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Brixton Ritzy - upcoming films, reviews and opinions

secateurz said:
have you seen Killer Joe? now that for me was a much better Southern shocker!
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Killer Joe was another well made film. Left me a bit cold. But I think that was part of the intention. Better in the way it was a more straightforward film. More like a horror film.
 
The second Argentinian Film Festival starts at the Ritzy this coming weekend. I went to the first one. The films I saw were very good. Due to its success this one is on at more cinemas. As is usual most of these film will not be released here.

Here is website
 
Saw the "Late Quartet". Still on at Ritzy

I highly recommend that people catch this film in the cinema.

As the title says its about a Quartet.The dynamics of the relationships are upset when they suddenly have to find a new member. This film, like the recent, Haneke "Amour", deals with ageing and loss. Its also about how life is art. This is not a high brow poncy film. The film discusses what life is about. Amidst all the little power struggles and sexual entanglements the music is what grounds these four people ( plus the young student). The film is uplifting despite its sadness and loss. I would say its a radical film. In this time of cuts where the arts are denigrated its important to place art at the centre of life. Not at the edge as some form for "Cultural and Creative industry" that is tolerated if it furthers the GDP.

Nor does the film say that there are petty squabbles and a "higher life". No the passion of the music is the passion of the whole person. Something the film goes into in the relationship between the first and second violin.

Christopher Walken as the mainstay of the quartet is a revelation. What an actor. He rises to the challenge of this part. As he does in the fictional story.

Also it was good to see a film that had a mix of ages. I must say mainly older at the screening I went to. But the film is not really aimed at one particular age group. Its commented in the film that the quartet are of radically different ages. So the film is also making a statement about how people of different ages can relate to each other. An important point in a society like ours which tends to get stratified into different groupings.

The music is wondeful. I do not know how the director managed to get the actors to make it look like they were actually playing. But its flawless.
 
DJWrongspeed said:
Caught Place Beyond the Pines yesterday. Not bad if a little sprawling. Felt like 3hrs+ even though it was 2hrs 20. Anyway £5 ticket in the afternoon on screen 1 was a bargain. No disturbing audience members :cool:
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I did think his first film "Blue Valentine" was better. This film had that feeling that he wanted to make a big statement type film. Whereas Blue Valentine worked well as a "small" film. If u see what I mean.

Also felt that the female characters in Place beyond the Pines were incidental to the story. Which was a bit disappointing. This was a film about men. Fathers and sons. As though relationships between mothers and sons were not that important.

Also it came across as bit as an add for "Families need (biological) fathers".
 
I went to see Spring Breakers this afternoon. It's clearly trying to be an arty film, but frankly it wasn't. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but it was trying to dress up sex, drugs, pretty girls and violence as something it really wasn't. I thought it was enjoyable escapism and that's about it. First film I've seen that was a reasonable 90 minutes for a while too :D Probably just as well as I think it would have got dull if it was another half hour longer.

Also saw the advert for the new Almodovar film which looks ace so will try and see that soon :cool:
 
nipsla - i saw the trailer for that.... I was tempted to go purely on the premise that it was reasonably short, but it seemed quite clearly a film for watching semi-naked Hollywood startlets prance about - probably with quite a catchy soundtrack. Very very rarely get to the cinema these days but can always find time for an Almodovar...
 
gaijingirl said:
nipsla - i saw the trailer for that.... I was tempted to go purely on the premise that it was reasonably short, but it seemed quite clearly a film for watching semi-naked Hollywood startlets prance about - probably with quite a catchy soundtrack. Very very rarely get to the cinema these days but can always find time for an Almodovar...
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Tbh that was pretty much what it was. I know the director's got a bit of a rep as a Hollywood badboy but it was semi exploitation guff which was moderately enjoyable.

I'm not a massive fan of Almodovar (purely cos I struggle with subtitled films :oops:) but it looks really good. I think the UK premier's at the Ritzy actually :)
 
Just seem The Place Beyond the Pines and agree - it was waaaaay too long. (Feel like I have the cinema equivalent of bed sores!)

Didn't really feel that you got to know much about the characters even in 2 1/2 hours... And the most interesting (potentially) one was the cop/lawyers young son

And Ryan Gosling is just doesn't look like a convincing baddie even with loads of tats

On the plus side, saw the trailer for the Paul Raymond film which looked like a hoot
 
Anyone seen "Rebellion" by the director of "La Haine"? I was going to see it today as its said to be a return to form by this director. But been a bit tied up with other things.

Also interested in the subject which is French colonialism.
 
On a lighter note I saw Pedro Almodovar new film "Im So Excited" at Ritzy.

It is very good. Effortless is the word I would use. At one level its a light comedy. Its also a satire on todays Spain.

An airliner going around in circles above Spain trying to find somewhere to land. The economy class are drugged up to keep them quiet. The Spanish wealthy live it up in the business class. A banker on the run, a women who has comprimising videos of the 600 most wealthy and powerful men in Spain.

An intelligent comedy is how I would put it.

Trailer makes it out to be very camp. The trailer put me off but when you see whole film it works.

Also some swipes at relations between Spanish and there Spanish speaking South American cousins. Which I would like to know if are general.

Not much on new at Ritzy this week that interested me except this. Well worth seeing.
 
Has anyone seen the Look of Love? Am thinking of going to watch either that or I'm So Excited tomorrow and cant decide on which (unless I do a Bank Holiday double).
 
Do go and see Bernie - was the best film I've seen in a while (although this is also because I've been a bit disappointed recently with the films I've seen...)

Jack Black is very good as the character. Funny, sad and thoughtful all at the same time.

It's based on a true story, set in a small Texan town, of a funeral director who befriended a rich old widow (Shirley McLaine) and then ended up killing her as she was so nasty and controlling. The townspeople couldn't believe he would ever do such a thing and so his trial got moved outside the county

The views of the townspeople are hilarious at some points!

Not heard great things about the Almovodar film, but on the basis of Gramsci's review will check it out as I am a fan
 
sparkybird said:
Not heard great things about the Almovodar film, but on the basis of Gramsci's review will check it out as I am a fan
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Found this in the Torygraph. He talks about film. Here its marketed as a comedy. In Spain some of the references to present day Spain are clear. Some topical references would not be so obvious to non Spanish audience. I did not know about the airports or the King. Nor did I know his support for the victims of the recession. ( and Javiers) Almovodar says:



The plane has departed from Madrid on its way to Mexico City, but has developed a fault and is circling Toledo, waiting for another airport’s runway to become available. “The passengers are going around in circles, they don’t know where they’re going to land or how they’re going to land. And in real life we don’t know how we’re going to get out of this [economic depression], who will be in command, what the risks are and how dangerous it is. For the Spanish people it’s a very clear metaphor for society.”
There are other topical touches – a joke about the king’s supposed lovers; a reference in a newspaper headline to “Top 10 political scandals”; a passenger who is a bank president, fleeing from a scandal involving embezzlement. All the action takes place in business class; economy passengers are sound asleep, drugged on the pilots’ orders, thus having no say in what happens to the plane.
Even the difficulty in finding the plane an airport to land has real-life echoes: many of Spain’s recently built airports are unprofitable “white elephants”, and one, Ciudad Real in the province of La Mancha, where Almodóvar grew up, closed down last year after four disastrous years. The director used Ciudad Real (a “ghost airport”, he calls it) as a location for the film’s final scenes.
All this subtext is crucial for him – he is a vociferous critic of the centre-Right People’s Party that governs Spain. He has spoken out against banks evicting people from their homes. He has allied himself with demonstrators who have taken to the streets in several Spanish cities against politicians “selling out” to corporate and banking interests. And he has voiced his support for 15-M, a youth protest movement disenchanted with all political parties.
“The government hates me for it,” he says ruefully but with a sly grin. “Public Enemy number one is Javier Bardém and the second is me. We’re the bêtes noires of Spain for the government. Maybe I’m number one right now because I’ve just released this movie, but Javier was bigger when Skyfall opened because it was his moment to talk. At the premiere on opening night, he went over and talked to the [anti-government] protesters. I admire Javier. He resolves the situation of being a star and a citizen at the same time.”
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I went to see it yesterday and thought it was excellent. The satirical nods to the issues facing the Spanish economy and society at the moment were excellent. Very funny and camp as well. First one of his films I've seen and thoroughly enjoyable. The main reason for not seeing them before is I don't watch subtitled films at home cos my telly is small and I need new glasses :oops: and I always seem to miss them at the cinema. Anyway, would definitely recommend.
 
sparkybird said:
Do go and see Bernie - was the best film I've seen in a while (although this is also because I've been a bit disappointed recently with the films I've seen...)
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ah.. this is annoying.. we went to see Oblivion as it had slightly better babysitting-related timing than Bernie... anyway, I thought it was pretty weak. Wish we'd seen Bernie now. :(
 
Went to see the Danish film "A Hijacking" about Somali pirates taking a ships crew hostage. The film is not about the actual hikack but the tense negotiations to between the Danish company and the Hijackers.

Rather relevant to me at moment.:D

This is excellent, no heroics and shows how in present world everything comes down to money. There is no black and white moral distinctions. Both the Danish CEO and the pirates negotiator are businessmen. Both want to get the job done.

Only slight disappointment is that the film has the look of a made for TV film. It is very good but you could watch it on TV.
 
New Star Trek film is old school Star Trek.That is a compliment.

Humour and a good storyline. It critiques the "War on Terror". So like the best of the old Star Trek deals with issues in the present world.

Looks good as well in 3D.

The baddie is excellent. But not new. I thought I recognised the name
 
I see the Ritzy has a lot of animation on this weekend. A couple of Japanese and also animation shorts.

I saw Assayas new film "Apres Mai". For some reason in UK called "Something in the Air" at Ritzy. Not on this weekend. Another film about beautiful French youth in the turbulent 60s/70s.

There have been several recently. "Dreamers" By Bertolucci for example.

This is beautifully shot. It is very French. It is not a film that could be made here. We have completely different political culture. So I know I have to let myself get immersed in a film like this. Which does work. The film follows them from school to young adulthood. It is easy to make fun of the hippy politics and mysticism now. But the film catches the almost innocent earnestness of the times.Its not uncritical of them either. Whilst expounding on revolution they are separated from the workers.

The main character is clearly based on the director. He gravitates between art and political commitment. Never able to harmonise them together. A bit like the film itself. Which is not a criticism but an observation. So perhaps its a lifelong tension in Assayas that he is putting on film?

However it is just one view of the 60s. It assume that one knows the background.

For that you need to see William Kleins doc on the events of 68. He was living in Paris so just took his camera out and filmed it. A great documentary. It is on DVD. I saw it at the Tate a while back. Remembered it when I saw this film
 
Hey all!

Have been away and missed soooo much cinema!

Anyway, please go and see Beyond the Candelabra - Douglas, Damon and Lowe all give great performances.
The trailer was a bit camp and funny, but it's a pretty sad film, although very entertaining
 
The Act of Killing

I saw this at the BFI today on screen one.

It is coming to Ritzy from 28th June.

The opening night will show the extended version 159 mins ( the version I saw at BFI) with Q&A with director.

Thought I would flag this up now as its a must see on the big screen.

It is the best film I have seen for ages. Riveting if gruesome viewing.

It is a documentary about those who killed communists during military rule in Indonesia. The military encouraged local gangsters to kill communists.

The director got a few of these now old men who were killers to talk. These killers have never been punished. In fact they are publicly lauded for there actions even now. So they were very open about how they killed people.

The two gangsters the director focuses on were smalltime hoods who used to sell tickets at the local cinema. One of them loved films. Particularly Hollywood. So the director got them to re enact there murders by using scenarios from films they liked. Musicals, Cowboy, gangster and police films.

The film starts turning into a surreal nightmare that one cannot get out of. But that is the position of the main "gangster" in the film. He , whilst hating the communists, confesses he still has nightmares about what he did.

Using scenarios from fictional film genres provides a way to show what happened. Its like film is a distancing technique.

The documentary makes one question film as well.

They discuss at one point a famous Indonesian propaganda film , still shown , that is about how terrible communists are supposed to be. The main killer in the film said watching that film always made him feel better about what he did. Even though he knows its a blatant piece of propaganda.

There is something particularly scary about watching someone direct a scene of an interrogation and killing of an alleged communist who is a killer.

Some of the most amazing bits are when the killers talk amongst themselves about how the cope with the memories they still have of what they did.

It does show how relatively ordinary people can end up doing monstrous things.

At one point it reminded me of the history of the holocaust I read a while back. The Germans found it difficult to kill lots of people in cold blood so developed less bloody ways of doing it. So did the Indonesian killers.
 
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