Ray and Liz. Richard Billigham's photos of his dysfunctional childhood/family life brought to life in a thoroughly depressing film. All that was missing was a cat being thrown. It's a brutal,bitter watch and hard to have much sympathy for any of the adult family members other than maybe the paternal uncle. Mum seems to be the one leading the shit show with not a redeemable quality about her while Dad is just kind of pathetic.
List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2019
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blossie33
trailer trash
I saw a preview of the film a few weeks ago, I was interested to see it as I'm from the Midlands and also because I used to work with the father of the actor who played the younger Ray.
It isn't an easy watch I agree
however I'm glad I saw it, I thought it was sad but there were also touching moments and the acting was very good.Definitely not to everyones taste though!
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
America
Moving documentary about an elderly Mexican woman being looked after by her grandsons after their father has got in trouble for struggling to care for her himself. No easy answers are provided and the only resolution here is death, but it beautifully depicts the unconditional love that comes with family and the despairs and frustrations of caring for incapacitated loved ones.
4 reluctant enemas out of 5
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
They Live.
They showed this at my local cinema to promote this coffee-table book:
Craig Oldham - They Live : A Visual and Cultural Awakening – Rough Trade
To my shame, I did not stick around for the Q&A (are they ever worth it?), but the film was definitely worth a view on the big screen. I don't think I've ever seen any Carpenter films on the big screen, as his films are soooo VHS.
It's an odd one, even for Carpenter. Roddy Piper cannot act and the camera just follows him about reacting to things and pretending to fall asleep for a weirdly long time before the plot actually kicks in. The score is not one of Carpenter's best either. And the action scenes are ridiculous - the famously protracted fight scene here gave the audience a lot of laughs but I'm not sure if that was Carpenter's. WTF was Meg Foster doing too? She's an odd 'actor' - she seems sedated in the roles I've seen her in.
There's something about the premise though, and the reveal scenes (in which the special sunglasses are deployed to see what's really going on) have had such a deep and global impact on street art, music, protest etc that it stands up as a cult classic that has increased rather than diminished in traction over the years.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Ben is Back.
He should have stayed away. Tedious family drama about addiction. Nothing interesting, profound or new is said about how hard it is to have an addict in the family, so i'm giving this one stashed baggie out of five.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
I was also going to see Rosie, purported to be Ireland's version of I, Daniel Blake, but focusing on family homelessness in Dublin, rather than the UK benefits system, but I couldn't face it in the end, after a week dealing with too much reality. Anyone seen this yet?
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Tomboy
Celine Sciamma's 2011 French film about a 10 year old called Laure whose family moves to a new town, and in trying to fall in with the local kids, introduces themselves as a boy, Mikael. Their motivations for doing so are not examined, as the film focuses on the adaptions, omissions and lies that Laure has to employ just to fit in and be accepted.
Beautifully observed and thought-provoking - I don't know how Sciamma got such natural performances from the young cast.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
Into the spiderverse.
That's all.
It was good.
That's all.
It was good.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Princess Mononoke
I haven't seen enough Studio Ghibli films to make the call, but they don't really make films for children, do they? Spirited Away and Grave Of The Fireflies have way too many adult themes for kids' enjoyment, and this dark epic fantasy has beheadings and other violent deaths in it. Had to look the plot up to understand it afterwards too. All worth it for the visuals though. 3 weird Japanese folk monsters out of 5
Reno
The In Kraut
The majority of Ghibli films are for a family audience or for kids. Grave of the Fireflies and Princess Mononoke are the exception rather than the rule. I think Spirited Away is fine for kids, the monsters aren’t meant to be that scary and My Neighbour Totoro is among the greatest children’s films ever made.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
I posted that on Facebook and lots of parents got back to me about kid-friendly Ghibli films 
I've seen more than I remembered - I just could only remember the ones that scarred me emotionally!
I've seen more than I remembered - I just could only remember the ones that scarred me emotionally!
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
aye, i saw this film in a local cinema in a bohemian/student area, so there were no kids in the theatre when I saw it, just students who looked like they were watching for reasons of nostalgia, rather than first timers like me.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Nope, will have to check that out too. Have wanted to see Porco Rosso for a while too. They do have a lot of stuff out, but I'd rather get weirded out by a disturbing Japanese folk tale than watch some princesses being saved.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Their titles are great too - they all sound like kooky European arthouse movies from the 80s
Reno
The In Kraut
It’s great. It’s ghost story, though more (very!
) melancholy than scary. Porco Rosso is one I’ve never seen.
blossie33
trailer trash
Yes, I saw that one, it's a PG rating I think.
I think young children might find it difficult to understand as well.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Yes, it really is.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
I saw that, I thought it was OK. I don't think I was scarred emotionally.
I think that the last ever (proper) Ghibli film. Ghibli sort of lives on in studio Ponoc, founded by some top ghibli bods and many of the animators, the work looks very similar. First film Mary and the Wiches flower did very well in Japan, and I noticed that many Mary and the Witches flower products were sold in the official Ghibli character shop in Tokyo station.
I like most of ghiblis output bar the horrendous gedosenki made by Goro Miyazaki, Hayaos son.
I was worried that up on poppy hill would be utter shite too, but it was passable.
My personal favorites are probably Kiki, mimi o sumasiba, ponyo, and neko no ongaishi.
Nausicaa is very interesting, and like mononoke hime, the 'baddies' have their own plausible and understandable agenda that makes sense and doenst treat kids like idiots.
Which reminds me. Before ghibli there was Konan the boy of the future, TV series made by Hayao Miyazaki which also has several 'enemies' that are not just baddies because the script demands it. Good stuff, bit long perhaps.
. . . and if you like Ghibli, you may also like western mini series 'over the garden wall' . . . excellent heartwarming and magical stuff.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
The Rider
Really enjoyed this - it's a fantastic glimpse of a completely different world to most people's - never feels like tourism though, despite the fact that the actors are playing fictionalised versions of themselves - a rodeo rider and his family facing an uncertain future after a head injury threatens an end to his riding career. 5 inadequate head protectors (AKA Stetsons) out of 5
Everybody Knows. Spanish film by Asghar Farhad (A Separation) about a kidnapping in a small Spanish town. A good cast (including Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem) but a bit too long and soap opera like for my tastes.
The Kindergarten Teacher. Maggie Gyllenhaal gets far too involved in the life of one of her pupils. She's excellent -- worth a watch.
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange. A slimy (if entertaining) boss gets his comeuppance when he fakes his own death and his former employees form a cooperative. A lesser-known Jean Renoir film with a great script from Jacques Prevert. Historically interesting -- it was made just before the election of the Popular Front in 1936 -- and seems to capture some of the spirit and politics of the time.
The Kindergarten Teacher. Maggie Gyllenhaal gets far too involved in the life of one of her pupils. She's excellent -- worth a watch.
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange. A slimy (if entertaining) boss gets his comeuppance when he fakes his own death and his former employees form a cooperative. A lesser-known Jean Renoir film with a great script from Jacques Prevert. Historically interesting -- it was made just before the election of the Popular Front in 1936 -- and seems to capture some of the spirit and politics of the time.
DexterTCN
Troy and Abed in the morning
Apart from coming back here and telling us anything interesting? Probably not much.
Q&As IME are generally rubbish. There's always the person who has to shoehorn in their own personal hobby horse, the person who wants to show how fabulous their film knowledge is (generally referencing Tarkovsky) and the person who asks something dull about the type of film used. And the person who asks something slightly inappropriate and makes everyone else go 'wtf'.
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Under the Silver Lake. Woman goes missing, man who fancies her tries to find out what's happened and is led into all kind of weird and wonderful places. So, this was disappointing. I loved the director's last (It Follows) but this is, frankly, a mess. It throws all kinds of things together then they never go anywhere. It feels like a script written by a film student -- lots of referencing other films and different genres -- and apparently it was written some time ago and the director only got the chance to make it after It Follows was a hit. It's got a few nice moments but it's too long and far too all over the place.
Reno
The In Kraut
If I was Benign Leader of the World Q&As would be among the first things to go. I just suffered through an endless one for a (pretty good) Palestinian film called The Reports on Sarah and Saleem. It always makes me despair at the general levels of intelligence and education. Several people asked the director questions, which the entire film spent to answer. 
It must be really soul destroying if you're the director and actually have to try and answer stupid questions without rolling your eyes...If I was Benign Leader of the World Q&As would be among the first things to go. I just suffered through an endless one for a (pretty good) Palestinian film called The Reports on Sarah and Salem. It always makes me despair at the general levels of intelligence and education. Several people asked the director questions, which the entire film spent to answer.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Aye, the only Q&A I've really enjoyed was the Sonic Youth one cos i heard lots of funny stories about the New York music scene.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
You might want to reread the title of this thread
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