Last movie watched...

[Eric Plumrose]

There [spoiler]is no real reason why people can't just leave the block, other than it's their home... People who go to work and could afford to leave easily just keep coming back, drawn to the freedom offered within the High Rise.[/spoiler]

The financial constraints I can understand. I can even buy into the psychology of the upper levels not wanting to leave despite the piss-poor service maintenance. [spoiler]It was the tower's rapid descent into anarchy (and cannibalism?) when people couldn't eat. What was stopping them from heading out to their local Keymarket?[/spoiler]

[Colin YNWA]

I've watched the epic 'Heaven's Gate' over the last 3 evenings (well it is over 3 hours long and who has the time) and the whole thing is quite fascinating, as much the story that surrounds the film as the film itself. And I've become quite obsessed by the whole thing, after renting it from our 'Love film' (it took a year or two to arrive) cos of a documentry Rich Hall did on the Western, I'd been strangley oblivious to the whole thing prior to that.

The film itself is a 3 hour 20 minute loose examination of the Johnson County War between large and small ranchers in Wyoming. Though in rather timely fashion for today it used immigrants to represent the small ranchers struggling and then fighting back against the advances of big business and the self interest of the status quo. On release the film was absolutely lambasted almost universially by critics and astonishingly some went as far as saying it was the worst film ever made. It was a  massive commercial flop and has been said to course the death of the western, which as Rich Hall said, it couldn't have since the western was already dead. Of late it has been re-edited and gained a reevaluation and is now hailed by some as a modern masterpiece and one of the best films, certainly westerns ever made. Its initial critical ravaging is by some now blamed on either its political message (the excesses of big business to defend their status quo) or a dislike of director Michael Cimino and by all accounts his quite staggeringly indulgent and blotted production.

Having watched the actual film it is of course nowhere near the worst film ever made, neither is it a modern masterpiece. Rather it is indeed a very indulgent film but which at its core tells a fantastic story and is at times quite wonderful on the eye. It takes an age to get going, and while much of the first hour feels over long within that there is an incredible amount of set up for the story and the themes of the film. Sure it could have been done in half the time, but there's a lot of good stuff and the notorious prologue set at some if the main characters Havard graduation in some ways summaries the film, some fantastic work, fascinating on the eye but utterly blotted.

After that the rest of the film is solid stuff. Again that some of the scenes have been slated by some critics I find astonishing. An example being the again notorious roller skating scene, much like the Harvard stuff its telling you important stuff and the fiddling while rollerskating, that seems used to represent the excesses of the film, is breathtaking. The meat of the film is a compelling and emotion western added to with a well constructed and realised love triangle. Its all good stuff. The climatic battle is gritty and visercal and again has fantastic execution.

Well I say climatic, but interestingly for a film so famed for being blotted and at times it certainly is, there actally a scene right at the end that wraps up three major characters stories and sets up the ending for the led Kris Kristoffison and its all wrapped up horribly quickly in less than 5 minutes. For me the rest of the film could have learned from this ambushes storytelling efficency and this pivetal scene could have learnt from the rest of the films ability to indulge to allow the detail of the story to wash over you.

So yeah Heaven's Gate absolutely fascinating on all levels and if its a film you've never seen I whole heartly recommend diving in and enjoy both it and even more interesting story and reactions that surround it.

[richerthanyou]

Hunt For The Wilderpeople

Just got back from seeing this. Thought it was great. Not sure how the rest of the world will view it. To me as a Kiwi I found a lot of jokes that were funny to me just from the way people act/speak that is specific to New Zealand. Like the bro taking selfies. (watch it and you will see) The plot is somewhat predictable but there were so many genuine laugh out loud moments (literally the whole cinema was laughing) that it more than makes up for it.

Go see it!

[Professor Bear]

Batman vs Superman - there is actually a half-decent film in there somewhere, but it unfortunately has an hour of superfluous scenes and characters attached to it - why is Wonder Woman even in this film?  Come to think of it, women don't serve much purpose in this other than to be damsels in distress or to reassure us that male characters aren't gay - Batman's sex partner not only doesn't have a name, she doesn't have a face either, we literally just see her shape in the background of one scene to prove Bruce isn't gay because he doesn't have any romantic interest in the rest of the film, and his brief exchanges with Wonder Woman drip with an inexplicable hostility that rules out anything but angry fucking.
Not a very good job is made of making Batman non-gay in this, as he looks pretty disgusted with himself after he wakes up with aforementioned un-named and un-faced woman, and when Superman looks at him when Wonder Woman shows up and asks "is she with you?", Batman just looks puzzled and possibly offended at the idea he'd be with a woman.  Plus he lives with Jeremy irons - whose real-life opinions on gayness have been noted elsewhere - who always seems disappointed in Bruce even when he rescues trafficked slaves or stops arms dealers, and always seems to be harping on about Bruce finding a woman or having children (this comes up a lot during the film) and Bruce seems really annoyed when it comes up, and there's lots of talk of what Bruce's legacy will be, as another generation of Wayne children is for some unmentioned reason just not on the table as an option.

Anyway, not terrible, just a bit over the place and I've seen worse.

[Darren Stephens]

The Fantastic Mr Fox was on TV this morning. Always avoided it, as the animation looked slightly iffy, but it was a superb film! 

[Colin YNWA]

The Fantastic Mr Fox was on TV this morning. Always avoided it, as the animation looked slightly iffy, but it was a superb film! 

Always love a bit of Wes Anderson and this one is no exception. Great movie.

[I, Cosh]

Batman vs Superman ... I've seen worse.

Coming from any number of other people, this phrase could be taken to mean "nothing special but just about worth watching."

Not from you.

Or SBT.

[Spikes]

10 Cloverfield Lane. Not bad, not bad at all. Story wise it's quite slight, and maybe a tad overlong, but a fun enough romp, with a couple of bits that make you jump.
And, as suspected, [spoiler]nowt to do with Cloverfield from a few years ago[/spoiler]

[The Legendary Shark]

Batman v Superman. We had good seats. The film was good: it cracked along at a decent pace, didn't do much faffing with origins or explanations, the actors all did decent jobs, the effects were perfect, the story worked well and it wasn't too long.
.
Yet, as I was watching I kept thinking, I should be loving this, but I didn't love it. It's a perfectly good film in every respect I can think of and yet, somehow, naggingly disappointing. It's like being allowed to have a go in an Aston Marten and realising it's no different to a Ford Focus.
.
Weird.

[auxlen]

Oh, Dear I just watched The Signal on Netflix. A chaotic mess. Could have been epic instead it was just...oh dear.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Edward Scissorhands

For a long time I was terrified of Edward Scissorhands as a kid. I caught a promo of the film on TV when I was like five and used to have endless nightmares about him. It's only now, well over two decades later that I've actually finally gotten around to seeing it and facing that shadowy figure.

Visually very striking and its first hour or so is completely engrossing - it's got a very strong style, a host of interesting characters and excellent comic timing (also it's truly majestic to see Vincent Price hanging about). However as it drags to its melodramatic conclusion the pace slows, the fairytale premise runs a little thin and the logical holes become a little hard to stomach.

Nice to finally dispel the childhood fear of the character and not at all hard to see where it's cult appeal lies but doesn't quite entirely do it for me.

[Mattofthespurs]

10 Cloverfield Lane. Not bad, not bad at all. Story wise it's quite slight, and maybe a tad overlong, but a fun enough romp, with a couple of bits that make you jump.
And, as suspected, [spoiler]nowt to do with Cloverfield from a few years ago[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Err...did you not see the last 15 minutes? [/spoiler]

[Spikes]

[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]

[ThryllSeekyr]

Edward Scissorhands

For a long time I was terrified of Edward Scissorhands as a kid. I caught a promo of the film on TV when I was like five and used to have endless nightmares about him. It's only now, well over two decades later that I've actually finally gotten around to seeing it and facing that shadowy figure.

Visually very striking and its first hour or so is completely engrossing - it's got a very strong style, a host of interesting characters and excellent comic timing (also it's truly majestic to see Vincent Price hanging about). However as it drags to its melodramatic conclusion the pace slows, the fairytale premise runs a little thin and the logical holes become a little hard to stomach.

Nice to finally dispel the childhood fear of the character and not at all hard to see where it's cult appeal lies but doesn't quite entirely do it for me.

Possibly one of the first films that took Johnny Depp away from his more...let's just say privileged beginnings & you must be something like 25 years of age.

[Mattofthespurs]

[spoiler] Yeah, caught the full film. The aliens at the end have nothing to do with the monster from the other film that happened to have Cloverfield in it's title? [/spoiler]

It's a direct sequel set in the same Cloverfield universe.