Films you have seen at the cinema 2024

[Nanker Phelge]

I saw the first Episode of a new BBC drama, This Town, at the BFI last night. It was a preview with cast and writer Q&A.


There's been a lot of talk about it being about the time of 2 Tone and the music scene around coventry and Birmingham, and thankfully it wasn't that all. It was a much more interesting drama about young people who form a band in the Midlands in 1981. Not a 2 tone tune to be heard, but plenty of great reggae, and some rounded characters who are not cardboard skins and punks etc. I enjoyed the first one, but it had no band stuff or any of the 'original' music with lyrics by Kate Tempest; that could bring a whole level of rubbish. Not sure when it airs officially on the BBC. For now, I only have positive things to say about it.

 

[metalguru]

The Red Shoes last Wednesday as part of a Powell and Pressburger season at the local cinema. Lusciously shot in Technicolor and while I know nothing about ballet, the ballet of the red shoes sequence was very impressive as a spectacle.

I've never seen The Red Shoes but it's got mythic status for me as I once saw Steve Woolley (co-founded the Scala Cinema and became a film producer ) say he went into business with someone to start a cinema and video distribution company because they met as the only 2 people in an afternoon showing of The Red Shoes.

 

[surreybrowncap]

I've never seen The Red Shoes but it's got mythic status for me as I once saw Steve Woolley (co-founded the Scala Cinema and became a film producer ) say he went into business with someone to start a cinema and video distribution company because they met as the only 2 people in an afternoon showing of The Red Shoes.

Currently available on BBC iPlayer if you are interested.
Well worth seeing....

 

[Dr. Furface]

I went to see Perfect Days yesterday, I had quite fancied seeing it and your comment Sue, about how it reminded you of Paterson, clinched it for me I loved that film!

I can see it might not appeal to everyone but I really enjoyed it, it's very Zen - the repetitive things, taking pride in your work, appreciating nature etc.
They sure have some unusual designs of toilets in Tokyo don't they?!

I went to a preview screening of it at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago, and at the end Wim Wenders and lead actor Koji Yakusho came on stage and did a Q&A. One thing Wenders revealed was that he was originally invited to do three short films about the toilets, but then he suggested doing a full length film about them with a connecting story, so that's what they did.

I haven't been to any of those loos in the film but I really miss Japanese toilets (esp the 'washlets') after I've come back from there, they're fab - always work, always clean, and always free!

Loved the film, like you say, very zen.

 

[blossie33]

I went to a preview screening of it at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago, and at the end Wim Wenders and lead actor Koji Yakusho came on stage and did a Q&A. One thing Wenders revealed was that he was originally invited to do three short films about the toilets, but then he suggested doing a full length film about them with a connecting story, so that's what they did.

I haven't been to any of those loos in the film but I really miss Japanese toilets (esp the 'washlets') after I've come back from there, they're fab - always work, always clean, and always free!

Loved the film, like you say, very zen.

Thanks, that's really interesting!
I bet the Q&A was great, I was wondering why Wim Wenders came to co produce a Japanese film.

 

[surreybrowncap]

Thanks, that's really interesting!
I bet the Q&A was great, I was wondering why Wim Wenders came to co produce a Japanese film.

I was listening the other day to BBC's Front Row and an interview with Wenders
Apparently he had been invited to Japan to look at the newly designed toilets
Possibly make short documentaries on the architecture and the designers responsible for them..
Ideas developed for a feature film...
More detail here..

How Japan’s “Heartbreakingly Beautiful” Loos Inspired Wim Wenders’ New Film

Perfect Days: The German auteur discusses the origins of his new film and the influence of Japanese film and culture on his work

www.anothermag.com

 

[blossie33]

Thanks surreybrowncap I can now see why the toilets are such amazing designs!

 

[surreybrowncap]

Thanks surreybrowncap I can now see why the toilets are such amazing designs!

They really are - not sure I'd feel relaxed using their transparent glass ones though!

 

[blossie33]

They really are - not sure I'd feel relaxed using their transparent glass ones though!

No, I thought that too

 

[Elpenor]

Another Powell and Pressburger film, I Know Where I’m Going. I had seen this before but always worth catching a classic on the big screen

Contains one of my favourite quotes

• Torquil MacNeil: She wouldn't see a pound note from one pensions day to another.
• Joan Webster: People around here are very poor I suppose.
• Torquil MacNeil: Not poor, they just haven't got money.
• Joan Webster: It's the same thing.
• Torquil MacNeil: Oh no, it's something quite different.

Gave a little inward cheer when the spaniels were in shot too

 

[Sue]

I went to a preview screening of it at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago, and at the end Wim Wenders and lead actor Koji Yakusho came on stage and did a Q&A. One thing Wenders revealed was that he was originally invited to do three short films about the toilets, but then he suggested doing a full length film about them with a connecting story, so that's what they did.

I haven't been to any of those loos in the film but I really miss Japanese toilets (esp the 'washlets') after I've come back from there, they're fab - always work, always clean, and always free!

Loved the film, like you say, very zen.

Love the toilets, be meh about the film. ;-).

 

[Elpenor]

Dune part 2. Have to say it was a bit meh with me as it’s not really my type of film. Quite fun to look at though and I can see that’s it’s a good example of it’s kind.

One thing that I kept coming back to was it felt poorly edited - as an example Paul is sent to walk to a desert ridge as part of his training; Chani comes to join him and they do some sand gliding or whatever is. the next scene he’s back at camp with the fremen gang, the desert ridge walk is never mentioned again. There were a few more scenes like this where it felt like I saw a beginning but not a middle or an end, or only a middle, or just an end. It just felt a bit disjointed.

Perhaps I had forgotten things from the first film which didn’t help. I probably won’t see any of the inevitable sequels

 

[Sue]

There's a Taviani brothers season on at the BFI at the moment. As Paolo Taviani died a couple of days ago, it felt quite fitting to be seeing a few of theirs today.

The Night of the Shooting Stars. In WW2 Tuscany, a group of peasants escape their village and try to head towards the American army, while avoiding German forces and their own homegrown fascists.

I thought this was great. Beautiful to look at, funny in places and very moving.

Good Morning, Babylon. Two brothers leave Italy and end up building sets in pre-sound Hollywood. (With Charles Dance randomly playing DW Griffiths.) Not much plot and lighter/less political than the other of their films I've seen but an interesting enough way to spend a couple of hours.

The Lark Farm. Drama following an Armenian family in Turkey during the genocide, focusing mainly on the forced march of the women and girls to Aleppo.

Very good but, unsurprisingly given its subject matter, an extremely hard watch. I feel kind of like I did after watching Come and See. So recommended, if traumatic.

 

[thismoment]

Peppa Pig - twice. Rainy half term was the worst

 

[Sue]

Dune Part 2. It looks great but found bits of it pretty confusing (and I rewatched part 1 a few weeks ago too) and agree with Elpenor about the weird editing -- the whole desert walk to see if he survives thing then into a battle scene was plain weird. (They really should've cut that whole bit.)

I think the first part was much better tbh. And Florence Pugh is way underused yet again. (Javier Bardem is excellent though I thought.)

Spoiler

Also didn't get how wallowing in the bath bloke was Paul's father?!

 

[marty21]

Seem to have fallen out of the habit of going to the cinema, but did manage to see something this afternoon

American Fiction

Loved it , this sort of stuff will get my bum on cinema seats a lot more . Funny , moving , very clever , very meta .

 

[Elpenor]

Dune Part 2. It looks great but found bits of it pretty confusing (and I rewatched part 1 a few weeks ago too) and agree with Elpenor about the weird editing -- the whole desert walk to see if he survives thing then into a battle scene was plain weird. (They really should've cut that whole bit.)

I think the first part was much better tbh. And Florence Pugh is way underused yet again. (Javier Bardem is excellent though I thought.)

Spoiler

Also didn't get how wallowing in the bath bloke was Paul's father?!

Spoiler

I think he was actually his grandfather

Was reflecting earlier I don’t think I know much about Paul and Chani as characters. They’re not really developed in this film at all.

 

[Sue]

Spoiler

I think he was actually his grandfather

Okay but still...?

Was reflecting earlier I don’t think I know much about Paul and Chani as characters. They’re not really developed in this film at all.

Agree. Guess it's more about the spectacle than the character development. And it certainly looks pretty spectacular.

 

[kalidarkone]

Okay but still...?

Spoiler: Spoiler

When Paul drinks the water of life he is able to see his bloodline and becomes aware that the Baron is his mothers father, a fact that she was unaware of until she too drank the water of life

 

[kalidarkone]

I saw Dune part 2 today and absolutely loved it!

 

[brogdale]

I went to a preview screening of it at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago, and at the end Wim Wenders and lead actor Koji Yakusho came on stage and did a Q&A. One thing Wenders revealed was that he was originally invited to do three short films about the toilets, but then he suggested doing a full length film about them with a connecting story, so that's what they did.

I haven't been to any of those loos in the film but I really miss Japanese toilets (esp the 'washlets') after I've come back from there, they're fab - always work, always clean, and always free!

Loved the film, like you say, very zen.

Saw the film at WeNo Picture House today and feel all the better for having done so; loved every minute and wished it could have been longer. Like many, I expect, when I got home I just had to play some of my old cassettes.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Just got back from Lonely Castle in the Mirror at our local indy.

Loved it. Quite sad in places.
Angel Household Rating = 8/10 creepy girls in wolf masks

Screening as part of: The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024: "Unforgettable: Memories, Times and Reflections in Japanese Cinema"
A brand new Japanese animation from the director of Miss Hokusai, and based on the best-selling novel. A group of students become mysteriously transported to an enchanting castle, where they must play a game to find a hidden key in return for any wish they desire, a game that is ultimately one of life and death.
Kokoro is a middle school student who confines herself to her room after losing her place at school due to bullying. One day, she notices her room’s mirror start to glow, transporting her to a mysterious castle. There, she encounters six other children of a similar age, all facing struggles in their lives. In the castle, a mysterious girl wearing a wolf mask known as Okami-sama offers them a task: locate a hidden key within the castle, and she will grant any wish. Will the children succeed? What secrets lie hidden in their hearts? As the mysteries unravel, they are in for a miraculous revelation.
An adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same title by Tsujimura Mizuki.
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (With English subtitles)

 

[Elpenor]

The Persian Versian

Lots of time shifts in this family based story of post Iranian revolution immigrants into America jumping to the 80s, 90s and 00s. Story of the only daughter who has eight brothers and about the cultural challenges of being an immigrant. Quite jarring editing, almost hyperactive and it felt inspired by fleabag with the constant breaking of the third wall. Comedy a bit broad (jokes about using the back door before marriage). Think this would have been better as a tv series in its style. Not my thing really but the ticket was a quid so worth a punt.

Quite a fun Bollywood style dream sequence dance routine to Cyndi Laupers “girls just wanna have fun”.

Soundtrack had a missed opportunity - should have included I Ran by A Flock of Seagulls

 

[metalguru]

The Romanian film Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World that's getting 5 star reviews.

I found it overlong, crude and tiresome and it features my one of my pet hates (more on that in the spoiler )

Spoiler

To quote from the Timeout review: the film features "a TikTok character called Bobita (Manolache’s own lockdown creation), a wildly offensive Andrew Tate-like caricature, complete with bald head and bushy monobrow filter, whose misogynistic rants are dressed up in the language of a free speech warrior. ‘I’m like Charlie Hebdo, sucker,’ sneers Bobita. It’s funny because Angela doesn’t mean any of it "

I'm so sick of offensive material that's "funny because x doesn't mean any of it"
/SPOILER]

 

[Sue]

Wicked Little Letters. In 1920s Littlehampton, repressed Olivia Colman accuses free-spirited but foul-mouthed neighbour, Jessie Buckley, of sending her poison pen letters. Broadish comedy with lots of good actors in small parts (Colman and Buckley are good and Timothy Spall does controlling and abusive surprisingly well.) It's a Film 4 thing so I'd probably wait till this is on TV if you haven't seen it yet. (It's also made me realise I really need to up my swearing skills. )

Copa 71. Documentary about the first ever women's football World Cup in Mexico. Some of the women who were there talk about their experiences before, during and afterwards and there's lots of contemporary footage. Unsurprisingly, FIFA and the national football associations don't come out of it well. I'm absolutely not a football fan but I thought this was excellent, completely gripping with a hugely frustrating and depressing aftermath. (I was speaking to the youngish woman sitting next to me afterwards and she wasn't into football either but also rated it.)

I saw it in a small screen and there were maybe 25 people there, all women (apart from a solitary man who was with a woman). It's had very good reviews and the last football documentary I saw -- the Maradona in Naples one -- had a pretty gender balanced audience. It feels kind of depressing that the men (in the screening I was at anyway) just didn't turn up for this?

 

[Rob Ray]

Dune part 2. Have to say it was a bit meh with me as it’s not really my type of film. Quite fun to look at though and I can see that’s it’s a good example of it’s kind.

Dune very much is my jam and there's still a bit of meh in it. I thought the IGN review actually captures it quite well. It's a recurring problem I have with Villeneuve's work, he's so preoccupied with BEING EPIC that he loses the human element - I like a bit of wow factor, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure why I'm expected to care about Mr "I'm so conflicted, oh actually sod it let's get this genocide started guy!" .

 

[Guineveretoo]

I went to see Vanya with Andrew Scott. It was astonishing and amazing and I loved it!

I think he’s one of the best actors alive.

It’s based on the story of Uncle Vanya by Chekhov, but I didn’t know that story when I went.

It’s just him on stage. But it’s not - it’s a stage that’s full of people.

If it’s still on - it’s a limited run - please go and see it so I can talk to people about it!

 

[Elpenor]

Yesterday I saw Monster, quite thought provoking for me; with a Rashomon style structure. Quite a compelling film, the friendship of two young japanese boys develops and our view of things change we see the story told from the different perspectives. As someone who worked for a Japanese company for five years the concept of there being two faces - public and private - is resonant. A couple of stand out shots of the boys together were quite magical.

Tonight it was Drive Away Dolls. One of the Coen’s (forget which one) has made a lesbian road movie with his wife (and editor on much of their previous output) set in the 90s, our heroines are pursued by somewhat dysfunctional hoodlums. Felt very much in the style of the Fargo TV series except with more dildos. Laugh out loud funny at times, and not afraid to send up the genre cliches from this sort of film. Also a film not afraid to have an 83 minute running time, it tells the story it has to tell and then its done.

 

[Mattym]

In celebration of St Patrick's Day, Crock of Gold: A few rounds with Shane MacGowan.
Perfectly fitting for the occasion. Never seen it before.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Wicked Little Letters - Carry on RADA.