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Adriana (Adriana)
Username: Adriana

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.231.152.180
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 06:59 pm:   

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810031757/trailer

I haven't been looking forward to a film as much as this one in a while...

Written and Directed by David Bowie's son. Looks like a return to the kind of Sci-fi that I love. Quite. Simple. No big effects. Just a good old fashioned story...
:-)
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.241.143
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 07:55 pm:   

Oh, yes - that looks brilliant.
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Karim Ghahwagi (Karim)
Username: Karim

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.163.6.13
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 08:38 pm:   

This looks excellent. Thanks for the tip Adriana
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Steveduffy (Steveduffy)
Username: Steveduffy

Registered: 05-2009
Posted From: 86.156.195.99
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 08:43 pm:   

It does look good, doesn't it? Cheers for the head-up!
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Niki Flynn (Niki)
Username: Niki

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.32.69.29
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 08:43 pm:   

I'm definitely there! Looks like just my kind of mindfuck!
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.16.79.197
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 08:45 pm:   

Me, I smell something pretentious, self-indulgent and annoying... I hope I'm wrong....
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.226.11
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 09:06 pm:   

Craig, with all due respect, a film you judge thus is one I am almost guaranteed to like.
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Adriana (Adriana)
Username: Adriana

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.231.152.180
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 09:07 pm:   

I hope you are too, Craig. To me it seems a combination of the Twilight Zone's "Death Ship" and 2001...
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Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts)
Username: Tom_alaerts

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 87.64.246.89
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 10:06 pm:   

I am curious about this one since quite a while (discovered on my fave movie site: www.twitchfilm.net ). It does seem to me that the trailer already contains an important spoiler.
Indeed, the story seems to have the atmosphere of 2001, or perhaps Solaris.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.241.143
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 10:32 pm:   

>Craig, with all due respect, a film you judge thus is one I am almost guaranteed to like.<<



Me too.
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.176
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 11:17 pm:   

This looks like it might be good.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.177.5.39
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 11:32 pm:   

Indeed, the story seems to have the atmosphere of 2001, or perhaps Solaris.

Agreed, with a tiny touch of Silent Running thrown in in the first half of the trailer...
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.5.11.50
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 05:38 am:   

Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. We will see, Joel, Zed, et.al., who was right in the end....

Though I do hope I am wrong - I like good, quiet, intelligent sci-fi as much as anyone.
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.22.226.223
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 05:46 am:   

". . . with a tiny touch of Silent Running thrown in in the first half of the trailer..."

And a wee bit of Major Tom.
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 11:09 am:   

"Though I do hope I am wrong - I like good, quiet, intelligent sci-fi as much as anyone"

No You don't. Otherwise you'd love Donnie Darko like the rest of us.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 11:30 am:   

Yeah, Transformers is really quiet, intelligent and powerful, isn't it?
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 02:40 pm:   

Bet he prefers the remake of the Day the earth Stood Still as well. And the shit Haunting remake...
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.5.4.18
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 04:03 pm:   

Refuse to see remake of DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Hated the remake of THE HAUNTING, the original of which is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Enjoyed TRANSFORMERS' 1st half, but wouldn't go out banging the drum for it. DONNIE DARKO is not good, nor quiet, nor intelligent. Anything else on anyone's plate...?
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 04:45 pm:   

You know shit all about films.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.105.181
Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2009 - 06:37 pm:   

Like the look of this one...Hopefully it will fulfill the promise of 'Sunshine' without the daft subplot.

gcw
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Adriana (Adriana)
Username: Adriana

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.231.152.180
Posted on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 03:20 am:   

I wasn't a fan of Sunshine. I did like Donny Darko though.
;)
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.5.6.180
Posted on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 05:19 pm:   

Weber, rather than debase myself by a direct response, I will let my boys speak for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU3hae5ukno

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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 05:36 pm:   

we need an emoticon for yawning...
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Chris_morris (Chris_morris)
Username: Chris_morris

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 12.165.240.116
Posted on Friday, June 05, 2009 - 07:06 pm:   

I hadn't realized Michael Bay was doing music now. Good for him.
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John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 62.31.153.8
Posted on Sunday, August 02, 2009 - 08:01 pm:   

I've just got back from seeing this only to spot that Miss Flynn has seen also it and posted her thoughts on another thread. I would hate her to think I might be ignoring what she had to say, and as I've managed to find the original 'Moon' thread here they are reproduced:

I'm just back from seeing it today and I didn't find it unsatisfying at all! I'm delighted to see that "the cerebral, grownup strand of sci-fi" (quoth the Guardian) hasn't died. This was a film more about character than plot. Like a PKD-written episode of the original Twilight Zone - intriguing and affecting.
Oh, and an eerie soundtrack by Clint Mansell, of Requiem for a Dream fame. I'll be getting the CD!


And here are mine:

Moon feels like low budget British SF which, before I go any further, is a GOOD thing. From the grey and functional Space 1999 style sets to excellent model work reminiscent of Gerry Anderson at his best, from the involvement of Garth Marenghi alumnus Matt Berry to the music of the one and only himself, Chesney Hawkes, Moon came across to me a lot like an updated SF version of BBC1’s Play for Today. An awful lot about this film is very good indeed – the acting, the music, the claustrophobic atmosphere, but the script feels underdeveloped. Of course that does allow this to be essentially a 97 minute character piece, which is no bad thing. The first movie ever to make me cry was Silent Running (as a little boy I felt terribly sorry for Bruce Dern stuck alone in space and going slowly insane) and this movie played quite satisfactorily with my emotions as well. But I couldn’t help thinking that there were fascinating parts to this story that we weren’t getting to here. The ending felt a little bit of a cop out as well, but that doesn’t stop me from highly recommending this to anyone who likes a bit of thoughtful quiet SF.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 01:38 am:   

Hmm. Maybe too quiet. I felt this film strained, felt diluted to the point of non-existence. It seems thoughtful because it's so slow and quiet, but really, little is going on. There's one or two moving scenes but that's it. Great technicians cocooned around only a little directorial/writing skill.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 01:54 am:   

I thought 'Moon' was wonderful mainly on the strength of Sam Rockwell's performance and the remarkable restraint shown for a modern sci-fi movie. A real gem for me and one of my very favourites films of this year so far.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 08:57 am:   

I just felt I'd seen the qualities it was striving for better represented elsewhere. I did admire the restraint, the pace; I just wanted more 'meat'.
Funny; it made me scream out to be watching Space 1999 on a big screen. I LOVE Space 1999.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 08:58 am:   

In short; the film BEHAVED like a good film.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 08:59 am:   

'remake of DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL'
is good.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 09:00 am:   

Also it made me laugh to see so much laying into Craig when no-one had seen the film...
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.142.250
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 12:04 pm:   

I saw MOON this week and thought it was really superb. Far more political and intense than most reviews are suggesting. I'm surprised people found it too slow when there is so much to keep track of, both in what is happening and in the nuances of character. It's a film about alienation that looks for a while as if it will be ambiguous and oblique, but in the end is quite clear in its portrait of an exploited worker whose life has been literally stolen from him for other people's profit. It's an angry and socially engaged film reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's novels, and Sam Rockwell's performance (that word isn't adequate, but it would be a spoiler to say why) brings a wealth of humanity and passion to the screen. This what science fiction in the cinema should be like.
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.142.250
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 12:05 pm:   

Tony – including Craig.
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.142.250
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 12:09 pm:   

Reading back, I think John's review is spot on, including the mild criticism of the ending (which I felt was acceptable as a Dickian ironic footnote).
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 12:53 pm:   

I just more and more think it would have worker better as bold comedy.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 01:12 pm:   

Couldn't agree more Joel. I raved about 'Moon' at length on another thread somewhere after just coming in from watching it. The colour in cinema one maybe.
Philip K. Dick's vision was stamped all over the movie and I get what you mean about Sam's "performance".
Can only think of 'Gattaca' or 'Cube' as other intelligent, subtle sci-fi movies that impressed me as much in recent years (and they're not even that recent anymore).
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 02:02 pm:   

I very much liked the film, and the director cites Blade Runner as an influence, I believe. Thank heaven for intelligent restrained science fiction. It makes the over-production of Minority Report all the clearer.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 03:15 pm:   

I was so disappointed with 'Minority Report' & 'War Of The Worlds' and not just because of the miscasting of Mr Cruise.
So much so I don't think Spielberg has any aptitude for serious sci-fi at all. Even 'A.I.' which was better but still flawed cried out for a subtler touch.

Films like 'Moon' are all too rare sadly...
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 03:36 pm:   

Hey Tony, I love 'Space 1999' as well and have the entire thing on DVD. 'UFO' too - brilliant TV!
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.248.209
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 04:03 pm:   

I am happy to be proved wrong on films that I want to be good, and hopefully MOON will do so. Ramsey saying, in the same breath that he liked MOON, that he didn't like MINORITY REPORT, speaks better for MOON than long essays do....
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 04:08 pm:   

"Can only think of 'Gattaca' or 'Cube' as other intelligent, subtle sci-fi movies that impressed me as much in recent years (and they're not even that recent anymore)."

Did you see Shane Carruth's Primer?
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.177.173.198
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 04:31 pm:   

I saw PRIMER - very good, and a film that doesn't talk down to its audience. Have to have your brain engaged for that one!
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.199.39
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 06:05 pm:   

"I saw PRIMER - very good, and a film that doesn't talk down to its audience."

You know, I wish it had. I didn't find it fun enough to bother untangling. But then I don't like puzzles. Mysteries yes, puzzles no.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 07:12 pm:   

No, I haven't seen 'Primer' yet but heard lots of good things about it. Here's hoping...
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 07:25 pm:   

And I hated Soderbergh's remake of 'Solaris'. If ever a movie was all surface sheen redundancy it was that one.

But then Tarkovsky is in the same league as Kubrick for me and I'd rank the original as second only to '2001' in sci-fi cinema. Beautiful haunting imagery all the better for its stripped down griminess and hypnotic pace.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 12:45 am:   

I preferred Soderfountain's Solaris to Moon.
Just watched City Slickers again for the first time in fifteen years; comedy can move, can make one think.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 01:17 am:   

If you want a comedy that does that watch 'Sullivan's Travels'. I'm a big fan of Preston Sturges and wish they would show his films more often on the box.

I found the 'Solaris' remake painfully insipid compared to the original. Not a Soderbergh fan - all style and no substance for me.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.204.70
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 02:40 am:   

I loved Soderberg's SOLARIS. Tarkovsky's seems unnecessarily ponderous:

1) Shot of rain falling on teacups. (very good)
followed by
2) Unnecessary shot of man watching rain falling on teacups.

It's not really a reaction shot, so it feels like flab.*

*(Disclaimer: what do I know, I haven't even gotten through the full film yet.)
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.236.15
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 03:01 am:   

Preston made fun of slapstick in SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, he parodied it there, in its 1st Act... but then the later UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is funny, until he opted for a plain-old, cringingly-unfunny-now slapstick 3rd Act - dated, dated, dated.... The PINK PANTHER is another example, of a sorta funny movie fully marred by this dated kind of humor: slapstick set-pieces are just not funny anymore. Can anyone think of one in a contemporary comedy flick?

(Before anyone brings up Laurel & Hardy, say, and btw, they don't count: they ARE slapstick, not tangentially so - big difference - watching Stan and Laurel in a usual mess, is a lot different that watching Peter Sellars trying to pick up a lamp he knocked over)
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 08:55 am:   

Laurel and Hardy were like Fred Astaire though; there was something sublime in their shenanigans that makes one gasp more than laugh. Later stuff just feels dumb (er, not theirs). I did like Frank Spencer though; his character was odd, like an escaped Norman Bates. (I actually have an idea about a lousy serial killer who hasn't killed but keeps trying; it keeps going wrong and his niceness keeps coming through)
I like the Tarkovsky and the Soderwater. At least, I like Tarkovsky - seen a couple of others but not Solaris.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 09:00 am:   

Someone once said Solaris was a long, boring, less entertaining and succinct Star Trek episode.
That's why I wasn't keen on Moon; the plot was pedestrian and familiar but with an ok veneer. Actually, quite a lovely veneer, all created by the technicians. I'll see it again but don't feel in a rush to; unlike the recent Star Trek film which made me angry this sort of only made me bored with moments of sadness, like a Big Issue seller who can't be bother to stand up to sell his mags.
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.169
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 09:00 am:   

Lee Evans in 'There's Something About Mary' is modern slapstick, but it always feels that his character's been shoehorned into the film, in my opinion.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.62
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 09:02 am:   

And I didn't like Moon OR Minority Report!
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 11:48 am:   

I don't agree about Unfaitfully Yours at all. I think the scene with the recorder is absolutely hilarious. Woody Allen does it well but not as well in his Manhattan murder film.

In some ways I think the ingenuity of great slapstick resurfaced in the Final Destination films, especially the second one.
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Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 12:09 pm:   

And here's a treat for Sturges fans:

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/670798/Preston-Sturges-Box-Set/Product.html
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 12:12 pm:   

Physical comedy has never died! What on earth are you lot talking about.
The golden era of slapstick was the 20s with people like Chaplin, Keaton & Lloyd elevating it to a fine art. But Laurel & Hardy raised comedy to a whole other dimension by not just concentrating on brilliantly choreographed physical comedy - they fine honed character driven observational and verbal comedy as well to the point where their on-screen personas were inseparable from them as real people.

Some modern(ish) and hilarious (for me) physical comedy: Monty Python, Spike Milligan, early Wooody Allen, early Mel Brooks, early Steve Martin, the 'Airplane'/'Naked Gun' movies, 'The Young Ones' etc, Kramer in 'Seinfeld', the great films of the Farrelly Bros, 'Father Ted', the comedy of Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Simon Pegg, 'The League Of Gentlemen', 'The Mighty Boosh', and all those other inspired lunatics out there.
For me comedy has to have the physical/grotesque/cartoon violence element to really make me laugh out loud!
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 12:56 pm:   

Ooops... you got in there before me Ramsey.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 01:48 pm:   

Craig, Rex Harrison in 'Unfaithfully Yours' is nothing short of sublime. That sequence brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw it.
Don't tell me you'd prefer the Dudley Moore remake?!
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.177.173.198
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 02:01 pm:   

Shame I bought the Sturges set at full price when it was first released, but it's a great buy now for those who don't own it already.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.234.131
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 03:51 pm:   

Stephen, Ramsey, I think Rex Harrison in UNFAITHFULLY YOURS is sublime... until that last, and let me emphasize LONG slapstick set-piece with the recorder. I remember it not feeling organic to the whole - it's necessary, but it's just not... how's the best way to put it... it's not how it's done in film anymore. We don't just laugh at pasted-on set-pieces, just as non-character-arcing films (e.g., most noirs of the 40's/50's) are not done anymore, for the most part - the spectacle has lost its luster as spectacle: in sum, we've tired of it.

This kind of slapstick's closest analogy in something more (but not very) recent, imho, is the extended alley-fight sequence in THEY LIVE; which there is self-parody, a sort of world-of-wrestling indulgence. It works there, because it's context is larger than itself. So too in the opening slapstick sequence of SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, the hilariously insane scene in the moving trailer: it comes right after Joel McCrea laments the use of such cheap and paltry humor in comedy films.

I've not seen the Dudley Moore version, but you've reminded me of an execrable film I recently re-saw: FOUL PLAY. The long, I guess you'd call it "slapstick" sequence with Dudley Moore in the "sex" room, as Goldie Hawn is looking out the windows... ugh. Cringe! Cringe! Cringe!
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.20.22
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 11:08 pm:   

The point of the recorder sequence was to show what a total (and ultimately harmless) nitwit buffoon Rex Harrison's character was which put his ridiculously elaborate plans to murder his wife into stark contrast.

In his heart he knew he couldn't go through with his plans and so did we and his hilariously inept bumbling was the outward expression of this. It's a magical moment typical of Sturges reinvention of the parameters of comedy.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.247.205
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 05:01 am:   

Mmmm... close. I seem to recall that it's not just Rex that's the nitwit - there are things wrong with the Universe around him, that confound him - it's not as smooth as the fantasy, because of him, and things outside of him. Also, like I said, it feels non-contextual... it makes sense against the fantasy, but not for the film/character so far. But, such were my impressions....
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 01:35 pm:   

"slapstick set-pieces are just not funny anymore. Can anyone think of one in a contemporary comedy flick?"

Jim Carrey trying to beat the cow to death in Me Myself and Irene...
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 01:37 pm:   

The ceiling-fan scene in "Who's Harry Crumb" (an underrated comedy gem from an underrated, and sadly missed, modern physical comedian).
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.47
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 01:44 pm:   

Taking the zombie baby to the park in Peter Jackson's Brain Dead (or Dead Alive as it was called accross the pond)
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.252.247
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 03:34 pm:   

You've actually reminded me, and oddly failed to mention, the best example, Weber - Jim Carrey fighting his own hand in the bathroom in LIAR LIAR. It's a longish scene, which is what I was focussing on: extended set-pieces devoted to slapstick, are what is mostly gone from contemporary cinema. At least, purely for the sake of it, l'slapstick pour l'slapstick. Everything in film now is inter-contextual, and serving the "arc." Which is not sacrosanct: someday, audiences will get sick of the arc... and a whole new dominant structure shall be birthed... and what fell form shall it take?...
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.157.19.178
Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 01:55 pm:   

Evil Dead 2 - Ash being beaten up by his hand! That was even better. An overlooked comedy classic, Evil Dead II.
Farewell to Arms. Heh.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.72.14.113
Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 04:26 pm:   

I like Jim Carrey - and positively loved him in several films (you all know which ones) - but I've always considered Bruce Campbell the funnier guy. It's all about who gets the breaks.

Yes, 'Evil Dead II' is a comedy-horror masterpiece. Still pales beside the genuinely terrifying original though.
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Karim Ghahwagi (Karim)
Username: Karim

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.167.95.178
Posted on Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 10:55 am:   

Finally caught a screening of Moon yesterday. I thought it was excellent, a breath of fresh air to see a character-study like this with the lovely sets and solid photography. It was a terrifying film that was all the more effective because of the moments of humour. The film obviously draws on some great science fiction films, but I kept thinking that this also feels like 'The Shining in Space', ha, with some Ballard subtexts. In any case, it was inspiring to see a film really use its budget so effectively and creatively. To just see that model-work again,(maybe not since Aliens) was excellent- those model shots from Aliens still hold up BTW, and they certainly did here as well, with the additional spare use of CGI. So this just proves that less is more.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.0.106.15
Posted on Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 11:04 am:   

It is a brilliant film isn't it Karim!
Hands down the best sci-fi of the year for me.
Sam Rockwell deserved some sort of acting award for his performance here imo.

Have you read any Philip K. Dick?
This is probably the best PKD adaptation, that wasn't actually based on one of his works, that I have seen.
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Karim Ghahwagi (Karim)
Username: Karim

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.167.95.178
Posted on Sunday, October 25, 2009 - 10:10 am:   

Yes definatly some Philip K. Dick inspiration in the film Stephen.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 02:14 pm:   

I'll finally be watching MOON this evening - can't wait. Before having seen a single frame of the film, it's already reminding me of Carpenter's amazing DARK STAR.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.178.83.10
Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 02:16 pm:   

Caught it the other week and loved it - hopefully you'll feel the same, Zed!
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.219.8.243
Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 02:17 pm:   

It's got me written all over it, mate.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 01:22 am:   

Oh, yes, this is more like it. I thought MOON was brilliant. Everything about this film worked for me, particularly Sam Rockwell's wonderful performance (the more I see of this guy the more I like him) and Clint Mansell's lovely score.

I don't quite understand the above criticisms of the ending, though. For me, it was the perfect ending; anything else would have been either too cynical (bleak would not have worked at all here) or forced (too much sentiment would have derailed the whole carefullt crafted mood). The entire film was pitch-perfect, IMHO. Loved it.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 12:11 pm:   

Sci-fi movie of the year as I've been saying since I saw it back in July.

A wonderful, wonderful movie that will go down as one of those little known but much loved cult classics.
The new 'Silent Running' imho.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Friday, November 20, 2009 - 02:16 am:   

God, yes. This film is still in my head. It's what film-making should be all about.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.89.2
Posted on Friday, November 20, 2009 - 12:27 pm:   

I'll try and get hold of MOON. Sounds good from what you all say.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.50.55
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 - 12:18 pm:   

Finally got it and wondering if daughter (11 going on 20)can watch it. Says cert 15 but for what - I wonder?
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Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 93.96.181.75
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 - 12:48 pm:   

Violence and language.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 - 12:52 pm:   

Very little violence in the film, but I seem to recall some sweary stuff.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.50.55
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 - 05:08 pm:   

Just watched it and very much enjoyed by all.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.181.11.80
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 - 05:59 pm:   

Good show - 'tis a very good film, I thought.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.105.158
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2009 - 06:12 pm:   

Hoping to see this soon...

gcw
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.105.158
Posted on Tuesday, December 01, 2009 - 07:13 pm:   

Saw Moon over the weekend, yep, I concur, A fine little movie with a heart, I don't quite think it was a classic in the same league as say...Silent Running (I still fill up thinking about Huey, or dewey & that bloody watering can,,,Sob!), but enjoyed it all the same, certainly streets better than 'Sunshine' from a year or so ago which started well, and deteriorated into absurdity.

Sam Rockwell ws very good (though I do detect he is a bit 'one style' only in his acting).

Great model work too, Bill Pearson. I remeber his name from when he used to work with Martin Bower on all those early 80's films...Alien...Outland..Flash Gordon.

I wanted to be an FX Designer when I was 14...then I discovered girls & Rock n'Roll.

gcw
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Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 93.96.181.75
Posted on Tuesday, December 01, 2009 - 09:08 pm:   

I wanted to be an FX Designer when I was 14...

Hey, *I* wanted to be a gore FX makeup artist when I was that age! And before that I wanted to be an Egyptologist because I loved SPHINX. Today I'm neither of those things, which just proves how little influence movies *really* have on impressionable children.
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John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 88.202.210.68
Posted on Tuesday, December 01, 2009 - 10:54 pm:   

which just proves how little influence movies *really* have on impressionable children.

Absolutely. When I was 14 I wanted to be Baron Frankenstein
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Tuesday, December 01, 2009 - 11:52 pm:   

though I do detect he is a bit 'one style' only in his acting

Oh, no. Check him out in his other films - the man's a real talent.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 - 11:51 am:   

I agree Zed, Rockwell is a very fine actor and the success of 'Moon' is down chiefly to him.

As Joel said somewhere above he actually gives great performances in this film... which kinda proves the point.
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 - 11:55 am:   

*** SPOILER ***

Sorry, just realised... don't read the above if you haven't seen 'Moon' yet!!
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 - 12:08 pm:   

What am I at?

Read the above but not above that if you haven't seen 'Moon' - and if not, why not?!
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.105.158
Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2009 - 05:38 pm:   

"though I do detect he is a bit 'one style' only in his acting

Oh, no. Check him out in his other films - the man's a real talent."

I believe I've only seen him in Moon & the Hitchhiker movie Zed, which is what I've I judged on.

gcw

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