Movies you've just watched

[Skykid]

What's he ever done to you to deserve such hate? Apart from T3 which I agree is generally terrible bar the eye candy.

In Snatch he couldn't act, but he blended right into the wallpaper because it's a Guy Ritchie film where he's playing himself: an east end hoodlum.

After that someone showed me The One and the most unbelievably bad (but admittedly hilarious) American accent ever allowed in film. If he'd just disappeared off the map at that point, it would have been fine. I don't mind flash-in-the-pan chronically useless actors getting a couple of jobs, everyone needs to get by. New action hero? Please god no. Schwarzenegger can out perform this guy ten times over.

Like I said, he's useless and characterless, and very occasionally I feel resent over absolutely talentless people being paid million dollars. He can barely speak properly, let alone deliver a decent line.

[BulletMagnet]

very occasionally I feel resent over absolutely talentless people being paid million dollars.

I don't know if "reality television" is as big a scourge in the UK as it is here, but in case it isn't you do get a bit tired of seeing the good-for-nothing progeny of some washed-up celebrity whose ex leaked a sex tape online get paid more than you make in a year just to show up to a single party.

[Skykid]

very occasionally I feel resent over absolutely talentless people being paid million dollars.

I don't know if "reality television" is as big a scourge in the UK as it is here, but in case it isn't you do get a bit tired of seeing the good-for-nothing progeny of some washed-up celebrity whose ex leaked a sex tape online get paid more than you make in a year just to show up to a single party.

Ha ha, now that's a sentence!

Yes, UK television has been completely taken over by reality TV. I don't really do TV, and I'm not presently in the UK anyway, but I feel sorry for my parents as they have nothing to watch except the History channel.

[spadgy]

Feature length documentary 'The Act of Killing'.

Not his original plan, but the filmmaker ended up focusing on a handful of the killers that between them executed 1 million Indonesian residents in less than a year at around 1965, after the military overthrew the government.

And in this film he helps them reconstruct their real killings in the style of the killers' favourite movie styles, which brings about all kinds of interesting results and ways of exploring the issue. The killers make some insane films, and even play their own victims at points.

The main thing is how open, relaxed and boastful these killers are when they describe their murders, rapes and so on.

The film was powerful, sickening, very surreal at times, and very brilliantly funny at brief moments. Watching it was a real battle, as one killer in particular (a murderer of perhaps 1000 people) has a charisma of his own. To catch yourself smiling at his eccentricity and then remember what he has done certainly made me think.

I can't recommend it enough. It is a staggering piece of filmmaking.

[rapoon]

Feature length documentary 'The Act of Killing'.

Not his original plan, but the filmmaker ended up focusing on a handful of the killers that between them executed 1 million Indonesian residents in less than a year at around 1965, after the military overthrew the government.

And in this film he helps them reconstruct their real killings in the style of the killers' favourite movie styles, which brings about all kinds of interesting results and ways of exploring the issue. The killers make some insane films, and even play their own victims at points.

The main thing is how open, relaxed and boastful these killers are when they describe their murders, rapes and so on.

The film was powerful, sickening, very surreal at times, and very brilliantly funny at brief moments. Watching it was a real battle, as one killer in particular (a murderer of perhaps 1000 people) has a charisma of his own. To catch yourself smiling at his eccentricity and then remember what he has done certainly made me think.

I can't recommend it enough. It is a staggering piece of filmmaking.

great review spadgy.

[GaijinPunch]

Were they in prison I hope?

[spadgy]

Presuming you mean the killers GP, as of the close of the film, and to this day AFAIK, no. These men walk free, are highly respected by many in society, and are interviewed on (clearly extremely politically biased) chat shows where they are greeted with rapturous applause when they detail their horrors. It appears that they are encouraged to boast about their acts so as to keep people in fear of certain elements of the country's ruling bodies by proxy. And, in the documentary (made from 2004-2012 approx), you see them happily terrify local market stallholders into paying protection money. These men are free to do as they wish, and enjoy seeming impunity. One even says he would be excited to be called to the Hague as he would be untouchable, and, in his words "famous".

The paramilitary group that grew out of the organisation of the 1965 massacres is called Pancasila Youth. They seem to have grown from the death squads, and simultaneously run the death squads. They wear rather garish bright orange and black uniforms, and in the documentary the then vice president of Indonesia is seen on stage wearing their uniform, saying that governments need gangsters (the death squads were formed by recruiting gangsters) because you need to beat people up sometimes.

It is all horrific, but I urge you all to watch it. It feels important that it is seen. It is a fucking important bit of filmmaking.

I also saw an interview with the director. He set out to make a film about the victims and killers, with no plans to facilitate re-enactments. Such an approach appears to have emerged organically, and while it is a rather morbid concept, it serves as a powerful way to let these men expose the horrors they are responsible for.

[GaijinPunch]

Probably not going to do anything good for my growing disdain of Asia remaining in the stone ages (socially). I'll put it on the list though.

[spadgy]

You should! There is of course much good work going on in Indonesia to counter this and respect human rights. I hope this documentary will help their cause. It opened my eyes too something I knew nothing about. It's also exceptionally well made.

[emphatic]

They've shown this on Swedish national Television (tax-funded public service channels) recently, so pretty good exposure. I have it recorded on my hard drive, and will watch it soon.

[spadgy]

Great! I heard it even got good exposure in Indonesia, despite being something impossible to attain a 'legal' release for there. Still, thanks to some very bold journalists, and the local human rights movement, it's getting seen there.

[replayme]

Just saw Gravity and Don Jon...

*Spoilers below*

Really liked Gravity. Visually spectacular, and I didn't mind Sandra B or George C. I did find Sandra's character to be annoying initially, but it was interesting to see Sandra's character grow and face up to her challenges in what I felt was an incredibly tense film. I really felt sorry for George's character at the end though, as one realised that although Sandra's character had a happy ending, George's character will never come home, or be able to make other peoples' lives happy by telling his stories. I guess I was just sad that someone so recognisable passed away, and think having big name actors earned the movie a few extra brownie points as no-one roots for the little guy.

Don Jon reminded me of a more humerous (and less meaningful) version of Shame starring M Fassbender. Thought the film, although really funny in places, chose to tread lightly and not tackle the issue of porn addiction at all. So much so that I was underwhelmed by the finale. I also found there to be too much handholding, and that certain loose threads tied up too neatly in what I consider to be a cop-out of an ending. Was Scarlette's character representative of beautiful (and therefore coveted) females, in that they expect their men to do all the hard work for an "exchange" that turns out to be meaningless in the end? And was Scarlette's character upset because she realised that Don's addiction to porn meant that he only ever really regarded her as as being a piece of meat, and that he didn't "really care" about her at all? I was intrigued by this, as exploring her motivations for the relationship would have given the film more substance. As it stands, Don Jon is a more "Hollywood" version of Shame, and despite Joseph G Levitt writing and directing the movie, found it to be not nearly as good as Shame. I guess Joseph still has far too much to learn.

[Skykid]

Saw Gravity for a second time tonight at the imax. Took my gf's folks.

The expository and generally poor dialogue was even more obvious the second time around, especially in the more wordy first 30 minutes. A shame.

The film itself was just as much of an epic spectacle, even more so in the hugest screen I could have possibly seen it on. No milestone for film, but a long deserved treat for cinematic entertainment.

[boagman]

The film itself was just as much of an epic spectacle, even more so in the hugest screen I could have possibly seen it on. No milestone for film, but a long deserved treat for cinematic entertainment.

Is that necessarily a bad thing, though? As much of a crapfest as "Avatar" is, all of the whizbangery of the special effects are just spot-on with me. Had I not seen the thing in IMAX 3D, it would have been a complete and total loss, but with that specific treatment? It sure dropped my jaw on multiple occasions. As much as the movie is tedious, Cameron once again *totally* raised the bar for CGI, 3D, IMAX, etc. Technically speaking, it slapped me in the face and left me asking for another. Script and acting-wise, though? Absolutely retch-inducing.

I haven't seen "Gravity" yet, but I'm still hoping to be able to see it in IMAX 3D.

[replayme]

Avatar may not have been all things to all men, but I still thought of it as being an incredibly good film. Shame James Cameron can't self-edit though...

I might pay to go see Gravity at the IMax. But I really want to see The Hobbit instead, now that I've already seen Gravity. Having said that, I'm sure that seeing Mother Earth on the IMax big screen will be worth the price of admission. And this is coming from someone who didn't mind the dialogue at all. Just the characters (initially).

[Skykid]

The film itself was just as much of an epic spectacle, even more so in the hugest screen I could have possibly seen it on. No milestone for film, but a long deserved treat for cinematic entertainment.

Is that necessarily a bad thing, though? As much of a crapfest as "Avatar" is, all of the whizbangery of the special effects are just spot-on with me. Had I not seen the thing in IMAX 3D, it would have been a complete and total loss, but with that specific treatment? It sure dropped my jaw on multiple occasions. As much as the movie is tedious, Cameron once again *totally* raised the bar for CGI, 3D, IMAX, etc. Technically speaking, it slapped me in the face and left me asking for another. Script and acting-wise, though? Absolutely retch-inducing.

I haven't seen "Gravity" yet, but I'm still hoping to be able to see it in IMAX 3D.

Avatar really is a load of shit, and I mean that from every possible angle bar visual effects: tone, acting, scriptwriting, plotting - the works. It's as derivative as Cameron can get when aping his own work, yet somehow manages to be worse than most of everything he's done prior.

In answer your original question, "Is that necessarily a bad thing?" - I don't understand. I was highlighting the achievement as a positive. I've seen the film twice and stand by it as being an eeny weeny revolutionary thing for entertainment in cinema. Owing to the fact that it's so purposefully cinematic, I don't think it can ever be watched on the small screen. It's one movie that demands an enormous canvas and true 7.1 surround to get the most out of it: a trip into space.

The only problem I have, is, outside of its technical achievements - perhaps the best use of CG I've ever seen in a film - the components are lacking. The dialogue is stupidly half-assed, with lots of pointless exposition to quickly fill in backstories and simplistic characters, and clanks along during the opening of the film in winceworthy fashion. Bullock and Clooney were merely serviceable, the opportunity for further suspension of disbelief lost to Hollywood A-listers.

The star of the movie is space and its hostile indifference, a technical marvel of zero G and fifteen minute takes, and I'd recommend it for that - but only in the best cinema money can buy.

[GaijinPunch]

Look at all that cheddar!

[Skykid]

Two incredible pieces of shit:

The Purge

Harebrained but superb concept that should have been a cross between Assault on Precinct 13 and The Warriors with way move violence, but ended up being a totally generic family-trapped-in-house-surviving-invaders thing, completely invalidating the premise. Terribly acted, script that sounds like complete improv (bad improv) and the dumbest chain of events known to man later, and you've just seen another Hollywood toilet act that cost several million dollars.

But probably several million dollars less than...

Colombiana

Hello cliche!

Colombian child sees family murdered by drug lords, grows up with aspirations of being an assassin, goes back and kills men.

Painful in every respect. The chick wasn't even hot, so there's a problem right there, since the rest of the movie is paint by numbers bullshit with so little brain it doesn't even qualify as a no-brainer, somehow.

- Men free running over favela rooftops: check
- Girl taken in by kindly old bastard who eventually gets killed prompting her revenge: check
- Scripting written by a two-year old who then got paid $500k for the job: check
- Utterly ridiculous stealth events that have no basis in reality at all (oh, handy there's a spoon here/and the guy should be taking a piss right about.../Of course I know the entire layout of this person's home including the loose panel in the shark tank/Having the exact van stolen containing dogs you trained for 15 years and then being called totally expectedly by the driver and giving an 'eat' command to dogs that can hear mobile phone speakers over the noise of traffic etc etc): check
- Black police chief played by an English guy with a terribad American accent: check
- Computer programs from God that do instantaneous wonderful things like nose recognition from blurry pictures of half-faces, entirely without prompting: check
- Non-existent plotting: check
- Fight scenes that are cut too quick to see what's happening: check
- A complete load of fucking bullshit from start to finish that cost enough money to save several starving villages in 3rd world countries: check

TL:DR, Don't watch these.

[GaijinPunch]

Two incredible pieces of shit:

The Purge

I fell asleep in like 15 minutes. GF finished and said it sucked. Didn't bother going back.

[Moniker]

Been watching In Bruges, basically on repeat. One of those rare movies, like Office Space, Jaws, Scott Pilgrim, Little Miss Sunshine, and Die Hard, that just gets better with age and never tires. Odd, now that I think of it, that compulsively rewatchable films are always very very good, but never classics or masterpieces. Then again, I've viewed The Master an obscene amount of times. Kinda warming to Colin Farrell, the way I did DiCaprio once Scorcese developed a boner for him. Has a couple of good performances under his belt now. But who will save Hugh Jackman?

[Skykid]

Seemingly no-one, which is a shame. Jackman can actually act - a rare thing - but all he gets are shitty commercial roles.

I don't get this thing about In Bruges. I watched it last year and found it reasonably entertaining, but wouldn't earmark it for a second watch. Certainly didn't strike me as an obscure masterpiece, just a quirky and off-beat caper with a dark edge and occasional humour.

I watched The Hunger Games last night so I can see the sequel.

I like these Running Man / Rollerball 70's oppressive state themes, no matter how many times it's been done, but what the fudge happened here? Not unwatchable and Lawrence is passable as the lead, but it builds up this notion of horror and violence and then fails to deliver anything except a PG prime time jaunt in a forest with a tweeny love story thrown in for good measure - an unconvincing one at that.

Tonally it's all over the place. These kids should be in tears and begging for their lives, but they're coming out on the prehype TV show like X Factor finalists. And in the actual games half of them are like seasoned murderers with a taste for blood.

Potential wasted, as per usual. Make it an 18 and let the limbs fly.

[heisenbergman]

If Prisoners and The Prestige can't "save" Jackman, then nothing can.

[GaijinPunch]

I watched The Hunger Games last night so I can see the sequel.

Started it... twice. Absolute shit. Never finished.

Make it an 18 and let the limbs fly.

Yeah... maybe show us what type of wax Jennifer what's her name gets. I'm assuming a landing strip.

[CMoon]

I watched The Hunger Games last night so I can see the sequel.

I like these Running Man / Rollerball 70's oppressive state themes, no matter how many times it's been done, but what the fudge happened here?

The PG-13 did hurt it, even though the book managed fairly well. Some things can be discrete in writing, but effectively unfilmable without hitting the more adult ratings. Obviously as an adaptation of a teen novel, R isn't an option, but neither is shaking the camera so much that you can't tell what is going on. My real beef with the film though (and honestly, it is pretty good for what it is), is how we still end up with a bunch of pretty hollywood characters instead of impoverished people fighting for survival. This is a true miss with the main characters--for example where Peeta purposely ruining a loaf of bread so he can give it to Katniss is a life or death matter--while in the film the scene feels almost trivial. One doesn't need a rated R to convey this sense of intensity and desperation, and I think the film did miss an opportunity here.

I haven't seen the new film yet, but will get around to it sometime soon.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Got through about half of the Hobbit. I'm enjoying it so far. Then again I'm a sucker for atmosphere. I didn't really notice the FPS thing, but I was watching it on HBO on demand so they might have changed it or something.

[Skykid]

If Prisoners and The Prestige can't "save" Jackman, then nothing can.

Prisoners?

I watched it on the plane, it's complete drivel. I was talking about an actual film role.

And even though he's the best thing in it, even the Prestige is vastly overrated.

The PG-13 did hurt it, even though the book managed fairly well. Some things can be discrete in writing, but effectively unfilmable without hitting the more adult ratings. Obviously as an adaptation of a teen novel, R isn't an option, but neither is shaking the camera so much that you can't tell what is going on. My real beef with the film though (and honestly, it is pretty good for what it is), is how we still end up with a bunch of pretty hollywood characters instead of impoverished people fighting for survival. This is a true miss with the main characters--for example where Peeta purposely ruining a loaf of bread so he can give it to Katniss is a life or death matter--while in the film the scene feels almost trivial. One doesn't need a rated R to convey this sense of intensity and desperation, and I think the film did miss an opportunity here.

I haven't seen the new film yet, but will get around to it sometime soon.

Well it has no sense of consistency. Like you said, they're meant to be impoverished to the point of starvation, but they all look perfectly healthy - fit, even. The districts were implemented like an afterthought, so you never really get a sense of class struggle or fascism, and the TV show is handled so much like an actual TV show that it seems to be delivering it to us, the audience, with a kind of entertainment factor.

The director doesn't allow the dread to linger or settle in, and the antics in the forest are pathetic. She's the main character and she's constantly getting passes on everything, including doing any killing. She shoots one guy in a knee jerk reaction after he throws a spear into a little kid, and that's the only direct kill she has in the entire movie. Even the bad guy at the end gets fed to the dogs, and then she performs a mercy killing.

I don't want to see a mercy killing. This is a fight for life, not a tween romance. All the "we're changing the rules","Ok we're not now!" was really ham-fisted, too.

And yeah, the shaky camera was absurd from the first sixty seconds on. Someone should sell these Hollywood types a tripod or something.

[Moniker]

If Prisoners and The Prestige can't "save" Jackman, then nothing can.

And even though he's the best thing in it, even the Prestige is vastly overrated.

I too have heard tell that Hugh Jackman has some actual talent, but sadly, I've never seen it. The X-Men movies... gah (projectile vomiting threatened). X2's Nightcrawler intro, Brion Cox and the (unfulfilled) promise of a decent Dark Phoenix arc were the only things going for it. He was decent in The Prestige.. although sadly stage-stolen by none other than Sir David "Tesla" Bowie; he also did his part in the latest film attempt at Les Miserables.. (such agony)

Honestly, he needs to fire his agent (ditto Vin Diesel) and do some extreme lo-fi indie films to establish a modicum of cred.


As for In Bruges, there's not a single scene that even slightly annoys me, which is incredibly rare. Hence the repeat viewings. And lordy, Ralph Fiennes...

[heisenbergman]

If Prisoners and The Prestige can't "save" Jackman, then nothing can.

Prisoners?

I watched it on the plane, it's complete drivel. I was talking about an actual film role.

And even though he's the best thing in it, even the Prestige is vastly overrated.

Well, regardless of what your personal opinion about the film is, Prisoners has received universally positive reviews from critics and the general audience alike. It's in the green on RottenTomatoes, Metacritic and it's even in the IMDB Top 250 for crying out loud.

My only point being that assuming Jackman is in need of "saving" - if he couldn't be considered such after The Prestige and Prisoners - then things are looking grim for him in that respect.

Maybe in that case he needs someone like a Paul Thomas Anderson to put him in a role which will really stretch and milk his acting skills.

[Skykid]

Maybe in that case he needs someone like a Paul Thomas Anderson to put him in a role which will really stretch and milk his acting skills.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. He doesn't need saving from a career perspective - guy gets plenty of work. But mostly run-of-the-mill trash.

If Prisoners and The Prestige can't "save" Jackman, then nothing can.

Well, regardless of what your personal opinion about the film is, Prisoners has received universally positive reviews from critics and the general audience alike. It's in the green on RottenTomatoes, Metacritic and it's even in the IMDB Top 250 for crying out loud.

Eh, who goes to IMDB as an indication for film quality? That's like asking the general public for their opinion.

I don't want to talk about it in any great detail, honestly it's not worth it. Until you mentioned it just now I'd forgotten it existed or I'd seen it: just a soon-to-be-forgotten thriller with ridiculous implausibilities, an idiotic twist you figured out in the first ten-minutes; all emotional surface, no substance or depth.

These movies are like candy bars. Eat it, bin it, forget it.

[chempop]

I watched The Iceman on netflix last night. Dark movie based on the true story of a hitman & family man. Well acted, pretty sad and F---ed up, certainly not a feel good movie lol.

I too have heard tell that Hugh Jackman has some actual talent, but sadly, I've never seen it.

The Fountain is good, though a bit far out there. I'd consider it a love or hate movie in the same kinda way Cloud Atlas is.

I saw the second Hunger Games, liked it a lot. The new director kept things pretty consistent yet it still seemed like a step up from the first. Still, if you didn't like the first, you probably won't like the second.