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Michael Winterbottom

Started by Maybe Im Doing It Wrong, October 28, 2010, 08:56:31 AM

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Mikey W is one of the UK's most successful and recognisable film makers. He's done this new Brydon/Coogan thing, and there's an interviw in today's Guardian where Coogan says "The very worst thing you could say about a Michael Winterbottom project is that it is a Noble Failure. It would never be a bad piece of work." Is this true? I haven't seen all his films - I quite liked Butterfly Kiss, but his postmodern stuff (24 Hour Party People and Cock and Bull) irritates the shit out of me, and I thought 9 Songs was definitely a bad piece of work - a ludicrously awful film. I ain't seen The Killer Inside Me Yet.
I guess he kind of flits from style to style - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I find him mainly annoying. What do others think?

Serge

I think the style of '24 Hour Party People' suits the subject perfectly - I watched it again recently, and it's still one of my favourite films, though any movie that features Shaun Ryder as a major character is always going to be a winner for me.

My favourite film of his is 'Wonderland', which is also my favourite London film. It captures the spirit of London exactly, the good and the bad. It also has Gina McKee in, who is woefully underused in movies.

Jemble Fred

Somebody did just recommend The Killer Inside To Me very forcefully; I had no idea it was a Winterbottom film. I wouldn't expect it to be as good as 24 Hour Party People or Cock and Bull, it's a completely different genre, but I'll certainly have to check it out now.

neveragain

He's certainly the only porno director to have also made a meta-textual comedy based on an 18th century Irish novel.

24 Hour Party People is a great film. Wow, it sounds good, looks good, and really does a great job of romanticising a legend in a way that obviously isn't the real story but is a damned appealing version of it.

Dark Poet

Liked

Forget About Me
In This World
24 Hour Party People
Go Now
Wonderland (and like Serge, it's my favourite London film)
Welcome To Sarajevo

Didn't like

The Road to Guantanamo
Jude
The Claim
The Killer Inside Me

Haven't seen:

A Cock and Bull Story
A Mighty Heart
Butterfly Kiss
Code 46
Genova
With or Without You
Under the Sun
I Want You

bloogoon

I haven't seen most of these but love 24HPP.
I tried desperately to enjoy Jude and didn't, likewise A Cock and Bull Story.
Code 46 however is a really good film. It looks fantastic, Robbins and Morton are totally believable as is the story imo. Touching and a bit disturbing.

I'll check out the rest of your like's Dark Poet which one 1st?


Funcrusher

I know a fair few people think he's rubbish. For me, any good will has really faded away. I enjoyed Wonderland and 24HPP a lot, and thought that In This World was outstanding. But then there's Code 46, which just didn't work at all for me. 9 Songs is easily one of the worst things I've ever seen. Cock and Bull just seemed pretty lightweight and half-arsed. A Mighty Heart is just a bog standard star vehicle docu-drama. Genova just looked so crap I didn't bother. From all accounts The Killer Inside Me totally fails to get the mood and essence of Jim Thompson's book (of which I'm a fan) or to get inside the protagonists head, just ending up as a lot of sleazy violence. It doesn't seem like a good match for Winterbottom anyway, so I just avoided it.

It is sometimes said that he makes too many films, and I think that might be part of the problem. He might do better to work on something for longer in a more considered way, rather than jetting from one thing to the next. On the positive side, when he was good, Wonderland comes a lot closer to getting the feel of modern day London than most recent British films, and 24HPP could have been utter rubbish in the hands of some other Brit directors. But he's lost his way since then, i think.


Dark Poet

Quote from: bloogoon on October 31, 2010, 08:41:37 AM
I haven't seen most of these but love 24HPP.
I tried desperately to enjoy Jude and didn't, likewise A Cock and Bull Story.
Code 46 however is a really good film. It looks fantastic, Robbins and Morton are totally believable as is the story imo. Touching and a bit disturbing.

I'll check out the rest of your like's Dark Poet which one 1st?

In This World or Wonderland.

Go Now's worth seeing for Robert Carlyle's performance and is very similar to two Ken Loach "relationship" films (My Name is Joe especially and Ae Fond Kiss).

Forget About Me was his first film and can't have been made for more than a few grand and sees a very young Ewen Bremner and a mate go to Hungary to see Simple Minds.

I forgot about 9 Songs - utter gash.