Movie review thread...
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Saw The Hunt (Jagten) last night - a Danish language film about what happens when a teacher is accused of abuse by a 5 year old girl. Sounds grim - and it is because not everything is what it seems and the story focuses on how the community reacts to the bombshell.<br />
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It's got Madds Mikkelsen (Le Schiffre in Casino Royale) as the schoolteacher and is directed by the same guy who did Festen. Mikkelsen took best actor at Cannes for this.<br />
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It's a tough subject to handle dramatically but The Hunt is enthralling and unnerving. It aint no date movie but it's worth seeing if you love your film. Or you can wait for the Hollywood remake, which is surely coming.<br />
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On the subject of Mikkelsen, anyone else seen him in Valhall Rising as a one-eyed Viking gladiator? Bleak, bloody and bizarre in many ways, but well worth catching on DVD. -
[quote name='Virgil' timestamp='1358630794' post='338508']<br />
Saw Django last night, classic Tarantino. Really violent at times and his usual style.<br />
Like it alot though felt it dragged on a bit long (same length as the Hobbit), Christoph Waltz is brilliant.<br />
Probably a little too predictable though.<br />
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8/10<br />
[/quote]Saw it tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. I quite enjoyed the Kill Bill series but felt the dialogue was pretty wooden at times, this was far superior IMHO, probably his best outing since Pulp Fiction. Waltz was brilliant as was Di Caprio's villain. Sam Jackson's character was like Jules Winfield's great great great granddaddy, with some of his dialogue almost lifted from Pulp. Oh and the lynch mob scene was sublimely funny, the whole theatre was cracking up; well I was anyway -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1359111541' post='339552']Saw The Hunt (Jagten) last night - a Danish language film about what happens when a teacher is accused of abuse by a 5 year old girl. Sounds grim - and it is because not everything is what it seems and the story focuses on how the community reacts to the bombshell.<br />
<br />
It's got Madds Mikkelsen (Le Schiffre in Casino Royale) as the schoolteacher and is directed by the same guy who did Festen. Mikkelsen took best actor at Cannes for this.<br />
<br />
It's a tough subject to handle dramatically but The Hunt is enthralling and unnerving. It aint no date movie but it's worth seeing if you love your film. Or you can wait for the Hollywood remake, which is surely coming.<br />
<br />
On the subject of Mikkelsen, anyone else seen him in Valhall Rising as a one-eyed Viking gladiator? Bleak, bloody and bizarre in many ways, but well worth catching on DVD.[/quote]<br />
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Mrs dK and I have this on our "to watch list". Mikkelsen is one of our favorites and Valhall Risng was a great movie -
Here comes the Boom - predictable movie about an overweight biology teacher who decides to take up MMA to raise money for the art teacher who is about to lose his job, still a few laughs along the way.
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[quote name='Tim' timestamp='1357454959' post='335740']<br />
[i]Zero Dark Thirty[/i]. A very, very good film. 9/10.<br />
[/quote]<br />
Just watched it and agree - it was a cracking film, and it was basically two movies in one, a thriller and then an action film. Strong performances all round, as I assume Maya was supposed to be annoying as hell, from a range of actors (TV, Aussies, Brits). The thriller part was tense and the action part was intense.<br />
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Great direction by Bigelow, I thought Hurt Locker was a wee bit overrated, but I think she got the mix right in this one, only one bad line in the film IMHO, the MF line by Maya.<br />
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It is a pity that politics will blind some people to the merits of it as a film as it is damn good.<br />
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Pointless fact: The guy (in the movie) who killed UBL is a Kiwi (at least an Aussie actor born in NZ). -
[quote name='Nepia' timestamp='1359197181' post='339721']<br />
Pointless fact: The guy (in the movie) who killed UBL is a Kiwi (at least an Aussie actor born in NZ).[/quote]<br />
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And the Edgerton brothers as well. I hear that talent agencies in Hollywood like the fact our blokes aren't self-interested cocks -
just need to convince Mrs TR this film is worth watching...
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[quote name='NTA' timestamp='1359198385' post='339727']<br />
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And the Edgerton brothers as well. I hear that talent agencies in Hollywood like the fact our blokes aren't self-interested cocks<br />
[/quote]<br />
You didn't poach the Edgertons from us as we'll did you? Oh, you mean Aussie actors. <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> The theoretical male lead, Jason Clarke is Aussie as well. Was a very international film, a few Brits popped up as Yanks as well. -
[quote name='Nepia' timestamp='1359197181' post='339721']<br />
It is a pity that politics will blind some people to the merits of it as a film as it is damn good.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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I'm curious what you think are the "politics blinding some people." -
[quote name='red terror' timestamp='1359308545' post='339862']<br />
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I'm curious what you think are the "politics blinding some people."<br />
[/quote]<br />
Not really sure what you're getting at by this question? But:<br />
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As noted by Tim & TR earlier the film has gotten some mixed reviews - but as Tim mentioned the bad ones are generally from political commentators. Also, a few celebrities have come out against this film due to the 'torture' scenes. -
I expect the nature of the film and what it represents (good vs evil, war on terror etc etc) will always mean a film like this will polarise and bring politics into it.<br />
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[quote name='Kirwan' timestamp='1359402086' post='340105']<br />
...so any scenes of that nature are controversial just for existing.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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It's not the torture that is controversial - although Bigelow wants people to believe that strawman is the root of the controversy - it's that the film purports to be a true story, yet distorts the reality. In the U.S. you see right-winger media slugs like Joe Scarborough praising the film saying it "proves that torture works." And the criticisms are not exclusively from political comms, most of them I've read are from artists & film critics, 'tho I did have to laugh at Bret Easton Ellis [url="http://ggsidedocs.blogspot.com.br/2012/12/frank-bruni-new-york-times-its-hard-not.html"]comment[/url]. For me, I was somewhat unnerved by the torture-to-capture connection, but was laughing more at some of the ham-fisted dialogue. A good film, 8/10 (I saw a dvd dub, not on the big screen), but great propaganda 10/10. -
[quote name='Kirwan' timestamp='1359402086' post='340105']<br />
The tiny bit I've seen on the "controversy" is the inclusion of any torture scenes at all. Certain right leaning pundits want it swept under the carpet that any torture was done at all, so any scenes of that nature are controversial just for existing.<br />
[/quote]<br />
Thats an incorrect summary.<br />
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The 'right' was apprehensive before the movie was released because they feared it would be a Democrat propaganda film. The reaction from that side of the spectrum has been largely positive.<br />
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The 'left' are the source of the controversy. Without getting into an argument about the facts, the left is unhappy that enhanced interrogation appears in the film for two reasons.<br />
The first is that they don't believe the evidence gained from those interrogations lead to the OBL (via his courier). The second is they are unhappy that it was included in a non political way.. if it was to be included they wanted an obvious moral judgement included in the movie. However the movie is apparently matter-of-fact in its portrayal.<br />
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Most of the criticism hasn't even been from the political classes its been from within hollywood. Some of the calls for thought censorship has been a bit creepy IMO -
[quote name='red terror' timestamp='1359405649' post='340129']<br />
<br />
<br />
It's not the torture that is controversial - although Bigelow wants people to believe that strawman is the root of the controversy - it's that the film purports to be a true story, yet distorts the reality. In the U.S. you see right-winger media slugs like Joe Scarborough praising the film saying it "proves that torture works." And the criticisms are not exclusively from political comms, most of them I've read are from artists & film critics, 'tho I did have to laugh at Bret Easton Ellis [url="http://ggsidedocs.blogspot.com.br/2012/12/frank-bruni-new-york-times-its-hard-not.html"]comment[/url]. For me, I was somewhat unnerved by the torture-to-capture connection, but was laughing more at some of the ham-fisted dialogue. A good film, 8/10 (I saw a dvd dub, not on the big screen), but great propaganda 10/10.<br />
[/quote]<br />
RT, why did you ask me about politics surrounding this film when you clearly know that there are politics involved and in fact have an opinion on them? -
[quote name='Nepia' timestamp='1359408093' post='340139']<br />
RT, why did you ask me about politics surrounding this film when you clearly know that there are politics involved and in fact have an opinion on them?<br />
[/quote]<br />
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I was more inquisitive about the "blinding" part of it. -
[quote name='red terror' timestamp='1359412768' post='340156']<br />
I was more inquisitive about the "blinding" part of it.<br />
[/quote]<br />
All good, TBH I didn't put much thought into the use of the word, I'd just read a few celebrities were putting the movie down due to the content without actually seeing it. -
[quote name='Nepia' timestamp='1359197181' post='339721']<br />
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Just watched it and agree - it was a cracking film, and it was basically two movies in one, a thriller and then an action film. Strong performances all round, as I assume Maya was supposed to be annoying as hell, from a range of actors (TV, Aussies, Brits). The thriller part was tense and the action part was intense.<br />
<br />
Great direction by Bigelow, I thought Hurt Locker was a wee bit overrated, but I think she got the mix right in this one, only one bad line in the film IMHO, the MF line by Maya.<br />
<br />
It is a pity that politics will blind some people to the merits of it as a film as it is damn good.<br />
<br />
Pointless fact: The guy (in the movie) who killed UBL is a Kiwi (at least an Aussie actor born in NZ).<br />
[/quote]<br />
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I watched this last night, and also enjoyed it. Started well, got a wee bit slow in the middle, but the last 30mins or so was pretty tense.<br />
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Didn't seem to glorify or dehumanise things, and painting anyone any different. -
Watched the "Sound City" movie last night, the doco by Dave Grohl on the fairly famous LA recording studio. It's pretty good. obviously Dave plays a fairly central part, and due to his personality, and infectious enthusiasm, it makes it very watchable. Lots of interviews with some fairly big rock names (Tom Petty and Neil Young get plenty of time. oh, and Rick Springfield).<br />
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The first hour is the story of the studio, including its part in the rise of Fleetwood Mac, and how that really made the place. The decline during the 80s as computers started to take over, and its saviour and renaissance after "Nevermind".<br />
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The last 40 mins is Dave Grohl's crusade against Protools, and music made on laptops, and a "making of" of the i assume to be soon released Sound City album.<br />
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A good little rock documentary with a good soundtrack.
