Virtual Blue
ready
Sequel is good too.
But please, skip the 3rd.
Tedious...
But please, skip the 3rd.
Tedious...
What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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Virtual Blue
ready
World War Z - not as bad as I thought it'd be. It didn't go as political as I expected. They spoke of Korea, US, North Korea, Israel and Wales! Would had been better if it was more detective and less action.
Star Trek. Into Darkness - too much action and it got boring at times. Nice tit shots and that's about it.
Star Trek. Into Darkness - too much action and it got boring at times. Nice tit shots and that's about it.
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
To give the chippy posho his due, Cumberbatch does photograph well.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
They Live By Night - a surprisingly fresh-feeling yet gloomy film noir made by Nicholas Ray in 1948. It's pretty slight (young crim and his girlfriend go on the lam with tragic results) and not stunningly art-directed .... not a cliched venetian-blinds and femme-fatale -ridden detective thriller, more like a very early version of Bonnie & Clyde before the fact. Both the lead actors are amazingly good-looking, the script's surprisingly tough (including *SHOCK* hints at abortion, police corruption and an insider code in the criminal world) and overall the thing just feels more modern and less wooden than lots of this sort of stuff. It's sort of a Damon Runyon (?sp?) sort of milieu but less amusing.
Also interesting for a beautiful sexy cameo by Marie Bryant, whose brief turn as a nightclub singer burns through the screen, and some teriffic period gangsta names, including a character called Chickamaw and another named "T-Dub" - in 1948!
Also interesting for a beautiful sexy cameo by Marie Bryant, whose brief turn as a nightclub singer burns through the screen, and some teriffic period gangsta names, including a character called Chickamaw and another named "T-Dub" - in 1948!
Virtual Blue
ready
He saved the film imo.
Virtual Blue
ready
Oblivion - reminded me of an episode of The Regular Show where they are in space.
I've started on season 3 of Boardwalk Empire. I've been quite gripped by it so far, but I'm finding this one difficult to get into. Tedious, even.
You must stick with it - the season finale is fantastic.
Grandma Death
Reconfiguring & Reconstructing
I watched Shifty for a second time. Loved it...again
Yetman
Cheesecar Fucksquad #1
Now you see me - though this was great 
Clever and interesting, though a few obvious bits.
World War Z - kicks off right from the outset. Great stuff. Seeing people contorting themselves and slamming their heads into stuff was highly entertaining, I like the new style of zombies
Clever and interesting, though a few obvious bits. World War Z - kicks off right from the outset. Great stuff. Seeing people contorting themselves and slamming their heads into stuff was highly entertaining, I like the new style of zombies
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
This intriguing litte danish short film about the history and (european) discovery of the potato, starting right off with Andean myths of the mother-potato giving birth to all life, the universe and the earth... I finally found this film after having watched it only once on TV during summer holidays in denmark in 1989 or something- I remember my brother and I laughed and laughed at the scene where humanity finally discovered how to make potato liquor and several sailors sit on a pier and drink until they all fall over into the water all neatly in a row... I guess we were easily pleased back in those days. But it is a unique little film, I like the animation style (reminiscent of the style of their great cartoonist Deleurean who used to draw a lot of 'historical' comics around the 70s/80s, IIRC- i'm pretty sure he did the artwork here too). And the music is by one of the great danish rock/composer legends, Anders Koppel- this time in a more mellow synth-blip mood... Splendid. I'm so glad I found it again! (even though I don't understand much danish- 
it's very cute when they speak, it sometimes sound like they've stuffed a potato down their throat-
)
I'm so glad I found it again! (even though I don't understand much danish- it's very cute when they speak, it sometimes sound like they've stuffed a potato down their throat-)
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DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
That's very sweet, but completely wrong in terms of science.
Here's the real story of the potato:
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Heh...
It's pretty bang on re: the political and social history though, whcih is what the film is really about... Of course they didn't intend people to take the (fictional, for the film) 'origin myth' literally, it was meant more as a poetic/folkloric flavour I suppose, and as a red thread throughout the film... I reckon even young kids watching are pretty capable of understanding that (we did, and we weren't that bright either but it was pretty obvious, I guess ) Science is fascinating though- somebody should dedicate a whole 'serious' episode of some programme to delve deep into the fascinating peculiarities of this little bulbous lump, that'd be interesting!
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
Song of Ceylon - a 1934 British documentary directed by Basil Wright, made for what was then the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board. Not exactly gripping stuff, it's more like paleo-documentary making in its pace (and it's nearly 50 mins long), but really rather arty in the cross-cutting and montage techniques and particularly some really innovative use of sound. It's a bit surreal, almost like musique concrete or Dada in places.
These days you tend to think of Sri Lanka in terms of tropical cliche, or gory war footage, both of which are usually in hyper colour. But this is B&W and rather beautifully shot. It's exclusively about Sinhala life and culture - the Tamils, Muslims and other minorities don't really get a look-in - and the odour of the British Empire hangs thick about it. But interesting for seeing what Sri Lanka looked like in the 1930s (bloody lovely really, palm trees and rickety wooden trains all over the place) and for some observational sequences of 'real life' (like how to climb a coconut palm or kit yourself out for ritual dance) .
These days you tend to think of Sri Lanka in terms of tropical cliche, or gory war footage, both of which are usually in hyper colour. But this is B&W and rather beautifully shot. It's exclusively about Sinhala life and culture - the Tamils, Muslims and other minorities don't really get a look-in - and the odour of the British Empire hangs thick about it. But interesting for seeing what Sri Lanka looked like in the 1930s (bloody lovely really, palm trees and rickety wooden trains all over the place) and for some observational sequences of 'real life' (like how to climb a coconut palm or kit yourself out for ritual dance) .
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Twins of Evil, on the horror channel last night. Can't imagine how they came up with the title.
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
FYI:
MUBI has a new iPad app out, and they're offering 7 days free trial on all platforms - no card details required.
Afterwards it's £2.99/month or £23.99/year to stream.
If you refer friends you can earn them 30 day free trials, and yourself a month's free streaming.
https://uk.mubi.com/films/ <--- Not my referrer code, just a link to the main page
MUBI has a new iPad app out, and they're offering 7 days free trial on all platforms - no card details required.
Afterwards it's £2.99/month or £23.99/year to stream.
If you refer friends you can earn them 30 day free trials, and yourself a month's free streaming.
https://uk.mubi.com/films/ <--- Not my referrer code, just a link to the main page
DexterTCN
Troy and Abed in the morning
Twins of Evil, on the horror channel last night. Can't imagine how they came up with the title.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
a classic, tho not quite as good as Lust for a Vampire.
I've been watching the Hammer House of Horror series over the last few nights. There has been some dreadful shite, but a couple of real classics (House that Bled to Death, Silent Scream).
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
Manhattan.
I was worried this would be 90 minutes of Mr. Konigsberg perving over 17 year old Mariel Hemingway, but the scenes where they're in bed together resemble the bedroom life of an old married couple more than anything else - the sort of couple whose relationship has long since been drained of anything erotic. Which is perverse in its own way I suppose. New York is the real star of the movie, of course, and in many ways this is a better movie than Annie Hall. Keaton's character, here, just seems more real than in AH.
Gangster Squad.
Pacific war veteran Josh Brolin recruits a team of gunslingers to clean up late 1940s Los Angeles.
Good fun - at first I thought it was going to be just a bog-standard Maverick Cop movie, but it gets better than that. Still vastly inferior to the likes of the Big Sleep or Key Largo, mind. Sean Penn's act as LA gangster Mickey Cohen is more of a turn than a performance, but the gangster squad themselves are pretty bad-ass. Like True Grit, this is a movie the average US conservative can admire, but it's worth 113 minutes of your time all the same.
I was worried this would be 90 minutes of Mr. Konigsberg perving over 17 year old Mariel Hemingway, but the scenes where they're in bed together resemble the bedroom life of an old married couple more than anything else - the sort of couple whose relationship has long since been drained of anything erotic. Which is perverse in its own way I suppose. New York is the real star of the movie, of course, and in many ways this is a better movie than Annie Hall. Keaton's character, here, just seems more real than in AH.
Gangster Squad.
Pacific war veteran Josh Brolin recruits a team of gunslingers to clean up late 1940s Los Angeles.
Good fun - at first I thought it was going to be just a bog-standard Maverick Cop movie, but it gets better than that. Still vastly inferior to the likes of the Big Sleep or Key Largo, mind. Sean Penn's act as LA gangster Mickey Cohen is more of a turn than a performance, but the gangster squad themselves are pretty bad-ass. Like True Grit, this is a movie the average US conservative can admire, but it's worth 113 minutes of your time all the same.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
synchronicity strikes ... saw GANGSTER SQUAD night before last, but did. not. like. Penn is a caricature, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are just there for eye candy and rolling about in bed a bit, there's no real story, and it's obviously priding itself on being 'tough' but just ends up being noisily, bluntly violent rather than actually shocking. was expecting to really like it but it just did nothing for me.
last night was a double bill of misery with AMOUR - which I've been avoiding watching for over 2 months because I was sure it was going to be a massive downer (which is was, Haneke, ageing, death, dementia, duh) and a rewatch of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (Zhang Yimou.).
The former I didn't rate nearly as highly as all this 'masterpiece of cinema' hype had it, I can see why people responded to it ... the subject's not often done, the acting is amazing, the deliberately deadpan, off-rhythm style works well to make this a grown-up, moving drama rather than a soap shocker. But to me it wasn't anything like the devastating milestone in cinema some people claimed it was. (maybe if you've already witnessed a few relatives go gaga, be cared for at length and deteriorate remorselessly it's all a bit too familiar, though.)
The latter I'd seen before, and thought it was a rather creepy fascist spectacle, with Zhang Yimou just going all out for the wildly elaborate production design and cast-of-thousands battle type stuff. (In parallel to all the other stuff I'd read or heard about how he's sold out all his original artistic integrity to choreograph elaborate fascist spectacles for the Communist Party these days, like, um, the Beijing Olympics, which he was clearly using this film as a dress rehearsal for.) But on a second watch it's got a lot more going for it: the themes of oppression, dictatorship, and rebellion are expressed forcefully through the claustrophobic Imperial menage, and Gong Li does another great turn as a character who's a vicious queen b*tch at some moments and a heartbreakingly courageous victim at others. I think it would even be possible to read this movie as a critique of totalitarianism, if you were that way inclined.
last night was a double bill of misery with AMOUR - which I've been avoiding watching for over 2 months because I was sure it was going to be a massive downer (which is was, Haneke, ageing, death, dementia, duh) and a rewatch of CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (Zhang Yimou.).
The former I didn't rate nearly as highly as all this 'masterpiece of cinema' hype had it, I can see why people responded to it ... the subject's not often done, the acting is amazing, the deliberately deadpan, off-rhythm style works well to make this a grown-up, moving drama rather than a soap shocker. But to me it wasn't anything like the devastating milestone in cinema some people claimed it was. (maybe if you've already witnessed a few relatives go gaga, be cared for at length and deteriorate remorselessly it's all a bit too familiar, though.)
The latter I'd seen before, and thought it was a rather creepy fascist spectacle, with Zhang Yimou just going all out for the wildly elaborate production design and cast-of-thousands battle type stuff. (In parallel to all the other stuff I'd read or heard about how he's sold out all his original artistic integrity to choreograph elaborate fascist spectacles for the Communist Party these days, like, um, the Beijing Olympics, which he was clearly using this film as a dress rehearsal for.) But on a second watch it's got a lot more going for it: the themes of oppression, dictatorship, and rebellion are expressed forcefully through the claustrophobic Imperial menage, and Gong Li does another great turn as a character who's a vicious queen b*tch at some moments and a heartbreakingly courageous victim at others. I think it would even be possible to read this movie as a critique of totalitarianism, if you were that way inclined.
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
I get what you mean by 'no real story'. It was very obviously made for the computer game generation, and is an empty spectacle all in all. I just thought it was a bit of fun that's all - you'll note I judged it harshly by comparison with the crime films made in its putative era.
This new Zhang Yimou sounds good. You remind me that I haven't seen any of his more recent flicks, nor anything with Gong Li in it either.
This new Zhang Yimou sounds good. You remind me that I haven't seen any of his more recent flicks, nor anything with Gong Li in it either.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
Generally it's true that his career is an example of the law of diminishing returns. um, but perhaps his creativity was being channelled into other outlets...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/09/zhang-yimou-seven-children-claims-china
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/09/zhang-yimou-seven-children-claims-china
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
The Arrival Of Wang. Italian sci fi. Quite tense, good lighting and sound design, good performances. I hesitate to say I liked it though because it was quite depressing and I am already feeling quite depressed.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
'Arrival of Wang'
I watched the first quarter of riddick but sacked it cos I thought the film seemed to good to put up with a shitty cam job. Watched Peaky Blinder instead which I enjoyed, not rave-review but good.
I watched the first quarter of riddick but sacked it cos I thought the film seemed to good to put up with a shitty cam job. Watched Peaky Blinder instead which I enjoyed, not rave-review but good.
Voley
🐀
Epic title if nothing else.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
I think the only reason I recorded it was the epic title Film would have been improved by more nob jokes, in fact.
Film would have been improved by more nob jokes, in fact.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Wall-E. I find it hard to believe it came out five years ago, and that I still failed to watch it until now. A gem.
Followed swiftly by Drag Me To Hell. Which was really rather rubbish, sadly.
Finished off with The House That Dripped Blood. Early 70's horror portmanteau movie, with a couple of strong segments and a couple of silly ones.
Followed swiftly by Drag Me To Hell. Which was really rather rubbish, sadly.
Finished off with The House That Dripped Blood. Early 70's horror portmanteau movie, with a couple of strong segments and a couple of silly ones.
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
Why is the X Files film so shit. It could have been good.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Mud -sort of Stand By Me type coming of age film which you know afetr watching that if it was on again you would watch it and probably recommend it to others.
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