Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)

Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976). One of those 'classics' that I'd never got around to seeing. Despite that "I'm mad as hell" sequence being referenced everywhere, it's a surprisingly powerful scene when you finally watch it in context.
 
Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976). One of those 'classics' that I'd never got around to seeing. Despite that "I'm mad as hell" sequence being referenced everywhere, it's a surprisingly powerful scene when you finally watch it in context.

I thought the character obviously based on Angela Davis wouldn't have had any time for the faux-Symbionese Liberation Army crowd in it, though.
 
ep 1 of Marco Polo on Netflix. Sadly - because I love historical costume tosh, this is a fascinating era, and they've obviously spent $$$$$$$$$$$$ on it - it is Not Very Good. Or at least it's not shown me any signs yet of being much good. The scripting is dire and the dramatic dynamic seems weak. 9 more eps to go and I don't know if my life can spend the time on it.

Oh crap; I've been really looking fwd to this :(
 
Watched the first half of We Need To Talk About Kevin on the train home. It's very arty - almost Winterbottom or Greenaway in some parts, with the sound design and colour metaphors. Bit distracted by the fact that the son is very obviously oriental during several years of his early life...
 
Tried that Firefly. Turned it off after 30 minutes.
a wise decision. The extended adventures of han solo given a heavy dose of whedonist irony laden quipping. The film Serenity is worth your time though.


I watched episodes 1&2 of netflix new series 'Marco Polo'

I'm reserving judgement as yet but there is signs of potential flaws already. Good combat and history-lite soft porn so I'll give it another 2 episodes.
 
It's going to be my new years resolution to use this thread to log and critique* the films I see in 'one of my' sessions. (When I get in from clubs, instead of doing the normal thing and a few hours of cieling patrol before nodding off, I'll just watch endless endless films, for a truly embarassing amount of time). I'd also take in a few decent picks (that I already do).

*My FIlm critique is genuinely shite - I like thing to be entertaining first - everything around it is merely a column that lifts the 'entertainment' factor to the max! I'm basically way out of my depth when people talk event remotely cerebreously!

Few bits to add: Fury: Doesn't add anything to BoB's/Private Ryan (i.e. the new technical era) escapades tbf. It did open my yes to the joys of tank warfare so led me to Battle Of The Bulge which, considering it's (IME) lowish profil is up there with the 'above average' of them!

Some people have enjoyed Night Moves - Much though I love Jessie E in anything, the ending wasn't complete enough for a simpleton like me, and tbh I found The East a better fillum (with a fair similarities).

If I remember anything notable about anything else I've seen will post!
 
Killing them softly.

Ray Liotta, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini. Deadly fallout of a scam gone wrong, set against the US prez election and financial crisis of 2008. Really effective and recommended. 7.7/10
 
Black Mirror, White Christmas & Her
Back to back scifi dystopia. Maybe I'd have quite liked 'Her' if I'd seen it on it's own, maybe not, but after Black Mirror, White Christmas it really suffered in comparison. The first was believable, somewhat humourous and thought provoking. The second felt overly contrived to the point of ridiculousness but not in a funny way. Theodore kept asking Samantha what she'd been up to. In my head she replied 'defragmenting your hard disk' or stuff like that.
Eventually even she got bored and fucked off. I'm not surprised and I felt the same way.
 
Megastructures: Palm Island

it was great to see how it was done and yet the program was remarkably quiet about who did the grunt work leading me to suspect dark things
 
American hustle (2013). Someone's gonna have to explain the fuss about this one for me.

First two episodes of Deadwood. The other half not really feeling that so may need to find a different festive box set.
 
American hustle (2013). Someone's gonna have to explain the fuss about this one for me.

First two episodes of Deadwood. The other half not really feeling that so may need to find a different festive box set.
True Detective, best HBO output this year by a country mile
 
ep 1 of Marco Polo on Netflix. Sadly - because I love historical costume tosh, this is a fascinating era, and they've obviously spent $$$$$$$$$$$$ on it - it is Not Very Good. Or at least it's not shown me any signs yet of being much good. The scripting is dire and the dramatic dynamic seems weak. 9 more eps to go and I don't know if my life can spend the time on it.


I quite like it. It's on ep 3 for me and the Great Khan is becoming less 2-d mongol warlord which is good. I think the protagonist is a bit weak in his delivery, but then I like scenery chewing in my historical fluff. He is pretty though and does excellent kung fu scenes with the not at all stereotypical blind wise master of arts martial. Couple of weirdly awkward sex scenes aside the matters amour are OK, not insane or totally illogical.

Whats really killing it for me is:

It's not Borgias

It doesn't have Jeremy Irons in it
 
Yeah, we were all set for that but then I mentioned that the ending is reputedly a poor one. That was met with "well what's the point then?". I couldn't argue with that.

Except by possibly saying that discounting everything which is potentially flawed is to discount pretty much everything.
 
The Interview

Not the worst film I've ever seen, although it's fairly poor. I think I smirked a couple of times throughout. Watch it if you must, but don't spend any money on it.
 
This. Had a couple of moments where i proper squeaked/jumped :oops: :D
I'm trying to recall a damned thing about the film now. And failing.

After finally setting up our new telly the other day, I had to try a variety of films on it.

Calvary - which I was a bit disappointed by. His daughter and the pseudo-American rent boy were both lousier acted, wasn't sure about wotsisname, Bernard Black, either. Plus it just looked odd, tho that was probably just me getting used to the HDness of the telly, but it did make it all lok very cheaply shot.

Theatre of Blood - still a Rock sold classic, but I'm going to have to download better quality rips of stuff from now on, I think.

20,000 Days On Earth - highly entertaining, and actually looked great too. Gotta love a bit of Nick for Christmas.
 
71 - pretty darn good at what it does tale of a squaddie chased all over a belfast he doesn't know over one night in '71. Good all round performances - but i'm fed up of seeing Sean Harris playing sinisterly mumbling 70s men.

P'tit Quinquin AKA Li'l Quinquin - pretty oddball film/tv series (both a 3 hour long film and a 4 part series) from Bruno Dumont, not previously noted for his comedy films, to say the least. Not really sure what to make of it - i did laugh and i was intrigued, did enjoy it but not sure why.

And i watched 90 minutes of the interview then cut my losses - rubbish. Did Prof Franco's mum tell him he could do comedy or something? He can't. he doesn't appear to have a single funny bone in his body or psyche. That Brad Pitt War film Fury is more funny.
 
71 - pretty darn good at what it does tale of a squaddie chased all over a belfast he doesn't know over one night in '71. Good all round performances - but i'm fed up of seeing Sean Harris playing sinisterly mumbling 70s men.

Yea, I watched this too and enjoyed it, although I was picking fault with the main fella's accent at times when he forgot he wasn't still in Starred Up.

Also Manuscripts Don't Burn which was really good and another Iranian film, Children of Heaven. Brother loses his sisters shoes in the market and they have to share a pair so that both can go to school. The kids in it are great, a really heartwarming film.
 
South [Endurance] (1920), Frank Furley's silent era documentary that he shot on Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill fated expedition in Antarctica. Not as moving as "Great White Silence" or as beautiful as "Epic Of Everest" but still a great film, the footage of the Endurance getting trapped and crushed by the ice flows is particularly stunning.
 
Back
Top Bottom