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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.241.143
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 01:19 am:   

This week I've had a mini film festival and re-watched THREE EASY PIECES, COOL HAND LUKE and MIDNIGHT COWBOY, three magnificent examples of the kind of film Hollywood used to make so brilliantly but either forgot how or just couldn't be bothered to keep it up.

Sedately paced, intelligent, serious, bristling with energy and intensity. Absolutely wonderful. I honestly believe that back in the late 60s/early 70s America produced some of the greatest cinema of all time.
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 01:54 am:   

I couldn't agree more! The golden era of cinema for me was the late 60s through the 70s with virtually all the best work coming out of the States. The explosion of directorial talent at that time was incredible and I believe the easing of censorship laws created a sense of new found possibility in the medium which fuelled their excitement and creativity making that period so fantastically energetic and visceral. A very high percentage of my all-time favourite movies came from the 1970s.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.161.170.11
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 09:49 am:   

I recall talking about this sort of thing here a long time back, just after I'd rewatched DELIVERANCE and MIDNIGHT COWBOY for the first time in years. My conclusion at the time was that Hollywood seems now to have almost stopped making 'grown-up' films.
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 12:44 pm:   

Damn! Did they cut that much out of Five Easy Pieces?
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.22.231.91
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 01:03 pm:   

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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 01:33 pm:   

Ha! Where the hell did I get Three from?

You'll have to excuse me; I'm losing my mind.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 85.158.139.99
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 01:44 pm:   

I prefer SIX-LANE BLACKTOP myself...
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.22.231.91
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 01:46 pm:   

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, anyone?
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Simon Strantzas (Nomis)
Username: Nomis

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 38.113.181.169
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 02:04 pm:   

EIGHT-LEGGED FREAKS?
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 02:10 pm:   

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN...brilliant. Better than THE SEVEN SAMURAI.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.76.229
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 02:18 pm:   

I've actually seen these films. Yes, I know - I fainted, too.
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Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 218.168.184.48
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 03:42 pm:   

I like you Zed, I really do, but I draw the line at statements like 'better than Seven Samurai'!

I do like The Magnificent Seven, though. And you're right, few films are made these days (in Hollywood) that can rival the ones you mentioned. If those films were made today, you wouldn't be able to tell what was happening half the time due to the ridiculously fast editing that's infested much filmmaking.
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.8.175.44
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 03:47 pm:   

I find these days that when i'm watching a film, if I'm getting bored i start counting the seconds between cuts. the most I've managed to count to doing this has been 15 seconds in any Hollywood film of the last 10 years or so and that was an expensive looking effects shot. Japanese films aren't scared to take their time.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 79.70.67.229
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 04:00 pm:   

'THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN...brilliant. Better than THE SEVEN SAMURAI.'

Er....no.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 04:13 pm:   

I've always thought so. I've tried to watch TSS three times and never made it through to the end. Howevere I've seen TMS about 20 times all the way through.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.99.74
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 04:44 pm:   

Got to admit I had trouble with TSS when I watched it but I love TMS.

Of course the best version is Battle Beyond the Stars ...
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Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 79.187.206.46
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 05:15 pm:   

Zed - I agree the 70's was by far the most brilliant time for films, but I disagree with you on Easy Rider. I see Easy Rider more as an experiment which kick-started the movement away from traditonalist cinema.

One of the most overlooked and undervalued directors of the time was Hal Ashby, who unfortunately died well before his time. He was up there with Scorcese, Schrader and Coppola.
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Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 79.187.206.46
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 05:19 pm:   

Being There (1979)
... aka Chance
Coming Home (1978)
Bound for Glory (1976)
Shampoo (1975)
The Last Detail (1973)
Harold and Maude (1971)

All of these films are gems and a must watch for real seventies buffs.

Would anyone agree that the 70's was probably the most inventive period for horror films. I would say yes on account of the scavenging of old films and rehashing them into turkeys now. Though admittedly there have been some good remakes.

I just hope they don't remake 'Don't Look Now'.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.161.170.11
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 05:35 pm:   

I'd agree, Frank - mind you I was the right age to see those, I feel, being in my late teens/early 'twenties then; HAROLD AND MAUDE is a lovely little film - not shown often enough, I think.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 79.70.67.229
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 06:44 pm:   

'HAROLD AND MAUDE is a lovely little film - not shown often enough, I think.' totally agree, Mick.
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John (John)
Username: John

Registered: 05-2008
Posted From: 82.24.1.217
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 07:25 pm:   

All great examples - Deliverance is just one of many films that Hollywood would never make these days. Ned Beatty's big scene wouldn't get past the test screenings.

It's not just Hollywood, mind you; my girlfriend and I were watching O Lucky Man the other night and it's hard to imagine anything like that ever coming out of the British film industry again.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.161.170.11
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 08:16 pm:   

I love O LUCKY MAN and IF.... although I'm still not sure about BRITANNIA HOSPITAL, which I only got to see quite recently.
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Thomasb (Thomasb)
Username: Thomasb

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 69.236.171.108
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 08:19 pm:   

Weber: I got so bored and irritated with "Quantum of Solace" that I actually started counting the number of seconds for each shot. The longest: 5 seconds and that was for a plot/dialogue scene.

New essay at: http://www.redroom.com/blog/thomas-burchfield/shoptalk-6-a-tale-two-chapters-cha pter-29
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.5.6.40
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 08:51 pm:   

I'd say every Altman movie from the 70's - especially THE LONG GOODBYE, CALIFORNIA SPLIT, THIEVES LIKE US, 3 WOMEN, McCABE & MRS. MILLER, NASHVILLE, IMAGES, M.A.S.H. - all must-sees... absolute must-sees....
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.161.170.11
Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 11:22 pm:   

IMAGES is a film that seems to have disappeared, almost. It certainly never appears to be shown on network TV here in the UK. I saw it at an all-nighter in the late 'seventies with SOLARIS.
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 145.229.156.40
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 11:34 am:   

'Quantum Of Solace' is easily the worst film of the entire Bond series making even the later Roger Moore turkeys look inspired by comparison! It gave me a headache trying to follow the "action" - the most abysmal editing it has been my misfortune to sit through.
As for the glory days of 60s/70s cinema: The Godfather I & II, The Wild Bunch, The Exorcist, Taxi Driver, Deliverance, Bonnie And Clyde, Once Upon A Time In The West, Rosemary's Baby, Manhattan, The Deerhunter, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Midnight Cowboy, 1900, Badlands, In Cold Blood, 2001 : A Space Odyssey, etc... I mean it's a no-brainer!
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.22.231.91
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 01:47 pm:   

I first saw IF . . . in the early seventies, when I knew nothing at all about the English public school system. I remember being totally nonplussed by the school's chain of command - these 'whips' being pupils themselves and so on. The military scenes left me bewildered; little did I know then that most of the film is to be taken at face value, i.e. apart from a couple Pythonesque scenes, quite literally. As I was myself a pupil in an all-boys school at the time I could easily relate to most of the trio's pranks and tribulations, which probably saved the film for me.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.246.79
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 04:01 pm:   

I got the exact opposite reaction to QUANTUM, Stephen - I think it is the very best of the entire series, going all the way back. I guess there's no accounting for taste....
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 145.229.156.40
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 04:27 pm:   

QoS had nothing I look for in a good Bond movie: no memorable chase sequences, no great use of music, no tongue-in-cheek humour, no memorable villains and no gadgets. Added to that was a weak as water half-baked plot and bewilderingly fast editing it was virtually impossible to follow. Daniel Craig was the only good thing in it and I loved 'Casino Royale'. Found this one dreadfully disappointing. They tried too hard to emulate the brilliant Bourne Trilogy and lost sight of all that people want in a Bond movie as a result. Only my opinion mind you lol.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.246.79
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 04:50 pm:   

I thought the story-telling superior in QoS - it couldn't help but be, being scripted by Paul Haggis. I'm alone in thinking it outshone DARK KNIGHT. Maybe I'm the one way off base. And let's not get into discussions of what one looks for in Bond movies, or some wanker will surely turn my "template" arguments against me....
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Chris_morris (Chris_morris)
Username: Chris_morris

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 12.165.240.116
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 05:39 pm:   

You mean the Paul Haggis who wrote and directed CRASH?
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 145.229.156.40
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 05:54 pm:   

A Bond movie for me should be nothing more than well put together cheesy escapist nonsense. 'Casino Royale' was an inspired reinvigoration of the franchise but 'Quantum Of Solace' (by the same screenwriter) was a mess of a movie trying to be a straight thriller. So clearly the director, Marc Forster, must be at fault. Why didn't they stick with Martin Campbell? And still more bizarrely how did a discussion on the briliance of 60s/70s cinema turn into an analysis of the Bond franchise?
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.224.162
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:12 pm:   

You are right, Chris, that that might be a counter-argument... I really did so loathe CRASH....

I think QoS is a deep and subtle movie - yes, subtle. I think Bond's character-development here is the most nuanced and probing of any movie in the entire franchise. It is a parallel to DARK KNIGHT, in that both movies followed their wildly-successful predecessors, that redefined an established series, with high expectations. The general consensus is that DK succeeded greatly, and QoS failed. My feeling is exactly the opposite - DK is forgettable, ultimately, and QoS will remain long after DK is forgotten (which, admittedly, will already be many lifetimes away from ours, so, I can say whatever I want about that, right? )
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John (John)
Username: John

Registered: 05-2008
Posted From: 82.24.1.217
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:22 pm:   

My auld man, who's a big Bond film, had this to say after watching Casino Royale - "It's a good film, but it's not Bond."

I'd agree with that, apart from the part about it being a good film. But then I'm not really that keen on any of them.
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Thomasb (Thomasb)
Username: Thomasb

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 69.236.171.108
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:26 pm:   

Stephenw: Because that's what happens on threads; I've seen threads morph from exegeses on Peckinpah films all the way to the state of Marxism in America in a few postings . . .

About QOS: I believe this super quick-cut editing is a symptom of insecurity on the part of the filmmakers: "We have no story, no drama, nothing really exciting, nothing at stake, so we'll just create an illusion of excitement with jumpy flashing images."

I bet a lot of the stunt people were mad too when they saw it: "I damn near broke my neck just so I could watch my foot fly by."

And, to tie it all to films of the 1960s and 1970s: he didn't mean to, but Sam started this style of editing with "The Wild Bunch" . . . but he had real substance going on underneath it all and he (and his editor Lou Lombardo) knew when to stop.
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 09:39 pm:   

But Peckinpah only resorted to fast-cut editing in well timed bursts with long drawn out elegiac sequences in between. He was a visionary genius of the kind Hollywood doesn't produce anymore. Recently saw the rerelease of 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia' and that was a very slow mournful movie and all the better for it. The periodic explosions of violence were all the more powerful as a result. Also saw 'The Hired Hand' (again with Warren Oates) for the first time recently and thought it had all the same strengths - slow tender character development interspersed with shockingly visceral violence. The hallmark of 1970s cinema for me!
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.232.64
Posted on Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 06:36 am:   

We have no story, no drama, nothing really exciting, nothing at stake

?!? - musta watched a different movie from the one I did.

DARK KNIGHT had a story, drama, excitement, and high-stakes... so why did I find it entertaining, but ultimately, forgettable?...
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 145.229.156.40
Posted on Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 12:22 pm:   

DARK KNIGHT had a story, drama, excitement, and high-stakes... so why did I find it entertaining, but ultimately, forgettable?...

Because it's a superhero movie and superhero movies (with the notable exception of 'Watchmen') are designed for instant excitement and to be largelly forgotten afterward - bubblegum cinema. The Bond series are superhero movies disguised as spy thrillers - for me anyway.
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 03:01 pm:   

"And, to tie it all to films of the 1960s and 1970s: he didn't mean to, but Sam started this style of editing with "The Wild Bunch" . . . but he had real substance going on underneath it all and he (and his editor Lou Lombardo) knew when to stop."

I think it could be argued that Eisenstein was the originator.
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Thomasb (Thomasb)
Username: Thomasb

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 69.236.171.108
Posted on Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 08:49 pm:   

Yeah, Ramsey, you're absolutly right there. But there seems to be quite a gap between him and Sam, maybe broken by "Bonnie and Clyde."

Then of course, along comes MTV to spoil it for everyone.
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Friday, April 10, 2009 - 04:01 pm:   

Great point about MTV. That is when the rot really set in to the point now where virtually all films coming out of Hollywood are edited like feature length music videos. European cinema is where it's at now. 'Let The Right One In' opens here today so must go see it.
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Thomasb (Thomasb)
Username: Thomasb

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 69.236.171.108
Posted on Friday, April 10, 2009 - 04:57 pm:   

Yeah, we're letting that one in through our Netflix list.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.183.134.130
Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009 - 12:46 am:   

I caught the beginning of Junior Bonner recently and found it almost unbearably moving. Was too tired to watch the rest though; anyone see the rest?
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009 - 02:15 am:   

One of the few Peckinpah movies I've yet to see... a pleasure in store. About to watch Robert Aldrich's 'The Killing Of Sister George' from the same period - sounds like one weird movie!
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.177.115.122
Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009 - 02:59 am:   

Not seen SISTER GEORGE for years but I thought it was pretty entertaining and nicely 'sixties.
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009 - 06:56 am:   

That movie had a bit of everything! Funny, sad, sexy and very disturbing with powerful acting. Another serious work of adult cinema of the kind they don't make anymore.
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.171.44
Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009 - 10:53 am:   

Oh, I think they do. Maybe not as well, certainly not with the same impact, but with the same kind of intention. I saw CHANGELING recently and was deeply impressed – it reminded me of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM a few years before. Mind you, films like that aren't groundbreaking any more: they're part of an established tradition, albeit one that many cinema-goers barely know is there.
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009 - 05:03 pm:   

'Changeling' was a great show! I've been saying for years that Clint Eastwood is the only director in Hollywood making serious adult dramas about meaningful issues these days. 'Mystic River', 'Million Dollar Baby', 'Flags Of Our Fathers', 'Letters From Iwo Jima', 'Changeling' & 'Gran Torino' are all clearly labours of love.
But Eastwood was a direct product of that tradition and seems to be making movies the way he remembers them from his youth. His sentiment can sometimes be a bit heavy-handed and predictable but you can't deny the genuine emotion behind his film-making - the guy has become an elder statesman of intelligent cinema.
Meanwhile 'The Godfather' is showing locally tonight and I can't resist going to see it - for the umpteenth time but first on the big screen.
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Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 79.187.206.46
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 02:08 pm:   

Craig - believe it or not, I thought QOS was probably the best of the entire Bond canon, but I think you and I are in a majority. Some of my friends loathed it, citing the editing as a major flaw as it seemed to give the film a feeling of three parts.

They know nowt ab out movies.

Stephenw - your Clint comments are spot-on.
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Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 79.187.206.46
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 02:08 pm:   

Craig - I meant minority. Or did I?
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 79.70.77.145
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 02:49 pm:   

Make that three. I really, really liked QOS.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.251.197
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 03:45 pm:   

Yay! A fellow few travelers. I think QoS is a masterpiece, and the best part isn't the action - it's the character of Bond himself, and the transformational journey he takes in this story. His character arc is - dare I say, dare I hyperbolize - Shakespearean in its depth and ambiguity?... Yes, I dare.... And you won't get that from the 2-dimensional line-drawings that populate THE DARK KNIGHT....
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Stephenw (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Friday, April 17, 2009 - 01:39 pm:   

I think QoS is a masterpiece

...and I think I've just entered the Twilight Zone.
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.21.232.185
Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 10:40 am:   

A late reaction. At first I didn't care much for Daniel Craig; now, with Quantum of Solace, I'm beginning to see something in him. This is one great movie. I felt exhilarated by the action, not numbed into submission, and genuinely enjoyed the acting. I like the poetic touches, too, a quality which has been curiously absent from Bond Movies. Lovely ladies, especially Gemma Anderton. And to re-introduce the concept of an international crime organisation is a stroke of genius. This is the first Bond since, oh, Goldfinger or Thunderball which I've wanted to see again. Thumbs up for this team! Give us more!
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.26.90.161
Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 11:09 am:   

Daniel Craig is great as Ted Hughes in SYLVIA.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.72.14.113
Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 11:43 am:   

I've never been in any doubt of Daniel Craig's considerable acting talent having been a fan since 'Our Friends In The North'.

The greatest TV drama series ever made and he was the best thing in it!
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 11:59 am:   

He's also Mo Hayder's choice of actors for the lead role should her series of novels starting with Birdman ever be filmed... (from before he was Bond)
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.18.104
Posted on Monday, September 21, 2009 - 11:39 pm:   

Had to tell someone... just back from watching 'Once Upon A Time In The West' on the big screen for the first time and I'm feeling really quite emotional.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.141.208.136
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 12:01 am:   

I rewatched QoS recently and changed my views; I LOVED it. That and Casino Royale restore faith in the idea of revamping things being a good one.

BTW, if they want a director for the next bond film they should get this French chap who made a recent film called Tell No One. It's very Bondy - in a good way.
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.22.224.229
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 12:18 am:   

just back from watching 'Once Upon A Time In The West' on the big screen for the first time

An incredible experience, isn't it? I remember the early screenings well enough, for I was only fourteen or so at the time and the film became a summer vacation staple over here, well into the seventies. It was a phenomenon. Audiences were stunned by the music alone.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.18.104
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 12:46 am:   

I can't put into words the experience of finally seeing that movie properly in all its glory with that incredible music... a phenomenon alright that defines the very word "cinema" for me.

An astonishing achievement!!
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.18.104
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 12:50 am:   

Sorry Tony, but I thought 'Quantum Of Solace' AND 'Tell No One' were over-hyped incomprehensible nonsense!

Give me good old-fashioned thrills I can actually follow any day...
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.163.176.204
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 07:23 am:   

Tell No One had some great touches, though, and a sense of aim.
And with QOS I hated it first time.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.163.176.204
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 07:27 am:   

To agree with Joel - there are a LOT of good films around; just don't expect to see many of them at the multiplex, or during summer.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.163.176.204
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 07:33 am:   

Frank;
http://hollywood.dcealumni.com/2005/21/111/7212005-dont-look-now-remake-sexed-up /
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 11:44 am:   

'Tell No One' is the better movie but still proved to me that the French can turn out half-baked poorly scripted sub-Hitchcockian thrillers every bit as well as Hollywood if they put their minds to it.

Subtitles are no sign of quality...
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.110.13.182
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 08:06 pm:   

I thought it showed promise if nothing else, and some imagination.
More horror;
http://www.empireonline.com.au/forum/tm.asp?m=97585
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.110.13.182
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 08:07 pm:   

In short, the director of Tell No One was good; maybe the script was a bit lumpy, yes, I agree.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.110.13.182
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 08:19 pm:   

Ulf! That don't look Now remake is due for release in 2011!
Ancient news. :-(
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.18.104
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 11:39 pm:   

Aaaarrgghh!! No... I've wiped it from my memory banks.

Happy again.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.5.13.220
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 02:22 am:   

TELL NO ONE was definitely iffy - it petered out in the end, but it had some nice moments to it.

But QUANTUM OF SOLACE is wonderful - Stephen, I'd encourage you to watch it again - it's also (i.e., on top of the obvious action and usual Bond-ishness) a subtle, exquisite film. The film that keeps coming to mind to me (in one aspect) with QoS is, of all things, SESSION 9. And that is because you must wait until that very last spoken line in S9 for it all to backwards-unfold anew... the same goes for QoS....
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.122.108.128
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 09:19 am:   

Craig - I agree. I was lost to this subtlety by a) wanting another Casino Royale and b) being distracted by the action.
Tell No One sort of went off template now an then, didn't it? We felt a thriller and a love story/drama wrestling awkwardly. The two shouldn't be incompatible but we were aware of the struggle throughout, and it distracted. But those good moments you mention did make at least parts of it do stick in the mind (the weird semi-terminator hit girl for instance).
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.122.108.128
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 09:19 am:   

Di Palma in his heyday might have made it better.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 12:21 pm:   

What I found wrong with 'Quantum Of Solace' was the direction and in particular the dizzyingly bad editing - it actually gave me a headache. Of the two films it definitely had the stronger script.

With 'Tell No One' the direction was quite good, promising even, but the script was all over the place with glaring holes and lapses of logic that became intensely irritating. All style and no substance.

The one strong point both movies shared was in the undeniable charisma of the star. Daniel Craig is undoubtedly the best actor to play Bond since Connery investing the character with as much pain and vulnerability as he does toughness. While Francois Cluzet was quite brilliant I thought as the Hitchcockian little man caught up in labyrinthine criminal intrigue (only a tad too labyrinthine for its own good).
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Chris_morris (Chris_morris)
Username: Chris_morris

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 12.165.240.116
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 03:39 pm:   

Here's a 70s cinema throwback that actually looks pretty good. And it's not even a remake.

http://www.thehouseofthedevil.com/
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.255.217
Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2009 - 04:06 pm:   

I like how the trailer shows a quote, "... does not pander to its audience" - and the very next thing is that flashy-screechy-WAY-OVERDONE-scary-face-cut-blip-whatever-thing... groan... me skeptical of this one....
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.18.104
Posted on Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 09:34 pm:   

Finally got to see Powell & Pressburger's wonderful romantic comedy 'I Know Where I'm Going' for the first time today.

Pure cinema magic with a subtle touch of Highland fantasy about it. Reminded me somewhat of 'Local Hero'.
I think Roger Livesey may be one of my favourite actors.

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