Last movie watched...

[Spikes]

I like Jim Cameron movies. I don't get the hate, I really don't. He's making entertainment. His films are the equivalent of an airport novel. They're not great art, they just deliver a fun night out.

For all his pushing of the envolope, always thought his films were a bit Meat and Potatoes.
Dont have any real hate for them, not the earlier ones anyway. Jim Cameron himself though is a bit of a mouthy dick, maybe that colours peoples perception of them.

[Gonk]

It's not so much hate, Cameron's made his fortune out of his films, I never will, what does it matter what I say about the film to him? All I have to answer to are his fans on this forum.

Next up I'm watching "Shakespeare in Love", so be prepared people.

[SKD]

[For all his pushing of the envolope, always thought his films were a bit Meat and Potatoes.
Dont have any real hate for them, not the earlier ones anyway. Jim Cameron himself though is a bit of a mouthy dick, maybe that colours peoples perception of them.

I'm sure that I read once that the crew who worked on Aliens had T-shirts proclaiming 'You can't scare me - I work for James Cameron'

Stew.

[radiator]

Saving Private Ryan on Blu Ray - looks and sounds absolutely astounding, as id only ever seen it on VHS previously. Everyone harps on about the opening, but for me the closing battle on the bridge is equally as intense and memorable.

Really could have done without the rather tacked-on last five minutes though, slightly spoiled what otherwise would be  a subdued ending.

[DoomBot]

Transformers: dark side of the moon.

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible

Overly long. Confusing story (or what passed for a story). Loose ends galore. 150 minutes of wasted life, no refunds given...

Did I mention it was terrible?

[Dr Feeley Good]

Watched shark night 3d yesterday, dreadful ...some of the worst shark effects ever !!!

[Tiplodocus]

Yeah, the battle at the end of Ryan is great.  They look like proper Tigers.

It doesn't have quite teh same impact for me as the opening sequence because everybody gets there own little bit to do [spoiler]and then dies  [/spoiler] whereas on the beach landing, you aren't sure who the cast are yet so don't know who will live or die at random half way through a line (Tom Hanks being the obvious exception - it's almost a relief when the camera gets back to him).

I also liked the fact that they had the courage to end it with a gag ([spoiler]the pistol, the tiger and tankbuster[/spoiler]) in a very serious film. 


I'll be using that LOVEFILM instant as much as I can over the next six months to catch up on stuff like RED, THE LOSERS etc. that I might have contemplated buying on impulse when they got down to £3 or £5 on DVD in ASDA.  But a fiver a month after that? I don't think so.

[Colin YNWA]

I watched 'Evil Dead' for the first time in years last night, probably since I was a teen even, (from our subscription service which I have to say I think is great value and encourages you to try things you otherwise might not...anyway) and... well I have mixed feeling.

The first hour is simply brilliant and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it still, really is well done schlock horror, atmospheric and genuinely creepy at time. The end however I was surprised how little I enjoyed it and how it all went a little over the top.

Good reflection of the whole franchise you could say then!

[Gonk]

FAME. This is good entertaiment for an hour or so. Why don't they make films like this any more? A group of students are sitting around bored; one is tapping with a spoon on the table, another is swinging his foot against a radiator and somewhere a broken old fan in the ceiling is clattering away. Next thing you know the whole college is alive with students singing, dancing and cavorting and performing impossible acrobatic feats with one another. So much so they end up dancing in the streets in the middle of New York and bring the city to a standstill! Their teachers watch all these proceedings with wry knowing smiles on their faces.."There's Leroy again, doing the double splits on the roof of that city cab."

[Professor Bear]

FAME. This is good entertaiment for an hour or so. Why don't they make films like this any more?

The Hairspray remake of a few years back came close to capturing the energy and charm of older musicals, but a few performances and script quirks let the side down and stopped it becoming a real classic.  Still recommended, though, and "be kind to each other" is a message that really can't be said enough.

Vaguely on a similar topic, I watched Lethal Weapon for the first time in about fifteen years and found it unintentionally hilarious in some scenes thanks to blunt dialogue and certain content becoming ubiquitous cliches in the decades since this was made.  One thing I thought even on first watching was that good as the rest of it is, Richard Donner couldn't direct an action sequence to save his life, and while he has since become far from the worst in terms of incoherent fight scenes, the climactic MMA fight between Mel Gibson and Gary Busey is dreadful but at least happens in real time rather than slow motion.  Amusing to see Busey playing someone seemingly normal but in reality quite dangerous and Gibson playing a total and utter fruitloop given we know now that their roles are the reverse in real life, but otherwise this hasn't dated terribly well, though has the odd good moment.

Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a bit plodding and I was disappointed that so much effort went into making so many mundane scenes, but there are some spectacular setpieces that make full use of the otherworldly look of the film to create something that could never work in animation or live action, yet here seem natural to the odd mix of the two, especially the pirate ship battle, crane duel and long tracking shots of the ship escape and motorcycle chase that are unquestionably someone just showing off but none the less amazing to behold.  As mentioned, it suffers from a plodding and uneven pace, and the plot relies a bit too much on coincidence, but all told I really enjoyed it.

[Gonk]

These remakes just seem exercises in post modern irony to me Proffesah Byah. They seem more like a critique of contemporary tastes through the medium of remaking once popular films/t.v shows. Fame was something unique, it was serialised into a weekly T.V. show, I even went out and bought the double album. Films nowadays, especially remakes, seem very bland by comparison, cleverer, but not as much fun.

[von Boom]

The Commitments. Great film with great music. Andrew Strong's voice is truly a gift. My favourite of Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy. Probably because the film lives up to the book.

JvB

[Professor Bear]

These remakes just seem exercises in post modern irony to me Proffesah Byah. They seem more like a critique of contemporary tastes through the medium of remaking once popular films/t.v shows. Fame was something unique, it was serialised into a weekly T.V. show, I even went out and bought the double album. Films nowadays, especially remakes, seem very bland by comparison, cleverer, but not as much fun.

Hairspray is a remake of the Broadway musical based on the John Waters movie rather than a straight remake of the movie itself, and as such doesn't have a lot of postmodern irony as much as it has anachronisms brought about as a consequence of trying too hard to replicate the occasional panto moment from the stage show that comes off as pandering to younger moviegoers, though I do take your meaning.

With Fame, it's worth remembering that it glorified performance art and stage show sensibilities rather than pop culture standards as something like Glee or Smash does.

[Gonk]

My favourite episode from FAME is the one where Leroy is unable to afford a pair of ballet shoes, and so after school starts dealing crack on the streets and pimping himself. I think one of his teachers told him off for this and he had to miss a day off school as punishment.


If ever there was an example of po mo irony it is the film adaption of Angela Carter's "Company of Wolves". Four seperate stories about wolves in the forest are interlaced with the main Red Riding Hood themed story in this film. Oh, and Red Riding Hood ends up turning into a wolf and disappearing into the forest with grannny's murderer.


                                     

[Spikes]

A Prophet - A French prison film from 2009 thats been described as being a cross between Scarface and Scum.
Caught the first half on Film4 last night and watched the taped second half this afternoon. Great stuff.