opinions isn't it, my mate enjoyed it...I couldn't wait for it to finish.
Knew nothing about it before I went but I since understand it has got some mixed reviews.
So the new Pirates film will be subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US and Salazar's Revenge in the UK, Australia, and Europe.
There have been other prominent examples of this in recent years. Anyone know why the title will change across English speaking countries? I can perhaps understand why it is given a different name in non-English speaking countries but can't see why the name would change between the UK and the US (besides perhaps some focus group research determined the titles would be better localised)?
Comments
A good film. Well made, interesting story, well plotted, good acting and a fascinating insight into modern life in Iran.
I didn't know anything of the plot when I went and was hooked early on.
Go and see it.
7/10.
Both leads play it really well but having also seen Rebecca Ferguson recently in Girl On The Train she seems to be a real star in the making. And she's not too shabby to look at for a couple of hours either.
I get what he does and thought the film was hilarious and fairly touching as well. I also see how people don't get what he does
Rogue One ... I enjoy the Star Wars franchise but this did not meet expectations. 5/10
Snowden ... excellent depiction of a very important subject, stayed very close to the real story line and a terrific portrayal of Snowden by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 9/10
Snowden was much better than the reviews suggested, although the final minutes nearly messed it all up.
Yikes, that was poor. Derivative of every sifi film you've ever seen, packed with clichéd, wooden characters you couldn't care less about and cgi that made my eyes sore and gave me a migrane. I can see why the manga geeks hate it and not even Scarlett Johansson in a body suit can save it. Avoid like the plague unless you're a 14 your old boy.
The Anime style stuff was great. I enjoyed that. Some of the visuals were fantastic. The plot-heavy dialogue and rather lacklustre plot made it a far more basic film than I was expecting.
A doctor, disappointed with his lot post-Ceausescu Romania, is desperate for his very bright daughter to earn a scholarship to Oxbridge and what he perceives to be an altogether better future in the UK. When she suffers a traumatic and debilitating assault the day before a critical exam, he has to decide how just far he is prepared to go in order to ensure that she achieves the necessary grades, by fair means or foul. Director Cristian Mungiu examines the corrupt underbelly of Romanian society, in tandem with a study of parental obsession and a man under acute pressure on a number of fronts.
I found this an intense, engrossing and very intelligent film. It is (unsurprisingly) not at the level of Mungui's 2007 masterpiece, '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days', but it is, in my view, very good and well worth seeing - 8/10.
On the whole though I found the 'brasheness' of the visuals a bit over powering and as I said derivative. It was like "Okay drop a sequence from Bladerunner in here, then we stick in that bit from Minority Report followed by that bit in Predator where she can go invisible...". Just not keen myself on the overall effect and the weakness of the plot couldn't redeem it for me.
Knew nothing about it before I went but I since understand it has got some mixed reviews.
There have been other prominent examples of this in recent years. Anyone know why the title will change across English speaking countries? I can perhaps understand why it is given a different name in non-English speaking countries but can't see why the name would change between the UK and the US (besides perhaps some focus group research determined the titles would be better localised)?