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Last movie watched...

Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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radiator

Yep, The Golden Compass was an absolute travesty of a film. Art direction = good, everything else = totally misguided and wrong. What do you expect when you hand a treasured property like this to a hack director like Chris (American Pie) Weitz? Presumably Weitz was given the job because he was the sort of director-for-hire who would do as he was told by the studio - hence the fatal compromises made to the story...

The only good bit of casting was Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby - everyone else was totally miscast, especially Ian McKellan as Iorek, Daniel Craig as Asriel (always imagined Terence Stamp in the role) Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter but most of all the girl playing Lyra was wrong, wrong, wrong. Just so 'stage school' and lacked any of Lyra's charm, charisma or attitude. The casting of child actors can make or break a film, and in this case they messed up badly.

Would have liked to see The Subtle Knife (my favourite of the books) on the screen - though if it was anything like the film of Northern Lights it would have been totally watered down and toothless. God knows how they would have made a family film out of The Amber Spyglass - would have been fun to watch them try though!

Thinking about it, the whole series would have worked far better as a BBC TV series - the BBC audiobook versions are superb. They wouldn't have had the budget to do much in the way of spectacle, but they could have stayed far truer to the source material. They could have ran it at Christmas like they used to do with The Box of Delights and The Chronicles of Narnia.

TordelBack

One of the things I did enjoy about film of The Golden Compass were the attempts by cast and crew to refute allegations that the book was anti-Christian and anti-religion.  It might be a teensy bit veiled in the first one, but read on...

Eric Plumrose

I s'pose yesterday I did technically sit through THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE but I'll say STAKE LAND. Which, unlike the former, is pleasingly nasty in parts; in particular, some casual horror at the beginning involving a baby.

The very inclusion of vampires at times almost undermines the all-pervading grim realism but they're of a non-supernatural nature [spoiler](except, for shame, when the film decides to ignore all that for a bit of heightened drama towards the end)[/spoiler]. A coupla of subtle subversions (such as the rescue of a middle-aged nun which, on a subconscious level, seems to preclude the idea of any romance between the main characters) suggest a film that, at least for the first half, fancies doing something a bit different to most studio fare. The ending's a touch unsatisfying (and doesn't really make sense when you consider it's the whole point of the film), but hey! Vampires that are neither broodingly good-looking nor mope!
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Tiplodocus

Oh I actually just wanted you to talk more about Eva Green as a sexy witch in a see through dress.

I didn't realise that they's filmed the proper ending - just assumed that they were heading into a happy fantasy quest type world and if they had made sequels then these two would have just used the characters and design elements to spin their own tale from.

I personally thought Nicole Kidman did a reasonable job in her role.  James Bond seemed shoe-horned in to up the box office chances (as probably was Gandalf). And did I spot Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee?  It's an incredible cast they have available to them; just the wrong cast for a film of the book.


TRANSPORTER 2: You probably know the drill for these by now. A loosely connected set of set piece fights and stunts. The level of violence and gore is slightly off (too much for a 12, not enough for a 15).  And similarly for the "sexiness". For my mind it could do with having more light-hearded ness, more slapstick and meanness and less birds.

Some set pieces work better than others and Statham deserves an oscar for holding it all together through sheer force of will (not quite in the same way that Bruce Willis holds most films he appears in through sherr charisma but nearly). 

Some very ropey special effects make for a less than convincing finale but a great piece with a hose pipe could have been pure Jackie Chan.

Transporter 3 is on Tuesday night - I think I'll be turning in and vetting it in advance for the little fella.
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Batman's Superior Cousin

Quote from: Tiplodocus on 27 June, 2011, 12:48:29 PM
Oh I actually just wanted you to talk more about Eva Green as a sexy witch in a see through dress.

I didn't realise that they's filmed the proper ending - just assumed that they were heading into a happy fantasy quest type world and if they had made sequels then these two would have just used the characters and design elements to spin their own tale from.

I personally thought Nicole Kidman did a reasonable job in her role.  James Bond seemed shoe-horned in to up the box office chances (as probably was Gandalf). And did I spot Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee?  It's an incredible cast they have available to them; just the wrong cast for a film of the book.


TRANSPORTER 2: You probably know the drill for these by now. A loosely connected set of set piece fights and stunts. The level of violence and gore is slightly off (too much for a 12, not enough for a 15).  And similarly for the "sexiness". For my mind it could do with having more light-hearded ness, more slapstick and meanness and less birds.

Some set pieces work better than others and Statham deserves an oscar for holding it all together through sheer force of will (not quite in the same way that Bruce Willis holds most films he appears in through sherr charisma but nearly). 

Some very ropey special effects make for a less than convincing finale but a great piece with a hose pipe could have been pure Jackie Chan.

Transporter 3 is on Tuesday night - I think I'll be turning in and vetting it in advance for the little fella.

Saw all three (I think), the third one is by far more enjoyable!!!!!
I can't help but feel that Godpleton's avatar/icon gets more appropriate everyday... - TordelBack
Texts from Last Night

Dandontdare

A Town Called Panic - wonderfully insane full length French animation by the guy who did those Cravendale adverts. Loads of laugh-out-loud moments - I was LOLing all over the place!

Michaelvk

Transformers 3.. I loved it, but I'm a shameless fanboy..
You have never felt pain until you've trodden barefoot on an upturned lego brick..

HdE

I just saw Transformers: Dark Of The Moon as well. And I enjoyed it! Crash bash action, to be sure, but dear lord, 'twas gnarly as hell!

However, most definitely NOT a fan of my favourite character's death scene. utterly pointless, and had zero impact on the rest of the movie.
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Richmond Clements

Little Big Soldier. I love me a bit of Jackie Chan, and this was wonderful.

radiator

Funny People.

As with all of Judd Apatow's films to date, I warmed to this a lot more on the second viewing, having not seen it since it's cinema release a couple of years ago. In many respects a lovely film; sweet, brutally honest and funny (it's more understatedly amusing than laugh out loud, though there are some great lines).

Its a much more mature film than either Knocked Up or The 40 Year Old Virgin - and I can totally understand why it failed to find a mainstream audience.

It's also - sadly - an insanely self indulgent and overlong film. With such a bloated story and gargantuan run time it's unlikely to be a film I'll revisit often which is a shame - if the 145(!) minutes was cut down to 90 or 100 (and its easy to see where the cuts should have been made) it would probably be up there with my favourite recent comedies.

IAMTHESYSTEM

Christine.

I forgot how good it was though maybe it felt a bit slow in places. My attention span is obviously going.  John Carpenter of The THING fame directed it. Trouble was Verhoevans blast-a -thon Total Recall was on Sky 1 so I kept flipping the channels.
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auxlen

session 9. watch immediately. a chiller.

Buddy

Transformers 3.

Pure pish. Pishness enhanced by the most wooden, forced performance by anyone allowed to call themselves an actress.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Buddy on 03 July, 2011, 10:32:43 PM
Transformers 3.

Pure pish. Pishness enhanced by the most wooden, forced performance by anyone allowed to call themselves an actress.


...and after two other previous pieces of shit, you went to see the third installment?

Rog69

Transformers 1 on channel 4 tonight, just had it on in the background while we farted around doing other stuff.

It was utter crap, the only highlight being the wife saying "Is that Samantha Fox" while pointing out the more orange, less chesty Megan Fox.