Recent Movies Due A Reappraisal

[CaledonianGonzo]

Last night I watched the Director's Cut of Ridley Scott's The Kingdom of Heaven and blow me* if I didn't really enjoy it.  It's not without its issues, including a not-as-atrocious-as-you'd-imagine-but-still-miscast-Orlando Bloom in the lead, but more than makes up for it in spectacle and general mise-en-scène.  The Syrian actor who plays Saladin is mesmerising, and the rest of the cast (Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson, Ed Norton, etc.) do most of the heavy lifting so the charisma vacuum at the centre of the movie is rarely much of a distraction.

I originally saw it when it came out at the cinema and was severely underwhelmed.  While I'm slightly cynical about director's cuts in general, this is one where the  45 minutes of extra material they've added back into the movie really turns it from an also ran into a contender.  Character motivations that seemed irrational before have now been ironed out, and there's been a general beefing up of context and detail, bringing the whole movie up in my estimation.

Though it doesn't really warrant the Lawrence of Arabia-inspired Overture and Entr'acte sections.

I'm not really much a fan of Scott's, but I'd rank this as one of his best movies.  It certainly waves a stiff middle digit towards Gladiator.


So there we are.



^{* Blow me, you lazy pricks!}

[biggytitbo]

I still maintain that War of the Worlds is one of Spielbergs best films, and if not for that unwise ending, one of the best films of the decade. A scifi film that shows the true visceral horror of an alien invasion, filmed as if it was a holocaust drama as much as a summer blockbuster.

[mobias]

I still maintain that War of the Worlds is one of Spielbergs best films

Do you think?? I don't think its a bad movie but like a lot of Spielberg's recent output there's something curiously forgettable about the whole thing. Its almost like one of those made for TV movies that is enjoyable enough when on but doesn't stay with you at all and doesn't seem to have any beginning, middle or end. The only moment of Speilberg genius in it is the burning train sequence. He's done far far better, especially in the 70's.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I've only seen it the once, but the first alien attack scene stands out in my mind as being very enjoyable....

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Not a reappraisal as such, but more people should watch In Bruges. Folk seem predisposed to hate it, but then I kick their shins until they agree to watch it and then they love it.

[small_world]

In Bruges was awesome.

I still maintain that War of the Worlds is one of Spielbergs best films.

I loved some of it, but Tom Cruise was a bit hopeless. The scene where they were trying to escape in  car and were car-jacked by a hoarde of other escapees was amazing. Like something M. Night Shymalan may have come up with before he became shit.

For Spielberg, I loved AI.
I may be the only one.

[biggytitbo]

AI is definetly underrated. Its flabby, overlong and I'm not keen on most of the ending, but some parts of it - like the death games with the old androids, are absolutely stunning.

[non capisco]

In Bruges is definitely more undersung than underrated, everyone I know who's seen it loves it.

I'm with Biggy on War Of The Worlds to an extent, the first half definitely manages to convey a sense of sheer terror that any adaptation of the source material demands and that a more workmanlike director would have missed. If only he could have sustained that for the whole thing. I'd still love to see a straight film adaptation set in late Victorian England with steampunk tripods and mass panic in embryonic London streets but it ain't gonna happen for years now.

Why did everyone seemingly hate 28 Weeks Later? I thought it was a really good, atmospheric sequel that actually had a good ending unlike the first one. Similarly, Rec 2 seems to have slunk under the radar, probably because it was only released in about 12 cinemas a few months back.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Castaway. I don't care what anyone says, it's ace. Also, Miami Vice got a critical mauling I think, but it's actually a pretty good, stylish, cop movie.

I didn't like In Bruges much, so might give that one another watch.

[defmem]

In Bruges is definitely more undersung than underrated, everyone I know who's seen it loves it.

I'm with Biggy on War Of The Worlds to an extent, the first half definitely manages to convey a sense of sheer terror that any adaptation of the source material demands and that a more workmanlike director would have missed. If only he could have sustained that for the whole thing. I'd still love to see a straight film adaptation set in late Victorian England with steampunk tripods and mass panic in embryonic London streets but it ain't gonna happen for years now.

I have to agree on these points. Getting people to watch In Bruges is no easyfeat for some reason, but I've met no one who has seen it and not loved it, and Farrell is a revelation in it, the whole suicide/asassination scene is heart breakingly wonderful for me. AND it (in a round about way) has really put me onto Harold Pinter.

Re: War of the worlds, I think the opening half hour or so is absolutely amazing, it just looks and sounds amazing. The disorientation of the scenario is wonderfully shown. But from there it starts to wane for me. The ending REALLY fucks me off. I also agree that a straight adaptation would be superb, as long as it doesn't take too many cues from fom Wild Wild West, Jim West, Desperado, Rough Rider (sic)...

[Icehaven]

Love Honour and Obey. There's a bit of awful acting (from Sadie Frost mostly) but apart from that it's a pretty funny (if a little too kind) send up of the whole Guy Richie comedy/drama London gangster genre which I believe got pasted on release, but it definitely has some very funny moments, ''Daaahn't mack me off like a two bob, it's Sunday!!'' in particular.

[chocolateboy]

I still maintain that War of the Worlds is one of Spielbergs best films

I can't help conjuring up a series of vignettes in which you present this thesis. *Browser goes all wobbly*

• In a presentation to the Royal Society of Film Appreciation.
• In bed as you wake up from this dream.
• Having a twisted misrepresentation of it yelled back at you as a bitter parting blow ten years later by your so-called "soul mate" as they leave you, your flat, and your life for good.
• On Speakers' Corner, waving in slo-mo the sole copy of your vanity-published magnum opus, Spielberg Revisited.
• In a basement of the Scientology Headquarters in LA, loosely manacled to a wall "for your own safety".
• To yourself, in a subway on the South Bank, surrounded by discarded rubber johnnies, in-progress blowjobs, and gaze-averting tourists.
• On the Internet.

And don't bother telling me that that list is "autobiographical LOL", because, if you must know, I'm still biding my time until I meet the right person for stage 3. So the joke is, very much, on you.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Getting people to watch In Bruges is no easyfeat for some reason, but I've met no one who has seen it and not loved it.[/i]

I do probably need watch In Bruges again given all the acclaim it gets on here.  On first viewing it seemed sort of smug, derivative and contrived. 

Just as well that Ralph Fiennes' character, unlike his cousin Dom Logan, had that absolutist principle that you must

Spoiler alert

commit suicide if you kill a child

[close]

, eh?

[biggytitbo]

Why did everyone seemingly hate 28 Weeks Later? I thought it was a really good, atmospheric sequel that actually had a good ending unlike the first one.

I agree, 28 weeks later is brilliant. From that bravura opening sequence to the bit were Robert Carlyle gets the rage and kills is wife, which is one of the most genuinely horrifying scenes I've ever seen in a film.

Doomsday too, is a giddily enjoyable piece of gory fun that didn't get the credit it deserved. Also contains one of the greatest death scenes (Sean Pertwee burnt alive and eaten) in film.

[Phil_A]

I've always thought Brick deserved more attention than it got - although it was a critical hit, I don't think many people actually saw it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBzX6fFvhwA

I'd say it's probably the best modern take on the film noir genre I've seen, a really strikingly assured debut from writer/director Rian Hughes. The idea of superimposing the tropes of a pulp detective story onto a high school environment is such an obvious idea it's hard to believe it hadn't already been done, but Hughes really carries it off with panache. Hopefully more people will go back and check it out now Joseph Gordon Levitt seems to be about to hit the big time.

I'm slightly annoyed that Hughes second feature, "The Brothers Bloom", didn't even come out over here. Why?

[chocolateboy]

I'd say it's probably the best modern take on the film noir genre I've seen, a really strikingly assured debut from writer/director Rian Hughes. The idea of superimposing the tropes of a pulp detective story onto a high school environment is such an obvious idea it's hard to believe it hadn't already been done

In the spirit of fairness, I honestly haven't Googled this, but I think it's Ryan Johnson. And it had been done before in Veronica Mars.

I'm not gonna Google this either: Brick and In Bruges are both incredibly well-received, critically-acclaimed films. Hardly reappraisal-worthy unless you're questioning their excellence.

In my 'umble, Brick is tiresome shit and In Bruges is one of the best films of the (last) decade.

[Phil_A]

In the spirit of fairness, I honestly haven't Googled this, but I think it's Ryan Johnson. And it had been done before in Veronica Mars.

I'm not gonna Google this either: Brick and In Bruges are both incredibly well-received, critically-acclaimed films. Hardly reappraisal-worthy unless you're questioning their excellence.

Well, if you'd read the actual words I posted, you'd see I mentioned it was successful critically, but not many people have seen it. . That was why I felt it was worthy of another lookl.

Can I just ask, what the fuck is your problem? Do you have to have to turn everything into a point-scoring contest?

[chocolateboy]

I mentioned it was successful critically, but not many people have seen it. . That was why I felt it was worthy of another look.

There's a re in reappraisal.

[Johnny Textface]

How amazing is 'The Fountain'??

But people I know absolutely fucking hate it. Its one of my favourite movies of the last 10 years - completely original, overly-ambitious, budget restrained, exquisitely soundtracked and photographed and wonderfully acted and directed. Can you ask for more? Any lovers / haters out there?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Any lovers / haters out there?

I absolutely loathed it. One of the most incoherent, self-important and excruciatingly boring films I've seen in years. I found the experience of watching it so alienating and irritating I completely lost interest in trying to fathom what the hell it was about and began resenting Aronofsky for wasting my time. It's certainly original, but that doesn't mean it's an enjoyable film.

Also, the last half hour of Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream is a laughable, hysterical, hideous pile of shit, a modern-day Reefer Madness but with added dildo action.

I suspect I am not a fan of Darren Aronofsky. 

[Johnny Textface]

It's certainly original, but that doesn't mean it's an enjoyable film.

True enough - although it helps imho.

Its certainly one of these that seems to be either loved or hated, no middle ground.

[Johnny Townmouse]

Just to stick my unwelcome opinions into this thread - I would agree that Castaway and War of the Worlds are good examples of mainstream cinema done extremely well. The former is intriguing and draws you in, the latter is genuinely scary (though it helps if you add a bit of woofer to your home cinema) despite its shortcomings. Well made and dramatically interesting mainstream film seems to be something evading Hollywood right now, and that makes me think differently about these very well crafted films.

I think AI has a lot to like, and I actually thought the final thirty minutes (despite the presence of the bear) is what makes the film. So much is not said, that I have to give credit to Spielberg. It was the one moment in the film that I felt like he was truly invoking the memory of Kubrick. I would say that 28 Weeks Later is genuinely a much better film than its predecessor. It isn't just about expectation of both films, I just think the cinematography is better and the acting is FAR better. I have to admit that I find Brick tiresome in the extreme - for me it is one of those films that has a noir device that either draws you in or pushes you away. I thought The Last Seduction worked much better as a neo-noir, although it had less appeal to the audience that enjoyed Donnie Darko (the success of which made sure Brick got funded). In Bruges is a delightful film, and very funny, but I am incapable of getting the shitty ending out of my head. Totally unnecessary.

I would nominate these films for reappraisal -

Murder by Numbers - a Sandra Bullock vehicle about two high-school kids who use CSI technology and science to commit the perfect murder. It has a LOT wrong with it, but I found it oddly enjoyable.

I am Legend - my memory is that this film was largely overlooked as Smith went through a fallow period in his career. I saw it on TV expecting it to be tripe and was surprised by how dramatic it was, with some decent set pieces.

The Aviator - again a film I avoided, but then watched when it came on TV. In many respects this is the strongest film Scorsese has made since Casino. Di Caprio turns in a great performance in my view, and the cinematography and use of colour is very evocative. I remember this getting panned, but I think Scorsese makes some bold choices and creates an entirely psychological drama that does not resort to some of the action-drama found in Shutter Island (which I also liked more than I expected).

No doubt, I will remember more, though I would like to also nominate Alien 4, for my sins.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Last night I watched the Director's Cut of Ridley Scott's The Kingdom of Heaven and blow me* if I didn't really enjoy it. 

Coo, do you know what? When I saw this thread's title, Kingdom of Heaven was the first film I thought of, before I even clicked on the link. FANCY THAT. Been defending that movie, or at least the non-Bloom bits, for ages, so when the Director's Cut turned out to be so much better, I finally felt vindicated.

How amazing is 'The Fountain'??

But people I know absolutely fucking hate it.... Any lovers / haters out there?

Ooh, I HATED the Fountain. Just seemed very self-indulgent and dull to me. I may have shouted at my telly screen quite a lot until I finally switched it off. But then I think Elektra is a perfectly good action movie, so I clearly know nothing about anything.

Watching Kung Fu Panda for the third time recently made me realise what a blimmin' good film it is - and interesting how some of the really good childrens' animation of the past few years (KF Panda, Ratatouille, Cloudy with Meatballs) have all been about our relationship with food.

[biggytitbo]

I think I Am Legend is a genuine'y great film not just because of its virtually incomparable sense of atmosphere in the 1st hour but because underneath it its a rather well done portrait of a man going slowly mad. Shame that it turns into a standard action film in the last half hour or so, but even then I found it enjoyable.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I don'ty really give a crap about whether it's faithful to the original text- purely from a standalone film point of view, War Of The Worlds is a pretty crap film, and I remember it being very unsatisfying by the end, and actually for 80% of the time, surprisingly boring. Because the action pieces are so thinly contextualised, they're disarmingly uninvolving, too. I still find it quite difficult to root for the central characters in a plot where thousands of cgi people are killed by the director with an almost sadistic glee (not that there's anything wrong with that itself, but it's very hypocritical to ask me to then care about Tom Cruise and his daughter who have no particular value in terms of defeating these aliens anyway).

Cloverfield is spoilt by its 'we must go back into the heart of the danger for a reason the writer and director is too gutless to even try and justify' contrivedness (don't worry, I remember, he has to go back any save some girl he can 'sense' is still alive...spare me), but it does 'little people in the middle of unexplained alien attack' a lot better that WOTW, and in a more original way.

[gatchamandave]

I'm with Biggy on War Of The Worlds to an extent, the first half definitely manages to convey a sense of sheer terror that any adaptation of the source material demands and that a more workmanlike director would have missed. If only he could have sustained that for the whole thing. I'd still love to see a straight film adaptation set in late Victorian England with steampunk tripods and mass panic in embryonic London streets but it ain't gonna happen for years now.
.

And if anyone could have done that it would have been Spielberg. When I first heard he was doing it I thought that was his approach and that he might even have given Jeff Wayne a shout...

...but no, we get an updated version of the George Pal film, like we needed that. Sorry, but I put it with Hook as one of those ideas that would have worked if he had given it more thought and cast a different lead actor.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

High Nu 'uns

My problem wth 28 Weeks Later was the plotholes. Normally I don't care about or even notice such things, but the ones in this stretched credulity too far. I realise it's probably meant to be a metaphor for the US occupation of Iraq, but I just couldn't accept the army being as incompetent as it is in the film.

As for Kingdom of Heaven; should a director's cut count as reappraisal? It's essentially a different film.

I never got into The Aviator, because I never believed DiCaprio's performance. It's the old complaint of him being too boyish looking. He just never seemed to disappear into the role.

[copylight]

Peeps seem to hate Soderberg's Oceans films if it wasn't for Holmes doing the music but I really like em and have a solid mancrush for all the ensemble involved, indeed performed solidly, directed solidly, but critically floppity flop. 

[small_world]

I think I Am Legend is a genuine'y great film.... Shame that it turns into a standard action film in the last half hour or so, but even then I found it enjoyable.

Yeah, when I first saw the trailer I was hoping for a Castaway style thing, no real danger, just a guy living out after an apocolypse.
I would love a movie like that, I actually made up my own movie after seeing a trailer without the danger aspect.
In my I AM LEGEND Smith would hear voices and see flashes, like hints of things and it would end with Smith in a hospital, and it turns out he's not one man in a post-apocolyptic world, but a man trapped in his own body after some kind of brain injuring accident.
I was dissapointed when it was all zombies and shit.

[localhero87]

I think I Am Legend is a genuine'y great film not just because of its virtually incomparable sense of atmosphere in the 1st hour but because underneath it its a rather well done portrait of a man going slowly mad. Shame that it turns into a standard action film in the last half hour or so, but even then I found it enjoyable.

Thats how I felt about it. There is a definite line to be drawn in the film just over two thirds through where you can say "before this point great, after this point its poor".

I think one thing that really ruined it for me was that the er...demons, undead things (whatever you call them, its been a while since I saw it) were CGI. If they went the route of simply employing actors covered in makeup to look gruesome it would have been so much more authentic and looked better. Maybe they just couldn't be arsed to cast anyone in the film past Will Smith, a dog and that bird.