Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
No. Actually quite good fun (if a total Alien rip-off) and one of the ladies is well hot.
Yes.
What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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No. Actually quite good fun (if a total Alien rip-off) and one of the ladies is well hot.
Yes.
It was shit. That last bit makes you sound twelve though, so well done you.
Anyway, am now working my way through Alpha House. John Goodman cracks me up.
(((Carmen Miranda and her hat made of fruit.)))
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
I just finished season 1 of Deadwood (thanks to CBS Action). 
Great show - and I'm not normally fussed about westerns.
Great show - and I'm not normally fussed about westerns.
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Awful title, but the canadian miniseries 'The Book of Negroes' is named after a historical document which records the african-american slaves who escaped to the british during the american revolution and were evacuated by ship to nova scotia as free men. The script is based on a novel of the same name by Lawrence Hill (but the name was changed for the US publication to 'Someone knows my name').
So far it seems a bit like a modern day 'Roots', only with a female protagonist... We follow her from her life as a little girl in west africa (possibly Mali) where she gets captured by local slave traders and have to watch the brutal murder of her parents, the long passage by ship and how she ends up a slave in South Carolina... Her skills as a midwife (picked up from her mother's trade in local villages) gains her certain favours and one of the others secretly learns her to read and write. Interestingly the 'medicine woman' she shares accomodation with manages to vaccinate her for smallpox by cutting a deep wound into her arm, smearing on some sort of infected thread(?) she rubbed against someone who had the pox (to get it into her bloodstream? it's unclear) to give her the illness, then she gets through it and wakes up one day cured and immune to the disease... Something which helps her later on, when the wife of her second owner dies from the same illness.
I'm only on episode three so far- she's now escaped from her second owner during his business trip to proto-new york during a commotion where the rebel mob starts attacking british tories... an innkeeper (played by cuba gooding jr.) helps her with connections and she goes into hiding... later on, a husband stupid enough to volunteer for the losing british side and the whereabouts of their lost daughter sold by her former owner without her consent, complicates things... her husband is now wounded and maybe dying. Lots of awful footage of bodies strewn on the battlefield pecked by ravens in the mist... Still, a definitive absence of testosterone-filled aggression in the narrative gives this away as a canadian production...
I think I'll watch the fourth episode just to see where this is going... but it's easy to imagine what's going to happen so it'll just be to finish what i started (i hate not knowing the endings of stories). It's decent enough, i just haven't decided exactly what i think of it yet... The whole theme/history of this is of course engaging on so many levels, but i'm not sure if i like the way they've done it- they seem to rush through the plot at maximum speed, leaving little time to explore the different eras of her life: one minute she's a little girl, later she's grown and blink again she's already escaped and you sort of wonder if the story might've benefited from a slower pace, because a lot of details seems to be lost from what must've been the original story... (But- bonus points: very beautiful visuals/way of filming things, strong and intelligent female hero- etc.)
So far it seems a bit like a modern day 'Roots', only with a female protagonist... We follow her from her life as a little girl in west africa (possibly Mali) where she gets captured by local slave traders and have to watch the brutal murder of her parents, the long passage by ship and how she ends up a slave in South Carolina... Her skills as a midwife (picked up from her mother's trade in local villages) gains her certain favours and one of the others secretly learns her to read and write. Interestingly the 'medicine woman' she shares accomodation with manages to vaccinate her for smallpox by cutting a deep wound into her arm, smearing on some sort of infected thread(?) she rubbed against someone who had the pox (to get it into her bloodstream? it's unclear) to give her the illness, then she gets through it and wakes up one day cured and immune to the disease... Something which helps her later on, when the wife of her second owner dies from the same illness.
I'm only on episode three so far- she's now escaped from her second owner during his business trip to proto-new york during a commotion where the rebel mob starts attacking british tories... an innkeeper (played by cuba gooding jr.) helps her with connections and she goes into hiding... later on, a husband stupid enough to volunteer for the losing british side and the whereabouts of their lost daughter sold by her former owner without her consent, complicates things... her husband is now wounded and maybe dying. Lots of awful footage of bodies strewn on the battlefield pecked by ravens in the mist... Still, a definitive absence of testosterone-filled aggression in the narrative gives this away as a canadian production...
I think I'll watch the fourth episode just to see where this is going... but it's easy to imagine what's going to happen so it'll just be to finish what i started (i hate not knowing the endings of stories). It's decent enough, i just haven't decided exactly what i think of it yet... The whole theme/history of this is of course engaging on so many levels, but i'm not sure if i like the way they've done it- they seem to rush through the plot at maximum speed, leaving little time to explore the different eras of her life: one minute she's a little girl, later she's grown and blink again she's already escaped and you sort of wonder if the story might've benefited from a slower pace, because a lot of details seems to be lost from what must've been the original story... (But- bonus points: very beautiful visuals/way of filming things, strong and intelligent female hero- etc.)
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jeff_leigh
What happened to Dubversion ?
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
Headhunters - gleefully twisty (and snarky) norwegian thriller - terrific fun even if it doesn't all make much sense if you think about it too hard. stuff about art thieving, management consultancy and genetic envy all get a lookin but basically it's one long and wild man-on-the-run chase movie with some cheeky nasty twists. liked it a lot.
The Castilian - unbelievably dull early 1960s tunic epic - a 99p shop ripoff of El Cid I think. Filmed in (Franco era) Spain, apparently by a bunch of woodworkers who didn't know how to move a camera about. Amazingly lurid and horribly racist (plenty of evil scimitar-wielding, fake-tan-wearing evil Moors laugh evilly as they kill nuns etc) and with a heroine lady fair whose beehive hairdo and cantilevered figure are pure early 60s - so un-medieval it's laughable. Frankie Avalon (!) pops up as a lute playing troubadour. It would be more fun if you were very very drunk. Otherwise avoid.
The Castilian - unbelievably dull early 1960s tunic epic - a 99p shop ripoff of El Cid I think. Filmed in (Franco era) Spain, apparently by a bunch of woodworkers who didn't know how to move a camera about. Amazingly lurid and horribly racist (plenty of evil scimitar-wielding, fake-tan-wearing evil Moors laugh evilly as they kill nuns etc) and with a heroine lady fair whose beehive hairdo and cantilevered figure are pure early 60s - so un-medieval it's laughable. Frankie Avalon (!) pops up as a lute playing troubadour. It would be more fun if you were very very drunk. Otherwise avoid.
chainsawjob
Kipping in the dunes
Long Way Down, British film with Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, and Aaron Paul. About four people who meet on top of a skyscraper where they have all gone to jump. Ultimately a feelgood film with a happy ending, with just about enough realism about why people might end up in that position, not too suicide-by-numbers. A reasonable mix I suppose of lighthearted silliness, and painful convincing-enough emotion. Doesn't make a mockery of the subject matter. I suppose the main problem with it was the resources these characters have at their disposal to try and resolve their problems are a million miles away from what most people have, but then again it's not trying to be a gritty social-realism thing. Some scenes are a bit too sugary. I like the main message that people can get by with a little help from their friends, even if those people start out as unlikely strangers. And that maybe if you want no harm to come to other people, maybe you can end up seeing the logic in wanting that for yourself too. Ok, it's hollywoodland, but reasonable effort, I enjoyed it.
She couldn't have her fruit and eat itYou'd think walking around with a hat made of fruit she would've gone for a more healthy lifestyle
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Adam Curtis 'Bitter Lake'
I found it interesting, as much for the footage as the v\o. It's on the iplayer. Missed last 20 mins as fell asleep (it was 2 am!).
couple of disturbing shootings in it, not because they are gory but because they aren't. So if that sot of thing does your head in, be warned
I found it interesting, as much for the footage as the v\o. It's on the iplayer. Missed last 20 mins as fell asleep (it was 2 am!).
couple of disturbing shootings in it, not because they are gory but because they aren't. So if that sot of thing does your head in, be warned
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
La Isla Minima/Marshland - very good, very dark and gloomy Spanish serial killer thing with socio-politcal elements. Reminded me very much of the also excellent Memories of Murder. An anglo remake expected but don't know how they'll deal with the post-franco darkness. One terrible error though - film set in 1980 yet Blue Monday playing in the background in one scene.
To Love the Damned - Marco Tullio Giordana's attempt to make a The Conformist for the Italian 67/68-murder of moro years. Fails,obviously, but still a very good film for those interested in the 70s in Italy and who'll get the references and allusions - esp the political ones. Well worth a watch. Director went onto make another film covering similar stuff - the first class Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy/A Story of the Strategy which covers the initial years of the strategy of tension but in a more straightforward narrative style.
Memories of Rain - docu/interview series about people who joined the armed wing of the anti-apartheid struggle. Very very interesting esp seeing the political development of many of the interviewees - openly talking about just wanting to kill people at the start and this being turned into politics. One fault, far far too long spent talking to the two white posh people - though i see why they had to be included.
To Love the Damned - Marco Tullio Giordana's attempt to make a The Conformist for the Italian 67/68-murder of moro years. Fails,obviously, but still a very good film for those interested in the 70s in Italy and who'll get the references and allusions - esp the political ones. Well worth a watch. Director went onto make another film covering similar stuff - the first class Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy/A Story of the Strategy which covers the initial years of the strategy of tension but in a more straightforward narrative style.
Memories of Rain - docu/interview series about people who joined the armed wing of the anti-apartheid struggle. Very very interesting esp seeing the political development of many of the interviewees - openly talking about just wanting to kill people at the start and this being turned into politics. One fault, far far too long spent talking to the two white posh people - though i see why they had to be included.
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DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
oh 12 Monkeys episode three
the future bits are starting to look a bit ropey now but thats OK because it has its own interesting 'apocalypse army vs scientists seeking cure' plotline shaping up. Am hoping for a proper legion of doom, wearing fingers and ranting of the end etc
the location of the week was Haiti which played host to a deadly virus. Really not sure how they will pad this all out to a full season tbf
the future bits are starting to look a bit ropey now but thats OK because it has its own interesting 'apocalypse army vs scientists seeking cure' plotline shaping up. Am hoping for a proper legion of doom, wearing fingers and ranting of the end etc
the location of the week was Haiti which played host to a deadly virus. Really not sure how they will pad this all out to a full season tbf
krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
Punch Drunk Love - Adam Sandler exceptionally good in this PT Anderson film. Great soundtrack and visuals and there's a swear off between 2 of the characters that is outstanding.
Charlie (2015)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_(TV_series)
http://www.rte.ie/drama/tv/featured/charlie/abouttheshow.html
Just watched the first of three episodes, going straight in for the second.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_(TV_series)
http://www.rte.ie/drama/tv/featured/charlie/abouttheshow.html
Just watched the first of three episodes, going straight in for the second.
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
I liked the bit where Dessie O'Malley cured all them lepers.
I loved the first two episodes and have the third to look forward to this evening, barely recognised Aidan Gillen as Charlie; fantastic performance.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I was in need of some cheap lols so \i watched the fist half of season 26 of the Simpsons. The yellow family has still got it 
the Treehouse of Horror episode boasts a very funny clockwork orange rip off and the facking episode was also a standout
the Treehouse of Horror episode boasts a very funny clockwork orange rip off and the facking episode was also a standout
chainsawjob
Kipping in the dunes
20 Yards from Stardom, documentary about backing singers from the sixties to the present. Some amazing voices, and interesting back stories. Bit slow at the start, but got more interesting once the bands they sang for were more recent and more familiar.
maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
Transamerica- Low key, quirky roadmovie. Bree (formerly Stanley) ends up on a cross-country trek with her (hitherto unknown) juvenile delinquent son, feeling unable to tell him that she is actually his father... A lot of the people they meet along the way are also outsiders in different ways.
It touches on some fairly dark issues at times (broken families, sexual abuse), but not in a too depressive way and it never lingers on it... Bree's bout of OCD is spot on, and the contrast to their unwanted spartan camping life on the road pretty funny (but never in a mocking way, more to show the fragility and complexities of her character i think- her son thinks she's an eccentric church lady who bailed him out to convert him, and her sometimes erratic behaviour just serves to convince him of that)
There's some sort of message in there somewhere too I think... about how our families shaped who we are and how you can't choose your own family (and perhaps never quite escape from it either), but as I interpret it it's also- and more importantly- about how we choose to interact with others and how you decide to live your life now and in the future, which is ultimately our own decision... who and what we find important in our lives. (Phew- that's a lot... will shut up before this ends up sounding like a self-help book or something)
I quite liked it really... a nice little film.
It touches on some fairly dark issues at times (broken families, sexual abuse), but not in a too depressive way and it never lingers on it... Bree's bout of OCD is spot on, and the contrast to their unwanted spartan camping life on the road pretty funny (but never in a mocking way, more to show the fragility and complexities of her character i think- her son thinks she's an eccentric church lady who bailed him out to convert him, and her sometimes erratic behaviour just serves to convince him of that)
There's some sort of message in there somewhere too I think... about how our families shaped who we are and how you can't choose your own family (and perhaps never quite escape from it either), but as I interpret it it's also- and more importantly- about how we choose to interact with others and how you decide to live your life now and in the future, which is ultimately our own decision... who and what we find important in our lives. (Phew- that's a lot... will shut up before this ends up sounding like a self-help book or something)
I quite liked it really... a nice little film.
Saw American Sniper last night, i didn't even know it was a true story until the end
I was quite affected by it, I know it's been covered quite a lot, but the way that war destroys people's lives, even someone like him who was among the elite soldiers couldn't get away with it
I was a bit annoyed about how people reviewed it and reacted to it, it's controversial that it's up for awards but the criticisms all seem to come from people who were too stupid to understand what the film was about. This idea of wanting to die and kill is such a big terrifying thing, it's like a part of everyone's mind that most of us don't want to explore because none of us are that far from ending up in the situation he did
The ones Eastwood did about America's war with Japan were great as well, I've never been in a war so I'd love to know what people who have think of those movies, but thowe movies and this one seemed to get across the way that the soldiers actually enjoy the fucked up world they live in, despite being aware that it is destroying them
Much better than most war films and anti war films I've seen, I'm not sure if they achieve it completely, but they are definitely aiming to avoid the conceit of knowing the difference between right and wrong
I was quite affected by it, I know it's been covered quite a lot, but the way that war destroys people's lives, even someone like him who was among the elite soldiers couldn't get away with it
I was a bit annoyed about how people reviewed it and reacted to it, it's controversial that it's up for awards but the criticisms all seem to come from people who were too stupid to understand what the film was about. This idea of wanting to die and kill is such a big terrifying thing, it's like a part of everyone's mind that most of us don't want to explore because none of us are that far from ending up in the situation he did
The ones Eastwood did about America's war with Japan were great as well, I've never been in a war so I'd love to know what people who have think of those movies, but thowe movies and this one seemed to get across the way that the soldiers actually enjoy the fucked up world they live in, despite being aware that it is destroying them
Much better than most war films and anti war films I've seen, I'm not sure if they achieve it completely, but they are definitely aiming to avoid the conceit of knowing the difference between right and wrong
Selma (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/
Wow, that was powerful and brilliantly done. Highly recommend it; my film of the year.
Wow, that was powerful and brilliantly done. Highly recommend it; my film of the year.
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
The Veil of Twilight - medieval serial killer on the loose in scandanavia!!! Attempt at a name of the rose type thing but fails miserably, story is a total mess and the lead is hopelessly miscast. Really annoying as it looks fantastic there is a decent film in there - not worth the two deaths of crew it involved.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
a real treat for nick cage fans is out tomorrow:
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