rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Captain Phillips is standard Hollywood fare and can't hold a candle to A Hijacking
What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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Captain Phillips is standard Hollywood fare and can't hold a candle to A Hijacking
Reno
The In Kraut
I usually cheer the foreign language low budget underdog but found A Hijacking well meaning but rather listless and I thought Captain Phillips was genuinely tense.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Despite having virtually no action, I thought A Hijacking was pretty tense. It really seemed to get into the psychology of negotiation.
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
Go raibh maith agat
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
I didn't know that, though I haven't seen the Hanks version. I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that would Hollywood-ize well. A lot of the tension is long periods of absolutely nothing happening.
Reno
The In Kraut
They weren't based on the same material, they are unrelated films with similar subject matter. No doubt a lot of research went into A Hijacking but it's essentially a fictional film (a loosely connected spin-off from the TV series Borgen) while Captain Phillips was based on a real case.
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krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
Oh wow; without spoilers, is it possible to reveal the conncection to Borgen?
I quite enjoyed Captain Philips; think it was a Paul Greengrass?
Reno
The In Kraut
In one episode of Borgen Brigitte Nyborg dealt with a sea hijacking which is never seen but which was exactly as described in the film. I believe that's how the film got started.
Yes, Captain Phillips was Greengrass. It's in line with his docudramas based on real cases starting with his TV work (Bloody Sunday, etc)
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
Ah; clever!
felixthecat
are we there yet?
The Resident. Hillary Swank as a doctor in NYC who moves into a suspiciously cheap apartment with a creepy landlord (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his creepier grandfather (Christopher Lee). You can guess where it goes from there...
Should have been much better than it actually was. Cinematography was quite nice but the story of the creepy obsessive landlord has been done before and done much better. Seemed to be more a vehicle for Ms Swank to walk around half naked than anything else.
Alright if you're a bit bored I guess.
Should have been much better than it actually was. Cinematography was quite nice but the story of the creepy obsessive landlord has been done before and done much better. Seemed to be more a vehicle for Ms Swank to walk around half naked than anything else.
Alright if you're a bit bored I guess.
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
Nick Offerman - American Ham.
Decent fella, solid.
Decent fella, solid.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
The East (2013) intriguingly downbeat and non-clichéd thriller about a young female corporate spy who gets too deeply embedded (in all senses) for comfort with an earnest eco-anarchist collective who might just be taking direct action a bit too far. Some pretty subtle and shaded acting from leads Britt Marling (even though I normally can't stand her) and Alexander Skarsgard (who starts off the movie looking like a shambolic bearded schizophrenic, but is soon smartened up into the same dreamboat as always). It has some nice montaging/use of 'cyber' visual texturing to get across some of the feel of 21st century activism and its heart might be in a more radical place than the usual US movie. Has some good moments of unease tension but sadly, overall, just not that exciting - and definitely not as nerve shredding as it might be.
Marco Polo (Netflix) series 2. Gets more and more lavish and more and more confused, although there's some quality large-scale battling and one-one-one wuxia displays. Still no real sense whatsoever of Mongol (or Mongolian) culture in particular - it's all just some vague conception of 'Asia', boiling all the clichés about anywhere east of Lebanon together in a large hotpot while somehow leaching out all the flavour. Worst of all is how our token white boy hero (Lorenzo Richelmy, still mostly charisma-free) has to be shoehorned into the middle of every possible even to make a mostly-white US audience relate and stay interested. Netflix is also I guess trying not to offend Chinese audiences/financiers so the inter-Asian dynamics of the 13th-century world are kept discreetly blurry.
So, when Kublai has to finish off the last hopes of the deposed Song dynasty by doing an especially ethically-questionable murder, and take a decisive fork in world history, guess who just HAS to be in that very room, watching from the shadows? Yeah, you guessed it, our boy from Venice. Nothing can ever be done - even by the world's effective emperors - without a white hero to bear witness. Argh....
Still, amazing art direction, some striking images / shots / cinematography, and some really fine acting from rather older, more character actors (Joan Chen, Michelle Yeoh and Benedict Wong in particular) who can draw real feelings out of a mostly dire script and execution. (The younger ones are almost all completely wooden.) It is not a complete waste of your time, but don't expect to be gripped or educated. Just mildly entertained.
Marco Polo (Netflix) series 2. Gets more and more lavish and more and more confused, although there's some quality large-scale battling and one-one-one wuxia displays. Still no real sense whatsoever of Mongol (or Mongolian) culture in particular - it's all just some vague conception of 'Asia', boiling all the clichés about anywhere east of Lebanon together in a large hotpot while somehow leaching out all the flavour. Worst of all is how our token white boy hero (Lorenzo Richelmy, still mostly charisma-free) has to be shoehorned into the middle of every possible even to make a mostly-white US audience relate and stay interested. Netflix is also I guess trying not to offend Chinese audiences/financiers so the inter-Asian dynamics of the 13th-century world are kept discreetly blurry.
So, when Kublai has to finish off the last hopes of the deposed Song dynasty by doing an especially ethically-questionable murder, and take a decisive fork in world history, guess who just HAS to be in that very room, watching from the shadows? Yeah, you guessed it, our boy from Venice. Nothing can ever be done - even by the world's effective emperors - without a white hero to bear witness. Argh....
Still, amazing art direction, some striking images / shots / cinematography, and some really fine acting from rather older, more character actors (Joan Chen, Michelle Yeoh and Benedict Wong in particular) who can draw real feelings out of a mostly dire script and execution. (The younger ones are almost all completely wooden.) It is not a complete waste of your time, but don't expect to be gripped or educated. Just mildly entertained.
Nanker Phelge
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
I wanted to kill every character in The East.
Boring fucking hippies. All that eco twat babble and they still left lights on when they left the room....
Boring fucking hippies. All that eco twat babble and they still left lights on when they left the room....
Nanker Phelge
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
I tried Batman Vs Superman...the 3hr special edition version....I tried 3 times....
I did not want to be beaten....
But, boy oh boy, it was tragically fucking shit.....so I finally quit....
Everything was wrong. Story. Casting. Everything.
Zak Snyder clearly thought he was making some meaningful film about, erm...something big and meaningful....but it was just a pile of wank socks in the corner.
I did not want to be beaten....
But, boy oh boy, it was tragically fucking shit.....so I finally quit....
Everything was wrong. Story. Casting. Everything.
Zak Snyder clearly thought he was making some meaningful film about, erm...something big and meaningful....but it was just a pile of wank socks in the corner.
Nanker Phelge
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
Jeremey Irons was the shittest Alfred ever.
Nanker Phelge
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
Gone Girl. Very enjoyable.
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
Actually, he's one of the better ones. And Affleck made a good Batman. Film is still a mess with all the flash forwards, hallucinations and shoe horning stuff in for the uber fans but there's still a few cool things in there.
Nine Bob Note
Self-Isolating before it was fashionable
Just panickingly bought loads of digital shit from Amazon, as, although I've been checking out 'prime day' all day (load of old bollocks IMEO), I didn't realise they had offers on Video until an hour ago.
Never seen NYPD Blue before ('cept in clips, pop culture etc...) but know that I'll love it, so got the first two series for £4 each. Suspect this will be my new couple of eps a day show, now that I've finished (re)watching all the series of Bake Off that are available from BBC Store (all but S3 - easily the best season).
Never seen NYPD Blue before ('cept in clips, pop culture etc...) but know that I'll love it, so got the first two series for £4 each. Suspect this will be my new couple of eps a day show, now that I've finished (re)watching all the series of Bake Off that are available from BBC Store (all but S3 - easily the best season).
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
I must watch that, filmed locally, the cop shop shown is just by my works front door.
ringo
Macaroni cheese controller
I lived in Sheffield for 4 years and miss it, enjoyed trying to working out where they were, so add locations please
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Preacher. A lot more is making sense now, in terms of how they are doing the backstories for the TV version. Perhaps a little too flashback ridden but has to be done. Cassidy is as ever, a legend
Nine Bob Note
Self-Isolating before it was fashionable
Today: Entire first series of Bosch while waiting downstairs for the Amazon delivery guy (the TV doesn't have WWE Network or Netflix so had to make do) 
Pretty good actually, after I rubbished the first episode a couple of months ago. One big problem though - I learn't the main guy's name, but no one elses. I've gone through the whole thing refering to them as characters from other shows they've all been in (chiefly the Wire).
Pretty good actually, after I rubbished the first episode a couple of months ago. One big problem though - I learn't the main guy's name, but no one elses. I've gone through the whole thing refering to them as characters from other shows they've all been in (chiefly the Wire).
ringo
Macaroni cheese controller
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
I was slightly put off by the hype over it, but the first three episodes of The Americans have been really quite good. Only slightly spoiled by knowing that there's four seasons of it and no-one's going to die right away. Not as cool and stylish as Deutchland 83, but a lot less fluffy.
Reno
The In Kraut
Dark Mirror, 40s film noir/psychological thriller with Olivia De Havilland as twins, one nice, the other one nasty. Not a patch on Hitchcock's far more cinematic psychological thrillers of the period. The film is rather talky and confined to a few interiors, but De Havilland is fun.
Nanker Phelge
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
I started to watch High Rise and had to switch it off. It looked wonderful, but was so cold and callous it made me feel a bit angry towards it.
I was feeling a bit tired, so I will give it another go. It clearly owes a debt to Kubrick's Clorkwork Orange, and maybe even 2001 and the cruise/kidman one.....also himts of Greenaway, Draughtsman's Contract...
I'll try again.
I was feeling a bit tired, so I will give it another go. It clearly owes a debt to Kubrick's Clorkwork Orange, and maybe even 2001 and the cruise/kidman one.....also himts of Greenaway, Draughtsman's Contract...
I'll try again.
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
Nine Bob Note
Self-Isolating before it was fashionable
Series two of Bosch. Waaaaaay better that series one. Writing, acting and production values are much higher.
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