General / Off-Topic Movies
- Thread starter psykokow
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Someone at Frontier was kind enough to circulate the news that 2001: A Space Odyssey is being shown at the Picture House in Cambridge this Sunday. I'm sure this'll be of interest to anyone that happens to live close by and it certainly makes my decision about what to do this Sunday easier!
Darn chocolate Easter egg. How can I break it up into easier to swallow pieces? What's that big black monolith there? Ahh Yes! I can use that bone to smash the Easter egg
*there follows a montage of bone smashing Easter eggs to the sound of Also Sprach Zarathustra*
I told my record-o-telly to record it for me. I don't know much about reviewing movies but I think it's done by taking a swig of whisky whenever there's a bit you like and checking your state of inebriation at the end credits.
I'm surprised you didn't like Watchmen. I know that Alan Moore hated it. He was spitting venom. It's been a long time since I read Watchmen but I thought the movie did a good job of capturing the spirit of the comic. Have you read the comic?
wow I'd missed that ... Del Toro is excellent - I loved Hellboy, Pans Labyrinth, but even better is the Devils Backbone if you can see it - great film.
Ah Frank your taste in film and comics is second to none
may your whisky levels be high My 13 year old read it recently when I finally let him at my book shelf. He loved it, which made me re-read it; it is Soooooo 80's - amazing. I wonder just how many kids really know who Nixon was let alone what he would have been like as president....
I missed this as well, not been to forbidden Planet recently (years actually)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_Watchmen
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The Simpsons and Futurama are the font of all knowledge. I'll have to re-visit Watchmen myself, just to compare it with the movie. I'll do it some time when I've got a free moment.
I liked Watchmen, it was No Country for Old Codgers I wasn't overly impressed with... it was meh,
Watchmen was beautiful and wonderfully dark... really enjoyed it.
If you want to bring up the BIZArre Old movies... Sam Niel has made some really good ones..
'Mouth of madness' is a real good trip...
'tripping the void' well.... why bother... its interesting from a film making point of view, but I didn't find myself paralytic..
So Frank from your review methods, the films you love the most are the ones you can't remember or left you in hospital?? Im TOTALLY taking that up!!!
OOH I nearly forgot a GOOD horror, an unexpected delight... good new story.. 'The Shrine'. Not Gore infested but so much nicer in story than the hollywood pap Insidious, and Sinister... *gak*
Ian Phillips
Volunteer Moderator
Watchman was simply the best! (How can you tell that I like it?)
Yes very 80's, and it takes the sense of strain and fear of nuclear war that was very palpable at the time, and twists it very well. Brilliantly done.
But my favorite filming of a comic story is 300. I watch it regularly, a couple of times a year!
Yes very 80's, and it takes the sense of strain and fear of nuclear war that was very palpable at the time, and twists it very well. Brilliantly done.
But my favorite filming of a comic story is 300. I watch it regularly, a couple of times a year!
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Yeah, Watchmen was excellent, though I prefer the comic book. As for Alan Moore, he hates anything of his made into a film as far as I'm aware. He regularly spits venom at any adaptation.
300 is fantastic, it's a film that highlights that style over function can work when done right. Seriously, pause 300 at any point (other than the credits) and it's beautiful.
300 is fantastic, it's a film that highlights that style over function can work when done right. Seriously, pause 300 at any point (other than the credits) and it's beautiful.
"Mouth of Madness"! Good call. I really enjoyed that movie. That line "I'm sorry about the balls! It was a lucky shot, that's all!" nicely sets up the mood of the movie.
Sorry for accusing you of not liking Watchmen. I mean who wouldn't like it? I must've subconsciously wanted to see you beaten up by Ian Phillips the next time he saw you at Thargoid's. It must be difficult watching movies with a cloth over your face.
So if "No Country for Old Men" isn't a good film then I'd better change my reviewing techniques. A swig of whisky whenever a bad bit happens.
IT has no bad bits, it has some good bits... it just hasn't really got a plot..
Its kind of like watching people doing their shopping at a supermarket.. few arguements, passionate clinches and some murders.. but then when your ready to go home you don't really feel fufilled.. would love to hear your opinion on it though..
I gotta go ready the house for Wife coming home from hospital YAY!! Been another tough week.. But all good now.. not sure what movie we'll watch together.. she loves the international weird vibes... arty and indeed farty films!!
Its kind of like watching people doing their shopping at a supermarket.. few arguements, passionate clinches and some murders.. but then when your ready to go home you don't really feel fufilled.. would love to hear your opinion on it though..
I gotta go ready the house for Wife coming home from hospital YAY!! Been another tough week.. But all good now.. not sure what movie we'll watch together.. she loves the international weird vibes... arty and indeed farty films!!
You'll have to tell me which supermarket you use so I can avoid it.
All the best to you and your family. My view is that a film is arty farty if you need to read the bottom of the screen to know what's going on, and in that vein:-
Amélie
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Night Watch
Day Watch
The Artist
Run Lola Run
Hero
8 1/2 by Fellini
Mon Oncle
Ian Phillips
Volunteer Moderator
I just love the way a historical story has been smoothly stretched to include fantasy elements, and how the themes in the story mirror and play off of each other. So well done. (I am not your King. You will not enjoy this/ I am not your Queen. You will not enjoy this)
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Ian Phillips
Volunteer Moderator
Next time I won't be serving raw fish on a plate. I'll be doing (even more) unpleasant things with it
It's a Coen Brothers movie. I don't know why I waited so long to see it. The characters in it all have their motivations and behave in believeable ways. The characters pushed the narrative along. You might not believe their characters but you believe they are characters.
Which brings me to the script. What a stunning dialogue! Every other line is a memorable quote, many of them dripping with black humour. I can't remember any of them now, but they are good. There's no point in listing them anyway. It's better to hear them in the context of the movie.
Are you sure that you're talking about "No Country For Old Men"? Any personal differences between characters were mostly settled with flying lead. I didn't see any passionate clinches, and I think it would be safe to say that there were more than "some murders". I'm assuming the scenes which ended with an innocent bystander alone with the psychopath ended badly for those bystanders.
It came to a proper conclusion
The baddie got away. The cyclists took the money and didn't help the police. The goodie had an uneasy feeling of incompleteness. He retired with nothing to look forward to but death. You can't stop what's coming.
I felt completely satiated by the movie. I wouldn't want to force you to eat something which just isn't to your taste, but a lot of people enjoyed it. If you came away from it feeling unfulfilled then maybe you should go back for second helpings.
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I watched a Bill Pulman movie, where he investigates a series of murders and allegations of corruption and abuse of power in a small town sherif station..
Guff..
also Val Kilmer playing a sociopath or is he? Or is he? or is he.. but he is dead? or is he? or is he..
Guff
No country for old men, I can and will agree with you Frank about good dialogue... but I stand by my feelings of meh.... I learned nothing that I didn't know before.. it did not challenge me.. it was a documentary on the life of a serial killer... natural Born killers challenges you to glorify the actions of the killers. Dexter does this weekly.. No Country just didn't inspire me.. it just didnt.
I do have a thing about some kilings in movies.. for example.. I did not like the murder in Beverly Hills Cop at the hotel. He punches the guy to the ground, and blam. I find it disturbingly real.. it upsets me. Have him eaten to death by zombies.. I'm good... May No Country hit that level with me, and I just didn't enjoy it.
THe First Hell raiser is a film you feel you shouldn't be watching. you feel dirty and wrong to watch it... its GOOD that way.. No country didnt give me that.
Just as I say Meh..
I look for a little more from it.. Equally movies with no real end (PUsher 2) again quite entertaining all the way through... just nothing..
I guess its my taste level.. I like a point, maybe I'll hate ED because it too has no ending.. still I will enjoy the ride.
Guff..
also Val Kilmer playing a sociopath or is he? Or is he? or is he.. but he is dead? or is he? or is he..
Guff
No country for old men, I can and will agree with you Frank about good dialogue... but I stand by my feelings of meh.... I learned nothing that I didn't know before.. it did not challenge me.. it was a documentary on the life of a serial killer... natural Born killers challenges you to glorify the actions of the killers. Dexter does this weekly.. No Country just didn't inspire me.. it just didnt.
I do have a thing about some kilings in movies.. for example.. I did not like the murder in Beverly Hills Cop at the hotel. He punches the guy to the ground, and blam. I find it disturbingly real.. it upsets me. Have him eaten to death by zombies.. I'm good... May No Country hit that level with me, and I just didn't enjoy it.
THe First Hell raiser is a film you feel you shouldn't be watching. you feel dirty and wrong to watch it... its GOOD that way.. No country didnt give me that.
Just as I say Meh..
I look for a little more from it.. Equally movies with no real end (PUsher 2) again quite entertaining all the way through... just nothing..
I guess its my taste level.. I like a point, maybe I'll hate ED because it too has no ending.. still I will enjoy the ride.
I would personally consider "No Country for Old Men" to be more like "No Film for Someone Who Demands To See Lasers or Robots On Screen".
Hellraiser and Hellraiser II were very 80s horror. My favourite was definitely Hellraiser: Bloodline (Not seen any of the "non-pinhead" ones after that).
Hellraiser and Hellraiser II were very 80s horror. My favourite was definitely Hellraiser: Bloodline (Not seen any of the "non-pinhead" ones after that).
The Bill Pullman movie looks bad, but I don't know about the Val Kilmer one. What's its title?
Movies are like sweets. They are there to be enjoyed. You can't criticise someone's taste in movies just because they are not the same as yours. That's different to criticising the movie itself.
Take me. I'm a big fan of lasers and robots and big whooshing 3D special effects but I also thought No Country for Old Men was terrific. I like Coen Brothers movies and yet I didn't enjoy Fargo which is one of their most critically acclaimed. I think it was my opinion of Fargo that prevented me watching it until now. So when it comes down to it, there's just no accounting for taste.
Nowhere did I critique anyone's tastes. I specifically said that *personally* I consider it to be this way, even including my own personal bias in the resultant definition. Therefore all I was saying was "my taste in movies is not the same as yours".
To elaborate, I have no real liking for any cowboy films. I think it may have something to do with being totally disconnected from the history that they came from. And there's the way that they all seem so drab and brown. Brown leather jackets, hats, boots and holsters; driving brown cattle through brown dusty scrublands and wooden towns while riding brown horses, sometimes I feel they might have been sepia-toned post-production.
That said, there is always some room for a surprise. I also despise period dramas with all those women tottering around in bonnets and the men with their sideburns and military officers' uniforms - they bore me to tears. However, after seeing the second episode of "The Paradise" I eagerly watched the rest and was most irritated when I missed the final episode without the ability to watch it on catch-up. I thought it was a well-written drama that trumped my personal bias away from such settings. Similarly, there are some films containing robots and/or lasers that are so appallingly bad in my opinion that I'd rather watch an hour and a half of white noise. I'll never get the time back that I wasted on "Cube Zero"...
Incidentally, I also can't stand strawberry or coffee cremes. Luckily I work with people who can't get enough of them