What have you watched recently?

Basq wrote: »

... Lex's moment in the spotlight as a "hacker" is just bizarre.. she hovers over a 2D drawing of the compound and clicks the mouse a few times! :rolleyes:

It was 3D and real!
http://www.siliconbunny.com/fsn-the-irix-3d-file-system-tool-from-jurassic-park/

These Amazing Shadows- excellent documentary about the preservation of films for the National Film Registry, spurred by Ted Turner's colorization of black and white classic movies in the 80's, filmmakers and actors went to the US congress to plead to preserve films in their original form instead of bastardising them (ironically George Lucas was one of the people to protest the altering of films from their original form, practice what ya preach George!) Interesting seeing how film is preserved, cleaned and stuff found that was long thought lost or disintegrated, really worth a watch its on the US netflix.

'Inside'

Part of the "New French Extremity" series, 'Inside' is an incredibly grusome and violent effort by directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, dealing with a young woman (Alysson Paradis) as she attempts to escape the attentions of a stalker, after a trumatic car accident.

While the basic plot of 'Inside' may appear somewhat hokey at first sight, the creators approach their subject with such gusto that the apparent limitation of the premise is nulled.

The visuals are so full on and there are no holds barred, that it would be hard to recommend 'Inside' to hasn't viewed such harsh material before. However, for those with the stomach, it's an excellent slice of gory cinema that contains more than a few genuine shocks in its running time.





'Martyrs'

Another French "Extremity" horror film (actually French/Canadian) that abandons any kind of restraint and goes all out for its shocking results. Without giving too much away, 'Martyrs' deals with two girls, Anna and Lucie. Lucie has escaped captivity as a child from apparently motiveless abductors and has been placed into care, where she is befriended by Anna. The film then flashes forward to a point where the two girls are older and we see that Lucie is haunted by horrific visions, brought on by her incarceration and is fuelled by the desire for revenge on her childhood captors.

So gut-wrenching and harrowing are the visuals presented, that the film received some trouble in France upon its release. it's understandable to a degree, because the film is very difficult and very grim.

It's hard to write about 'Martyrs', because going into too much detail destroys the film. It's really best to go into it with as little information as possible. That way the viewer gets the most out of it. But, like 'Inside', 'Martyrs' is an extremely hard watch. There are moments in it that will have even the most hardened horror fanatic squirming. My only real criticism of the film is that I am not sure that the essential point of the film holds up, but I am sort of in two minds about that. It's horror cinema, after all and not meant to be scrutinised too much. Also, the punch line will either have you intrigued or infuriated...or a combination of both.

I won't leave a trailer, because it shows way too much.



'Tyrannosaur'

Scottish actor Peter Mullan stars as a unemployed man, down on his luck and prone to violent outbursts of temper. He befriends a kindly woman, who works at the local charity shop (Olivia Colman), who has issues of her own to deal with.

The debut full length feature from Paddy Considine, 'Tyrannosaur' is uncompromising in its harsh and realistic views of terribly broken people. It's brilliantly acted by all concerned, but special mention must go to Olivia Colman (who some may recognise from 'That Mitchell and Webb Look'). Colman is an absolute gem here, proving that, as well as being able to handle comedy, she can also do straight drama as well. And great drama it is too, shot in that excellent British tradition of uncompromising "working-class" seriousness. Considine is obviously a student of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh as there is a lot of their influence to be seen in 'Tyrannosaur'.

I really liked the Grey. Different strokes I guess:)

Tony EH wrote: »

The debut full length feature from Paddy Considine, 'Tyrannosaur' is uncompromising in its harsh and realistic views of terribly broken people. It's brilliantly acted by all concerned, but special mention must go to Olivia Colman (who some may recognise from 'That Mitchell and Webb Look'). Colman is an absolute gem here, proving that, as well as being able to handle comedy, she can also do straight drama as well. And great drama it is too, shot in that excellent British tradition of uncompromising "working-class" seriousness. Considine is obviously a student of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh as there is a lot of their influence to be seen in 'Tyrannosaur'.

Last night, after that 3-1 defeat, I put on Tyrannosaur (glutton for punishment I suppose :P) and thought it was excellent. I love Mike Leigh's films, Naked, Abigail's Party, Happy go Lucky and Nuts in May being favourites, as well as the work of Shane Meadows and now Considine looks as if he's turning into a serious film maker in the same mold. It's great to see and Tyrannosaur, I thought, had the hallmarks of the aforementioned people's best films because in amongst the grit and the bleakness was a lot of humanity, warmth and humour. I had prepared myself for a Nil by Mouth clone but actually was treated to a very well balanced, tough slice of life.

8/10

I thought 'The Grey' was a pretty good film too, so much different than the usual Liam Neeson fare, which is awful by and largem despite his good screen presence.

briany wrote: »

Last night, after that 3-1 defeat, I put on Tyrannosaur (glutton for punishment I suppose :P) and thought it was excellent. I love Mike Leigh's films, Naked, Abigail's Party, Happy go Lucky and Nuts in May being favourites, as well as the work of Shane Meadows and now Considine looks as if he's turning into a serious film maker in the same mold. It's great to see and Tyrannosaur, I thought, had the hallmarks of the aforementioned people's best films because in amongst the grit and the bleakness was a lot of humanity, warmth and humour. I had prepared myself for a Nil by Mouth clone but actually was treated to a very well balanced, tough slice of life.

8/10

Aye, it's full of great "Mike Leigh" scenes, like when

Tony EH wrote: »

Aye, it's full of great "Mike Leigh" scenes, like when

they attend the wake of Joes friend. It's uplifting, depressing, funny, sad and almost threatens to boil over into a corny cliché, all in one go.

I was initially surprised to hear

fitz0 wrote: »

Prometheus

I went in to this with expectations. I'm fond of Alien and to a lesser extent it's sequels. I'm very fond of sci-fi in general. But apart from that I know that Ridley Scott has form with good sci-fi. But I was sorely disappointed.

From the ham-fisted religious element and pondering on the soul and the afterlife to the disposable, half-formed characters and illogical evolution of the plot this film just layered disappointment on top of disappointment. I'm generally willing to overlook minor plot holes and dangling storyline threads if the core story is good. But even at that, I found it a fairly standard haunted house type story. It had no drive (dare I say soul) and came across as some set pieces loosely strung together or else a much longer, better film cut to pieces in the editing room.

My biggest criticism of the film however, might seem a bit petty. The two scientists, Shaw and the other guy, were terrible scientists. The other guy (I honestly can't remember his name), well he didn't find what he wanted to find and so became completely uninterested, drinking champagne while the others examined an aliens head! Imagine, you're a scientist having just discovered an alien species, would you sit back and get hammered or would you be right in there learning what you could? It makes no sense.

I won't go on about the aliens themselves; the mutated maggots were fine, the scientist guy dying was almost good, the zombie geologist was pointless except to kill off some unnamed characters, the giant vagina squid seems forced in just to put us in mind of the chestburster and to be a convenient savior at the end, the Engineers are a bit meh and the proto-xenomorph at the end - why did it come out fully formed when the xenomorph in Alien had to grow?

I actually found myself rolling my eyes at parts of this film. Capped off by a giant rolling spaceship crushing Charlize Theron. Really, it just rolled over on top of her. Neither of them thought to run sideways, no?

The religious elements (I can't call them undertones) wouldn't bother me except for the line "That's what I choose to believe." What an utterly ridiculous line. Like most of the film, it only has substance because we think it should when in reality it's just a line that has no meaning. But it gets repeated so we know that Shaw's father was a great example for her. I think it was this line that made me give up on the film. But even after having the entire creation story very much disproved Shaw comes out with something along the lines of "Well, who created them?" *Sigh* I expected too much from this.

The only redeeming quality to this film was the set design, Michael Fassbender and leaving the cinema. What a pile of utter tripe.

3/10

EDIT: I wouldn't even call this science fiction. Call it fantasy or science fantasy.

The spoilers here literally sum up everything i felt about the movie... well played, sir! :pac:

Watched CONDORMAN last week and really enjoyed it. Not a great story or acting, just an entertaining (kids) film to watch on a rainy day. If you seen it as a kid you will enjoy it more.
7/10

Just finished watching THE GAME and at the end of it i really had to think if i liked it or not. The twists were unexpected and designed to confuse but its nice to be surprised by a film. Everything "falls" into place a bit to perfect, although the story, acting and suspense more than makes up for any flaws.
6/10

Bassboxxx wrote: »

24 hour party people Loved this film, loved the subject, the cameos, the music, loved the narration to the camera.:D

The only thing I could fault was I kept thinking Alan Partridge rather than Tony Wilson....prob just me tho.

No, me too. Kept waiting for "A-Ha!"

Bassboxxx wrote: »

24 hour party people Loved this film, loved the subject, the cameos, the music, loved the narration to the camera.:D

The only thing I could fault was I kept thinking Alan Partridge rather than Tony Wilson....prob just me tho.

Watched this earlier and I agree about the Partridge comparison. Still thought it was a very good movie. Mostly enjoyable due to the music which is what it says it is all about.

Now what to watch after the football.

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

Stand by me. (1983)

I give it a 10/10, Im not really into these kinda films. But I must admit, it really is a good film.

1986, plus 2 for flinching.

Judgement Day wrote: »

"The Last September" (1999) on DVD - hard to find! An excellent take on the last days of the Anglo Irish Ascendancy. A young woman in the 'Big House' comes of age against the background of Black & Tan and IRA violence. Some great acting (and accents) from Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith and the young British officer at the heart of things played by David Tennant (Dr.Who). If you can't wait to find a DVD, the whole movie can be viewed on YouTube. 8/10

Love this book; Bowen is a fantastic writer. Going to watch this, thanks!