| Author | Message | ||
     Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.242 |
Just seen this. Well, most of it; I nodded off just after half way. Sad thing is, it starts soooo well, so brilliantly, you think you're in safe hands. Shire La horse is pretty good, Ray Winston is great, Ford is pretty good, but then - and i really hate to say this - Marion Crane comes out of a tent and it all almost in ht very instant plummets. You feel like you've been watching this amazing juggler go on for hours then drop a ball. It's so sad but the movie never recovers, and suddenly feels over-clutterd with assistants - too cluttered for the story to take. And really - we see a long chase through the woods but we've seen that before, and we see a fist fight. Round about then (perking up momentarily as a sea of ants eats somebody - jeezuz!) I actually started to have this struggle with sleep, and it won. I never even saw the baddy's death, if there was one. It's not a terrible film but one that can be summed up by the ending; the shortest, smallest ripple of applause that came and went from a little corner of the auditorium. It kills me to say it but Transformers was more fun than this  | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.4.67 |
Marion Crane from Psycho?! ;-) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.242 |
Ha! That would have been fantastic! You know who I meant. HA!!! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.242 |
Maybe I should have been 'Perkin' up when the ants arrived. B-bum. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.242 |
But yes, there are a few moments early on that are just genius, and worth seeing the film for, especially the eerie nuclear test site at the start; pure Twilight Zone. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
Is Ford's ass still massive? That's all I want to know. etc etc, I'm gay, not really joke, etc etc etc | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
In on a Saturday, Albie! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.38 |
*Everyone* I know, without exception, who saw it, hated it. ... and TRANSFORMERS *was* great fun, wasn't it Tony?... Well, there's always THE DARK KNIGHT.... | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.92.216.182 |
I was supposed to see this yesterday, but I've just moved to a new apartment yesterday and missed it. Sunday it is then, but it does not bode well. It has been reviewed quite well to just OK. We'll see! Tony I've never passed out during a film playing in a theatre :-) | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.4.67 |
I fell asleep in the cinema during the third Matrix film. Probably didn't help that I was a) slightly drunk; and that b) I hadn't seen the second one. I still think it's a decent achievement given how loud that bastard was though. | ||
| Grant (Grant) Username: Grant Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 67.176.207.225 |
I enjoyed Indiana Jones but I nodded off for a minute towards the end.I blame the nodding off on a late night showing though. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.92.216.182 |
Alright so I caught an early screening of Indiana Jones this morning. I love matinees. When I was a kid I used to do double bills on Sundays, walking the twenty minutes from my house to a theater complex when I was living in Malta. This morning I thought I would sort of relive those days. I just moved to a new apartment which happens to be 300 meters from the biggest screens here in Copenhagen. I was genuinly excited about this, so I went to this screening with an open mind. I loved the older movies despite you know, some of the strange hollywood stereotypes these film suffer from, but you forgive those because genuinly these films kind of have the heart in the right place. I also like most of Spielberg's films and I love his sense of wonder in his family films etc. I still think that the T-rex attack in the first Jurassic film for example, is one of the greatest examples of fantastic film in Cinema... To use Lord P's terminology: This was a load of bollocks. Alright Kaminski shoots a decent looking picture, keeping the visual language of the older films. It is lit kind of strangely though. That golden sheen is so odd when the villains are also lit in this way. Beautifully lit communists. I understand you need continuity in the lighting in the scenes, but it is an old tradition to use softer lenses for the female leads and darken the shadows for villains etc. It feels more synthetic than the older pictures. This bothered me throughout the picture. Ford is mostly on top form actually and his new side kick sort of works. I'm not going to give anything away here, but honestly, as Tony writes above, this film is boring. Imagine that. I don't know what the fuss was about regarding the screenplay, without giving anything away, the ending is Spielberg's anyways, you'll know what I mean if you should decide to see it. Blanchett was fine, but her character was weird indeed. As an actor she is too sympathetic to start off with, she never feels threatening to Indy, not even in the kitch way. Hurt's role is a disaster. He's an amazing actor, no doubt, and he does what he has to in this, not his fault. But if you see this film, I don't see why he was cast in this, and I don't know why he would take it, not a flattering role. (forget the dosh part) Finally, I didn't notice the score! Imagine that. Usually a score works for me when you don't really notice the score- it means that all the elements are coming together to create a great totality. The Indy theme is obviously weaved into moments of action, but other than the opening action scene, the score was non existent for me. Imagine that. A final strangeness. Alright the indy films employ elements of the fantastic, and alright the stunts are over the top and next to impossible to be part of reality, though to my mind I don't recall an Indy picture where the laws of physics are completly thrown out the window. The older films had outragious stunts, but they still had an element of reality to them which made them daring. There are sequences in this picture where the fellowship (there are that many supporting roles) are making their way down a series of waterfalls. That sequence reminds me of the terrible Lucas sequence underwater in the newer Star wars films where one fish eats a bigger fish etc. This was like that. There were also fight scenes in the woods that were so over the top. There is also a scene with a fridge that involves nuclear weapons... It is an excellent set piece by the way, the scene with the fridge in the beginning, but it goes downhill as regards to innovation. I don't mind that the film is referencing itself, but it feels like it is doing so on paper at least, to satisfy the fans of the older movies. The film is a thinly veiled reference to our times, but I am really glad actually that the wonderful pulpy Indy universe isn't 'polluted' with the current political situation. I thought that it was an excellent choice actually. Lots of American Graffiti nods which was also nice, but it felt forced indeed. I also missed the more cynical Indiana, the shrugs and the crooked smiles. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.242 |
Also Indy did a stupid face early on that unsettled me; he went cockeyed and looked sort of goofy. Indy circa 1981 would never have done that. This matters. I adored the opening 20 mins or so; as good as the first movie. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
The matrix films are pure narcissism. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.32.121 |
I just saw the new Indy film, and I agree with Karim and Tony. It wasn't bad, exactly, but to me it lacked any real sense of mystery or suspense. There was mystery in it, of course, but there was no room for it to breathe - most of the film was like one long action sequence. It was as though they were trying to squeeze as many stunts into it as possible, at the expense of atmosphere and the quiet interludes that can often make all the difference to the overall feel of a film. Also, the thing Karim mentioned about things being over the top - I felt exactly the same way. It's one thing to have unlikely things happening - this is an adventure film, after all - but they have to have some grounding in reality. This film went way over the top in a few places and ended up just feeling silly. I liked the bit with the fridge and the nuclear testing site stuff, though. The acting was okay, and Ford was on good enough form, but, all said, it was a decidedly average film. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
It's all about money, this belated sequel. The current trend for nostalgia is causing filmmakers and musicians to make some pretty dodgy decisions - all based on finance - IMHO. We don't need another Indiana Jones film; the first three were great and of their time (and themselves an exercise in nostalgia meant for a generation too young to remember these adventure serials first time round). | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
More like Spielberg needs a big hit. He hasn't made an 'event' film for years. Surely he doesn't need any more cash. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
None of them need more cash. They just want it. Greed is good, as a fictional character named after a type of lizard once said. :-) War of the Worlds was an "event" film; it also made a lot of money at the box office. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
I thought it flopped. You'd be ill-advised to argue with someone who knows as much about films as I do, mate. Just thought I'd warn you. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
:-) | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.32.121 |
Watch out for that Prof. Fry, Zed. He's a closet film buff, you know - he just pretends to know nowt about films. ;-) I quite liked Munich, by the way. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
:-) I thought Munich was great, Huw: real edge-of-your-seat filmmaking. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
Went on too long. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Thank you, Barry Norman. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
His review of THE FLINTSTONES is legendary: "Should you go and see it? Yabba-dabba-don't." | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
I remeber his review of Highlander - where he said it was a confusing film about a time travelling swordsman. He obviously didn't recognise that the flashbacks were flashbacks and thought the character was somehow leaping from one place to the other. He also thought Predator was about a shapeshifting alien. He doesn't seem to have any kind of understanding of genre film-making. An ideal character trait for a professional film reviewer... | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.36 |
Barry Fry! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
He's a football manager. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
But you dress like one. ;-) | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
Thiscoming from Atari T-shirt man. Man at C&A? Man at A&E, more like. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Man at Matalan. I'm there new poster boy, designed to appeal to the slightly overweight, upper working class, approaching-middle-age market. :-) | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
"Thiscoming from Atari T-shirt man. Man at C&A? Man at A&E, more like." Move over Ant and Dec!  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Yeah, just call us Gnat and Speck. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
You still got that porn star tache, Zed? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
More of a cool porn star goatee at the minute - facial hair amuses me. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
Photos man photos! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Don't you have any facial hair, Griff? How about tattoos? Oh, and do you want to see some puppies? Dead ones, with sticky, matted fur and cold-staring eyes. They know your name; they love you. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
And, praytell, what are "man photos"? ;-) | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
>>Oh, and do you want to see some puppies? Dead ones, with sticky, matted fur and cold-staring eyes. They know your name; they love you. Hahaha. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Puppies for sale; one previous owner: the muddy child in the corner of Albie's room. They loved him too. Once. In the dark. Wetly. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
"This is an outraaaage!" | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
"You know nothing of the crunch." | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.145.131.242 |
Right; this is mad. I've just seen the movie for the second time only this time it was accompanied by my family and on an evening. And ... it might now be my joint favourite Indy movie. For some strange reason everything gelled this time, I found myself laughing along with the jokes and getting into the spirit of it, being dragged into the action. The scenes I'd thought of as excellent were if anything even better and the scenes I thought of as bad were actually pretty good. It was now the Indy movie it was and not the one I thought I'd wanted and anticipated. Honestly, this movie is now not remotely duff and I can recommend it absolutely and utterly wholeheartedly. It had good, subtle messages for this generation, I felt; I could see reasons for it being made other than just dosh. It really has an honest sense of joy to it that so many other recent blockbusters lack. I feel so glad to be able to say this. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.153.186 |
You media tart! Who's paid you off? | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.1.146.147 |
Mick your in yesterdays Independent magazine, again! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.153.186 |
Again? Scan it! | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.89 |
Finally got round to seeing this & have to echo most of the comments above. There's a stretch in the middle that's way too talky that comes after a scene in a graveyard that reminded me of old Mexican mummy movies. The ending is bonkers but well realised. It took me ages to get into the movie at the beginning but at the end of the day these are still the only movies that remind me of holidays I've been on. I'd watch the next if there was one. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
*coughs* What do you have on today, JPL? | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
Today - Red shirt, copper & white striped blazer, Book of the Dead tie, black trousers, brown leather shoes with tweed spat inserts. So there | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.196.249 |
Book of the Dead tie? I'd love to see that. Does it really look like the Book from The Evil Dead? "Bound in human flesh... inked in human blood..." p/s Tweed will come in handy if you ever come up against vampires or other fiends of the night. I remember Giles (from Buffy) swore by it... | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
Is JLP in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN? Is it true that he is in fact...THE SILKEN WING? | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
"So there " I feel all's right with the world when I read what John's wearing. I think it's a sort of antidote to all the trackys and tache's I keep seeing. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
We should wear blazers with badge and tie combination. My family has no crest but I shall steal one. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
I heard JLP has so many secret passages in his mansion that all his rooms are tiny to accomodate. Guests remark at how small the rooms are, even though JLP uses certain tricks of perspective to try and make them bigger. Like very tiny suits of armour in the corner and sloping ceilings. Usually they figure it out and JLP runs off into the secret passageways, scampering and barely containing his laughter at spy holes. As the guests leave his grounds they often notice a strange statue by the gates that looks a lot like JLP in grey make up. If they were to peek through the bars a minute later they would hear a stoney grating sound as the real statue rises up and an almost naked JLP scampers down into a secret passageway, on his way to get a shower. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZg0uUJGm50 | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.100.43 |
 (to the JLP stuff) I actually have a pain. Thank you so much for that. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.100.43 |
I liked that film, especially the tree one. Anyone else notice the tree wobble like rubber in one scene? Maybe that was it turning human. Yes, that was it. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
Glad to oblige. The Silken Wing's adventures have only just begun. AS for the youtube. Wouldn't you just love to lie down in a forest amongst vines and logs forever? Nope, just me. I wonder if that tree grope dream inspired EVIL DEAD. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.100.43 |
I fancy trees sometimes. So many of them are like nude women upside down, complete with pubey fannies and everything. You could make a monthly mag of them; 'Reader's Trees', or 'Trees with Fannies'. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
I think it would be nice to just be a log in a forest and never move. I'd just get bored. "Fanny Bark." | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.100.43 |
I used to think it would be nice to go into a wood to die when I was old, something like that. Go for a walk and not come back. See some bozo took his little kids into a wood to gas them yesterday, and him, and left a note to his wife saying he'd 'left her a present'. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.100.43 |
i'd let her deface his corpse for that. So evil. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
She should be allowed to wear his skin in front of his parents, while psychic mediums channel his anger for all to hear. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
And a festival should spring from it, and years from now, school kids will make papier mache skins and wear them, as the teacher, or a chosen man from the village, wears a skin tight red body suit and screams in an area decorated to look like the afterlife. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.134.59 |
Albie for Pope! The campaign starts here. And ends twelve years from now, with unusual herbal smoke coming from the Vatican windows. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
Oh! the festivals I'll create! | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
Beware my many festivals! | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.209.204.101 |
I am so tickled by the above all I can say is that today was red green and blue stripes for the blazer, & a green and pink paisley tie with green shirt. But only for the morning. Tomorrow is purple blue and green stripes, blue shirt and my Glastonbury Tor tie that the more gullible amongst my associates believe denotes my status of office as a High Druid, which I'm happy to allow them to continue believing. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
JPL - Man of letters, trencherman and man about town. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
We want photos now, JPL! | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.209.204.101 |
Well I'm wearing a very stylish navy blue cheesecloth blazer with a white pinstripe on my photo on the jacket of Coffin Nails  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.17.15.32 |
It's hard to say which is better, Albie's new religious rites, or his instructional acid film. Or maybe we can combine them. Can I film them, Albie...? | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.33.59 |
Between the festivals of Albie and John's wardrobe - quite a happy day. John - you should take me shopping. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
Chortle. Is JLP a freemason? If you want any prozzies offing...the same arrangement as last time? | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.230.239.233 |
I think the key to this Indi film is to see it with family. I just watched it with my dad (who I saw all the previous films with) and after expecting shite from your reviews, found myself enjoying it. Sure - much of it was nostalgia. Just being excited to see someone I have such fond memories of -- that first moment when we see Indi's shadow and he puts on his hat, well shucks I was smilin'. It was too over the top for me. I would have cut the waterfalls out all together as I almost felt angry at how impossible it was which (while some of the previous ones were very cartoonish with the action) went TOO far for me. But, all in all, it felt like a ride. And one I was actually happy to be on. Not something that stays with you, alas. But it had it's moments, which was frankly more then I'd expected. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.148.96.124 |
Better second time, A. Much; I actually love the film now. | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.230.239.233 |
I love you, Tony. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.148.96.124 |
A! You're there! When I saw Indy for the second time it was with my whole family, and the sound of the film was poor. But it was Friday night and I was happy, and the film was fitted snugly in it's niche. The film was good hearted and unrestrained. Love you too, A! x | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.230.239.233 |
The sound was good in my theatre. And I was well aware of the score. I saw a film in a suburban neighborhood, and all the families seemed to enjoy it. My dad loved the stuff about wanting the boy to finish school... He's a prof, and well... xox |