List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2013

[Dr. Furface]

If Zero Dark Thirty is an accurate representation of events it shows the hunt for Bin Laden is either was a long slow haul which needed a bit of luck or a resource starved low priority run by a bunch of amateurs. They were hardly the Wire's Lestor Freeman and nor were Al-Quaeda even as sophisticated as a Balimore drug gang.

Heh! It clearly was a long slow process but apart from that I doubt that the film was very realistic in terms of the detail (apart from maybe the closing scenes). Jessica Chastain put in a good performance but I don't for one second believe events happened much like they're shown in the film, with her almost single-handedly chasing the bad guy down. But I'm prepared to accept that it would've been a very difficult task gathering the quality of intelligence they were prepared to act on, and in that respect for me the film succeeded.

 

[youngian]

At the risk of pointing out the obvious but the drug gangs in The Wire were right under the cops' noses, while finding Bin Laden hiding in one of several possible countries was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Thinking about it I'm might retract my earlier thoughts because wasn't the earlier part of the film trying to convey they were just lashing out and peeing in the wind with the rendition policies and getting nowhere. The point when the new Whitehouse representative (Tony Soprano) was around 2010 and it was the beginning of a more focused tactical FBI type of invesitgation which of taken little over a year.

 

[Dr. Furface]

Thinking about it I'm might retract my earlier thoughts because wasn't the earlier part of the film trying to convey they were just lashing out and peeing in the wind with the rendition policies and getting nowhere. The point when the new Whitehouse representative (Tony Soprano) was around 2010 and it was the beginning of a more focused tactical FBI type of invesitgation which of taken little over a year.

That's more like it. The jihadists gave them nothing - they couldn't beat it out of them or buy it from them. But after 8 years of failure and frustration - which cost the USG god knows how many billion$ and much international outrage - for the price of a Lamborghini they finally got their man.

 

[redsquirrel]

Zero Dark Thirty - as a piece of film-making I was impressed by it. It's not quite as tight as The Hurt Locker and there are some flaws (it's too long, I can't believe anybody would get away with talking to there bosses like that and why would they fly her out to Afganistan just to make a visual inspection of the body, loads of other people could have done that) but it has some excellent moments and the last half hour is tense as hell. Chastin's performance is ok but some of the supporting cast are brilliant, Mark Strong is great, as usual, and it's absolutely wonderful to see Jennifer Ehle in even a role this large these days (though if I'd been casting it I'd have given the lead).

Politically, I found it absolutely repugnant. Not so much due to the torture issue that has been in news but US patriotism and the utter idolisation of the CIA I found hard to take. Worse still was the justifications for the Iraq invasion, utterly vile.

 

[Reno]

Zero Dark Thirty - as a piece of film-making I was impressed by it. It's not quite as tight as The Hurt Locker and there are some flaws (it's too long, I can't believe anybody would get away with talking to there bosses like that and why would they fly her out to Afganistan just to make a visual inspection of the body, loads of other people could have done that) but it has some excellent moments and the last half hour is tense as hell. Chastin's performance is ok but some of the supporting cast are brilliant, Mark Strong is great, as usual, and it's absolutely wonderful to see Jennifer Ehle in even a role this large these days (though if I'd been casting it I'd have given the lead).

Politically, I found it absolutely repugnant. Not so much due to the torture issue that has been in news but US patriotism and the utter idolisation of the CIA I found hard to take. Worse still was the justifications for the Iraq invasion, utterly vile.

"Repugnant" is taking it a little bit far, there were enough ambiguities and the film to make it merely "questionable" for me.

Agree with you on the casting, Chastain pre-raphelite beauty seems at odds with the role. She is just too movie star glamorous and Ehle comes across as more believable as an actual human being.

 

[youngian]

Politically, I found it absolutely repugnant. Not so much due to the torture issue that has been in news but US patriotism and the utter idolisation of the CIA I found hard to take. Worse still was the justifications for the Iraq invasion, utterly vile.

I didn't take any of that away from the film, if anything the CIA were portrayed as lashing out and getting nowhere.

 

[redsquirrel]

But they got their man in the end, and quite clearly they were the good guys, their crimes were completely whitewashed.

 

[Thimble Queen]

Life of Pi. Looked great, worth watching in 3D... Read the book a few years ago so it was quite nice to revisit the story

 

[belboid]

49th Parallel

The third Powell & Pressburger movie, another I'd never seen at the pics before, and one that had never grabbed me before either. It's possibly the P&P with the least characterisation (everyone plays 'types' rather than people) and the least sense of place - they'd fairly obviously never been to Canada before, and it just didn't come across as well as it should have.

That said, I did enjoy it more than I thought I would, some great bits, especially the Anton Walbrook speech. the fact that the film broke twice didn't even spoil my enjoyment too much.

 

[8115]

Lincoln. 3 hours of my life I'll never get back.

 

[redsquirrel]

49th Parallel

The third Powell & Pressburger movie, another I'd never seen at the pics before, and one that had never grabbed me before either. It's possibly the P&P with the least characterisation (everyone plays 'types' rather than people) and the least sense of place - they'd fairly obviously never been to Canada before, and it just didn't come across as well as it should have.

That said, I did enjoy it more than I thought I would, some great bits, especially the Anton Walbrook speech. the fact that the film broke twice didn't even spoil my enjoyment too much.

Great cameo from Olivier too

 

[belboid]

Great cameo from Olivier too

Fuck off it is! Him n Leslie are a large part of why I always disliked it. Each bit has its charm, but overall, it's an above average propaganda movie, but not really much more.

 

[Sweaty Betty]

I think the last time i made it to the cinema was vanilla sky!

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Seven Psychopaths, fucking great film. Django Unchained was pretty fucking good too.

 

[redsquirrel]

Fuck off it is! Him n Leslie are a large part of why I always disliked it. Each bit has its charm, but overall, it's an above average propaganda movie, but not really much more.

Oh come on how can you not love that great French accent

 

[magneze]

Lincoln
First hour is pretty ropey but the rest is fine. It's totally concentrated on the 13th amendment to the US consititution, rather than Lincoln's life. As a result it's more about the political theatre around the abolition of slavery. I couldn't help thinking that Borgen does political theatre so much better though - maybe that's just because of it's more contemporary setting. It's an ok way to spend 2.5 hours and there are some interesting bits, but I wouldn't really recommend it as a must see.

 

[redsquirrel]

Lincoln
First hour is pretty ropey but the rest is fine. It's totally concentrated on the 13th amendment to the US consititution, rather than Lincoln's life. As a result it's more about the political theatre around the abolition of slavery.

And that's why it's good.

There are a couple of mis-steps where Spielburg can't rein in his sentimentality, and I don't think extending the film to cover Lincoln's death worked but overall it's an excellent piece of film making.

 

[magneze]

I don't think extending the film to cover Lincoln's death worked

Yes, that felt tacked on.

 

[8115]

I thought that was the only good bit. I didn't know he died, and it was the only dramatic moment in the whole film for me. The votes counting was ok too.

 

[Maltin]

I didn't know he died

you are aware it was set in 1865?

 

[8115]

you are aware it was set in 1865?

Well obviously he died at some point. I was unaware of the manner of his death.

 

[Maltin]

I thought that was the only good bit. I didn't know he died, and it was the only dramatic moment in the whole film for me.

I thought that was probably the least dramatic They didn't really cover the assassination properly, although I liked the way they did. As the others have said, it did feel a bit tacked on but with the timeline of the film, it makes sense to cover it. I'm not even sure they bother to mention the name of the assassin.

 

[Maltin]

Well obviously he died at some point. I was unaware of the manner of his death.

That's quite surprising to hear. I would assume that most people are aware that Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated, as they are pretty famous presidents. Having said that, I felt very ignorant about that period of US history watching the film. For non-US audiences, the opening is different to give some historical background.

 

[8115]

For non-US audiences, the opening is different to give some historical background.

I can't even remember the opening.

 

[Maltin]

I can't even remember the opening.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/photos-new-lincoln-opening-made-412691

 

[Reno]

And that's why it's good.

There are a couple of mis-steps where Spielburg can't rein in his sentimentality, and I don't think extending the film to cover Lincoln's death worked but overall it's an excellent piece of film making.

It's not like they had to extend the film by much. Lincoln did get assassinated only three months after the 13th amendment got passed by the House, so it fit well within the time frame the film covers. It would have been strange not to address it. And I liked that the way it was dealt with was remarkably non-exploitative.

 

[little_legs]

There are a couple of mis-steps where Spielburg can't rein in his sentimentality, and I don't think extending the film to cover Lincoln's death worked but overall it's an excellent piece of film making.

I disagree, I think it was appropriate to show that Lincoln only had 2.5 months to bask in the glory of the passage of the 13th amendment by the HOR before the bastard Booth decided to shoot him. The coverage of his death is, in my view, directly related to the questions he asks in the film 'Do you think we choose the times into which we are born? Or do we fit the times we are born into?' It seems that he was born to do one thing only, and as soon as he completed that one thing, he was gone.

 

[little_legs]

May I add that Lincoln was one of the few films that made me want to find out who the composer of the film was. I had no idea who John Williams was, but fucking hell, that solo piano music that is played when Lincoln visits one of the battle fields and sees the bodies of dead soldiers... Respect.

 

[Maltin]

May I add that Lincoln was one of the few films that made me want to find out who the composer of the film was. I had no idea who John Williams was, but fucking hell, that solo piano music that is played when Lincoln visits one of the battle fields and sees the bodies of dead soldiers... Respect.

If you didn't find out already, John Williams is one of the best film composers/conductors of all time and has scored many of Spielberg's films.

He's most famously associated with Jaws, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters, Harry Potter...

 

[Reno]

Not counting early TV movies, I think The Colour Purple is the only Spielberg directed film Williams didn't score. He is the most famous living film composer and while he can be very good, his scores can be overly manipulative and bombastic, but his more low key score for Lincoln was very good.