Take Shelter

Goldstein

This one looks interesting. Originally screened at Sundance and more recently Cannes where it received the critics week grand prize.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tst6GeGtokQ

Official Speil wrote:

Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. Curtis makes a modest living as a crew chief for a sand-mining company. Samantha is a stay-at-home mother and part-time seamstress who supplements their income by selling handmade wares at the flea market each weekend. Money is tight, and navigating Hannah’s healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite that, Curtis and Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one.

Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic storm. He chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety into the obsessive building of a storm shelter in their backyard. His seemingly inexplicable behavior concerns and confounds Samantha, and provokes intolerance among co-workers, friends and neighbors. But the resulting strain on his marriage and tension within the community doesn’t compare to Curtis’ private fear of what his dreams may truly signify.

Faced with the proposition that his disturbing visions signal disaster of one kind or another, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing the power of their bond against the highest possible stakes.

Sad Professor

Yeah, it looks very interesting. I've been looking forward to it since I heard about it getting picked up at Sundance. I don't think it has a UK/Irish distributor yet; hopefully we won't be left waiting too long.

Chastain is having a really good year: this, The Tree of Life, and a couple of other films all due out.

JP Liz V1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675192/

Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc

Looks pretty good to me and it has two actors from Boardwalk Empire. It seems to be doing well at the festivals and Shannon is getting quite a bit of oscar buzz for his role.

Fishooks12

Saw the trailer in the cinema and have been waiting eagerly to see it since

Getting great reviews and Shannon is one of my favourite actors, he was phenomenal in Revolutionary Road

Sad Professor

Threads merged.

Looks like this is out the end of November.

losthorizon

I know you shouldnt judge a film by its trailer but wow.

Very good reviews and well recieved at Cannes

Has anyone seen it yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc

Brendog

No but it does look very good. Kind of got a "Beautiful Mind" feel to it.

Michael Shannon is a great actor

Sad Professor

This would have to come out the last week of term when I've got 3 deadlines and exams looming, wouldn't it? Feck it, no way am I missing this. Might go see it tomorrow after college. I guess I'll have to go to Cineworld/IFI as all of Vue's screens are are booked up with back-to-back Twilight showings. :rolleyes:

Warper

Saw this. Good film but fairly predictable and disappointing ending. Good story though. 7/10

Phony Scott

Warper wrote: »

predictable

I'd completely agree with this, particularly the second half and the ending was a bit feeble, but none of that really mattered to me. It's haunting to watch and some of the imagery will stick with me for a while. Great performance from Michael Shannon.

That_Guy

Really looking to seeing this. Was hoping to head to it tomorrow night but I'm sick so I'll have to leave it til the weekend. Might catch it in a double bill with Hugo or something.

johnny_ultimate

Quite impressed by this. Again, doesn't necessarily do anything entirely new, and there are a few scenes that go through the motions. But it still works for a variety of reason. Ol' crazy-eyed Shannon does an amazing job of a guy on the edge - its that line between being pitiful and disillusioned. He's simply confused. The soundtrack is excellent, and there are some haunting sequences throughout.

The scene where Samantha persuades Curtis to open the shelter door

is simultaneously heartbreaking and strangely uplifting, as is

the Lyons' club dinner sequence

. Whether it should have gone on for an extra ten minutes after what seemed like a more than suitable thematic ending is certainly up for debate, though.

The last scene, though (initially, before the CGI budget was blown on the final shot) nicely composed with the storm reflected off the window, perhaps rendered what came before redundant.

Got an almost biblical vibe off it actually, with symbolism like

the first born child being taken

. Add to that the middle American setting, and in some ways its almost an abstract critique of religious fundamentalism. Shame the ending makes it almost impossible to decide what side the film-makers fall on :pac:

Sad Professor

Is this still on anywhere? I was hoping to go see it again as I was exhausted the first time I saw it.

I thought it was excellent though. The scene mentioned above of

Chastain telling him to open the door was very powerful. I actually thought it could have ended there, just as he opened the door, leaving what they found a mystery.

But the actual ending was great too.