Return of the RECENT VIEWING

..and why not?
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 27 Apr 2017, 03:57

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Lilies of the Field

Poitier's oscar-winning role is the highlight of this Catholic fable (the unbearably strident head nun was also nominated). It couldn't be made today. I've always enjoyed it. Pure Hollywood corn pone, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Jimbly » 29 Apr 2017, 00:21

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. Loved it. Everything was bang on.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby ... » 29 Apr 2017, 08:15

Jeemo wrote:Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. Loved it. Everything was bang on.


Looking forward to seeing this one, too.
Caught the original during a lengthy wait for a flight in HK (12 hours from getting kicked out of my hotel to getting on board my flight) when it came out three summers ago and while generally hate Marvel Universe-type movies, loved it to bits.

Had the same happy experience with Logan when I reluctantly went to see it while waiting to fly back at the end of my most recent trip to Honkers.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby the masked man » 29 Apr 2017, 17:47

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In an age where American cinema is increasingly trapped within rigid genre frameworks, Charlie Kaufman stands out as the most distinctive film-maker left in the country. This technically brilliant but disturbing and depressing picture shows him moving no nearer to the mainstream. It's a nightmarish stop-motion animation, co-directed by animation specialist Duke Johnson, that confronts questions of identity and perception and does not produce reassuring answers.

Michael Stone, an English marketing guru based in Los Angeles, flies to Cincinnati to address a conference. We learn quickly that he is a success at his job, and also that he is living in a private hell, suffering from a (genuine but rare) condition called the Fregoli Delusion, whereby he sees everybody as looking and sounding the same. After a disastrous hook-up with an old flame, back at the hotel, he encounters a woman named Lisa, who sounds very different, and immediately becomes obsessed.

On a technical level, it is a remarkable feat. The animation is full of clever little details, and Michael's world is vividly portrayed; all other puppets have the same face and voice, and can only be distinguished by hairstyle and clothing. And the voice for all these characters, supplied by Tom Noonan, as shown to be persistent and deeply annoying.

The film starts out with a series of embarrassing scenes, which show how this Lancastrian man, voiced by Blackpool's very own David Thewlis, is totally out of his depth. I found myself flinching, particularly, when he encounters neurotic ex-girlfriend Bella in a scene that cannot possibly end well. Much of the film is shot in an anonymous hotel, where the phoney insincerity of the staff is guaranteed to set Stone on edge. There is, of course, a whole cinematic history of hotels being conduits for people losing their minds (The Shining, Barton Fink and Last Year At Marienbad all come to mind), and Anomalisa can only echo this, particularly with its dispiriting shots of seemingly endless hotel corridors. Yet the arrival of Lisa adds a welcome change of tone. After half-an-hour of solely listening to Thewlis and Noonan, the arrival of a third voice, belonging to the always-excellent Jennifer Jason-Leigh, is a breath of fresh air. Lisa, however, has problems of her own (insecurity and low self-esteem), and together Michael and Lisa fumble towards a kind of relationship.

The film peaks with a bravura dream sequence that evokes both Barton Fink and the inspired (Kaufman-scripted) Being John Malkovich. After this, though, I felt the film lost its way, unsure how to find a successful resolution. Athough Michael's return to Los Angeles has some clever echoes of earlier scenes, it felt like we'd moved back to the earlier tone of embarrassment, and it seem to peter out a little. That said, the film's brief coda has an interesting twist, which I think I've only just understood the significance of.

It's not for everyone, but it's ceratinly unique.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 30 Apr 2017, 17:08

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Rumble Fish

Is this a great film? I'd say no, but it's certainly interesting. What a cast for one thing - Dillon, Rourke, Hopper, Tom Waits, Diane Lane (was she ever so beautiful again?), Cage, Chris Penn, etc. And you've got Coppola's B&W photography with the stylized mise en scene. The Stewart Copeland score. There's a fascinating Argentinian documentary included as a bonus feature about people who are obsessed with this picture. The filmmaker traveled all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma (where Rumble Fish was made) just to be there. It's almost his religion. Anyway, great effort from Criterion, as usual.

The thing is - the movie should be better than it actually is. All the right ingredients are there but it doesn't quite come together, does it? It's obviously a story written by an adolescent. The characters say "Rusty James" too often in the film - as if you're watching a soap opera and they don't want you to forget the character's names or something. People don't talk like that. And "Motorcycle Boy" is a silly moniker for a character who is supposed to be this deep thinker or whatever. Dillon's cartoon-like strutting is a tad overwrought for some of these scenes, but maybe that plays better in South American countries where the Latin, macho element is more pronounced and they can't understand the language and rely on subtitles.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby pcqgod » 30 Apr 2017, 20:06

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Time Lapse (2014)

3 room mates discover a camera in an adjacent apartment that takes pictures of their apartment, showing it as it appears 24 hours in the future. The owner, an eccentric inventor, is dead, but they decide to conceal his death and use the camera as a get-rich quick scheme. Unsurprisingly, things don't go as planned. Although pretty much freely ripping off the premise of a "Twilight Zone" episode, this decent b-movie offers a few surprises and has some pretty good pay-offs if you ignore some contrivances, the ridiculously poor decision-making of the main characters and the brain-hurting paradoxes.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Darkness_Fish » 30 Apr 2017, 21:07

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Surfer girl goes off the beaten track to an idyllic bay in Mexico. Staying for one surf too many, she's attacked by a shark and left wounded and alone in the shallows, unable to swim back past the persistent piscine peril. Blake Lively does a decent job of looking brave and pained for 80 minutes, and there is a decent bit of tension. Frankly, though, rubber sharks were more convincing in film than all this CGI piss, and the silly ending ruins most of what went before. Could've been more than half-decent, but fell like so many others at the CGI hurdle.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby naughty boy » 01 May 2017, 01:25

HBO? Watched some of it last night. One of the very worst films I've ever seen. Absolute cack.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby pcqgod » 01 May 2017, 03:27

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World on a Wire (1973)

Interesting German made-for-television drama involving scientists who create an entire virtual world that one can enter, populated by sentient, virtual people. Yes, it's The Matrix before The Matrix, except with far less people floating in the air and kung fu.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby naughty boy » 01 May 2017, 09:45

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Loved the scenes in the War Room - very witty dialogue and amazing set design - most of the rest just bored me.

The on-plane scenes near the end with the repeated military rat-a-tat were absolutely interminable.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Darkness_Fish » 01 May 2017, 20:40

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Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 01 May 2017, 20:47

If you liked that, Darkness Fish, you should check out Prince of the City next. It's Lumet's sort of follow up to Serpico.

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Woman of the Year

I love these two, and this could be their best work together (not that I've seen them all). It does have some issues though. I don't think there's too much wrong with the Hepburn character, but 'old Spence does - and this being a film from 1942, he has to domesticate her in order for them to be happy. The picture condones it and the ending is awkward - but the chemistry is there. And wasn't Kate beautiful?

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Darkness_Fish » 02 May 2017, 09:51

Matt Wilson wrote:If you liked that, Darkness Fish, you should check out Prince of the City next. It's Lumet's sort of follow up to Serpico.

Cheers, I'll make a note of that. I like the whole gritty 70s cop aesthetic, the likes of this, The Conversation (not strictly cop, but same ballpark), French Connection, etc. I do hope Pacino won the Oscar for best supporting facial hair. Another really strong performance by him, though I thought a lot of the supporting cast were a bit weak, especially the later girlfriend.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Darkness_Fish » 02 May 2017, 09:52

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An early teen violent wank fantasy. How/why do films like this get made?
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Goat Boy » 02 May 2017, 10:15

Carol

I’m a bit puzzled by the rave reviews this received. I thought it was good, it looked great (loved all that 50s period detail) and Blanchett was very good but it left me pretty much unmoved I have to say. I thought the young lass was a bit of a drip frankly.


One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

I forgot how comedic the whole thing is. I mean, it’s laugh out loud throughout which some might see as a criticism I guess but then the movie isn’t really about patients with mental health issues, is it? There’s still moments when you are confronted with the sadness and horror of the situation, in particular from Cheswick and the whole electro shock therapy scene which only makes it even more shocking however. It doesn’t bother me though. It’s one of the best ensemble casts for any movie really and there is huge pleasure in watching these performances and whilst it’s manipulative, maybe too manipulative at times - I know some folk find it simplistic - it is magnificent and moving. In fact I think its relative simplistic nature is what makes it so great. It would be a hard heart that didn’t get a bit emotional when Chief does his thing, accompanied by that ethereal bow saw. Jack is at peak Jackness here although I think he’s slightly better in the Last Detail which is the greater movie.


Deliverance

Time can’t diminish the awfulness of the rape scene, can it? Truly one of the most uncomfortable scenes in film history. John Boormans rural horror film where urban man comes unstuck against both nature and his fellow man is a great, haunting film. Watching it again it struck me how it emphasises the consequences of violence on the individual.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby naughty boy » 02 May 2017, 10:56

Goat Boy wrote:One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

I forgot how comedic the whole thing is. I mean, it’s laugh out loud throughout which some might see as a criticism I guess but then the movie isn’t really about patients with mental health issues, is it? There’s still moments when you are confronted with the sadness and horror of the situation, in particular from Cheswick and the whole electro shock therapy scene which only makes it even more shocking however. It doesn’t bother me though. It’s one of the best ensemble casts for any movie really and there is huge pleasure in watching these performances and whilst it’s manipulative, maybe too manipulative at times - I know some folk find it simplistic - it is magnificent and moving. In fact I think its relative simplistic nature is what makes it so great. It would be a hard heart that didn’t get a bit emotional when Chief does his thing, accompanied by that ethereal bow saw. Jack is at peak Jackness here although I think he’s slightly better in the Last Detail which is the greater movie.



Forman was famous for arranging and working with great ensemble casts. If you haven't seen The Firemen's Ball then you really should, D. It's arguably the greatest film to come out the Czech New Wave, it's probably Forman's best pre-Hollywood effort (I know some prefer Loves of a Blonde), and I'm sure the comedy would appeal to you (it's funny for most of its length, but like Cuckoo's, there's a sad ending). It's nice and short, too.



Miloš Forman is a fucking hero to me. There's so much humanity and so much humour in what he did.
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Goat Boy » 02 May 2017, 11:31

I'll add it to my spreadsheet
Griff wrote:The notion that Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong vocal proponent of antisemitism, would stand in front of an antisemitic mural and commend it is utterly preposterous.


Copehead wrote:a right wing cretin like Berger....bleating about racism

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Darkness_Fish » 02 May 2017, 11:39

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the few examples of a great film of a great book. I think the film might edge it, even though it does very closely follow the source material, just because of the power of Nicholson's performance, although the entire cast is superb. The problem with having seen the film first, is that no matter how well the book describes the McMurphy character, it's not possible to visualise him as anything but Jack. The character of The Chief makes more sense within the confines of the novel though, as he's the main narrator, and because he's a schizophrenic his mental state is pretty much used as a measure of the positive impact of the freedom of McMurphy against the oppression and tyranny of Nurse Ratchid.
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 02 May 2017, 15:52

I fuckin' looooooooooooove Cuckoo's Nest. There is no better Jack performance or movie (sorry Chintatown or Last Detail fans).

Hell, I love Deliverance too. Even read the book.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby naughty boy » 02 May 2017, 20:58

Matt Wilson wrote:I fuckin' looooooooooooove Cuckoo's Nest. There is no better Jack performance or movie (sorry Chintatown or Last Detail fans).


I'm surprised Dougie didn't agree.

And it's nice to see plain simple unadorned enthusiasm for a film. I fucking looooooooooooooooooooooove it too!
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