What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

pixelburp

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I saw it last Saturday night. It's certainly unique, and I'd imagine it will be pretty divisive amongst audiences and critics in particular; but I found it fun and entertaining....and I say this as primarily an admitted art house/foreign cinema snob!

Oh like I said, I was never bored, not once & the actors seemed game in playing both the comedy and drama - it's just the way the tone violently changed gears mid-scene that frequently left me a bit bewildered as to WTF was going on. Without googling it didn't seem like a film butchered in the editing room or by reshoots, so I can only presume Feig meant to have scenes going from one extreme to another. It was pure chaos.

LOL, I mean that ending ... bloody hell

the accidental SWAT invasion on the neighbours bong party, the Stealth Car saving the day, followed by a punch to the balls.

So weird.

Hey, it was a better erotic thriller than Girl on the Train.

ButtersSuki

pixelburp wrote: »

Oh like I said, I was never bored, not once & the actors seemed game in playing both the comedy and drama - it's just the way the tone violently changed gears mid-scene that frequently left me a bit bewildered as to WTF was going on. Without googling it didn't seem like a film butchered in the editing room or by reshoots, so I can only presume Feig meant to have scenes going from one extreme to another. It was pure chaos.

LOL, I mean that ending ... bloody hell

the accidental SWAT invasion on the neighbours bong party, the Stealth Car saving the day, followed by a punch to the balls.

So weird.

Hey, it was a better erotic thriller than Girl on the Train.

It's all over the place at time and yet still works. I'd imagine there will be Director's Cut/Extended Cut on the Blu Ray/DVD release which might fill in some of the gaps/bridges.

zapitastas

Revenge

Franchise Canadian rape/revenge film from 2017. Quite gory in places and a couple of scenes which are well doen but there is nothing new or of worth here. They could have made a more realistic effort with the aftermath of the beer can scene

bnt

I thought I would try another classic movie, and I’m a huge Katharine Hepburn fan, but I couldn’t make it all the way through Sea Of Grass, one of the films she made with Spencer Tracy. He plays a tough cattle rancher, she plays his new wife who tries to bring a modicum of civilisation to his isolated ranch. I could see what was going to happen a mile off, and lost interest halfway through. Director Elia Kazan, annoyed by the budget limitations that meant a film about Big Sky Country had to be shot mostly on the studio backlot, called it the worst film he ever made and said “don’t see it”. :eek:

ButtersSuki

zapitastas wrote: »

Revenge

Franchise Canadian rape/revenge film from 2017. Quite gory in places and a couple of scenes which are well doen but there is nothing new or of worth here. They could have made a more realistic effort with the aftermath of the beer can scene

Have that pre-ordered for next Monday on BR as I missed it in the cinema. Though I try and avoid reading extensively about movies before I see them yours is the first "mediocre"(ish) review I've seen.

j.s. pill II

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Climax

Four things:

1. Gaspar Noe still uses the sort of shock tactics and provocations only a teenager would find particularly transgressive. His films embrace elements of both pornography and video nasties......


.....ilm with a bassier soundtrack.

Not going to be everyone's cup of tea (mine included). Great opening and soundtrack though.



Like an actual acid trip, I was kind of relieved when it was all over!

phatkev

zapitastas wrote: »

Revenge

Franchise Canadian rape/revenge film from 2017. Quite gory in places and a couple of scenes which are well doen but there is nothing new or of worth here. They could have made a more realistic effort with the aftermath of the beer can scene

Watched this the other night, once I was able to get over the pure ridiculousness of it I really enjoyed it!

Tony EH

'Spitfire'

Nicely produced, by terribly average documentary about the famous aircraft, that's a little too much on the flag wavy side. Maybe of use to newbies, but if you know anything about the plane already, you're likely to be left underwhelmed.

In its favour, though, are nicely shot aerial scenes and some interviews with lesser known pilots of the period, including some ATA women. It all looks very polished indeed. But despite a few titbits of information here and there, the history plays out in a very shallow, bog standard, manner, which ended up being quite unsatisfactory.

A number of issues with the narrative crop up throughout as well. It neglects to mention that it was the Hurricane which actually shot down more German aircraft than the Spitfire. It casually states that Hitler switched to bombing London, but omits telling the viewer the all important why. It mentions that Fighter Command were outnumbered by 4:1, but doesn't say that both the Jadgwaffe and the R.A.F. were roughly equal in fighter aircraft, which were going to be doing the actual fighting. And it repeats the dubious myth of Sealion being an actual threat to Britain, when in reality Germany had no chance whatsoever of even crossing the Channel in a state to bring a meaningful war to the country.

So in the end, I suppose that I could recommended 'Spitfire' to greenhorns, but veterans may need to look elsewhere.


5/10


EDIT: Found out this morning that one of the old dears that was interviewed in the documentary,Mary Ellis, died last Monday. She was 101.






'After Hitler'

Semi-interesting documentary about what happened in Europe after the war. A much neglected period of history, it has to be said. However, while it makes some attempt to shed light on events post 1945, it doesn't go deep enough. The history of German-speaking refugees being kicked out of every European nation seems to take up the bulk of the running time and that could fill an entire 2 hour programme itself. But, it's really only touched upon. France gets a mention too, and the focus is on a lot of the political infighting and revenge on, mainly women, who "collaborated" with Germans during the war. Russia is presented as the new threat to Europe and really not much else, unfortunately. And the Eastern European nations are shown as places who were looking forward to a new existence, under a Communist banner, after throwing off the shackles of right wing occupation. Although, as we saw, things didn't go well under their new rulers in Moscow either.

Again though, we can see that there's just not enough running time to cover all the areas in question and while the programme tries to mention as many nations as it can, it can do so only in a light manner.

Familiar footage has been colourised, as is a popular thing nowadays, and it isn't half bad at all. It's mixed with real Kodak colour footage from the period too. But, the documentary suffers from the old problem of footage not matching the narration. Footage of bombed out Berlin is shown while the narration is mentioning France - a country that actually escaped large scale carpet bombing - and a clip of a battered French woman is shown when mentioning the mass rapes that the Red Army inflicted on German women.

All in all, it wasn't bad. But, like 'Spitfire', it will probably appeal more to people who have never heard anything about the period immediately following May 1945 which, in fairness, would be quite a large audience.


6/10

johnny_ultimate

Minding the Gap

Filmmaker Bing Liu makes a hell of a debut here. Graduating from amateur teenage skateboard videos, Liu uses the footage of himself and his friends as the starting point to develop an astonishing film that’s deeply personal but also vast and timely.

Bing and his two friends Zack and Keire are the main focuses here (although Zack’s girlfriend Nina plays an increasingly integral part). It’s skateboarding that brought them together, but their troubled, often traumatic pasts give them a deeper connection that Bing teases out. As well as proving a powerfully emotional (and often devastating) portrait of four people’s experiences over the course of a decade, it’s also a story that encompasses broader concerns: urban decay; alcoholism; domestic abuse; dissafected youth and the limited opportunities available to them; the everyday racial tensions of modern America; spiralling crime in cities that are falling apart; how people deal with trauma... It’s a tiny film following a bunch of ‘normal’ people, but like many great documentaries of its type it becomes about so much more (no surprise Steve James of Hoop Dreams fame boasts a producer credit).

And then there’s Liu’s own cinematography. Largely shot in what appears to be a 16mm style (could be wrong there, but certainly has that soft, filmic feel) intercut with all sorts of archive amateur footage, it’s a film that feels kinda displaced from any particular time despite obviously being filmed very recently. The film at key junctures takes the time to just show these guys skateboarding. It’s not flashy filming, and instead impressively expressive... that no matter how bad things get, how dark their stories turn out to be, there’s always this liberation and distraction. It’s a film full of warmth and joy and enthusiasm, but also complications and violence and frustration. It’s a pretty stunning piece of work, and easily one of the best recent documentaries from America or anywhere else.

Frank O. Pinion

Eight Grade (2018)

Incredible film, one of the best of the year. Anyone with daughters should definitely watch it, plus anyone else who likes great, realistic films.

eviltimeban

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I saw it last Saturday night. It's certainly unique, and I'd imagine it will be pretty divisive amongst audiences and critics in particular; but I found it fun and entertaining....and I say this as primarily an admitted art house/foreign cinema snob!

I agree, it was all over the place tonally, like the scene where Kendrick is rapping in the car, and shifting from comedy to thriller within the same scene. But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kendrick was playing to her type, a little bit ditsy but ultimately strong. The male lead was decent but anonymous, and the supporting cast was enjoyable.

Kudos though to Blake Lively. She was magnetic in this movie, and the whole time she wasn't on screen I just wanted her to be back on screen. The

twist about the twin I spotted via the mole on her cheek being in the wrong place on the body pulled from the river

(was it meant to be that obvious?) and there were a few moments where I had to check had I missed something, like when

they met at the graveyard - I wasn't sure were they both in on it from the start.

But overall there are worse ways to spend an evening in the cinema. Interestingly at the screening I was at the audience was mostly female, and they all seemed to enjoy it.

NIMAN

Sicario 2

Definitely not as good as the 1st installment, but a solid 6/10.

Thought the 2 male leads were, as usual, excellent.

Frank O. Pinion

Leave No Trace (2018)

After watching the fantastic Eight Grade on Wednesday, I thought it would be a while before I saw another great film from 2018. Turns out, I'd watch one the very next day, and it's another film with a central Daddy/daughter theme. Eight years after directing 2010's Winter's Bone, Debra Granik returns with this amazing film, with brilliant performances from Ben Foster and the young Thomasin McKenzie playing his character's daughter.

Paddy Samurai

NIMAN wrote: »

Sicario 2

Definitely not as good as the 1st installment, but a solid 6/10.

Thought the 2 male leads were, as usual, excellent.

Yeah nowhere near the first one imo, but it was watchable .
Would'nt need to see it again.

branie2

A Simple Favor at the cinema this evening. It was a very good thriller.

quickbeam

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

While it kept me engaged right to the end, I can't remember seeing a film with as many plot holes, cliches, improbabilities and deux en machinas in a really long time. I'm shocked at the rave reviews it seems to have garnered (89% on RT). I read that the ending was different to the original's. I think I'd like to still see the original to compare.

5/10

Tony EH

Yeh. Always been flabbergasted at just how well received the remake was. Much prefer the original myself.

rdhma

A few recommendations:

Revenge

phatkev wrote: »

Watched this the other night, once I was able to get over the pure ridiculousness of it I really enjoyed it!

Another vote here for Revenge. So over-the-top gory in places it was (intentionally) funny. Reactions among the audience were split / :eek:

Cold War
The story of the relationship of a composer and a singer, though the totalitarian era in Poland and elsewhere. Cinematography and score are strong points.

Faces Places
Director Agnes Varda and photographer JR travel around France creating public art projects. A funny and quite charming movie.

CrankyHaus

NIMAN wrote: »

Sicario 2

Definitely not as good as the 1st installment, but a solid 6/10.

Thought the 2 male leads were, as usual, excellent.

Finally got around to watching it. I expected it to be much worse.
They basically ditched all the stuff that made the first one so special and doubled down on the macho genre elements.

Fairly enjoyable within that context. I can see the 3rd one being good, but not great.



Serious nedser on Benicio though. They tried really hard to hide it with loose shirts and flatterring camera angles but he looks more like he's been on the beer since Sicario 1 than the elite hitman he's supposed to be.

Frank O. Pinion

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

Leave No Trace (2018)

After watching the fantastic Eight Grade on Wednesday, I thought it would be a while before I saw another great film from 2018. Turns out, I'd watch one the very next day, and it's another film with a central Daddy/daughter theme. Eight years after directing 2010's Winter's Bone, Debra Granik returns with this amazing film, with brilliant performances from Ben Foster and the young Thomasin McKenzie playing his character's daughter.

I thought this was decent, but I couldn't say it was amazing. The concept was pretty cool, the story touching. Great performance from the girl. I found a lot of it flawed though especially the survival aspect in the beginning, was far too 'clean cut' and the reality of such a situation is far more difficult. Living under a crappy makeshift camp the way they were, is far too idealistic and a long way from the reality if you actually tried to do that.

I also thought the story was too simple and didn't flesh out the lead actor enough.
But its a good change of pace for sure, bold effort, for me a 7/10.

Frank O. Pinion wrote: »

Eight Grade (2018)

Incredible film, one of the best of the year. Anyone with daughters should definitely watch it, plus anyone else who likes great, realistic films.

Again, too strong a superlative for me. Clever film, very well acted by the teenager, but very very OTT in the level of total idiocy of the girl in the script. There are people who are awkward and socially inept and then there is this which I found a little fake and forced, which in the early stages of the film kind of ruined it a bit for me, it pushed the envelope of her awkwardness too far. The film did pull itself together a lot more in the middle and at the end though where her level of awkwardness was much more realistic.

Definitely a decent watch but not particularly memorable for me because of the above.

Del.Monte

quickbeam wrote: »

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

While it kept me engaged right to the end, I can't remember seeing a film with as many plot holes, cliches, improbabilities and deux en machinas in a really long time. I'm shocked at the rave reviews it seems to have garnered (89% on RT). I read that the ending was different to the original's. I think I'd like to still see the original to compare.

5/10

I quite enjoyed this movie but it's not a patch on the 3:10 to Claremorris!

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

I've been struggling to find a decent movie of late and watched "The Resistance Banker" (2018) and "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016) over the last couple of nights - neither of which I'd recommend to a friend. Best that can be said for the latter is that Tom Cruise is not as awful as he usually is but that's not saying much. Back to bingeing "Gotham" tonight.

Del.Monte

Too much Guinness tonight and I've given up trying to find something to watch - off to bed with the World Service on the transistor. I tried "Cardboard Gangsters" (2017) an Irish movie on Netflix and put it off after 10 minutes - life is too short for such poorly made trash - even in the interests of research.. -10/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paJYAk6Lkmc

Tar.Aldarion

73 Cows (2018) - A beautiful short documentary about a farmer battling with his conscience over running his farm

https://vimeo.com/293352305

NIMAN

Watched Leave No Trace.

Decent but nothing special. Main plus was the young female lead, excellent.

5/10

branie2

Johnny English Strikes Again in the Cinema on Friday. It was very funny.

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima on DVD, which I bought in Knock on Saturday.

ButtersSuki

Haven't watched Revenge yet despite getting it last week on Blu Ray - in typical "me" fashion I'll leave it there for an eternity before watching it. :rolleyes:


Instead I watched Les Infidèles / The Players on DVD. Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche (you'll know both if you watch French cinema, the former you may know from The Artist) star in a series of uneven at times but always interesting tales about infidelity, mostly told from the male perspective. It's largely a comedy and is funny/amusing, but the best episode is the most serious one. Also starring lots of other French actors you'll likely recognise btw. Soundtrack was interesting too. I quite enjoyed it, but then I like a lot of French films......... 7/10.


The Girl On The Train on Netflix. Gone Girl-lite, basically. It struggled to keep my attention at times TBH and I found it quite weak in places, with a fairly predictable ending. Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh as it's not terrible, but it's pretty average. 5/10.

ILikeBoats

American Animals - Decent film which details an art heist made by some students. Irish Barry Keoghan and Quicksilver from XMen are in it. I like the way it flicks between documentary style and movie style. A bit of a crazy story! 7.5/10

oneilla

Under Suspicion (2000)
I watched this last night. It's a remake of a French film centered around a wealthy man (Hackman) being interviewed by police (Freeman and Thomas Jane). I thought it was going to be a thriller but it's more a talky drama. Bit of an odd one with a confusing conclusion. I did like it however. 7/10

pixelburp

The House With a Clock in its Walls (2018)

A bit of a dud really, feeling like a production stuck somewhere between Harry Potter and Beetlejuice, with none of the magical pizzazz of the former, or enough gothic charm of the latter. The FX were pretty underwhelming and the story itself a bit dull and all over the place. That it was directed by Eli Roth of all people was also a bit strange, and he definitely had no grasp of the magical to make the fantasy sing (in fact even basic continuity was a problem, with key scenes taking place in a second house we're never properly introduced to).

If this came out during the heyday of the Potter films, this obvious knock-off would have at least made contextual sense; in 2018 I was left a bit, "huh? Is that it?"

ButtersSuki

oneilla wrote: »

Under Suspicion (2000)
I watched this last night. It's a remake of a French film centered around a wealthy man (Hackman) being interviewed by police (Freeman and Thomas Jane). I thought it was going to be a thriller but it's more a talky drama. Bit of an odd one with a confusing conclusion. I did like it however. 7/10

Have it on DVD. For all the male viewers out there who are perhaps sitting on the fence on this one, Monica Bellucci also stars.