Movie review thread...
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It's funny, most people I talked about Argo with who watched it before the Oscars were all positive, since Oscar it's had more negatives - weighed down by expectation?<br />
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Of the best picture nominees I've seen it's been the best so far (I haven't seen them all).<br />
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Plus, I think people forget it's a movie (including our parliament) and not a doco, I think I said above I know more about this story due to reading up on it after the movie. -
I've got english friends that were living in Iran at the time teaching english to air force pilots before they went to the US to fly fighter jets.I'll be interested to see what they think of Argo, I've had a few chats with them in the past about their time there and they mentioned sleeping on the roof of their house because they were worried about copping a stray bullet. They also went to the British embassy to try and get some help leaving and the guy on the front desk said something along the lines of "crisis, what crisis?" while outside they were adding three extra feet of height to the brick fence and embedding glass into the top of it.<br />
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Sw it last night enjoyed it but didn't think it was Oscar worthy, loved Arkins and Goodmans characters though -some fantastic lines between the two of them. -
Um, holy fuck. What the fuck is wrong with some people??!!<br />
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I just read about the liitle shitstorm some fucking idiots in Wellington managed to create around a throw-away line in a movie. Fuck me dead. Surely Parliament, and most especially, the Prime Minister, has more important things to think about than how 4 fucking words in a movie might make people think about NZ?<br />
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This is some small minded, little brother, chippy, precious bullshit, and the fact that it got any traction is a serious indictment on our country. -
Red Dawn (re-make) just didnt have much substance to it, I guess if it wasnt a re-make it'd be a decent watch, but it was and will always be compared with the original, to which it doesnt measure up.<br />
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Also watched Tad the Lost Explorer with the kids, which is pretty good, they loved it -
Finally got to see Zero Dark Thirty and thought it was a very engrossing movie. Basically, you have to concentrate to keep up with the plot, mumbling of lines and myriad shots of men with beards and long names.<br />
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But when I was walking back home I couldn't place what it was about the movie I didn't get. And then I realised it was that I didn't like or identify with any of the characters in it - not a one of them. It was curious, usually you find someone to cheer for or empathise with but I can honestly say that every character in that movie left me cold. Even the flame-haired heroine of the piece was just an obsessional, self-centred success slave with no life whatsoever, which unintentionally or not reeked of the same blind zealotry the terrorists were accused of.<br />
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I guess this smudging of the lines between the 'good' and 'bad' guys is what Bigelow wanted because one thing's for sure, the Americans really don't come out of ZDT with any redeeming qualities at all. I didn't even get the sense that the poor boys and girls of the CIA were struggling with their conscience or humanity to do the things they were doing to keep America safe and in the process: they just seemed like robots.<br />
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Maybe in movie theatres across middle America there are people whooping and hollering at the final takedown of OBL but even here I didn't identify one iota with the self-righteousness that was supposed to be the defining point of the whole thing.<br />
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All in all, a very curious movie and one that has had me thinking ever since the credits rolled. -
Lincoln: Not a big Daniel Day-Lewis fan but really enjoyed this film which focuses on the last couple of months of Lincoln's life as he tries to bring a final end to slavery in the USA. 8.5/10<br />
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Skyfall: Don't watch that many Bond films but was told to watch this one. Not too bad but I'm just not a huge Bond fan. 6/10<br />
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The Impossible: About the Boxing Day tsunami that hit parts of SE Asia and stars Naomi Watts and Ewen McGregor. Watched this while on a bus in Colombia. Probably not the film to watch when you are about to stay a couple of days by the beach. Freaked the girl out who I was traveling with. 7/10 -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1364199134' post='354628']<br />
Finally got to see Zero Dark Thirty and thought it was a very engrossing movie. Basically, you have to concentrate to keep up with the plot, mumbling of lines and myriad shots of men with beards and long names.<br />
<br />
But when I was walking back home I couldn't place what it was about the movie I didn't get. And then I realised it was that I didn't like or identify with any of the characters in it - not a one of them. It was curious, usually you find someone to cheer for or empathise with but I can honestly say that every character in that movie left me cold. [b]Even the flame-haired heroine of the piece was just an obsessional, self-centred success slave with no life whatsoever, which unintentionally or not reeked of the same blind zealotry the terrorists were accused of.[/b]<br />
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I guess this smudging of the lines between the 'good' and 'bad' guys is what Bigelow wanted because one thing's for sure, the Americans really don't come out of ZDT with any redeeming qualities at all. I didn't even get the sense that the poor boys and girls of the CIA were struggling with their conscience or humanity to do the things they were doing to keep America safe and in the process: they just seemed like robots.<br />
<br />
Maybe in movie theatres across middle America there are people whooping and hollering at the final takedown of OBL but even here I didn't identify one iota with the self-righteousness that was supposed to be the defining point of the whole thing.<br />
<br />
All in all, a very curious movie and one that has had me thinking ever since the credits rolled.<br />
[/quote]<br />
I think you and I watch movies in very different ways. Actually I felt some of the same feelings you did but thought that was what was good about the movie whereas you seem to have an issue with it. I think the bold was mostly deliberate.<br />
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I thought the killing of OBL was very matter of fact and didn't come across self righteous or wah wah USA!!! in the slightest. And I think that last scene was only added after the fact, the original script was about the futile hunt for OBL, yet it felt like a little movie within a movie. TBH I would have been happy to see them as two different movies.<br />
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[quote name='Sneakdefreak' timestamp='1364786104' post='356357']<br />
Lincoln: Not a big Daniel Day-Lewis fan but really enjoyed this film which focuses on the last couple of months of Lincoln's life as he tries to bring a final end to slavery in the USA. 8.5/10<br />
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As a non DDL fan, but Spielberg fan I might give this a shot since you enjoyed it, but if I see any sense of ham I'll struggle. Hopefully it's Last of the Mohicans DDL and not There Will Be Blood DDL. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1353570162' post='327079']<br />
I hate those Tom Ford suits on Bond. They're cut too tight and make him look like a bouncer. Oh and that trademark floating coat collar thing that Ford does really sucks, hardly surprising since they ditched proper London tailoring for a mere [i]brand[/i]. Much better is Fiennes' Savile Row job from Anderson & Sheppard. Now that's how a trouser is supposed to fit.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Yep, Bond might wear a Tom Ford suit in the USA, perhaps even in China or Turkey. But James Bond wandering around Whitehall with just two buttons on the cuff of his jacket? Do your research, MGM/Sony.<br />
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Fleming's Bond and Connery's Bond used to get their suits from Anthony Sinclair in Conduit Street, Mayfair.<br />
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[url="http://www.anthonysinclair.com/heritage_s/1856.htm"]http://www.anthonysinclair.com/heritage_s/1856.htm[/url] -
[quote name='Nepia' timestamp='1364802833' post='356383']<br />
I think you and I watch movies in very different ways. Actually I felt some of the same feelings you did but thought that was what was good about the movie whereas you seem to have an issue with it. I think the bold was mostly deliberate.<br />
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I thought the killing of OBL was very matter of fact and didn't come across self righteous or wah wah USA!!! in the slightest. And I think that last scene was only added after the fact, the original script was about the futile hunt for OBL, yet it felt like a little movie within a movie. TBH I would have been happy to see them as two different movies.<br />
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[/quote]<br />
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I think we saw it the same way tbh Nepia.<br />
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I had managed to avoid all the controversy about the film and so viewed it quite 'clean' as it were. The ambivalence in the approach of the characters and the matter-of-factness of the methods used to extract information was quite striking during the film and immediately afterwards and I really thought about what was going on. Subsequently, I've done a lot of reading up on it and I think this 'docu' approach is now a strength of the movie and Bigelow has taken a very brave line. So in retrospect, I don't have an issue with it at all. At the time I just thought the lack of empathy with any of the characters was curious.<br />
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I also didn't think the OBL takedown was over the top either. I just wondered out loud if it was being seen as such by US audiences because I didn't get any sense of triumphalism from it either.<br />
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Having seen ZDT and now Argo, I think the former is the much better film. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1364813940' post='356403']<br />
I think we saw it the same way tbh Nepia.<br />
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I had managed to avoid all the controversy about the film and so viewed it quite 'clean' as it were. The ambivalence in the approach of the characters and the matter-of-factness of the methods used to extract information was quite striking during the film and immediately afterwards and I really thought about what was going on. Subsequently, I've done a lot of reading up on it and I think this 'docu' approach is now a strength of the movie and Bigelow has taken a very brave line. So in retrospect, I don't have an issue with it at all. At the time I just thought the lack of empathy with any of the characters was curious.<br />
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I also didn't think the OBL takedown was over the top either. I just wondered out loud if it was being seen as such by US audiences because I didn't get any sense of triumphalism from it either.<br />
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Having seen ZDT and now Argo, I think the former is the much better film.<br />
[/quote]<br />
Hmm, we did see it the same way, although I quite liked the character played by Jason Clarke ... I find Jessica Chastain a hard watch in any movie - in all honesty I think I'm a bit bigoted towards some female actors for no real reasons (Nicole Kidman/Laura Linney are two more) and so find them quite tiring.<br />
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I think Argo is a much better and enjoyable film though. The only scene I have a problem with is the chasing of the plane. The 'controversy' about it is doing my head in, it's an f-ing movie (not directed at you, just in general). <br />
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Although, how I viewed them may play a part as well, I watch Argo in the cinema and ZDT on the box at home, although I have no real way of knowing if that played a part. And TBH I watched Argo pre Oscar hype and ZDT after its hype, which might play a part.<br />
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Either way, and I'm now ducking for cover, they're both leagues better than Bond! -
THE IMPOSTER (2012)<br />
Unfuckingbelievable documentary, but apparently true story about a French sociopathic con-artist who deserves many good hard kicks to the testicles, and a desperate American family willing to believe anything in the face of trauma. Made by the same producer as the brilliant "Man on Wire." There are a few red-herrings and dramatic recreations that are puzzling, but I couldn't pull my eyes away. 9/10. -
[quote name='red terror' timestamp='1364926535' post='356531']THE IMPOSTER (2012)<br />
Unfuckingbelievable documentary, but apparently true story about a French sociopathic con-artist who deserves many good hard kicks to the testicles, and a desperate American family willing to believe anything in the face of trauma. Made by the same producer as the brilliant "Man on Wire." There are a few red-herrings and dramatic recreations that are puzzling, but I couldn't pull my eyes away. 9/10.[/quote]<br />
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I loved that movie too. There is another movie out there that is a dramatization of this same story. Apparently it is awful. -
[quote name='jegga' timestamp='1365067619' post='356869']<br />
Saw Trance, quite an odd film, the bonus of Rosario Dawson naked. made me enjoy it more than I probably would have ordinarily .<br />
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Did I mention Rosario Dawson is naked in it?<br />
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She's never really floated my boat, but she did look lovely naked in Alexander, although it wasn't enough to redeem that movie. -
[quote name='Nepia' timestamp='1365067900' post='356870']<br />
She's never really floated my boat, but she did look lovely naked in Alexander, although it wasn't enough to redeem that movie.<br />
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You're close to joining wretches like Davidav on my ignore list with comments like that . I await the abridged version of the film on Mr Skin, will possibly check out Alexander . -
[quote name='jegga' timestamp='1365068087' post='356872']<br />
You're close to joining wretches like Davidav on my ignore list with comments like that . I await the abridged version of the film on Mr Skin, will possibly check out Alexander .<br />
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Sheesh, I said she looked lovely .... <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
