Puts this on my list of films to look out for. Just downloaded The Arbor yesterday having read a Guardian review of The Selfish Giant.
Brixton Ritzy - upcoming films, reviews and opinions
- Thread starter Gramsci
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Puts this on my list of films to look out for. Just downloaded The Arbor yesterday having read a Guardian review of The Selfish Giant.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Coming up at Ritzy is the African film festival. I went last year. Saw two very good films. African film is not well distributed in this country.
It hit or miss what I saw as none of the directors is known to me.
See here the website
It hit or miss what I saw as none of the directors is known to me.
See here the website
Frumious B.
Well-Known Member
Two intriguing directors' Q and As coming up. Seats still available:
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/Piercing_Brightness/
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/Dirty_Wars/
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/Piercing_Brightness/
http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/film/Dirty_Wars/
Interested in the second link. Didn't know about the film, am downloading it from TPB now.
sparkybird
ask the bird...
Just got back from seeing Philomena
Wow - amazing story (you couldn't make it up) and Judi Dench of course was fab and Alan Partridge (oops sorry Steve Coogan) I warmed to
Plenty of laughs too, I felt it didn't need them all. but overall it is a film that will stay with me for some time
Cinema was packed!
Wow - amazing story (you couldn't make it up) and Judi Dench of course was fab and Alan Partridge (oops sorry Steve Coogan) I warmed to
Plenty of laughs too, I felt it didn't need them all. but overall it is a film that will stay with me for some time
Cinema was packed!
I just watch this interview with Coogan and Sixsmith and am very keen to see this film.
Dexter Deadwood @DexterDeadwood9m
Steve Coogan and Martin Sixsmith on Philomena: 'It's got humanity without irony' - video interview http://gu.com/p/3k3k9/tw
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Saw "Gravity" today.
It does look good. I have reservations about 3D. You need to sit in right place to get best view of it. Also the slightly dark look to screen compared to 2D irritates me.
The story line is fairly simple. Will not give plot spoiler but some of the ideas are a bit obvious. This is not Tarkovsky or Kubrick. Trouble is that when I see sci fi films like this based around space they never match up to these two masters of cinema. Though this is best effort I have seen.
What it does do is give one a real feeling of being adrift in this hostile environment. I particularly like the spacecraft.
It does look good. I have reservations about 3D. You need to sit in right place to get best view of it. Also the slightly dark look to screen compared to 2D irritates me.
The story line is fairly simple. Will not give plot spoiler but some of the ideas are a bit obvious. This is not Tarkovsky or Kubrick. Trouble is that when I see sci fi films like this based around space they never match up to these two masters of cinema. Though this is best effort I have seen.
What it does do is give one a real feeling of being adrift in this hostile environment. I particularly like the spacecraft.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Ritzy are doing a showing of docs dealing with Nuclear power this weekend.
Brixton Hatter
Home is south London mate
i saw it too (not at the Ritzy) - I agree totally about the 3D, you need to be in the middle, fairly close to the screen to get the best 3D effect. And the glasses do make it a little darker. Agree re: the film too - pretty decent for a Hollywood offering. Good suspense sustained throughout.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Thanks for plugging this. I've booked for the freebie.
Interested in "The Good Reactor" but not £11.50 for a 20 minute preview!
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
A for Atom was excellent. Might have seen it before - it was made for the BBC in 1992. It explains a lot to me. Like why Germany and Japan are pulling out of nuclear now. They had obviously been sold on the commercial promises made by Westinghouse/General Electric back in the 1970s which proved to be reckless safety-wise even then.
The directors of the remaining films showing in this Nuclear Day are to be involved in a post-viewing discussion at 20.30 pm it seems (except for Adam Curtis who made A for Atom - he's busy filming apparently).
I would say that £20 for a day ticket is excellent value. If I wasn't knackered and unable to concentrate I would have gone for it. As I said earlier I am curious to know what this proposed safer Thorium alternative is all about and also why nobody is investing in it.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I was busy today so missed these docs.
I have seen doc on Thorium. Its safer than other nuclear fuels. Waste is safe after about 400 years instead of thousands. Is not useable for weapons.
There is argument that development of Thorium reactors was not heavily funded as governments post war were more interested in developing weapons grade nuclear fuels. ie power plants that could also supply weapons material during Cold War.
Effrasurfer
SW2 I Love You
I thought The Butler was very good, better than I was expecting. Best use I've seen of splicing documentary footage into the movie in a way that made you almost forget which was which. The movie sagged a tiny bit in the middle but was full of memorable moments. Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan was a strange thing to watch.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Ritzy are doing a charity screening on Saturday morning to raise money for the Philippines.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I saw last week. Still on at Ritzy. Doing well despite poor reviews.
Script is by the writer Cormac McCarthy.
I did hear one review by ex ICA director Ekow Eshun that was favourable. He reckoned most reviewers just did not get it. There is no back story for the characters he pointed out was a good thing. He also pointed out the you never know the name of the Counsellor. He is just called that throughout the film.
If Cormac meant the film to be a morality tale I did not see it as that. This film reminded me of some of the demented Asian extreme films. Its a nightmare look at modern day America. Money, greed and sex. There is a lot of sex.
Its nasty , unpleasant and possibly misogynist. Still not sure on that last one. If you see it you will have to come to your own conclusions on the car sex scene.
The film is shot in a garish style. But imo that fits the subject matter. Trashy and rich.
It is violent. But not that violent. The most chilling bits are when the characters talk about what may happen.
Also what is odd , in a good way , about it is that there are no plot surprises. You are basically told what is going to happen. Its all going to end badly. Very badly.
What also saves the film is the top notch actors in it. Cameron Diaz excels herself as the scary girlfriend of drug dealer Badem.
I liked the truck that carries the drugs from Mexico. Its going to make it to the US whatever happens. How many people get killed and double crossed the truck is going to US.
The film has religious tone. The Counsellor makes a Faustian pact. He keeps getting warned by the criminals not to do it. Cameron is from the dark side. As is shown in a scene where she goes to Church and scares the shits out of a priest.
Altogether an unpleasant viewing experience.
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Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Talking of demented Asian films the Ritzy is showing one of the best on Friday night "Battle Royale"
Makes "The Hunger Games" look like a vicars tea party.
Makes "The Hunger Games" look like a vicars tea party.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Saw this at Renoir today. Its on at Ritzy this week. I got the early cheap showing at Renoir. Such a nice cinema. Was getting irritated by Ritzy last couple of times I went. First time there was still popcorn everywhere from previous showing, next time it got cold.
At 3 hours you need to set aside half a day for this film. Its worth it. Its a love story. The fact that its between two women is not the point. Its the kind of film the French do well. Its about ordinary people. But its not patronizing nor is it banging you over the head with its politics. And it does contain politics. Its just the way it does it makes it seem a normal part of life. But I think this is also a difference in political culture. In France its perfectly normal to be on the left.
The length of the film works. After a while you settle into their world. Its engrossing. It refers to a novel several times near beginning. “La Vie de Marianne,” by the 18th-century author Pierre de Marivaux. A novel about love at first site and passion according to what is said in film. ( I had never heard about it). This film also shows two people falling for each other.
Its a film that gradually builds up to become a serious look at relationships between two people. Whilst there is a lot dialogue the film depends on the unspoken look. It allows the viewer to work out what is going on. Rather than being told. Two great performances from the leads.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
It's a decent film that keeps you guessing. And I like both actors. Not sure about the merits of 3d.
sparkybird
ask the bird...
Saw it last week and forgot to post so....
Surely this is what 3 D was made for? It felt integral to the film and not just an add on. You didn't feel like scenes were deliberately shot to as to show off the 3D effects. And it looked amazing on the screen.
Shame about the Hollywood style ending - it would have been much more powerful without it
BUT - still a must see
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I would like to see it at the IMAX. As the IMAX is designed for 3D. Converting existing cinemas is a compromise.
Agree about ending.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
"Leviathan" is on at Ritzy this week. Its a documentary about a fishing trawler.
Its not traditional doc. There is no voice-over or interviews. It is images and a soundtrack. This is best film I have seen for a long time in its pure use of image and sound. It immerses the viewer in the sea.
I was Q&A with the makers of the film. In reply to the questions the film makers said that it could be read in different ways. There is no right or wrong meaning to take. Some see it as aesthetic experience ( which I did) and other see it as ecological film.
I like the fact that the film was open ended in this way.
The 2 film makers are anthropologists. This film is observational and they used to cameras to get viewpoints of the fishermen. So I can see the influence of a kind of anthropology which does not read meaning into peoples actions. But tries to observe them in there own environment without bringing any pre judgement on there activity.
Most of the cameras broke except for GoPro cameras. Which are small and designed for sports. Definitely a good buy as tested in these tough conditions.
The cameras also picked up sound. Which the two film makers got a sound engineer to put together with the film footage. Great sound track works with the images.
If you want to see something that is not run of the mill this definitely is a must see.
I saw this film as a crossover between documentary and art film. Pity there is not more of this. Its what cinema was made for.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Parsifal - live relay from Covent Garden
I feel moved to provide "feedback" on the Royal Opera House live relay of Parsifal on 18th December
Not having been to one of these cultural events before, I was provoked by the BBC Radio 3 relay from Covent Garden last Wednesday. The description of action in an intensive care unit made me very curious.
I must say I was not disappointed.
There are two issues here. One is how adequately the live relay reproduced the experience in the Opera House. There I am slightly at a loss, since I have never seen Parsifal live in an opera house. I did see a live concert performance at the Proms on 25th August by a strong cast with the Halle Orchestra conducted by Mark Elder. This was sonically stunning.
The Ritzy/microwave link could not compete with the live Albert Hall sound - but the live broadcasting of the opera as sung/acted on stage was very much more emotionally intense than the concert performance.
I had issues with some of the staging - which paganised what is clearly (to me) Christian iconography of the Holy Grail inherited from mediaeval romances.
Nevertheless as a first-time user as it were of the Ritzy's live relay service I would feel much more confident in booking for a future operatic treat such as Don Giovanni - due up in February apparently.
I feel moved to provide "feedback" on the Royal Opera House live relay of Parsifal on 18th December
Not having been to one of these cultural events before, I was provoked by the BBC Radio 3 relay from Covent Garden last Wednesday. The description of action in an intensive care unit made me very curious.
I must say I was not disappointed.
There are two issues here. One is how adequately the live relay reproduced the experience in the Opera House. There I am slightly at a loss, since I have never seen Parsifal live in an opera house. I did see a live concert performance at the Proms on 25th August by a strong cast with the Halle Orchestra conducted by Mark Elder. This was sonically stunning.
The Ritzy/microwave link could not compete with the live Albert Hall sound - but the live broadcasting of the opera as sung/acted on stage was very much more emotionally intense than the concert performance.
I had issues with some of the staging - which paganised what is clearly (to me) Christian iconography of the Holy Grail inherited from mediaeval romances.
Nevertheless as a first-time user as it were of the Ritzy's live relay service I would feel much more confident in booking for a future operatic treat such as Don Giovanni - due up in February apparently.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Wagner relationship with Christianity is interesting. He lived in a period of revolution and criticism of religion. By building his own Opera House at Bayreuth to stage his work anywhere else is in some ways second best. He regarded the high point of art to be Gesamtkunstwerk("total work of art"). In a way its supposed to provide cultural and spiritual experience which replaces traditional religion.
BBC radio 3 had series of short talks about the influence of philosophy on his work. Ending with a critique of his work by Adorno ( have not listened to that one yet).
They are online here
Well worth a listen.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Saw the Ring cycle once. More than epic.
Surprised Winot has not pointed out he went to this Parsifal, and sat next to a leading politician!
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
I did!
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
Saw this too (nephew is in the Halle Youth Choir) and it was great. Didn't think I'd like Wagner much but I loved the warm sound of the brass.
I only looked on here to see if anyone had reviewed Blue Is The Warmest Colour! Thanks for the review Gramsci - and for the mention of it being three hours long!
We were going to go tomorrow night (to the Ritzy) but I don't think my other half will manage three hours after a 1.5. hour drive home.
Might go Sunday.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Doh. I'll blame Tapatalk
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Sorry, I meant that I did sit next to a leading politician, not that I did divulge it on U75. But now you've outed me, yes (stands up) my name is Winot and I sat next to Michael Gove at the opera.
*awaits expulsion*
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
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