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

[belboid]

I lived in Sheffield for 4 years and miss it, enjoyed trying to working out where they were, so add locations please

Just watched the first one. It's a rather cheesy, gender bending, TV version of Full Monty (even down to vaguely knowing a couple of people in it!). With incredibly dubious race relations on show.

As far as we could tell....the main shots looking over the city were from Crookes, the house where hubby is shagging whoever she is definitely was. The bit where the shops looked nice was Sharrow Vale Road. The factory they get made redundant from was on Egerton Street (city centre, between Fitzwilliam St & Hanover Way). The cop shop was apparently in last nights episode, and was the old post office outside the Manpower Services building at Moorfoot.

 

[ringo]

Just watched the first one. It's a rather cheesy, gender bending, TV version of Full Monty (even down to vaguely knowing a couple of people in it!). With incredibly dubious race relations on show.

As far as we could tell....the main shots looking over the city were from Crookes, the house where hubby is shagging whoever she is definitely was. The bit where the shops looked nice was Sharrow Vale Road. The factory they get made redundant from was on Egerton Street (city centre, between Fitzwilliam St & Hanover Way). The cop shop was apparently in last nights episode, and was the old post office outside the Manpower Services building at Moorfoot.

Yes, it's ITV drama, but I like it. I used to live in Crookes, on Springvale Road

 

[Nanker Phelge]

My son kept nagging at me to watch Misfits, so I watched two episodes, and I enjoyed it. Some very funny writing going on there.

 

[Reno]

I'm watching S4 of Orange is the New Black and got two more episodes to go. Far better than S3, but I feel the series would work better if the episodes were be shorter. A Network episode length of 42 minutes would move things along more briskly than the streaming 50 to 60 minutes.

 

[pesh]

First two eps of Stranger Things, new Netflix show. Like a bunch of great 80s movies rolled into one. Really enjoyed it.

loving this... every decent Spielberg movie in a TV show... episode 1 was basically Jaws in some woods.

 

[Yetman]

Keanu is good, funny although a bit overacted in places. Batman vs Superman is too long.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Midnight Special. Not that special. Starts strong quickly goes limp.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

The Thing (2011) - a more than adequate prequel to the 1982 film playing with similar characters in an almost indentical setting to create a film which feels like both a remake and prequel at the same time...also with a nice homage to Ripley from the Alien franchise in Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character. Enjoyable....although some of the special effects looked like they pre-dated the 1982 version...

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Watched most of season one of NYPD Blue over the past two days. It's been stupidly hot, and I've been slowly and monotonously cataloguing my DVD collection - it's been a welcome relief. I've had my industral fan going so I've had to turn the volume right up and presumably share it with the rest of the street. Regret only buying two seasons in the sale for £3 each though as they're now £45 a piece

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

The Long March through ER continues. I'm up to season 13 episode 13 now. It's...it's not very good any more, but there are still long-term characters I care about (Abby and Luka, mainly), so I'll persevere. Only 50-odd episodes to go...

The next box-set is either getting back into Homicide: Life on the Street, or on a randomly purchased whim Tour of Duty. I suspect I may regret buying the latter.

 

[Yetman]

High Rise - Ben Wheatley's take on the novel of the same name. Reminded me a bit of Richard Ayoade's 'The Double'. Weird block of flats full of weird people starts normal, ends up mental. When you're trying to pull off a socio-political allegory in a film it needs to be done very well so as not to detract from the experience and this was, though it was a little too long. 7.5/10.

 

[ringo]

High Rise - Ben Wheatley's take on the novel of the same name. Reminded me a bit of Richard Ayoade's 'The Double'. Weird block of flats full of weird people starts normal, ends up mental. When you're trying to pull off a socio-political allegory in a film it needs to be done very well so as not to detract from the experience and this was, though it was a little too long. 7.5/10.

Got this for tonight, great book, hope the fillum lives up to it.

 

[The Octagon]

Finished Season 1 of Banshee, enjoyable nonsense with some great shootout / fight scenes and plenty of tense scenes.

Weird Amish incest subplot was a curveball, mind.

 

[The39thStep]

Finished Season 1 of Banshee, enjoyable nonsense with some great shootout / fight scenes and plenty of tense scenes.

Weird Amish incest subplot was a curveball, mind.

It's a really entertaining series , completely over the top but well crafted and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Very underrated imo.

 

[trabuquera]

Thor (2011) good campy fun, though I'd never suspected that the Nordic realm of the gods contained quite so much gilded chrome, Art Deco streamlining or CGI light effects. Absolutely atrocious hairdressing on everyone. Having Idris Elba as guard the sky bridge without dropping his London accent was a little touch of genius.

Something in the Air (aka Apres Mai) - 2011 - massively self-indulgent story of how wonderful it was to be young and revolutionary in 1968 France. Very thinly-disguised self-portrait of the director (Olivier Assayas) as a young artist, with too much hair, a bourgeois dad, several hippy chicks on the go and really deep creative ideas for psychedelic lightshows and so on. Oh yeah and a real love for the revolution and the people, except if it means going without money or freedom to do whatever you like. Critics went wild over its 'sensual evocation of time and place and historical moment'. There might be more tongue-in-cheek humour in there than I'm giving it credit for, but I found most of the characters incredibly annoying, callow, stupid, pompous in a totally French way. The female comrades get treated like dirt and nobody explains who's paying all the bills. (So it's just like real life!). But it's interesting even when it's annoying.

 

[stdP]

High Rise - Ben Wheatley's take on the novel of the same name. Reminded me a bit of Richard Ayoade's 'The Double'. Weird block of flats full of weird people starts normal, ends up mental. When you're trying to pull off a socio-political allegory in a film it needs to be done very well so as not to detract from the experience and this was, though it was a little too long. 7.5/10.

Watched the DVD myself last night. After the... well, divisive reviews I wasn't really sure what to expect. Somewhat indecipherable, preposterous, pompous and pretentious... yes, it is also all those things. But much like the book I found it a brilliantly evocative allegory (and the first "uncompromised" allegory that didn't try and stray from its source for the sake of narrative simplicity that I've seen in quite a long time) with a host of really rather disquietingly psychotic performances. Think it might be Hiddleston's best yet.

<side note>Portishead's cover of Abba's SOS was simply breathtaking - really rams home how Abba were like a mirror image of Radiohead in managing to take very dark subject matter and turn them into shining nuggets of feel-good pop. Perfectly dissonant counterpoint to the flighty Abba covers by the string quartet earlier.

 

[Sue]

White Dog. Black trainer tries to reprogramme a dog which has been trained to attack black people. Interesting take on racism (can it be treated?) though apparently v controversial at the time.

(Also interested to see it was loosely based on a book by Romain Gary.)

 

[Reno]

White Dog. Black trainer tries to reprogramme a dog which has been trained to attack black people. Interesting take on racism (can it be treated?) though apparently v controversial at the time.

(Also interested to see it was loosely based on a book by Romain Gary.)

That was an odd case where a film which was an anti-racist allegory ended up accused of racism. I watched that again recently. It's an interesting if flawed film, marred by poor casting.

 

[belboid]

That was an odd case where a film which was an anti-racist allegory ended up accused of racism. I watched that again recently. It's an interesting if flawed film, marred by poor casting.

I dont think its the casting that is at fault. If anything is, it's Fuller's style of direction, which, to me, is fitting, but very much of its time. Subtle, it is not.

 

[belboid]

Potiche. Seventies set farce from Francois Ozon with Catherine Deneuve as the wife of a shitbag umbrella factory boss who, after a strike and a punch up, takes over the factory, with hilarious results. No, really, the results are genuinely hilarious. Deneuve is marvellous, Gerard Depardieu is pretty good as the Communist MP (the film does mention the need to build the revolutionary party, so we're covered there), and it looks great - a very hymn of praise to Jacques Demy, and Umbrellas of Cherbourg in particular.

 

[Sue]

Potiche. Seventies set farce from Francois Ozon with Catherine Deneuve as the wife of a shitbag umbrella factory boss who, after a strike and a punch up, takes over the factory, with hilarious results. No, really, the results are genuinely hilarious. Deneuve is marvellous, Gerard Depardieu is pretty good as the Communist MP (the film does mention the need to build the revolutionary party, so we're covered there), and it looks great - a very hymn of praise to Jacques Demy, and Umbrellas of Cherbourg in particular.

Saw that when it came it out and pretty much hated it. Felt like it was trying to be a Carry On film.

Funny, but I seem to either really like or really dislike his films and in about equal measure so end up going to see whatever he puts out hoping it's in the former category.

 

[DotCommunist]

I watched 'Wyrd Sisters' the first of the Lancre Witches tales from pratchett and one of 2 commited to cartoon by the same outfit. Spot on, leaned heavily on Pratchetts writing so quite funny and where it had to make departures, it made them seamless and flowing. Good animation, they've got the wtches perfect AND given tham all regional accents well worth the time for any fan of the books

 

[DotCommunist]

The Believer. A jewish neo-nazi american kid spirals slowly downwards, an interesting watch. There's a few beat points in there that reminded me of the old cry 'and where was God in Dachau?' etc. Really worth the watch. Theere's even a wannabe marine le pen sort and everything. Thoughtful piece I reconed, didn't try to shy away from what the protaganist had become, rather showed the unravelling of that persona and the ID crisis of late 20s people writ large and in big ugly numbers, told through ugly currents. 8/10.

 

[DotCommunist]

Slow West

a fairly bleak tale of love denied and revenge ungained. The Hound features. What got me the most about it was not just the ruthless utalitarianism of the characters but how bitterly everyone lost. Great scenery, good gunfights and some easy unforced characterisation, both of time and protagonists. 7/10

What was good about it was how the 'innocent' never lost that, despite some pretty horrific shit, he was still theis wild eyed lad looking for his love. Would watch again. Compare/contrast with True Grit

 

[Idris2002]

I watched 'Wyrd Sisters' the first of the Lancre Witches tales from pratchett and one of 2 commited to cartoon by the same outfit. Spot on, leaned heavily on Pratchetts writing so quite funny and where it had to make departures, it made them seamless and flowing. Good animation, they've got the wtches perfect AND given tham all regional accents well worth the time for any fan of the books

Big shoes to fill, and they filled them, you mean?

 

[Reno]

I dont think its the casting that is at fault. If anything is, it's Fuller's style of direction, which, to me, is fitting, but very much of its time. Subtle, it is not.

Kristy McNichol, who became famous in tomboy roles on 70s TV shows, doesn't work at all in the lead role. She's one of these child actors who never made a credible transition to adult roles. White Dog was one of a string of failed attempts to turn her into a film star.

White Dog was based on a true story experienced by Jean Seberg, the American movie star still best known for Godard's Breathless. The book White Dog was based on her account, retaining the real people's names. Though the film moved the characters away from their real-life counterparts, the perky-bland girl-next-door McNichol is totally miscast as an actress based on someone as sophisticated, smart and complex as Jean Seberg.

BTW, Seberg's story is a fascinating if sad one. She came to a tragic end in the late 70s, which many believe had to do with her support for various civil rights causes, including the Black Panthers. She got blacklisted by Hollywood and was smeared and hounded by the FBI for years, which ruined her career and eventually ended her life far too early.

I agree that there is something off about Fuller's pulpy, blunt style which felt edgy in the 50s and 60s but by the 80s has the feel of a TV movie.

 

[imposs1904]

Pride.

pushed all the right emotional buttons. has paddy considine ever put in a bad performance?

 

[Sue]

And Romain Gary (who wrote the original story) was an extremely interesting man.

Moved to France as a child from Russia (now Lithuania), brought up by a single mother, was a pilot in the Free French Air Wing during WWII, became a lawyer, UN diplomat, wrote a couple of dozen novels, won the Prix Goncourt twice (you're only allowed to win it once so the second time was under a pseudonym), married Jean Seberg and squeezed in a couple of screenplays/directed a couple of films.

Almost enough to make one feel a touch inadequate...

 

[The Octagon]

Just finished S1 of Veronica Mars.

Smartly written and funny, surprised I missed it the first time round.

For those who've seen the first season at least, a question though...

Spoiler

Was it just me or was the final episode meant to be a parody homage? It felt ridiculous with its twists and turns and seriously poor acting, I assumed it was a dream sequence for the first 20 mins and then realised it wasn't, oddly disappointed by the end.

 

[stdP]

Watched Niccol's Catch-22 for the first time since I read the book about a decade ago.

Don't understand the scorn apparently piled upon this movie - I'm going to watch it again shortly but I thought it did an absolutely fantastic job of capturing most of the story of the book and certainly the spirit of it. Stellar cast; Alan Arkin's perfect as Yossarian and Awesome Welles had me in stitches. Voight as Milo did a superb job of going from enthusiastic go-getting prick to chillingly fascistic uber-capitalist. Technically brilliant as well - crapton of really nice long shots, complicated but un-showy camerawork, understated visual gags a-go-go, brilliant sound editing.