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Recent Movies Due A Reappraisal

Started by CaledonianGonzo, July 20, 2010, 08:22:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

small_world

I also loved HOOK and Cloverfield.

Hook was amazing, what a kids film, there aren't many like it from that era.

And Cloverfield. I don't know what I really liked about it, I think I just saw it with the opinion of, I haven't really heard much about it so it must be shit. And it wasn't. I thought it's stark reality was similar to (all but the last 30 of) District9.
By the way, District10? Is there a D9 thread in here?
(and while I'm on, is it possible to search forums? Sometimes threads are labled in a way that misses the subject, making it hard to spot some things. Mind I haven't actually looked for D9.)

Ignatius_S

With In Bruges, I haven't met anyone who doesn't like it – I liked it a lot, but quite a few of my friends make it sound like it's faultless, so it was interesting to hear others aren't so keen.

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on July 21, 2010, 12:11:31 PM
...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 must take up cudgels over that with you – I fear you've oversold it, I fear. A nasty little misogynistic melodrama.

Although the critics lavished praise on it when it came it, it has been a little more realistically evaluated since then. It's a particularly hate of Nick Cave's.
Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on July 20, 2010, 08:22:06 PM
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...
I've heard some incredibly similar feedback about this – enough to make me check it out at any road.

Quote from: non capisco on July 20, 2010, 10:31:21 PM
...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 rather enjoyed it myself... haven't actually seen the first one yet.

Quote from: Phil_A on July 21, 2010, 11:15:49 AM
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....
I'm slightly annoyed that Hughes second feature, "The Brothers Bloom", didn't even come out over here. Why?
Brick was one of two DVDs a friends got me for one birthday – he had seen it at the cinema and thought I would love it. He was absolutely right.

Personally, I don't think the way it was marketed over here did it any favours – didn't make me what to go and see it any way.

Have been meaning to see The Brothers Bloom – worth doing so?

Quote from: chocolateboy on July 21, 2010, 11:27:23 AM
...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...
Personally, I think it is can be worth reappraising films a while after they come out – for example, one's opinion might change and it can be good looking at a piece of work when the hype has died down.

Although In Bruges isn't a film that cries out for re-evaluation to me, I don't think it could have been described as critically-acclaimed, certainly not in an accurate way – reviews were too mixed for that. 

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on July 21, 2010, 12:44:48 PM
...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...
Critically, it was well received – although I do think reading between the lines, the praise wasn't sincere in some cases. Personally, I thought it was a very fine film in many regards – and I absolutely agree with your assessment of Di Caprio. Have to say I thought John C Reilly gave a magnificent turn.

Quote from: copylight on July 21, 2010, 01:58:08 PM
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.
Only seen the first myself and I liked it – it did get some very good reviews because it was a major reason I saw it (people were visiting and a cinema visit was fancied).



localhero87

Quote from: small_world on July 21, 2010, 02:10:01 PM
I also loved HOOK and Cloverfield.

Hook was amazing, what a kids film, there aren't many like it from that era.

And Cloverfield. I don't know what I really liked about it, I think I just saw it with the opinion of, I haven't really heard much about it so it must be shit. And it wasn't. I thought it's stark reality was similar to (all but the last 30 of) District9.
By the way, District10? Is there a D9 thread in here?
(and while I'm on, is it possible to search forums? Sometimes threads are labled in a way that misses the subject, making it hard to spot some things. Mind I haven't actually looked for D9.)

I also loved Cloverfield. Saw it at the cinema with 8 other people and you know when you come out of the cinema and on the way home discuss with everyone what your thoughts were and suddenly discover you saw the film in a completely different light? Well I came out ready to say some rather spiffing things about how the film was constructed and that even though it was essentially throwaway action film fodder it was thoroughly entertaining....and then before I could 8 other people just said "well that was fucking gash". I said nothing.

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: Ignatius_S on July 21, 2010, 02:14:52 PM
With In Bruges, I haven't met anyone who doesn't like it – I liked it a lot, but quite a few of my friends make it sound like it's faultless, so it was interesting to hear others aren't so keen.


The main problem I had with it was the last half hour or so. Ralph Feinnes was awful I thought, seemingly ripping off Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast but not getting it right, and the bit where he kills the little person, thinks he's a kid and kills himself just seemed really contrived and improbable.

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on July 21, 2010, 02:20:54 PM
The main problem I had with it was the last half hour or so. Ralph Feinnes was awful I thought, seemingly ripping off Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast but not getting it right, and the bit where he kills the little person, thinks he's a kid and kills himself just seemed really contrived and improbable.

Absolutely. I felt so let down by the ending - up to that point it had every chance of being one of my favourite films of all time, and then it shat all over the previous 90mins. Such a shame.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Why not put this (In Bruges spoiler:)
Spoiler alert
and the bit where he kills the little person, thinks he's a kid and kills himself
[close]
in spoilers, eh?

I've seen it, it's one of my favourite films. I think the Ralph Fiennes bit of the ending is inconsequential to what is Ray's story, so doesn't spoil the film at all. Plenty of stuff has similarly contrived endings and an arguably greater obsession with using side characters to tie-up various loose ends. Shakespeare's plays, for example.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on July 21, 2010, 02:20:54 PM
The main problem I had with it was the last half hour or so. Ralph Feinnes was awful I thought, seemingly ripping off Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast but not getting it right, and the bit where he kills the little person, thinks he's a kid and kills himself just seemed really contrived and improbable.
Personally, I thought Fiennes was very good – interesting what you said about Kingsley in Sexy Beast, as I wonder if I had seen it

Although I did enjoy it, I did feel it started to flag badly.
Spoiler alert
I would tend to agree that the suicide did seem contrived – from what I remember, in the run up to the guy getting shot, it didn't come as a huge surprise that that's how it was going to play out either.
[close]

To be fair, in a thread about reappraising films, there's going to be a quite a bit of spolierish discussion.

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on July 21, 2010, 02:31:02 PM
Why not put this (In Bruges spoiler:)
Spoiler alert
and the bit where he kills the little person, thinks he's a kid and kills himself
[close]
in spoilers, eh?

I've seen it, it's one of my favourite films. I think the Ralph Fiennes bit of the ending is inconsequential to what is Ray's story, so doesn't spoil the film at all. Plenty of stuff has similarly contrived endings and an arguably greater obsession with using side characters to tie-up various loose ends. Shakespeare's plays, for example.

I agree that the Fiennes and dwarf part of the story are completely inconsequential to the story, which is why any exposition on this part of the story does not need to be hidden beneath a spoiler. In fact, if I had known that a redundant piece of silliness was going to be the climax of the film, I may have been able to dismiss it and enjoy the overall story much more.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

It does need to be spoilered though- it's still stuff that happens. The term 'spoiler' isn't helping me during this argument admittedly, as the event is inconsequential to the main story, but the basic practise of using spoilers being to shield people who haven't seen what you're discussing is what's important.


Johnny Townmouse

Fair enough - this is a general films thread, rather than the Inception thread which I avoided opening until I had seen the film.

People giving me shit for giving away the ends of films is one of my 'pet peeves' though. I think this has been discussed in-depth on here before, but I use the 5-year rule that if someone hasn't got off their arse to see a film in that time then I'm not going to worry about 'spoiling' a film they clearly don't have enough interest in. My brother spoiled the end of The Village last year before I had seen it. Fair enough, it's been out since 2004. Why on earth would I get annoyed about something that I can barely muster the energy to watch on TV, such is its appalling pedigree.

However, In Bruges has only been out since 2008.

biggytitbo

The KKK win at the end of Birth of a Nation.

DJ Solid Snail

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on July 21, 2010, 03:02:15 PM
People giving me shit for giving away the ends of films is one of my 'pet peeves' though. I think this has been discussed in-depth on here before, but I use the 5-year rule that if someone hasn't got off their arse to see a film in that time then I'm not going to worry about 'spoiling' a film they clearly don't have enough interest in. My brother spoiled the end of The Village last year before I had seen it. Fair enough, it's been out since 2004. Why on earth would I get annoyed about something that I can barely muster the energy to watch on TV, such is its appalling pedigree.

However, In Bruges has only been out since 2008.

I think they're quite right to find you slightly cunty in that regard. Given how many worthwhile films have been made in the past five years or so, foreign and domestic, it seems hugely unreasonable to assume that people will have seen all of them, and if they haven't, the reason is that they're not interested. That's a lot to get through!

EOLAN

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on July 20, 2010, 09:35:42 PM
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.

I was predisposed to like it, and then I agreed to go with my girlfriend to watch it with minimal shin scrapes and I hated it.

Was probably aiming a high return in Ireland where it certainly got a large viewership. However, the acclaim that comes from over the sea isn't as profound. If anything it gets a rom-com gender divide with males hating it and girls loving it.

But it lost all credibility when it played Raglan Road half-way through personally.

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: DJ Solid Snail on July 21, 2010, 03:29:25 PM
I think they're quite right to find you slightly cunty in that regard. Given how many worthwhile films have been made in the past five years or so, foreign and domestic, it seems hugely unreasonable to assume that people will have seen all of them, and if they haven't, the reason is that they're not interested. That's a lot to get through!

I'm not sure that 'cunty' is what they find me, but I may have to go back and confirm that with the Film Studies student who got pissed off with me for ruining the end of Citizen Kane. My expectation is not that someone should have seen all films made previously to 2005, but simply that their ire is often disproportionate to the effort they put into seeing a film that they apparently seem to care enough about that it is capable of being 'spoiled'.

DJ Solid Snail

Hmm, I think I read that all wrong, my last post makes no sense. You said five years or older, not just films made in the last five years, heh.

If they're a Film Studies student and they've not seen Citizen Kane then yes, sod them.

vrailaine

Quote from: DJ Solid Snail on July 21, 2010, 03:55:59 PM
If they're a Film Studies student and they've not seen Citizen Kane then yes, sod them.
Didn't manage to notice the ending being mentioned in a thousand other places too, christ.

gatchamandave

This might get people throwing live lobsters at me, but I've never understood what the problem is in general with The Brothers Grimm. I enjoyed Damon and Ledger in it and can't imagine why people find them unconvincing or wooden - they both seem fine to me. Yes, Jonathan Pryce is camp but he's also rather chilling in places, and to me it was nice to get a few more ideas of how he would have played The Master in a serious version of Dr Who and he's nicely counter-pointed by Stormare who was more fun than Robin Williams would have been in the role. I believe some critics found the characters " repellent " - but no more so than many a Tim Burton character and they seem to get readily accepted by audiences and critics alike.

Over to anyone who has a genuine dislike of the film - I'd honestly like to know what is purportedy wrong with it.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteIf they're a Film Studies student and they've not seen Citizen Kane then yes, sod them.

Why? They're studying Films. One could become a Film Studies student without the slightest knowledge of films, but a deep burning desire and new found passion to discover them.

I find this an unnecessarily bullying and elitist attitude and surprising that this probably quite frequent occurrence doesn't even enter into your thoughts. Film Studies is a course of study, not a competition for young men to wank themselves dry over their favourite auteurs, nor a 3-year exercise in cultural oneupmanship.

DJ Solid Snail

Right, they're studying films. Citizen Kane is the main example of a film they tell you to watch if you've any interest in learning about the history of filmmaking innovation - cinematography, special effects, and all that - which is what Film Studies is about.

SetToStun

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on July 21, 2010, 04:05:12 PM
Why? They're studying Films. One could become a Film Studies student without the slightest knowledge of films, but a deep burning desire and new found passion to discover them.

I find this an unnecessarily bullying and elitist attitude and surprising that this probably quite frequent occurrence doesn't even enter into your thoughts. Film Studies is a course of study, not a competition for young men to wank themselves dry over their favourite auteurs, nor a 3-year exercise in cultural oneupmanship.

True, to an extent, but you'd expect someone taking a higher-level course in a subject to have at least a good grounding in it; just as you wouldn't expect someone to march onto a philosophy degree course without having heard of at least some of the usual suspects and some of those suspects' ideas, I wouldn't expect someone to commit to studying film to a high level without already having seen at least some of the old standards in that field.

Of course, all this goes out of the window if I've misunderstood and "student" isn't shorthand for "degree student", in which case I'll shut up and wander off.

Edited to add quotation. And acknowledge that Solid has beaten me to it and said it more succinctly, to boot. The bastard.

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on July 21, 2010, 04:05:12 PM
Why? They're studying Films. One could become a Film Studies student without the slightest knowledge of films, but a deep burning desire and new found passion to discover them.

So there is a person who is at least 18 (I am of course referring to an UG student), who doesn't have the slightest knowledge of films, but who is prepared to give three years of their life over to studying them? That person, sir, is a fucking idiot. 

QuoteI find this an unnecessarily bullying and elitist attitude and surprising that this probably quite frequent occurrence doesn't even enter into your thoughts.

Umm, hang on.

QuoteFilm Studies is a course of study, not a competition for young men to wank themselves dry over their favourite auteurs, nor a 3-year exercise in cultural oneupmanship.

Agreed.

small_world

I'd like to spend a few weeks showing Synecdoche to people, and then just going... "WOW Eh?"  It's probs my all time favourite film. Donny Darko, American Beauty, AI, Back To The Future and The Matrix being up there too.

Jack Shaftoe

Southland Tales is, while not good exactly, is certainly worth a go. Really makes me think of playing in someone's rather over-thought RPG campaign, where you don't really have a clue what's going on, but once you stop worrying about it and go along with the ride, it's rather good fun.

Cerys

I have yet to see I am Legend, but a quick read of the plot makes me suspect I would have preferred it had it been faithful to the original novel.

I'm going to go nuts and say that any film starring Ryan Gosling that's been released in the last decade minus The Notebook. This would include The United States of Leland , Half Nelson, Fracture (alongside Anthony Hopkins) and Lars and the Real Girl .

The Duck Man

Quote from: copylight on July 21, 2010, 01:58:08 PM
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.
Ah, Eleven is great. Haven't seen Twelve. Seen Thirteen but can't recall any of it, so can't have been that good.

And I sit firmly in the Brick = great camp.

Jack Shaftoe

Quote from: Cerys on July 21, 2010, 08:53:24 PM
I have yet to see I am Legend, but a quick read of the plot makes me suspect I would have preferred it had it been faithful to the original novel.

Yeah, I seriously doubt anyone involved read the novel at any point ever - it's much more a remake of 'The Omega Man' - in fact, if they'd called it that, I might have forgiven them the APPALLING ending, which rightly sends anyone who has read the book into a frenzy, as it completely pisses on the book's own, fantastic, ending. Although I did read an early draft of the script where the hero
Spoiler alert
went and rescued his wife and daughter from a vampire slave farm
[close]
, so, you know, it could have been worse.

I'm fairly sure the director of Legend did an early version with 28 Days Later style real extras, but was overruled by the studio, who insisted on CGI.

JPA

Comments on a few of the films mentioned here:

War of the Worlds

Really enjoyed this, though it's not without its faults as discussed. Some excellent sequences though - the initial tripod attack is fantastic, and I love the look of the tripods themselves and the sound they make, genuine menace there. Certainly don't think it deserved some of the criticism it got.

I Am Legend

Such a frustrating film this, a wasted opportunity as there are some really good moments in it. A perfect example of when appalling CGI can really detract from a film - the creatures were once human, so why do their jaws detach like a snake swallowing a large egg when they scream? Mike Patton doing the voice of the creatures btw fact-fans. Should have been better, but isn't.

28 Weeks Later

Enjoyable for what it was, though I much prefer 28 Days. Best thing in Weeks is that fantastic scene at the start with Carlyle running for the boat.

Cloverfield

Another one I really enjoyed, but again quite frustrating in what might have been. I was willing to suspend my disbelief at the characters putting themselves in ludicrous danger while continuing to film, but my main problem was with showing the monster. Less is more should have been the rule for that film, (and that's what it is for most of the film, glimpses etc) not a huge close-up of the monster's face in broad daylight.

Artemis

I can't bring myself to reappraise 28 Days Later because I can't bear the fact that Eccleston ruined it (or at least the plot development from the moment his character appears).

I'd go along with Cloverfield and War of the Worlds, though.

Can I throw in 'Meet Joe Black' here? Ok so it was perhaps an hour too long, but it really is a wonderfully performed little movie and one I can only just handle watching and I'm invariably a blubbering mess by the end of it.

Johnny Townmouse

Again, on the subject of I am Legend, the great thing is that this wonderful, cross-genre perfect little novel exists. Any frustration with the film can be alleviated by reading the novel in a couple of hours instead.

I will put my neck on the block and say that I find The Passion of the Christ to be a completely engrossing and well made film that manages to use language in a way that I wish ALL films would (it pisses me off when German soldiers speak to each other in English). It is also quite uncompromising not just from the point of view of the torture metered out, but more importantly from my view the production of what is really a one act film. If Cameron had directed this 'you know how this will all end' film, we would have had to endure all sorts of redundant shit. Yes, I know, I know. I like Polanski films too.

Yes Artemis. I agree that the point where Eccleston enters the film is where I wanted to walk out of the cinema. It's a nice, but not at all original, idea to make normal humans the real threat in a zombie apocalypse, but I hate the shitty TV feel of the final part of the film.