List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2014

[belboid]

It would appear we dont have one of these yet, so here it is.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

It may not be as high quality as Buffy, but it's still very entertaining, better than the first one in our wee groups opinion, and some half decent V for Vendetta style politics. Good fun.

 

[_pH_]

American Hustle.

Maybe a bit long but the plot is easy enough to follow and visually it's great. 8/10

 

[Lea]

Watched 47 Ronin which was better than I thought it would be as it got really bad reviews.

 

[moonsi til]

Secret Life Of walter Mitty: a sweet film with a great soundtrack and scenary.

47 Ronin: I didn't really know what I was going to watch and hadn't read the reviews. I enjoyed it and BFs 12 yr really enjoyed it.

Harry Hill The Movie: well I didn't actually go & see this just BF & his son but worth a mention as they walked out after 45 mins saying it was just so awful!

 

[belboid]

Blue Jasmine last night

Cate Blanchett reminds us again why she is far and away the greatest living actor, just brilliant. Sally Hawkins very good too. But...

I just couldn't care that much about such an unpleasant character. I saw no reason not to dislike her immensely, and the sexual politics were.....dubious to say the least. As a riff on Tennessee Williams, very clever, as a film with a point to make, hmmmm.

 

[friedaweed]

The wolf of wall street on xbmc last night.

It's tha fuckin mutz nutz. Loved it.
Fear and loathing meets Rogue Trader

 

[pennimania]

TT Closer to the Edge

One of the best films I've seen for some time - and I have zero interest in motorbikes, racing or men in leather, but it was great

Highly recommended.

 

[Sue]

Blue Jasmine last night

Cate Blanchett reminds us again why she is far and away the greatest living actor, just brilliant. Sally Hawkins very good too. But...

I just couldn't care that much about such an unpleasant character. I saw no reason not to dislike her immensely, and the sexual politics were.....dubious to say the least. As a riff on Tennessee Williams, very clever, as a film with a point to make, hmmmm.

Felt much the same. Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins were both very good but I didn't really care about anyone in the film or what happened to them.

 

[Sue]

American Hustle -- pretty entertaining (and the hair is ) but a bit much being nominated for a load of Golden Globes.

Nebraska -- low key, black and white road movie. Looks great and the acting is excellent. The ending's a bit sentimental but overall thought it was very good.

 

[Manter]

American hustle
Couple of amazing performances- Jennifer Lawrence particularly

 

[belboid]

American Hustle also. And, as above. Very entertaining but lets itself down a bit by not quite knowing if its a drama or a comedy, and whether the Mayor is actually a good guy or not.

 

[Gramsci]

Twelve Years a Slave.

On at Ritzy (London). Its been selling out despite being in Screen One.

Steve McQueen , the director , started out in video art/ installation. Which he was very good at. I have seen some of his more gallery based work. He is now establishing a fine body of work. Hunger ( about Bobby Sands), Shame ( about sex addict) and now this film based on the life of Soloman Northup, born free but kidnapped and sold as a slave.

Like Hunger and Shame this film deals with the darker sides of human nature. It has been criticised as being like a "torture porn" film. It does remind me of horror film. The best horror films explore the hidden aspects of humanity. This film makes you watch what you know to have been real. In that way its more successful that Hanekes "Funny Games". Which he made to unsettle the viewer into questioning voyeuristic aspect of cinema.

It is an uncomfortable film to watch. Northup goes from the relative harmony of New York to the horror that is Louisiana. Northup is no hero. It shows the compromises he has to make to survive. It also shows how slavery degrades humanity. Both the slaves and the slave owners.

The films power comes from its look at the psychology of slavery. The different ways the slave owners and slaves deal with it. Slaves in the Southern States were property. However much the slave owners try using other human beings as beasts it is not possible. This leads to the slave owners either trying to make out that they are humane or irrational sadism. Both the "humane" slave owner and the sadistic one try to distance themselves from the actual reality of what they are doing.

This film is definitely Oscar winner material. Be interesting to see if this film does get an Oscar. I would think its unlikely. Its to unflinching a look at a major part of US history.

 

[nomibucha]

A Clockwork Orange wasn't particularly nice, but awesome storyline and satire. Cannibal Holocaust was pretty bad, but it was quite funny at the same time.

 

[Virtual Blue]

Watched 47 Ronin which was better than I thought it would be as it got really bad reviews.

Half of London's chinese community was in that.

 

[belboid]

12 Years a Slave

Bloody hell that was harsh, and quite brilliant. The first lynching scene is just shocking. Especially as you kept expecting it to end, but it didn't. And still didn't. And still didn't.

 

[Sue]

Fill the Void -- Orthodox Jewish family drama set in modern-day Israel. Know very little about Orthodox Judaism -- despite living only a few miles away from a big Orthodox community -- so found this very interesting. And a very good film too I thought, if a bit depressing.

The Wolf of Wall Street. Where to start. Far too long, utterly exhausting, funny parts but overall, I didn't like it. The man it's about and whose book it's based on -- which showed a lot I thought -- was an utter scumbag but is presented here as a glamorous figure with pretty much no mention of the people he ripped off. Guess he has to be presented at some level as charismatic, but found it all quite depressing really. And don't get me started on the depiction of women.

Don't know, really struggling to think of the last Scorcese film I saw that I thought was good.

 

[redsquirrel]

The Railway Man - OK but a bit clunky in places and some of the casting is a little peculiar (Stellan Skarsgard) , worth seeing if your a fan of Colin Firth.

Short Term 12 - drama set in a short term care home for kids, main character (Brie Larson) is a worker at the home. Very good, hadn't heard a great deal about it before going to see it was I was impressed by it. I guess if you wanted to be critical you could claim that the ending is a bit too up beat and resolves everything too completely but I think the rest of the film means that it can get away with it. Brie Larson is excellent (probably her largest role previously was as Toni Collette's daughter in United States of Tara).

Drinking Buddies - comedy/drama about two colleagues at a micro-brewery who are attracted to each other but both are involved with someone else. It's not bad but IMO suffers from the fact that the Kate (the female character) is incredibly annoying, selfish and stupid, besides the fact that she's played by Olivia Wilde (and thus is very good-looking) you can't really see why anyone would want to be around her.

Inside Llewyn Davies - new Coen brothers, I should imagine must people know the plot. Probably doesn't quite the cut as one of the top Coen films but still very, very good. Oscar Isaacs is excellent as the lead and Carey Mulligan and John Goodman both give good support in performances. I guess it's quite a 'Coen brothers film' so if you like them you'll probably like this and if you don't you won't.

 

[redsquirrel]

Don't know, really struggling to think of the last Scorcese film I saw that I thought was good.

While noting to compare with his best output The Departed was decent and enjoyable enough, Hugo was also OK for what it was.

 

[Sue]

While noting to compare with his best output The Departed was decent and enjoyable enough, Hugo was also OK for what it was.

Didn't see Hugo and The Departed just didn't really do it for me. Felt like it was trying too hard and it didn't quite come off. Also difficult not to compare it unfavourably with Infernal Affairs. Be interested to hear what you reckon to TWOWS if/when you see it.

 

[MellySingsDoom]

The Wolf Of Wall Street (dir. Martin Scorsese) - this was much better than I was expecting it to be. The plot is engaging and moves along at a fair old place, it's frequently very funny in places (the Quaaludes freakout scene especially so), and Leonardo DiCaprio acquits himself pretty well and has quite an engaging presence. My only criticism is that the film lacks a strong female character (although DiCaprio's 2nd wife begins to show some mettle right towards the end), which it needs really to balance out the testosterone on show. All in all, a solid effort from Scorsese, though not quite up to his golden period films.

 

[MellySingsDoom]

Two films for me at the cinema yesterday:

12 Years A Slave (dir. Steve McQueen) - As other Urbz have already said, this is a powerful, outstanding and very affecting film. Not as relentlessly violent as I thought it might be, but still with plenty of uncomfortable scenes on offer, and a film that leaves you with much to think about. I really want to see more Steve McQueen films on the strength of this.

Black Water Vampire (dir. Evan Trammel) - Basically a rehash of the themes and ideas already covered by "The Blair Witch Project" and "The Last Broadcast". Shot on digital video, and with an all-amateur cast, this was a deeply predictable and disappointing film, though it did have a couple of entertaining moments to break up the boredom. Not one I would recommend to followers of horror film, unless you're a fan of the barrel-scraping end of Jesus Franco's oeuvre.

 

[blossie33]

Journal de France, an excellent documentary film about French filmmaker and photographer Raymond Depardon.

Interesting footage of film he shot when he was reporting various conflicts abroad over the 50s to the 00s interwoven with his recent travels around France in a van photographing old villages and local characters

 

[Boppity]

Devil's due - forced by the OH to watch it, fucking terrible. Characters behave implausibly even for a paranormal horror film and the 'found footage' is so shaky that I got motion sick.

1/10

 

[colacubes]

12 Years a Slave - what everyone else said. Just astonishing.

Gravity - saw it at the IMAX and it was visually spectacular. I'm not a huge fan of 3D but it really worked for this; the only other film I've seen where I thought it added anything was Life of Pi, but this was on another level. The script is a bit cheesy in places but that can be forgiven. I thought Sandra Bullock was great, but George Clooney seemed to be playing the live action version of Buzz Lightyear

The Wolf of Wall Street - I really enjoyed it but it was at least 30 minutes too long. Could have done with some judicious editing. I'm not usually a fan of Leonardo di Caprio but thought he was excellent. The characters are enormously unsympathetic, which is as it should be cos they're really shitty people on the whole.

 

[belboid]

Inside Llewyn Davis

I was really looking forward to this, as a Coens fan and knowing about that sixties Gaslight scene reasonably well. And it is no surprise that the look and tone of the film got it spot on, beautifully shot, matching the melancholic mood of the film perfectly. But, beyond that, there was very little to it. So slight, with largely uninteresting characters left wholly undeveloped, all the criticisms of the Coens' coldness came to the fore. Some great scenes (Adam from Girls is very funny, 'where's its scrotum?' a magnificent line), but ultimately a bit disappointing.

oh, almost forgot my favourite line (being a saddo):
Llewyn - is it because I'm a communist?
Union man (whispering) - Shachtmanite?

 

[Dillinger4]

I haven't been to the cinema yet this year, but so far I have watched:

12 Years a Slave
Wolf of Wall Street
Inside Llewyn Davis
Her

 

[RaverDrew]

The Wolf of Wall Street - Best film I've seen in ages. Such a tight script with so many memorable and unique lines.

Autochthonous1 and I just watched it together and both said to each other "no doubt this film will totally piss off all the feminists on Urban75". Judging by the comments about it from some on here, it looks like we were right

 

[Autochthonous1]

How anybody could be pissed off by the film is beyond me, I'm trying to recall the last time I was so utterly impressed with a script, genius script, had us in stitches. Loved the editing and witty visuals which were unashamedly graphic. Acting and soundtrack pretty blinding too. As for some of the femmie type comments here, well, the film was about a shallow, money/power obsessed stock broker addicted to drugs, debauchery and excess; that shit ain't gonna be fluffy or tame is it. I'd like to see a version made by Lukas Moodyson or Lars von Trier. The film was unapologetic in delivery, just like Belfort himself. Jona Hill rules as always. I want to marry him. I'd agree with someone above that the last part of the film dragged out, even though I enjoyed it heaps I was waiting for it to end (towards the end), seemed so long.

 

[felixthecat]

After years of having to travel 10 miles to the nearest cinema, I've been in heaven since Odeon opened one opened 5 mins walk away. We've been going every Tuesday as its a fiver.
Inside Llewyn Davis - Oscar Isaacs excellent, as others have said very Cohen brothers, loved the soundtrack
Devil's Due - what a load of complete tripe. I love horror films but these days I'm almost always disappointed.
Wolf of Wall Street - really enjoyed it. Leo diCaprio did a damn good job of making you interested in a wholly unlikable character, some very funny bits.

Trying to decide what to see this coming Tuesday now.

 

[emanymton]

So far this year

The Hobbit

47 Ronin

The hunger games

12 years a slave

And pretty much echo what has already been said about them. Except I don't accept that 12 years a slave is realy anything like a torture porn movie.