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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Terse reactions to movies recently seen

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13:35 / 13.10.09

Saw "Inglourious Basterds". It's the usual Tarantino: the successful achievement of something very small. Brad Pitt should win the Oscar for Best Standard "I Am Staring Directly Into The Sun"TM Squinty Look (it always annoys me, but here it was very fit). Also, he was very funny in this.

Saw "District 9". The social bits were cool, but any attempt at bridging the gap between the action/social commentary and the humanity of the characters met with risible results (the actress playing the wife seemed almost embarrassed of appearing in this). The "anthropoids on a mission" stretch near the end lost me, although if pressed I might concede that the armored suit battle was "kinda awesome".

16:10 / 13.10.09

Hmmm...
Gotta say, District 9 rose very high in my favorite Sci-Fi films... Within the top 10.

Finally saw Angels & Demons. Watchable meh. Dan Brown's losing his novelty and the filmed versions of his books are even less credible.

I liked Star Trek (another finally film) but my wife summed it up wonderfully: It's a really great kids version of Star Trek!

10:31 / 14.10.09

Angels and Demons was like eating shit from a spade.

14:13 / 14.10.09

Pandorum's okay, it looks wonderful and rachets up the tesion nicely.

It's let down a bit by the ending though.

Zombieland is impulse zone entertainment and made me laugh after a bugger of a day.

17:44 / 16.10.09

The Hour of The Wolf, Ingmar Bergman, 1968

Le freaky. Certains aspects of it look quaint today (the tortured artist), but in terms of technical achievement and atmosphere, it's an amazing movie. It's also very interesting from the viewpoint of having a so-called auteur dabbling in horror, playing with the conventions of the genre (it has some psychotic outbursts of humor, too - there's a scene where an imp creeps behind the protagonist, getting real close to his back while an ominous music starts pounding. It's so loud and in your face it's almost unbearable, you know shit will hit the fan, Bergman milks the scene for a long time, and thennn... the music halts, the imp moves away from the protagonist just like that and nothing happens. Cheeky bastard...)

Earlier in the film the artist shows his sketchbook to his wife, where he has drawn a host of abominations that have been plaguing him. We don't get to see the drawings, we only hear his descriptions and see the face of his wife looking at the drawings, slowly realizing that her husband's sanity is going titwards. Very effective - it reminded me of some of G. Morrison's alien descriptions, actually. Later in the film we get to sse some of those characters - and really, they were more effective as mere descriptions. The lady didn't need to remove her face along with the hat, it's what I'm saying.

15:17 / 06.11.09

Breakfast At Tiffany's

I'm not the, uh, demographic group for this one, it seems.

21:09 / 08.11.09

what demographic are you? what demographic do you take to be the audience? What demographic can't appreciate Audrey Hepburn in her most witty and charming role?

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

22:27 / 08.11.09

Not in the right demographic? I'm not even from this plane of existence and I can't resist Audrey Hepburn's charm in Breakfast At Tiffanys.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

22:29 / 08.11.09

Agreeing with the review for Zombieland. Predictable but fun. Also funny. And the choice of surprise guest-star--c'est magnifique.

05:49 / 09.11.09

DV,

What aspects of 'B@T' make you feel excluded?

Borderline, on the skids artiste meets lover of dreams, who has, you know, a job. For a while, everything's great. Until everyone has to kill themslves, in a roundabout way.

If you can't identify with that, I fear you may have no soul.

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:59 / 09.11.09

I see the multiplex from the motorway. Ugly building, grey building, hateful building. I park in the carpark and I get out of the car. Across the carpark and through the doors. Into the foyer and up to the ticket desk. The smell of popcorn and the sound of arcade games.

"One to see Antichrist", I tell the lad behind the counter. He looks at me with his mouth hanging open. "In your own time son!" I tell him.

He takes my money and he gives me a ticket. You don't get much change for a tenner now, here.

"They say this one's a bit controversial, Mr. Clough", he tells me before I walk away.

I wink at him.

"No stranger to that then, am I?", I say.

15:16 / 10.11.09

I don't know what's the demographic for this movie, but judging from the response here, I would start with "people who idolize Audrey Hepburn" - not my case. This was the first movie of hers that I've seen, and... look, I can't (and don't even want) defend this rationally, so... AAGH... too much perky peppiness, AAAUGH! Stop bothering the poor Japanese maannAAAAUGHH!!

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:00 / 10.11.09

Slightly offtopic, but... Mr Clough, if you were to recommend an electricity supplier, which would it be?

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

01:03 / 11.11.09

"perky peppiness"? You fool.

08:57 / 11.11.09

Peppy perkiness, even.

10:37 / 11.11.09

I never understood the appeal of Audrey Hepburn. I'm a Maureen O'Hara/Deborah Kerr/Irene Dunne kinda guy.

And the "Japanese guy" was Mickey Rooney, who should have been run out of the country for that performance. Andy Hardy Offends an Empire.

13:31 / 12.11.09

"Looking for Eric" - wonderful film. Very funny. Ken Loach is a genius.
"Whale Rider" - very heartwarming
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - is this supposed to be a comedy?
"Right At Your Door" - if you like sci-fi/disaster thrillers you'll love this film. Avoids many cliches. Very scary.

16:30 / 12.11.09

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - is this supposed to be a comedy?

Depends. Which version?

12:37 / 14.11.09

It was a 40's (or 50's?) black and white version. It ended in the middle of nowhere with some guy in a shrink's office.

21:29 / 18.11.09

PP;

'Whale Rider' passed the time on a long-haul flight in business class; some of the people on the plane talked about being inspired to visit those unspoiled territories, and open up a series of hotels, strip clubs, bars and casinos, where the whales just hang about listlessly like cocktail waiters, in their natural environments.

Arguably, perhaps, the film was only a qualified success?

08:42 / 20.11.09

Let The Right One In.

Are you paying attention Twilight? THAT'S how you do human/vampire romance.

09:01 / 24.11.09

Waltz with Bashir

Pretty good. Managed to keep me engrossed throughout its run. I liked its technical & stylistical choices, too. It reminded me that there's a whole other planet about which I know next to nothing (after seeing it I did some research on the subject, so I guess this must count as another reason to mark it as a success?)

Watch out for the scene with the horses - the images are not the worst - it's the neighing.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:59 / 12.12.09

A Serious Man

The best "guy goes to see his rabbi" joke EVER.

15:45 / 27.12.09

Avatar

Boring, banal, bloated. And tacky as all hell, design-wise.

10:53 / 28.12.09

A friend said of Avatar:

Hmm. Special effects aside, it’s just Fern Gully all over again. With machine guns.

12:45 / 29.12.09

Caravaggio (1986, Derek Jarman)

Strange little movie. Most of the time too much in love with its own artiness, but I'd say the result is more watchable than not. It will certainly offer a "cleansing of the palate" for those accustomed to more standard fare.

The text is very good (excesses notwithstanding), albeit strictly "literary", declamatory (I'm referring to Caravaggio's voice-over, which forms a good part of the text; the dialogues are properly colloquial).

I really like how Jarman made the palpable scarcity of resources a strength (no exteriors, bare backgrounds, which makes the movie at times feel like a play - it's also a nice nod to Caravaggio's paintings, where human figures are always at the center, surrounded either by darkness or undefined backgrounds).

I also liked how the movie progressively gets more unhinged in respect to chronology (when one of the characters started making sums in his pocket calculator I actually laughed out loud). It only gets better from there.

Photography is spectacular, given its aim: to reproduce the feel of a Caravaggio painting. Flawless execution in that department. Watch out for Tilda Swinton's first appearance in the movies (Sean Bean, of LoTR fame, is also in this, as one of Caravaggio's love interests).

This is not a biopic; it feels more like a meditation or essay, using startling visuals and a loose sequence of events. In the end, I think I like this type of take more than your run of the mill biopic a la "Walk The Line" or "Ray". But it's not the type of movie with iconic sequences which bear repeated viewings. Lovely, lovely compositions, though.

(I now this wasn't "terse", but terseness wouldn't do here. Although, this being Barbelith, I guess I could have shouted "Sean Bean's arse!" and be done with it.)

14:31 / 29.12.09

Sherlock Holmes.

Eminently watchable. Holmes moonlighting as a bare-knuckle cage fighter (or the Victorian equivalent, at least) was a tad far-fetched, but Watson as an astute and functional man rather than a bumbling idiot was a refreshing change. The love interest was a cliché that added little to the film, but the denouément between Holmes and his adversary on the unfinished Tower Bridge was a flourish that managed to keep with tradition without seeming dated. Unfortunately it set up for a sequel too, which is too ubiquitous for my tastes, but I'm sure that won't stop the sequel being made.

21:09 / 29.12.09

I saw Avatar in 3d at an IMAX theater on Christmas, feeling quite the sucker. I have to say, in that context it was an incredible movie to watch, and enjoyable enough to remain engaging. The storyline was hamhanded, formulaic, and as simplistic as any Bruckheimer joint. The CGI was pretty good overall, though the clothes on the N'avi, for example, still looked about like those on Grand Theft Auto. It was the overall density and visual depth that was so impressive and certainly worth seeing; but I don't think it would be worth seeing on DVD or without 3d. The best thing about it is the promise it holds for future movies that maybe won't suck so bad.
It was funny, though. My Rush Limbaugh-loving conservative brother was crying in parts, and mad at being "manipulated" to feel empathy.

22:56 / 29.12.09

Nine

..... is quite bad. I enjoyed the musical on Broadway, mostly for the performances and Tommy Tune's dazzling production, but the film has slashed the score, eviscerated the book, and director Rob ("I wouldn't have a film career if not for Fosse's ALL THAT JAZZ") Marshall has generally made an MTV-shambles of it.

Bad performances -- Daniel Day Lewis, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Fergie, Nicole Kidman. The good: Marie Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench (though miscast).

Avoid!

18:45 / 08.01.10

Avatar

A campfire story told with lasers.

15:31 / 11.01.10

Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj

There must be a reason I keep doing this to myself.

Holy Mountain

Getting funding in the 70s must have been a breeze.
Mad fun, mind.

Tears of the Black Tiger

camper than Cabaret, bloodier than Bad Taste

13:24 / 12.01.10

9

Brilliant. Utterly beautiful. Not for kids, but kids should watch it, over and over.

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:33 / 12.01.10

Is that the one with the Sackboys?

14:05 / 12.01.10

Is that the one with the Sackboys?

That it is! It was such a surprise for me: a sad, beautiful little film when I expected a TimBurton-Lite offering. Have you seen it?

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:52 / 12.01.10

I didn't, I'm afraid - I was rather tempted, but events conspired, and the review weren't kind, so it sort of fell by the wayside. It looked delightful, though! I will definitely keep an eye out for it on DVD.

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