| Author | Message | ||
     Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
In an effort to cheer myself up after yesterday's News I went to the cinema to watch anything last night and decided on Roman Polanski's 'The Ghost', not knowing what to expect... For the next 2 hours Cameron & Clegg were swept away by one of the best constructed and most nerve-wracking adult thrillers I have seen in years. Everything about this movie exudes pure class. If you like impeccably well made edge-of-the-seat paranoid conspiracy thrillers then do yourself a favour and go see this! It's Polanski in career best form!! On the whole, though, it's been a piss poor year for cinema so far but here are my Top 3 nominations for Film Of The Year: 1. 'The Ghost' by Roman Polanski 2. 'Shutter Island' by Martin Scorsese 3. 'Tetro' by Francis Ford Coppola ...the boys are back in town, you might say. Turkey Of The Year so far: The execrable 'Alice In Wonderland' by Tim "what happened, man?" Burton. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Well, "Alice .." is the only new film I've seen this year and, as you know, I thought it was amazing, so I'm going to have to say that's my film of the year so far. Sorry, Stevie!  | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.72 |
Steve - saw The Ghost Writer as it's known in Poland about a month ago. I went to a morning showing with real adults, not row upon row of teenagers fiddling with their mobiles and eating popcorn as loud as they could muster, and I have to say it was one of my favourite experiences at the cinema in years. Great movie. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.185 |
Best film of the year for me is until now the fantastic anime "Summer Wars". Check it out when you can. It could well become the best one of the year for me. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
My best film of the year so far was The Cabinet of Dr Caligari with live score by Minima.  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That was the Best Film of 1919 and I envy you so much seeing it properly! I had to settle for late night telly and was still mightily impressed. The ending was sublime. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Going to see 'Four Lions' tonight and it's looking like a couple of weeks of sublime comedy ahead. My local independent cinema are showing a short season of Woody Allen at his funniest: 'Sleeper', 'Manhattan' (his masterpiece imo), 'Zelig' and 'The Purple Rose Of Cairo' none of which I've seen on the big screen or with a live audience before. Can't wait! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
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! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Wow... this has been one bloody poor year for cinema so far, with only the old guard of Polanski, Scorsese & Coppola delivering (for me) but last night I saw, and thoroughly enjoyed, and laughed my head off at my new Film of 2010, so far: 'Whatever Works' written & directed by Woody Allen and starring (in brilliant form) Larry David is the most magically entertained I have come out of a Woody film since 'Crimes And Misdemeanors' (not to denigrate the many, many classics he has made in between). Ever since I was a child, crying with laughter at 'Take The Money And Run' or 'Bananas' or 'Sleeper', I have always loved Woody Allen. When the list of genuine artistic geniuses of the 20th Century is finally compiled, with the accuracy of hindsight, he is guaranteed to be in the Top 10. Larry David is the greatest comedy genius of the modern era - no one other individual even comes close imo. Watch every episode of 'Seinfeld' followed by 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' in chrono order (as I first experienced them) and then try to tell me I'm wrong. So you can just imagine the mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation (mostly the latter, given the reviews) that I went into this film with - along with my mate, another, equally nervous, lifelong committed fan. Literally within seconds all that was alleviated by one of the most daring (and damn funny) opening scenes I have seen in years followed by nothing but sheer comic excellence, brilliantly performed, throughout the entire rest of the film and all culminating in the most magical and completely satisfying final scene in recent cinema history. This film is Woody firing on all cylinders, and then some... but there is a reason for this creative resurgence. The script was originally written in the mid 70s when the bespectacled one was at his absolute artistic and comedic peak, in between ‘Annie Hall’ & ‘Manhattan’ (nuff said), with the late great Zero Mostel specifically in mind for the lead part - but sadly the grim reaper intervened. It wasn’t until now that a similar Jewish curmudgeon and comedy genius was deemed worthy of resurrecting the script and Thank Christ they did!! The plot and scripted directorial flourishes have all the fizzing creativity and loveable silliness of Woody’s early-mid period and none of the subtlety of his more recent continental-style movies. Again that’s not to denigrate his later movies, but to watch ‘Whatever Works’ is to sit back and fall in love with the man and his wit at its most joyous and life-affirming all over again. I swear my jaws are still sore today from laughing and smiling so much. Larry David plays a 200+ IQ quantum physicist living in New York with the most bleakly pessimistic view of existence imaginable – we’re all rushing toward the howling void of infinite nothingness, etc. - who, despite himself, falls in love with and ends up marrying a complete airhead redneck blonde bimbo from way down south and finds himself being won over to her simpleton’s view of reality – until her bible bashing, ultra-right wing, George W. Bush eulogising mom & pop arrive in town. Sounds formulaic and uninspired but, believe me, this comedy is a genuine laugh riot with all the crazy energy of a classic screwball comedy of the 40s and all of the incomparable Mr Allen’s sublime wit in career best form AND has Larry David in possibly the performance of his career to boot. Completely, totally and utterly wonderful and my new Film of the Year!!!! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.229 |
Hasn't this been out a while? I saw it a few months ago and thought it from a few years back. It's a good film, certainly. Based on a very old script, apparently. New Woodys are great: Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Scoop are fab in different ways. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
'Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona' was brilliant and one of my Top 10 of last year. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
My new Film of 2010 so far - the quite wonderful 'Inception' - is also the best sci-fi film of the new millennium (I'm gonna get fed up saying that) and also the best film to date, and some kind of artistic vindication, of its exceptionally talented director, Christopher Nolan. After the pure entertainment, but ultimately treading water, exercises of his last three films he had obviously earned enough brownie points with the money men in Hollywood to be allowed a big budget film with the same level of originality and respect for the audience's intelligence of his first three x10. What he has created here is the greatest and most challenging adult sci-fi epic since 'Blade Runner' (notice I didn't say 'The Matrix') and shares with that masterpiece similar levels of artistic bravery and ambiguity that I had thought the Hollywood system had long consigned to the dustbin of history. Like last year's comparably brave 'Moon' this may not be based on an actual story by Philip K. Dick or Alfred Bester but finally takes their mind-bogglingly paranoid, but also revelatory vision (that the world is still struggling to come to terms with), and runs with it - quite gleefully! 'Inception' is everything Verhoeven's cack-handed 'Total Recall' should have been, and more... Where 'Blade Runner' fleshed out the paranoid "what is human" theme that runs through Dickian science fiction, 'Inception' goes to the next level (the one that drove PKD insane and that RAW wisely chose only to riff on) of "what is reality" and turns that headfuck concept into a riveting adventure narrative that entertains as much as it stimulates the mind and the senses! *** SPOILERS *** My own theory is that DiCaprio's character (a strikingly similar role to that he played equally brilliantly in Scorsese's almost as impressive 'Shutter Island') was the one living in dreamland throughout the movie and that the real plot was his "colleagues/controllers/comrades" attempts to drag him back into reality (again like 'Shutter Island', with Michael Caine playing the Ben Kingsley part). He was the one lost in the void, after the death of his wife, and the real "inception" was their attempt to plant the idea in his hopelessly grief-stricken subconscious that all was not lost and he really could grapple his way back to reality and the children who needed him (or did they?) The final scene with that spinning top, that we were never allowed to see topple, was a direct reference to the paper unicorn at the end of 'Blade Runner' and the controversy among fans will rage equally as long - I have no doubt. Well done, Chris - you really played a blinder with this one. Now let's see ya do an adaptation of the 'The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch' to prove just how good you really are!! | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
I just saw and very much enjoyed Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy, and that's certainly one of my films of the year. Sight and Sound were pretty dismissive, but the longer it went on the more powerful I found it, and I think the ending is extraordinarily haunting. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Steve - see, mate. Faith restored? | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 188.28.33.179 |
The best film I saw this year was without a doubt Jesper Ganslandt's The Ape, which is incredibly disturbing and has seared itself into my memory. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Time for an update of my Top 10 Movies (seen in the cinema) of 2010 so far... it's not been a vintage year but most of these are great: 1. 'Inception' by Christopher Nolan 2. 'The Ghost' by Roman Polanski 3. 'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen 4. 'Mother' by Bong Joon-ho 5. 'Shutter Island' by Martin Scorsese 6. 'Tetro' by Francis Ford Coppola 7. 'Centurion' by Neil Marshall 8. 'Four Lions' by Chris Morris 9. 'The Road' by John Hillcoat 10. 'The Last Exorcism' by Daniel Stamm While 'Alice In Wonderland' by Tim Burton is still looking hard to beat for my Turkey of the Year Award... | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
I thought 'Four Lions' was good, much more thoughtful and subtle than I'd expected, but minor. 'Ghost' is lovingly crafted hokum, the tension maintained so well you disregard the massive coincidences and ragged plot holes that suggest Polanski is laughing at the thriller genre, if not at the audience. I think the outstanding new films I've seen this year have not been in English. Dogtooth is a really bleak and challenging portrait of a family isolated from the world and from sanity by a controlling father. White Material is a frightening, grim account of post-colonial 'only here on business' white settlers in Africa regressing into madness when the society around them changes. Recently saw The Secrets in Their Eyes, a brilliant 2009 film (also not in English) that deserves a thread to itself, so I'll start one like soon. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I envy you your ability to see such marvellous, thought provoking works, Joel - and have no doubt that your judgement is sound on their merits. My Top 10 is limited to those films I have been able, and had the opportunity, to see in my local cinemas, living in an artistic backwater like Belfast. As those parameters go I believe I have selected the Top 10 quality movies that have been accessible to the general public this year, so far. I'll check out your recommendations - and thanks! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
And I wouldn't begin to pretend greatness for any of the films listed below 'Tetro'... that's how poor a year it's been for me personally. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Joel, you've mentioned three films I really want to see. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Best I've seen so far this year: SIN NOMBRE BRONSON THE WHITE RIBBON BRIGHT STAR REVANCHE A PROPHET | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You're not the Chris Morris!!!! I always assumed it was a coincidence... | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
I am indeed the Chris Morris. The other one's the impostor. | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.225.78.195 |
I'd rather see Woody at his worst than most at their best. Have been re-watching some of my lesser favorites and after some distance, find myself once again bowing down at the alter of his brilliance. Just re-watched Curse of the Jade Scorpion, and thought it was a blast. So simple. So funny. Christ. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Adriana, in my opinion Woody doesn't know how to make a bad film. Even his "weakest" - 'Celebrity', 'Small Time Crooks', 'The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion' - are always more than watchable light entertainment with bags of laughs, while at his best - 'Manhattan', 'Crimes And Misdemeanors', 'Deconstructing Harry' - they are as profound works of cinematic genius as anything Bergman ever produced, with bags of laughs!! I thought 'Whatever Works' was his most sublime comedy in years and consider it criminally underrated! It's always great to meet a fellow fan. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Some people may raise their eyebrows at this but 'The Last Exorcism' has just been knocked out of my Top 10 of the year, so far, by a ridiculously silly comedy starring Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg. 'The Other Guys' is a pure joy imo - and easily the "popular comedy" of the year, as opposed to the meatier fare offered by Woody Allen & Chris Morris. Having said that, this spoof buddy cop movie does have enough serious points of its own to make about the culture of greed and materialism that dominates American society and big business, and that led to the right financial pickle we're all in now. Two desk jockey NYPD cops, deemed so un-streetwise and nerdish they are fit only for auditing duties, unwittingly uncover the greatest financial swindle in the city's history, by oily financier Steve Coogan, and determine to bring in their man, despite the fact that he owns everyone around them - they're just too dumb and pig-headed to realise it, much to their chief commissioner boss, Michael Keaton's, increasingly apoplectic ire. Deliriously juvenile humour and belly laughs abound, but there's real wit and not a little biting satire at work here too. I loved it!! The two stars make an inspired double act while the cameos from Samuel L. Jackson & Dwayne Johnson, as their super-cool rivals, Detectives Danson & Highsmith, are worth the price of admission alone - their way is to demolish a city block to arrest some kids for having a bag of blow! Anyone who loved 'Anchorman' or 'Talladega Nights' needs to do themselves a favour, and go see this movie. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I fancy seeing this, too, Steve. BTW: Have you seen Zombieland? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Haven't seen it, Frank. Heard on the grapevine that it was like a poor man's US version of 'Shaun Of The Dead'. As that film could not possibly be bettered as the ultimate spoof zombie movie, imo, I wasn't too inspired to go see 'Zombieland'. Any good? | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.185 |
Next to Summer Wars which I already mentioned above, I now add 2 South Korean movies: - Mother - The Housemaid Nothing else which I saw this year (and that includes Inception) comes close to these 3. If I could expand my viewing selection to TV, I would add the new series Boardwalk Empire. Only 2 episodes so far and already the best series I've seen in a long time (even if the end of episode one is clearly ripped of The Godfather). Picture it: lavish rendering of 1920s prohibition-era Atlantic City, written by a Sopranos scribe, Steve Buscemi in the lead, and pilot episode directed by Scorcese. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 217.20.16.180 |
I don't think I've seen any films so far this year that I would put anywhere near a top ten list, of this year or any other. How depressing. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Steve - Zombieland was surprisingly much better than I thought it would be. The opening titles are a great mixture of scares and laughs (and a great indicator of the film to come). The scene with our lead character trying to adhere to his 31 rules for surviving an attack by zombies while being chased in circles round a parking-lot is hilarious, if not extremely unbearable. Jesse Eisenberger is a very talented actor (I hope he gets to spread his wings though, before they typecast him for ever), and you do, quite sincerely, root for him. Harrleson is of course excellent. The film shouldn't be compared with Shaun of the Dead, thought at its core it is also about friendship and love...just done American style. Of course there are far more explosions and blazing guns, but it's a much more controlled film than the trailers would have you believe. And there's one moment of strikingly choreographed balletic action which is enhanced by a piece of beautiful music. It's actually a very endearing film. And watch out for a great cameo from one of the funniest actors on the planet. NO, it's not Shaun of the Dead, but I would recommend it. I wasn't disappointed that I paid hard cash to see it. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I will watch it when it comes on the telly, Frank. I do love a good horror comedy, but tend to find the British are so much better at it than the Yanks. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.51 |
I just saw THE KILLER INSIDE ME last night. Never read the source material, but I do think I liked this. It was beyond brutal - nearly reaches IRRETRIEVABLE-ish levels of brutality, which were hard to take. Still, I think one of the better ones I've seen from 2010. (I've not seen the 1976 version with Stacey Keach - any good?) | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Haven't seen either version, Craig, but the novel is incredibly nasty - the way Thompson remorselessly takes you inside the thought processes of such a despicable bastard, devoid of any moral code and completely dismissive of women, as nothing more than human punchbags, is one of the most powerful reading experiences I have had this year. I felt dirty after finsihing it, yet, he still managed to make Lou Ford a real, three dimensional, disturbingly vulnerable and all too understandable human being - rather than an unconvincing monster. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.51 |
SPOILER ALERT Stevie, I know the novel might have changed when it became the movie, but - am I missing something? Yes, I've seen the main character described as "insane," and it's applied to descriptions of the earlier Stacey Keach film - but unless I read the film wrong, the character Lou is by no means insane, he has a deliberate plan of revenge he's worked out, and it's one of those movies where he has to keep going, to keep on killing, to continue covering up his tracks. His brutality isn't insane, it's methodical, if regrettable (to him). Did I read this wrong? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I didn't think of him as starting off insane either, Craig, and he murders in the book because, at first, he has to, then later, because he believes he has to... he becomes insanely paranoid and all the more vicious, due to his own actions and rank stupidity. Make no mistake, Lou Ford is portrayed as a complete ignoramus, with the survival instincts and common sense of a wild animal, in the book. I hated him, and couldn't help but be fascinated by him, as he narrated the story, and continually tried to justify himself, while digging an ever deeper hole to fall into. Thompson created not only one of the great sociopathic villains but also one of the great "big dumb shits" in all literature with this book. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.51 |
Ah - thanks, Stevie. I should seek out his books, methinks. I've seen other films based on his work that I've liked - THE GRIFTERS; AFTER DARK, MY SWEET - but have yet to actually read him. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.51 |
btw, I agree with you, THE GHOST WRITER was one of the better films of 2010 so far - a smallish movie, that nevertheless stays with you - "stays with you," a hard to define quality (let alone predict!), but one I find indispensable in determining whether a film has truly been great or not.... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I've only read 'The Killer Inside Me' & 'The Getaway' - both filmed twice, though even Peckinpah's brilliant version of 'The Getaway' still waters down the full brutality and nihilism of the novel. In my limited experience, no one does bleak like Jim Thompson! | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.51 |
http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/06/03/how-gareth-edwards-shot-monsters-on-an-incre dibly-low-budget/ This film looks like it might have promise. It's the new world of filmmaking, methinks - shot with only $15k?!? (Apparently this film is available for viewing now, on video-download - from where, I'm not sure, but that's what I've read - maybe it's already premiered over there in the UK?) | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.185 |
I forgot one other true gem I saw this year. It should be on the lists of anyone who saw it: Fish Story Or, how an obscure 30 year old Japanese punk song will eventually save the world... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
At last, another genuinely great movie has entered my Top 10 for this year. David Fincher's mesmerising ensemble drama 'The Social Network' is one of the most disturbing films of the year, and also one of the funniest. I had to be cajoled into going to this by mates, as the thought of sitting through the story of Facebook didn't exactly fill me with joy, but this is a brilliant work of pure cinema with, hands down, the finest and sharpest and most memorably quotable script of the year. It also says more about the terrifyingly amoral, money and speed and sex obsessed world we live in today than any other comparable drama I have seen. This is 'The Sweet Smell Of Success' or 'Wall Street' for the 2010s. I’d rank it as the director's third best film, knocking 'Fight Club' into fourth place - yes, that good, and that savagely satirical! So the list now is: 1. 'Inception' by Christopher Nolan 2. 'The Ghost' by Roman Polanski 3. 'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen 4. 'Mother' by Bong Joon-ho 5. 'The Social Network' by David Fincher 6. 'Shutter Island' by Martin Scorsese 7. 'Tetro' by Francis Ford Coppola 8. 'Centurion' by Neil Marshall 9. 'Four Lions' by Chris Morris 10. 'The Other Guys' by Adam McKay | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I'd watch anything Fincher chose to direct. Especially after the oddly underrated ZODIAC. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.185 |
Stevie, good to see that you did include Mother. Korean cinema is these days where it's at. I saw another gem just recently: a chinese production: Reign of Assassins with Michelle Yeoh in the lead and co-directed by John Woo. Really remarkable, and no white dove or typical "Wooisms" in sight ! It's a classic (in fact it feels a bit old-fashioned) wuxia movie with some surprising plot twists and very assured, modern direction by Woo and his collaborator. It seems to me that Woo got his energy back with this movie. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i4yVbYX98I There's another recent Chinese movie that I must check out, one which could well end up amongst the most entertaining of the year: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Menace. It's directed by mad genius Tsui Hark, whose movies can sometimes be truly disappointing, but when he gets it right, he's peerless. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1LN656YUuU (I guarantee you'll be drooling over this one) | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Said it before, Zodiac is the police procedural film by which all others should be judged. Believe it or not I read one review of The Social Network which described it as The Citizen Kane of the 21st century. As Zed said, anything Fincher directs I'm going to see. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
It's not the 'Citizen Kane' of the 21st Century, and the guy that said that needs his head examined, because this is Fincher's least flashy and most tightly controlled straight drama to date. I would compare it more to something like 'The Ice Storm', only, instead of tackling the social interactions between one community, it tackles the social interactions, and what motivates them, between us all - as well as a cosetted group of amoral pricks, apart from one character, who is the heart and soul of the movie, but I'll leave you to discover that for yourself. Jesse Eisenberg & Andrew Garfield give the two finest and most committed performances, by young actors, I have seen in many a long year. But more than them, more than Fincher, this is Aaron Sorkin's movie - all the way! The dialogue bears comparison to 'All About Eve', and that's all anyone should need to know... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Tom, 'Mother' is a fabulous movie. I started a thread on here about it and would compare the film to Hitchcock at his best. On the strength of it and 'The Host' I already rank Bong Joon-ho as one of the most exciting young directors in the world today. I really must get to see 'Memories Of Murder'... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Steve - I think the reviewer was referring to the subject matter of Citizen Kane in reference to them being comparable. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
What makes 'The Social Network' so fascinating is the way these guys became multi-billionaires by complete chance, and the way it destroyed them as people, and their friendships, within a frighteningly short space of time. They were no more than talented kids with the social breaks they needed to be noticed and gain entry to the upper echelons of US society. From there they conquered the world without ever intending to, and lost their souls in the process... the final image of Mark Zuckerberg, and what he has become, is set to go down as one of the iconic moments in modern cinema imo. A brilliant movie that just gets better the more one thinks about it, and that couldn't be more relevant to all that's going on in the current global financial crisis. I still can't decide between 'Seven' & 'Zodiac' for Fincher's best movie, but this comes in a very definite third imo. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'm rather depressed that we're almost into November and there isn't a single horror film in my Top 10 of the year. 'Shutter Island' comes closest but is more a psychological thriller, with horror elements. I'd say this has been the poorest year for horror cinema since the turn of the millennium. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Well I've just seen perhaps the greatest British film of the last 10 years, and a storming return to top form, by Mike Leigh. You'll get sick of hearing people say this, but 'Another Year' is easily the finest thing he has done since 'Naked' (1993), and, in my opinion, his greatest tragi-comedy to date. And I speak as a fan who has seen and admired all of his films. But when Leigh is firing on all cylinders, as here, the result is pure cinematic perfection of a kind that seems to have been beamed down straight from heaven (hyperbole intentional). Well over two hours long, perfectly structured into four distinct sequences, beautifully sedate in its pacing and completely absorbing in every finely nuanced detail of characterisation and composition, this is the story of one "typical" year, from Spring to Winter, in the lives of a perfect middle class English family, and a number of washed up alcoholic no-hopers who flit round them like moths attracted to a flame. Sounds bleak and depressing as feck, a flaw Leigh's films have sometimes fallen into in the past, but what raises this one to perfection is the ever so slightly more caricatured nature of the characters - perhaps taking a lead from Larry David? - that elevates the acutely observed social comedy to levels of black hilarity that seem like a breath of fresh air. Leigh hasn't been this in-your-face funny since 'Life Is Sweet' (1990) and that fact needs to be shouted from the rooftops imo! But make no mistake, as usual, beneath the laughs, the portrayal of barely contained desperation and wasted lives teetering on the brink of collapse is emotionally devastating - all the more so for being juxtaposed so cruelly against the uncynical perfection of the central family. One could almost grow to hate them in their ideal existence, if they weren't such bloody nice people, and that's the moral dilemma that drives this utterly sublime comic drama. I really can't praise it enough! 2010 is turning into a plum year for quality comedies, but just remember to bring a box of hankies with you to this one - GENIUS!! And that's without even mentioning the performances (taken as read in a Leigh production) but if Lesley Manville doesn't break your heart in two after watching this then you're not fucking human. This is one of those films that draws you so completely into its world and the lives of its characters that you won't want it to end, and when the final fade-to-black happens, the ache of loss is palpable.  My updated Top 10 of 2010 so far: 1. 'Another Year' by Mike Leigh. 2. 'Inception' by Christopher Nolan. 3. 'The Ghost' by Roman Polanski. 4. 'The Social Network' by David Fincher. 5. 'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen. 6. 'Mother' by Bong Joon-ho. 7. 'Shutter Island' by Martin Scorsese. 8. 'Tetro' by Francis Ford Coppola. 9. 'Centurion' by Neil Marshall. 10. 'Four Lions' by Chris Morris. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.140.190.208 |
Leigh for me is one of these directors who doesn't neglect atmosphere and image. I loved Happy Go Lucky recently and just bought Bleak Moments, his first film (it's great). His characters are odd and slightly unreal, and the stories sometimes seem to take place outside the cinema, not quite in the rules. There's also a strange eerie streak to them that I like. I'm looking forward to this one very much, and hope it reaches my mulitplex. Have you seen Tamara Drew, Steve? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.140.190.208 |
and have you seen The Squid and the Whale? Eissenberg was in that too. Hard film to watch (I let my kids watch it thinking 'How could it shock them - it's drama' - but one scene involving a boy wanking onto a bookshelf put me right. (They liked the film, btw)) | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Leigh's compositional sense and use of colour is also too often overlooked, Tony. That is particularly evident here, with the seasonal backdrop to the story, and gradual change of hues and tone through the year. Visually his films have the slow paced perfection of Kubrick but without the austerity. 'Another Year' will go down as unquestionably one of his masterpieces - and I can't stress enough how painfully funny it is. I guarantee you will love it. The only other director I can think of who comes close to his all round style would be Eric Rohmer - another one of my great favourites. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.162.54 |
I love Rohmer! Just got into him this year and have only seen a couple of things, but have a big fat juicy box set on my shelf ready to enjoy. It's odd, but even though I've only seen one or two they have lingered in my mind like real events. Leigh is a very careful craftsman. The films feel loose and sloppy but they bloody aren't. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Stevie, I must really delve into Leigh. I saw HAPPY GO LUCKY and thought it one of the most wonderful films of that year - so understated and subtle, so deep and moving, and so funny at the same time. The only other Leigh I've seen is TOPSYT-TURVY, a brilliant period-piece/bio-pic. Two sheer home-run films. Why have I so long stayed away from him?... (Hey, Stevie, your review above for some reason reminded me of a film I've mentioned here before - ever seen TOGETHER (2000), directed by Lukas Moodyson? An absolutely, dare I say, perfect film. Tony too - rent it!) | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.8.213 |
"but one scene involving a boy wanking onto a bookshelf put me right" I took someone on a first date to that. Aawawwkward. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Understated and subtle, deep and moving, very funny - that's Mike Leigh in a nutshell, Craig, and I'd rank this new one second only to 'Naked' in his entire filmography. Coming from me that is praise indeed! The film has haunted my thoughts all day and will continue to do so forevermore... Believe it or not but both 'Topsy-Turvy' and 'Happy Go Lucky' (brilliant as they are) are significantly below Leigh at his best imho. Will check out 'Together' and Lukas Moodyson - neither rings a bell. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.8.213 |
Golly, I really dislike Mike Leigh. I think his characters are anything but subtle. Luvvie actors given too much rope. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Haven't seen 'The Squid And The Whale' but your story reminds me of watching a film in my early teens, at home, with my god-fearing Catholic parents, that unexpectedly involved a guy describing his "wanking into a pillow technique" in graphic detail. The name of the film, and everything else about it, escapes me, but I have never been so cringingly embarrassed by any scene in a movie before or since! The silence was deafening...  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
We must come from different universes, Proto!  | ||
| Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker) Username: Stephen_theaker Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 62.30.117.235 |
My favourite film this year - maybe my favourite film ever - was Scott Pilgrim vs The World. I haven't seen Whatever Works yet, but we've been catching up with Woody's other recent films: Match Point, Melinda and Melinda, Cassandra's Dream, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Scoop, in the order we watched them. It's been a really memorable few weeks of movies. For me the only real clunker he's made in the last couple of decades was Hollywood Endings. Amazed at how sprightly he was in Scoop, which was very funny. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.164.77 |
Two very good new films I don't think have been mentioned yet... Winter's Bone is a beautifully balanced weaving together of bleakness and humanity, the kind of crime film where 'plot' is kept to a taut minimum in order to keep the focus on human behaviour and the conditions people are living under. A teenage girl tries to find her missing drug addict father amidst the bitter remnants of what was once a community. She finds hostility, indifference and compassion – sometimes all three in the same place. The film has a delicate emotional power that never slips into easy moral judgements. The Kids Are All Right is also balanced, with the strengths and weaknesses of very different people brought out through subtle performances and a marvellous script, with comic and dramatic threads skilfully interwoven. The sexual politics of the situation – a lesbian couple who have each had a child by the same anonymous sperm donor face unexpected conflicts as the children grow up and track down their common father – are handled with irony and intelligence where they could have been either crudely polemical or crudely farcical. A rich, adult film that accepts and celebrates the absence of simplistic answers. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Joel - Winter's Bone was recently recommended to me. May go to see it this weekend. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I suppose this is as good a place as any for this post... I'm going to meet Mark Kermode for the first time tomorrow evening, as he's introducing Werner Herzog's masterpiece 'Fitzcarraldo' (1982) - one of my all-time favourite movies - in the Queen's Film Theatre (QFT), my local arthouse cinema, with a Q&A session afterward, that I'm looking forward to taking part in. Any suggestions for deep incisive questions are most welcome. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Ask him where he buys his hair product. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.23.82.196 |
Ask him why, after the watershed, he becomes a night commode and, appropriately, full of shit. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Har har... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I got to meet Mark Kermode last night and can verify that he is every bit as passionate and funny in person. A nice guy, genuine and very approachable - he agreed wholeheartedly with my choice of 'Alice In Wonderland' as Turkey of the Year and the old Top 10 [see above] got the thumbs up - especially 'Another Year', 'Inception', 'The Social Network' & 'Mother'. Rather chuffed. He was rather harsh in his criticism of 'Let Me In' I thought but I couldn't disagree with a word at the same time. Meanwhile the screening of 'Fitzcarraldo' turned out to be the ultra-rare original English language version and was a joy to experience on the big screen. I was unaware it was later dubbed into German with English subtitles so this was a rare treat. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.176.178.44 |
I saw FITZCARRALDO in London on its release and recall how awful those subtitles were everytime Kinski was on screen wearing that damned white jacket, rendering many of the words illegible! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The other thing that really got Mark's goat the other night was the current obsession with 3D cinema. I have to agree with his praise of Christopher Nolan for refusing to cave in to studio pressure by filming 'Inception' in 2D. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Finally got to see 'Machete' last night and I haven't been that entertained at the cinema in years! At long last Robert Rodriguez has delivered the masterpiece he always threatened to. This has to be the most perfectly judged genre spoof I have ever seen, absolutely marvellous in every detail. If ever a film was made for switching the brain off and wallowing in pure unalloyed cinematic pleasure, delivered by a master showman, it is this one. For a time last night I was actually convinced it was the greatest film I had ever seen - that's how bloody impressive it is. Every gloriously clichéd scene, every ridiculous line delivered deadpan straight, every outrageous stunt and gloriously splattersome old-style special effect has been judged to perfection. The movie hurtles along at such a pumped-up pace, severed heads and limbs flying, entrails spilling, fountains of gore jetting, tits bouncing, blades whirling, bullets spraying, explosions, beautiful naked bodies glistening, grim set jaws and nonchalantly raised eyebrows in the face of graphic torture, mutilation and evisceration, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, it becomes hypnotic in its eye-popping mayhem. Fuck but I loved this movie!!!! The other two 'Grindhouse' films were great but this blows them both away for sheer maniacal fun and derangement. Danny Trejo is magnificent in the title role, creating a cinema legend before our very eyes - "Machete don't text", etc - striding through the blood, guts, babes and exploding vehicles like some demonic avenging colossus. Steven Seagal almost matches him as arch-nemesis, Torrez, a pant wettingly cool samurai sword wielding fat slob, and slayer of Machete’s wife and child (not a spoiler). Jeff Fahey gives the performance of his career as the suavely evil slimeball frontman for Robert De Niro’s hilariously bigoted right-wing shit, Senator McLaughlin (pronounced McLofflin?). An unrecognisable Don Johnson exudes so much menace as the racist redneck sheriff, leading his own private vigilante army of border patrolling psychopaths, it goes beyond villainy to some kind of camp diabolism. Tom Savini had me in stitches as super-badass-assassin, Osiris Amanpour, and his confrontation with Cheech Marin, as a pump-action shotgun wielding priest, and “respectable” brother of Machete, who kills the bad guys and absolves the good, is one of many crowning highlights of wonderfully blasphemous bad taste. Then there’s the women, lord the women… Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Alicia Marek, Cheryl Chin, and various other drop dead gorgeous babes, playing with some very big guns and letting it all hang out in outrageously decadent abandon <sigh>. It’s like militant feminism never happened!! My favourite moment in the movie, and every single scene is a standout, has to be Machete’s improvised escape from De Niro’s goons in the hospital – seriously, you’ve never seen anything like it! An undisputed cinematic masterpiece and my new favourite film of the year - I swear I haven’t laughed so much in the cinema in years. My sides are still aching today. But behind the laughs, blood and sex there is also a razor-sharp and righteously angry satirical wit at work here that casts a glaring spotlight on the vicious hypocrisy of right-wing American exploitation of Mexican immigrant workers, while demonising them come election time. For them, and the downtrodden poor everywhere, forced into slave labour while being spat on in the street, and worse, we have a new hero. Beyond criticism and quite, quite brilliant!!!! Go see it, if you think you can take it. Machete takes no prisoners… My new Top 10 of 2010 so far: 1. ‘Machete’ by Robert Rodriguez & Ethan Maniquis (editor of the other ‘Grindhouse’ movies and here promoted to co-director, it is telling that this is hands down one of the best edited films I have ever seen… worthy of comparison to Thelma Schoonmaker on that score – I kid you not!) 2. 'Another Year' by Mike Leigh. 3. 'Inception' by Christopher Nolan. 4. 'The Ghost' by Roman Polanski. 5. 'The Social Network' by David Fincher. 6. 'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen. 7. 'Mother' by Bong Joon-ho. 8. 'Shutter Island' by Martin Scorsese. 9. 'Tetro' by Francis Ford Coppola. 10. 'Centurion' by Neil Marshall. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 89.194.1.71 |
First chance I've had to rave about this festive gem: if there is any justice then 'Rare Exports' is destined to become one of the all-time favourite Christmas movies, which means we'll probably end up sick to death of it, but for now it is surely the most original fantasy of recent years and one of the most perfect family entertainments you could ever hope to see - but for one problem... its 15 Certificate. Part feelgood Christmas fantasy, part creepy as hell supernatural horror, part kids' comedy adventure, and part something I've never seen before, the film could be said to fall between two stools - being too scary for the very young and too whimsical for the hardened, but, for me, the elements of horror, moments of gore and full frontal nudity juxtapose beautifully with the boys own adventure high-jinks and Capraesque sentiment to create something that is uniquely entertaining for all ages, with brains, subtlety and a gritty edge as fiercely uncompromising as the Arctic landscape against which it is set. A wonderful little film and an astonishing debut by Jalmari Helander, that has ousted 'Centurion' from my Top 10 of the year, and as my fantasy film of the year (sorry, Neil). | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 89.194.12.35 |
I can't see me getting to the cinema again this year, so here's the final, seriously cogitated over, reshuffle of my Top 10 new movies, seen in the cinema, of 2010: 1. 'Inception' by Christopher Nolan. 2. 'Another Year' by Mike Leigh. 3. 'The Ghost' by Roman Polanski. 4. 'The Social Network' by David Fincher. 5. 'Machete' by Robert Rodriguez & Ethan Maniquis. 6. 'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen. 7. 'Mother' by Bong Joon-ho. 8. 'Shutter Island' by Martin Scorsese. 9. 'Tetro' by Francis Ford Coppola. 10. 'Rare Exports' by Jalmari Helander. Horror Film of the Year: The Last Exorcism. Sci-Fi Film of the Year: Inception. Fantasy Film of the Year: Rare Exports. Thriller of the Year: The Ghost. Drama of the Year: Another Year. Comedy of the Year: Another Year. Cinema-Going Experience of the Year: Machete. Guilty Pleasure of the Year: Machete. Turkey of the Year: Alice In Wonderland. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Not fave films of 2010, but this blogger's favorite of all time, which I'm sharing for two reasons: 1) plain excellent choices, that include some shocking ones I applaud (SUSPIRIA! ZARDOZ!); 2) note the images chosen for each - iconic, magical, meditation-worthy stills nearly all.... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Oh yes, you need that link, don't you? http://robie2008.wordpress.com/100-best-greatest-favorite-films/ | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 173.34.12.92 |
Stevie: have you seen Woody's most recent film? YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER? | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 173.34.12.92 |
Best documentary I saw this year was TABLOID, by Errol Morris Not sure if it's come out yet, but if so it's well worth seeing. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Errol Morris is great - I've not seen this one but love many of his earlier ones. | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 173.34.12.92 |
Yeah he rocks. | ||
| Adriana (Adriana) Username: Adriana Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 173.34.12.92 |
He was at the screening when D and I saw it, and gave an amazing Q&A -- I don't want to give anything away about the film though. It really is one of those you have to see it scenarios... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Sorry folks, this is the first (brief) opportunity I've had to get online since arriving home from Leeds to a scene of utter disaster. Burst pipes, collapsed ceilings, flooded flat, and still no mains water(!?)... here's hoping the rest of 2011 is just a tad better!  Other than that I had a great Christmas, and even got to meet the one and only Weber!! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Oh no! Sorry to hear that, Stevie. I did wonder about your water situation when I heard on the news about the problems over there. Hope you can get it sorted soon. Are your horror books/DVDs damaged, or is that the least of your worries? | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Just to clarify, I was expressing my sympathies on your water/flooding situation, not the fact that you met Weber!  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
I dunno... I'm wondering if Stevie met Weber first?... is actually meeting Weber, the first step towards your ultimate doom?...  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Very sorry to hear that, Stevie. Best of luck with the cleanup process. Word of caution: if any power equipment is used to help dry out or clean the house, check the safety instructions are being followed correctly. Don't assume those doing the work have checked. Sometimes they haven't. Don't stay in the house if you're not sure. I mean it. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Hey Steve, hope you get it all sorted out soon. I know Northern Ireland was hit the worst this year, last year, as it continues. Caroline -  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Thanks people, and especially Joel, for terrifying the life out of me, cos my landlord's had industrial dryers going like blazes. Don't tell me I'm gonna mummify in my sleep!! By some miracle, and the fact that they were mostly stored above ground level and to the front of the flat, all my CDs & DVDs, as well as the vast majority of my books, have survived unscathed - (thank you, The Oneness). But I've lost my venerable old VCR and my DVD player so can't even watch 'Sgt Bilko' or 'Laurel & Hardy' to cheer myself up. Bookswise, the worst fatalities have been <sob> half my Arden Shakespeare collection and <choke> my copy of H.P. Lovecraft's 'The Loved Dead', with all those rare collaborations, which I believe has been taken off the market due to copyright problems (fuck, fuck, fuck)! But, hey, I got to meet Weber!!!! I guess the tablets must be kicking in... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Gosh, those are painful losses, they sound like, Stevie. I'm really sorry to hear that. The Universe gives, and the Universe taketh away, I guess.... (I was just reading something about Edward Gibbon, the English historian; a friend was encouraging him to leave his [apparently] extensive library when he died to some foundation or museum or other, but he said no, he wanted all his books scattered away; he said he collected his library over many many years, hunting here and there and high and low for books, and that he wanted others after him to have to have to do the same for their own libraries....) | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Thanks, Craig. But, believe me, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have got off so lightly. The books and equipment I lost can all be replaced and, in the end, the Universe, and everything in it, are but a frozen moment of eternity... Yep, they're definitely kicking in! Either that or my brain has dehydrated to the size of a walnut? | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.111.142.151 |
Really sorry to hear about this, Steve. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.195.190 |
Sorry for probably scaring you unnecessarily, Stevie – I have reasons of my own. Just make sure nothing driven by petrol is used indoors. Sounds obvious I know. You should be able to get second-hand paperbacks of the HPL 'revisions' – the two volumes published in the USA a decade or so ago are the best bet. Or when your insurance comes through, the updated Arkham collection edited by S.T. Joshi may still be in print. I find those stories terribly uneven, but a few are good – fear not, you'll read 'The Mound' again. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Bloody hell, Stevie, sorry to hear about your problems. Sorry I didn't get to meet up with you over Chrsitmas, too. Maybe next time... | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Shit, Stevie, sorry to hear about this. Hope you get things sorted out soon. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 217.43.42.218 |
Once again,Stevie, sorry to hear your experience was a hell of a lot worse than my own. At least my lot could go to either parents homes for showers,etc during the 'dry' week. But I can't imagine the horror of a flooded home. I must admit I did think about your flat being empty when landlords were being urged to check such premises over the holiday period for burst pipes. At least that dip shit NI Water director has resigned over the whole fiasco. I would like to see a few more heads roll myself ! If you need anything at all call me (except my copy of 'The Loved Dead' ) | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Really sorry to hear this Stevie. We were flooded in 2007, so I know well the chaos that it brings. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Thanks again, chaps! All my precious belongings are now piled high in the dryest room while the rest of the flat is being torn apart by workmen. Painful to watch but they reckon all will be sorted for me going back to work next Monday... and I'll finally being get rid of those bloody useless Economy 7 heaters! Thanks for your concern, Joel. I think 'The Loved Dead' story itself is one of the most disturbing things Lovecraft ever wrote. Fortunately I have another copy of it in 'The Crawling Chaos' collection. Thanks, Sean. It's an absolute disgrace what's gone on over here. It may have been the coldest December on record but how come Scotland coped with it while we were temporarily turned into a Third World country. I heard people round here were filling buckets from the Lagan ffs!! No worries, Zed, I'll catch ya next time. 'Rain Dogs' is a bloody great read btw! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Adriana, I hadn't even heard of 'You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger', but just looked it up and it sounds like an attempt at another 'Hannah And Her Sisters' type ensemble comedy of family secrets to me? I'm also interested to see how he handles the "new age" paranormal(?) elements. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Last night I watched The Last Exorcism...and thought was really rather good. The big Hollywood ad campaign did this one a huge disservice (they should have kept the original title: Cotton); it's actually a low-key, creepy, witty and compelling character study and not a big, noisy scare-fest. The ending goes a bit "Race-with-the-Devil", but apart from that it's a very canny piece of work that's carried by two outstanding central peformances by Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell. I liked this a lot. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Zed, I agree, but I thought the ending was hilarious. It spoofed to perfection both Dennis Wheatley & 'The Blair Witch Project' type movies while adding enough double meaning to what had gone before to give the film and the performances multiple rewatch potential. The more I've thought about this film the better it gets, as a horror movie (that genuinely scares non-horror fans) and a brilliant mockumentary spoof (that thoroughly entertains genuine horror fans by its nod-and-a-wink knowingness and pitch perfect performances). I now consider it one of the most successful horror spoofs I have seen. On a par with [for todays audience] 'The Cat And The Canary', 'Carry On Screaming', 'The Fearless Vampire Killers' or 'Shaun Of The Dead'. If I didn't know better I'd have sworn Christopher Guest had directed it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Yep, that's why it was so good, I think - because it was wry and knowing, and funny. But those performances: man, they were stellar. I really liked this one. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.24.98 |
Just watched WINTER'S BONE - thought it was wonderful. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
So I saw MACHETE - I liked it, but didn't overboard love it like the others here did - nothing particularly bad about it, it was quite good in fact - just not quite the amazing flick I was expecting, maybe that's why. Btw, on the Blue Ray, they tell me there's deleted scenes - including a whole storyline they cut out with Jessica Alba's character's evil twin sister?! Did I hear that right? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Craig, if you approach 'Machete' on its own level I really do think it is the most successful and pant-wettingly hilarious genre spoof I have ever seen! Every character, every scene, every line, every look is pure ridiculous perfection. It's one of my all-time favourite movies now after two viewings, the second even more entertaining than the first. Just thinking about the film puts a smile on my face. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 86.143.98.68 |
Just seen THE KING'S SPEECH. BRILLIANT! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Everyone seems to think the same, Des - I must be missing something: I've read the synopsis and can't see the appeal. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 86.165.36.17 |
History with which I overlap - and the story of the overcoming of a disability so as to win a war - and great acting.... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.119.43 |
Slightly out of phase with the rest of existence, I've just caught up with the year 2010 by seeing INCEPTION. I found it cluttered rather than complex, with a constant bed of music and a flurry of cuts to disguise a lack of content. I couldn't evoke any sympathy for a billionaire outsmarting another billionaire or for DiCaprio wanting to see his children. I though that given the resources available it was quite poorly made - (apparently motiveless) violations of the 30 degree rule and SO MUCH telling rather than showing. But most people liked it, so I suppose it's yet another cultural phenomenon that nudges me to the side of the board like a pawn in a endgame. Hey-ho. It's just me in a corner liking Soderberg's SOLARIS and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.119.43 |
Going to give OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE a spin now. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Nah, Proto, I'm with you on INCEPTION. The strong thing about those two movies, SOLARIS and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, is that they're true sci-fi flicks; which I will define here as: a movie that has science fiction elements girding the whole without becoming part of the story/the story. Which was one of the stronger elements of this remake of THE THING: it had a fair amount of sci-fi elements (like, the very existence of an alien) and paraphernalia, sans comment or explanation, especially at the climax. We get to see the alien's ship, and a lot of the interior and its working parts... we get a gist of its overall nature, but there's so much more unexplained than explained... and that was probably the best thing going for this remake.... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.119.43 |
I totally forgot about THE THING remake and will have to pick it up on video. OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE has much better dialogue than INCEPTION. Some of Bette Midler's lines are like poetry. By now everyone on this board should know me well enough to know that I'm completely serious when I say that. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Craig/Proto - I'm another one who didn't get along with INCEPTION. Thank god I'm not alone! Tonight's viewing was STAKE LAND which I quite enjoyed. Neat little post-apocalyptic vampire road movie. Reminded me a lot of Alden Bell's recent THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS, or the Garth Ennis comic CROSSED. It maybe never quite took off dramatically the way it could have, but it was fairly tough, lean and cynical (though not without hope). Nice eighties throwback vampire make-up as well, although they may as well have been zombies for all the intelligence most of them showed. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.215.75 |
Okay, so OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE is better than INCEPTION. It has a genuine, if probably unintentional laugh, which at least is one more than the latter can boast. Man turns up in front of scared women. "It's all right," he beams happily reassuring them, "we're CIA!" This was the '80s so this may have not been a deliberate joke, but I actually laughed out loud. Also, INCEPTION didn't have the wit to coin a phrase as poetic as "Needledick: the bug-fucker". | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
I'm adding this here, because TOY STORY 3 is a 2010 movie I've finally caught up with (I'm always so damned late with these things)... and am surprised to find Stevie you didn't even mention it! When of your final list and of the films I've seen there (half, admittedly), this one easily outshines them! (And it's better than its two TOY STORY predecessors, too!) What a romp! Best film of 2010 by far! It's a visual feast, it's action-packed, it's fantasy and western and romance and every genre in-between... it's a dystopian fable, a dark noir, a gangster flick, a prison-escape movie... it's got moments of absolute horror (the horror genre is well-represented here - little kids must have been truly freaked out in those theaters!), and high/sophisticated/silly/slapstick comedy.... More than all that, it makes profound statements - more than most films can hope to in their highest aspirations - about life, the universe, and everything. But moreso, concerning what the best movies are ultimately chronicles of... human connection, and transformation. Screenplay written by Michael Arndt (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE), I was surprised to discover. A must see! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Craig, I adore the 'Toy Story' films (doesn't everyone) but unfathomably never got to see 'Toy Story 3' when it was out. Unforgiveable I know!! I also rank 'Little Miss Sunshine' as one of the finest adult comedies of the last 10 years, or any era, and a large part of that was down to the sheer quality of the script. I've really missed out by the sound of things and this must be put right! | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
I thought the first toy story was a very average cartoon. Not bothered with the follow ups. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Good Lord, Weber, 'Toy Story' was one of the undeniably great cinematic milestones of the modern (post-80s) era! And believe me they are few and far between. The sequel was, if anything, even better and I've heard nothing but rave reviews about TS3. Those films managed to recapture some of the pioneering glory of Disney's golden age and stand out like beacons against the deluge of low brow Hollywood crap that's been flooding our cinemas these past 20 odd years. They are works of art. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
I get it Stevie - nearly two years since it's release date, and I'd not gotten to it either. But yes, mos def, tout de suite - I'd love to read your review of it! Weber, I found TOY STORY 2 a whole level better than the first TOY STORY, which was already pretty magnificent. But TOY STORY 3 is yet another level altogether. Really, go out and first see 2, then 3... I think you'll change your mind concerning these. And this from someone not terribly big on cartoon movies either. I seem to be in a minority in finding UP (wait... who gets the exclamation mark, Pixar or Russ Meyer?) hardly worth the hype. MONSTERS, INC. too, and CARS, and ICE AGE, and etc. Those are all just kiddie-fodder in my book... but the TOY STORYs are another thing altogether.... But where can any animated film go, after TOY STORY 3? What's left to say? It's almost impossible to imagine. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Craig, I thought 'WALL-E' and Spielberg's 'Tintin' were up to the same quality as the 'Toy Story' films but I agree with you about the rest of them... 'Monsters, Inc.', 'Finding Nemo', 'Up', the 'Shrek' movies, etc are lovingly crafted and entertaining kids films that just lack the depth and comparable levels of artistry of those more adult epics. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
I rather liked FINDING NEMO, Stevie, but wonder if it ages well or not... I do think it (and THE LITTLE MERMAID, too) was ground-breaking, and helped usher in this renaissance in animated film (for among other things, depth; and that's not just the animation). You really couldn't have a TOY STORY series, without FINDING NEMO. But I avoided WALL-E, I was worried it would be too "preachy," if you know what I mean. Enough others seem to have liked it for me to go out and give it the once-over, though. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I loved 'WALL-E'. One of the finest films of its year. I think of it as the animated equivalent of 'Silent Running' and it has just as emotional an impact. I'd actually rank it as one of the great post-apocalypse sci-fi movies and, if anything, its really rather grim storyline is better suited to adults than children. 'Finding Nemo' (2003) was long after 'Toy Story' (1995), Craig, you must be thinking of some other aquatic animation? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Ha! Whoooooooooooops! I guess that's what makes me think TOY STORY was after, it was so ahead of it's time!... yeah, that should work as an excuse.... Okay, will go out and see WALL-E then, Stevie. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.35.236.200 |
Wall E was horribly preachy. And an irrational white robot that seemed on a mission to both destroy life AND protect it. Tintin was not as good as I expected, but it was well done visually. Funny - I wasn't nuts on TS£... the characters felt somehow sidelined by the action. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You have to be the most pernickety film fan I know, Tony! I didn't get that from 'WALL-E' at all and thought it worked remarkably well as a kind of grim and pessimistic sci-fi fairy-tale. For all the slapstick humour of the second half of the film it never lost its edge, imo. Do you also find 'Silent Running' (1972), with Bruce Dern and the cute robots, to be preachy? I know I don't. Both films may have worn their hearts on their sleeves but this never got in the way of the simple power of the story or the emotional impact of witnessing the death of Planet Earth as a realistically imagined possibility. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.35.236.200 |
Silent Running WAS preachy but it was softened by my age at the time. Wall.E judged us too harshly, I felt. I understood the woman who walked out in the states. Thing is, I enjoyed it when I watched it - crazy, that I can be angry and still entertained. To quote Pauling Keal - it's ok having a heart on your sleeve as long as you have a brain in your head! ;) | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.145.216.36 |
I thought wall-e was pretty dull myself. I couldn't help wondering what the cockroach was living on if there was no other organic life on the planet. Also, how could the humans in the second half have existed if they never left those chairs? It would make procreation somewhat awkward. And when they hit actual gravity, none of them would have been able to move because their muscles would have atrophied through lack of use. Generally a pretty but poor effort. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I love sci-fi pronouncements of doom on the human race or anything that dares to prick our complacency. If anything 'WALL-E' didn't judge us harshly enough, imo. But nothing can compare to the apocalyptic fate imagined in 'The Killer Shrews' at the weekend. To paraphrase the opening voiceover, against a lowering sky of black thunderclouds and lightning: "And so it came to pass that a new species arose on the face of the Earth and naught could stand in its way, NOT EVEN MAN.. witness the dawn of... THE KILLER SHREWS!" I tell ya that movie was bloody marvellous! | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
Toy Story was a bland and anodyne and totally forgettable childrens cartoon. Why any adult should choose to voluntarily watch it is beyond me. The same goes for all the Pixar films I've suffered through with my assorted nephews and neices. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.8.26.153 |
I'd say Toy Story was a family film, not exclusively pitched at children, and a fine one. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'd say 'Toy Story' was a profound existential parable about the necessity of coming to terms with one's true place in the world and how we all need to learn to love ourselves for our limitations as much as our strengths. The story of Buzz Lightyear is the story of us all. I really must get to see TS3 asap!! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.156.210.82 |
Pixar films are brilliant. Most of them have the depth Stevie speaks of - in fact, Finding Nemo is one of my favourite films of all time. The scene inside the whale transcends the cartoon medium and becomes a pointed message about faith (of all kinds, but especially in oneself). Brilliant. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.156.210.82 |
Oh, and, yes, Toy Story 3 was magnificent. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
I'd say Toy Story was an entirely predictable story about a bunch of toys. It's precisely written to fit Craig's template theory of film making. The most remarkable thing about it is that Tom Hanks proves he can be one of the most irritating screen presences of all time even when he isn't there in person. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.156.210.82 |
Perhaps you just don't get it, Weber. It's so much more than that... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
This term "predictable" is overused. Once you've seen a film, then if you see it again, it is, ipso facto, "predictable" - so why bother? Because, even going back to the ancient Greeks with their plays and to Homer before them, knowing where the story is going isn't a detraction from it. It's not even a factor. A better term would have been "unilluminating." At least we could debate over that.  | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
Predictable is the ideal phrase to describe TS. Even the first time I saw it, and I've only seen it the once, I knew exactly where it was going and pretty much how it was going to get there. Knowing where a story is going iss not always a bad thing. There's a difference between inevitability in a storyline and tedious predictability. Unfortunately IMHO, TS falls squarely into the second category. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.156.210.82 |
"knowing where the story is going isn't a detraction from it. It's not even a factor." For once, Craig, you and I agree completely. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
All I can say is, Weber... watch TS 2 and then 3, and see if they have the same effect on you. You do have to go into any film with at least the willingness to allow the magic of the story to take over - if one goes into any film with the mindset, "These are just overpaid dumb actors spouting lines to a story that never really happened, blah blah blah," then no movie can have any effect on anyone. Of course, if the film betrays that trust (it's a contract of sorts), then it's fair to attack. But watch 2 & 3 and see if you feel the same.... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Right, Zed. Genre fiction alone relies on audience expectations, and a certain level of "predictability," to allow an immersive and enjoyable experience. Why wouldn't one want a level of "predictability" in art? We use it to (on some levels) escape reality... and the sheer justice-less-ness and tragic randomness of reality, is something I rather like to escape from myself.... | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
Is TS2 the one where they end up driving a car? I think I've seen half an hour of that before I got fed up with it and went upstairs to read instead. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 166.216.226.89 |
Of course. You ran upstairs to read Shakespeare. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.23.109.19 |
I liked the Toy Storys because they were funny and thrilling. And what the hell's wrong with that? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.18.174.156 |
Completely agree with that. They're funny, thrilling, beautiful to look at, filled with memorable characters, astonishingly multi-layered and genuinely profound modern day fairy-tales for all the family. Pixar, and the 'Toy Story' films in particular, are one of the few indisputably great things to have happened to cinema in the last 20 years. End of story. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.18.174.156 |
Whereas the lazy use of CGI effects and shoe-horning of perfectly good 2D films into the brain frazzling 3D format are what will mark this current era of cinema as the most artistically dull and unadventurous of the medium's history yet. Thank God for the few true innovators and craftsmen, like Pixar, that are left... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.35.236.200 |
I love the TS films, and Cars, and Finding Nemo, but Rattatouille and UP! are bloody awful, even if they look great. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
The TOY STORY films were indeed, funny and thrilling, to Gary's point - and to such a level of excellence, that that alone is a reason to treasure them. But.... (SPOILERS: ) If TOY STORY 3 wasn't doing enough in all these arenas, it does another: it makes a larger political point, simply and with perfect clarity, about the way this world's run; reiterating in fable form (like its sublime predecessor does in another famous "children's" fable, Animal Farm) how governments really operate, how they've always operated: through the pyramid of tyranny (the term "pyramid" is used explicitly in the film). And then, during the closing credits, you see (and it comes and goes very quickly) a "society" that's been transformed into a healthy, socialized system, where everyone shares in the burdens, pulling their weight (e.g., the sharing and team-effort that's arisen among the toys [since Woody & Co. left] shown in the toddler room at Sunnyside Daycare). While the tyrant gets his just desserts: the unredeemed Lotsa strapped to the mack truck for all eternity (good god, what a horror-genre-worthy ending!) And speaking of horror, that sequence in the toddler room, when the toys are brutally attacked and basically massacred, the camera whipping around madly to pick up each one's "gory" and horrific "death" - again, good lord, what a thing to foist upon the children! | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
Such adulation for such a by the numbers, template written film. Are we talking about the same film here? I can barely remember anything from the first film I found it so thrilling. I found it so funny I think I smiled weakly twice while it was on. From what people have said, the basic message of the first film seems to be "learn where your place in life is and stay there". Sounds like a good message to pass on to our kids. Ah well. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Weber, I think you kind of missed the point of the film. But that's understandable, if you only watched 20 minutes. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.158.61.68 |
The first one, I've seen in full even though I remember very little of it. the second one I've seen half an hour(ish) before I decided to do something worthwhile. I don't think the first is a BAD film. I just found it so average, I cannot understand why so much praise is lauded onto it. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
There is a passage in the Tao Te Ching.... "When fool hears Tao, he laughs greatly at it. If he did not laugh it would not deserve to be called Tao." | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
To quote myself: But where can any animated film go, after TOY STORY 3? What's left to say? To answer myself, it's apparently, and sadly.... http://youtu.be/ImYyzbbM-AY |