| Author | Message | ||
     John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
In case anyone didn't know, Chris Morris' new film is out & we saw it on Saturday. It's a comedy about Muslim suicide bombers and it's brilliant in all the right ways. And that's all I'm saying about that one! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.179.60.142 |
Looks good, this one. Tell us more, John! | ||
| Steveduffy (Steveduffy) Username: Steveduffy Registered: 05-2009 Posted From: 86.155.78.166 |
Ooh, I'm having a bit of this. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
My pleasure, Mick! I’ve been a fan of Chris Morris since The Day Today and Brass Eye, and even if Jam was a bit too bleak and weird for my tastes I thought that if anyone could successfully pull off a comedy about Muslim suicide bombers Mr Morris would be the man to do it. And he doesn’t disappoint, delivering a film that works on so many levels that pretty quickly you just stop counting, sit back and enjoy the ride. Because this film really works – beautifully. As a knockabout comedy, as a set of sympathetic character studies, and as an ‘isn’t it all of this bombing business just a little bit totally and utterly bloody stupid and pointless’ message movie that never overstays its welcome and absolutely doesn’t get on a high horse about its controversial subject matter. It IS controversial, of course, and I daresay those who want to be offended will find much to clutch at their handbags about while the rest of us will be too busy laughing at what is going to be one of the funniest and most memorable movies of the year, if not the decade. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Going to see this when it opens next week. Chris Morris can do no wrong imo and the trailer looks... unbelievable!  | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Jam too weird for one of us? Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'd say 'Jam' was genius but Zed might give me a hard time - it was though! | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.72 |
I only hope the good will so far shown to the film isn't spoiled by any accusations of bigotry that a recent episode of South Park was. Clearly unrelated in terms of material and delivery, but still, you never know. | ||
| Steveduffy (Steveduffy) Username: Steveduffy Registered: 05-2009 Posted From: 86.155.78.166 |
Bollocks to Zed. JAM was awesome. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I never even saw Jam, man...I think Steve was referecing the fact that I always chastise him for saying that everyone and everything is "genius". | ||
| Steveduffy (Steveduffy) Username: Steveduffy Registered: 05-2009 Posted From: 86.155.78.166 |
Unbollocks to Zed! NB: not in an emasculatory way, you understand...  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I should think so, too. Harrumph! (Whatever that means) | ||
| Ian Alexander Martin (Iam) Username: Iam Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 64.180.64.74 |
I've seen a short clip from this film on Guy Adams's blog: a bit involving one of the people explaining to the others how he acquired some supplies in stages, each time pretending to be someone else. This sounds banal, but the end result was something akin to the equally bland-sounding scene in This is Spinal Tap where in Nigel Tufnal provides a guided tour of his guitars. Both are hilarious in their 'stupidity'. I hope to see this film here in the distant lands of Khan-a-ta. Good Lord, I had no idea that Ramsey had such an incredibly silly side to his nature. I also wasn't aware that the band responsible for 1979's In the City would prove to be more than His Gracious Lordship could handle. Granted, he being but a babe-in-arms at the time, perhaps his tastes were not sufficiently developed to fully appreciate the 'new mod sounds' which… [Zed whispers in ear] …oh. Sorry, everyone. I'll just be over there in the western end of the Colonies if you need me. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I have the 'Jam' CD and it's one of the weirdest in my collection - creepy even. Goes down well late at night with a bit of Eno or Hood... they had to have been on something making that show. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.191.238 |
Just seen 'Four Lions' and was impressed. The first half was funny and clever, but seemed little more than an over-extended sketch. The second half broadened the emotional canvas, switching from farce to tragedy and back again with breathtaking verve and intelligence. A few moments were unbearably poignant. While the humour was essentially lightweight, the film as a whole was not. Unusually sensitive for Chris Morris, and fiercely irreverent towards every kind of authority, this film is bold and memorable. It reminds me of a comment from George Bernard Shaw along the lines of "Life does not stop being serious when people slip on banana skins, or stop being funny when people die." | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Should have posted this here originally: With 'Four Lions' comedy agent provocateur Chris Morris delivers an old-fashioned British farce on the single most serious issue facing western society today, Al Qaeda terrorism and the disenfranchisement of the Muslim community, and does it with enough intelligence and empathy to make it work for the most part. Anyone familiar with the writing of Tom Sharpe will recognise the bumbling terrorists blowing themselves to bits at the drop of a hat or the incompetent police marksmen taking out civilians without compunction straight off, however, don't expect belly laughs but rather uncomfortable recognition of unpalatable truths far too frightening to ever make for uproarious comedy. What the film does brilliantly is show the sheer level of insane paranoia that has infected the Muslim community - mainly young males indoctrinated, as always, by older lunatics but tragically often by intelligent but dreadfully misguided individuals driven by rage and injustice backed up by the tacit support of their adoring spouses - the bravest element in the story. These are caricatures every bit as monstrous as anything Sharpe imagined but representative of truth at its broadest. I do fear for Chris Morris... this is such a hugely contentious issue that his bravery has to be tempered by wondering at his wisdom. We will always need people like him (or Frank Zappa or Robert Crumb or Robert Anton Wilson or Kurt Vonnegut, etc) but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he ends up with a personal fatwa against him after this AND marked for elimination by the powers that be... yet again! |