Last movie watched...

[Frank]

Understood as the version of Nemesis which Mills and O'Neill would have made if they'd published it as their follow-up to Marshal Law - rather than as an adventure strip in a comic for wee boys in 1980 - it makes a lot of sense.

Nemesis Book Seven looks like it uses as a big reference too - check out The Spanish Torquemada and Father Mignon

Ah, go on, Father - you'll have a cup of tea.

[JOE SOAP]

The cock & balls shaped bone-dildo is my fave bit.

[Ancient Otter]

Is this the BFI produced DVD Ancient Otter? If so, ive given a mind to snagging this - and it does appear to come with a quite nice print of the film, plus a decent set of extras.
......
Warner Bros (who leased the film to the BFI for this release) lose big points though for not allowing the BFI to give it a Blu-Ray release, or allow the recently-ish found censored scenes to be either; re-instated back into the film - though annoyingly this 'full cut' has had a DVD release in other regions, albeit with a vastly inferior print quality, or be shown - in full, as a seperate feature. Though im led to believe you do see glimpses of these on one of the extras?

Though im led to believe you do see glimpses of these on one of the extras?

It is the BFI edition I picked up, but I haven't seen the extras. Going through the listings, I don't think it has thr glimpses of the full cut you are looking for though.

[Hawkmumbler]

And the missing scene's where only shown for the first time earlier this year in the UK for years at a big screen showing. Doub't we'll see it on home video for a while, though I hear Crtierion across the pond have aquired the right's and will possibly be the completely uncut edition.

[Spikes]

Thanks to You-Tube; the censored/cut scenes were shown within the Channel Four Hell on Earth documentary at around the 38 minute mark. The doc, going by the listings, appears on Disc Two of the BFI release.
Quite a decent package, and one ill have to track down. Shame that it wasnt allowed a Blu-Ray release though.

[Mardroid]

Up.

Well technically it was Robin Hood, but I didn't see that all the way through. (What I saw wasn't as bad as I've been led to believe. Actually, it wasn't bad at all.)

Anyway, back to Up. I nice touching uplifting Pixar film which wasn't afraid to be rather sad in places.

[Professor Bear]

Brave.  I haven't seen all of Pixar's films so I shan't say this is the worst of them, but it's certainly the one I've enjoyed least even with all the positives in its favor.  It feels more like one of those harmless but unexciting cgi films that studios knock out when they try to move into animation but then give up and put it out on Netflix or as a dvd rather than in theatres and people go "well it was alright, I suppose."  There's nothing standout about it, and there's one bit where she just climbs up some 3d fodder and I thought "where is this scene going?" and then it just cuts to her somewhere else, literally an entire scene cut into the film just have a 3d effect where the main character climbs up a phallic rock and then does nothing - even that lantern bit in Tangled made sense in context.
It's not terrible, it just felt like they weren't trying very hard this time out.  Maybe the next one will be better.

Amazing Spider-Man - also meh.  Not terrible or owt, more like an above-average tv pilot than a multi-million dollar 2012 blockbuster.  Also covers a lot of the same ground as MTV's Teen Wolf (which came out long before ASM), right down to oddly-similar scenes and relationships between certain characters, with Dennis Leary even looking like the "dad of GF" character from TW.  If it had been smarter or more inventive, my having seen it all before might not have been that big an issue, but as it is it's just an MOR teen flick with no distinguishing traits.

Stolen - MOR thriller starring Nic Cage.  Not much about it that's memorable, but compared to some of cage's recent offerings - including the bizarrely-lauded but completely awful Bad Lieutenant: Nawlins - it is practically a masterpiece.  Pegged as a sort of Taken rip-off and fair enough there's some story similarity with the kidnapped daughter angle, though it lacks Taken's sadism and racism.  Pretty average all round, but watchable if you like to be reminded that Cage has a setting on his dial other than "crying" and "total loon".

Firewalker - low-budget PG-rated thriller from the mid-80s starring Chuck Norris and Louis Gosset Jr.  Dated badly, I managed about 20 minutes before thinking "hang on, this is that cunt who wants to make gay children cry" and turned off.  No regrets.

Muppet Christmas Carol - every Christmas.  No regrets.  The best adaptation of the Dickens original by a country mile because it suckers you in with puppet singalongs and then throws the sheer soul-destroying darkness of a world without love in your pie-stuffed facehole.  Michael Caine doing a musical number never fails to make me smile just as the sight of Kermit's "life is a series of meetings and partings" speech as he laments his dead child never fails to cause a teary eye.  Great stuff.

[TordelBack]

There's nothing standout about it, and there's one bit where she just climbs up some 3d fodder and I thought "where is this scene going?" and then it just cuts to her somewhere else, literally an entire scene cut into the film just have a 3d effect where the main character climbs up a phallic rock and then does nothing...

That the bit where she climbs up to drink from the waterfall that no-one else dares to to*?  If so, isn't it part of the montagey sequence that establishes Merida's bravery and sense of adventure and/or her lack of responsibility?  I'm not sure about the specific shots, but I think the overall segment is significant enough in what is really a character piece.  There certainly is quite a bit of wilful swooshing about the scenery in the film, but it is all very pretty.  Have to say, I was massively impressed by Brave - I honestly can't think of an animated film that even attempts the things it does.  There are some uneven bits - the triplets don't get half enough to do, and the comedy witch (while hilarious) is maybe a bit incongruous.

Meanwhile, Robin Hood.  No, not quite as bad as I had imagined.  Some very nice costuming and set dressing, and the grimy Merry Men and their folk-rock hoedowns were very amusing, but deary me, Crowe and Blanchett are utterly hopeless together and the ghastly plot made me wince repeatedly ("We demand a Charter!  A Big Charter!  Or better yet, the Latin equivalent...").  There's an okay Robin Hood film there somewhere, and an okay Magna Carta film in there too, but smushed together they are a horrible mess.

*If so, 'phallic' isn't far off!

[shaolin_monkey]

There's nothing standout about it, and there's one bit where she just climbs up some 3d fodder and I thought "where is this scene going?" and then it just cuts to her somewhere else, literally an entire scene cut into the film just have a 3d effect where the main character climbs up a phallic rock and then does nothing...

That the bit where she climbs up to drink from the waterfall that no-one else dares to to*?  If so, isn't it part of the montagey sequence that establishes Merida's bravery and sense of adventure and/or her lack of responsibility?  I'm not sure about the specific shots, but I think the overall segment is significant enough in what is really a character piece.  There certainly is quite a bit of wilful swooshing about the scenery in the film, but it is all very pretty.  Have to say, I was massively impressed by Brave - I honestly can't think of an animated film that even attempts the things it does.  There are some uneven bits - the triplets don't get half enough to do, and the comedy witch (while hilarious) is maybe a bit incongruous.

I really, really enjoyed Brave.  I watched it for a second time with the kids yesterday, and found myself laughing out loud at many places, alongside the kids, who thought it was a riot. 

Re the waterfall/phallic rock scene, that was when she was out and about 'being herself', and was all part of setting up her character - showing how, given the chance, she slips free of the bonds of responsible princess-ship and goes off and does her own thing - galloping around, firing off arrows, and exploring places few dare to tread.  As such, I thought it worked really well.  Also, it gave us an opportunity to see some really beautiful animated landscapes.  In 3D on my new TV they were particularly good.

I agree re the triplets - definitely needed more of them, though the bits they were in were amusing.  Also, I agree the witch was shoehorned because of PLOT, and they could have made her more of an intrinsic character to the piece.  Did you wait until after the end credits for the final witch gag?

Other than that though, I thought it all went at a great pace, had some superb comedy moments, brilliant visuals, a totally fitting soundtrack, and was thoroughly entertaining.  If you ever get a chance to see it on blu-Ray 3D, do so.  It's all the more stunning. It could be I have a soft spot for the film 'cos it's set in Scotland, and is voiced predominantly by some of my fave scots - Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Kelly McDonald etc etc, but even outside of that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

[Professor Bear]

That the bit where she climbs up to drink from the waterfall that no-one else dares to to*?  If so, isn't it part of the montagey sequence that establishes Merida's bravery and sense of adventure and/or her lack of responsibility?

It didn't strike me as part of a montage or travelogue*: she jumps on a horse in the castle, runs off, climbs up a willy rock, camera pans about, then cut to her riding back into the castle again.  It is entirely superfluous to the story or building her character within the story, partially because we've already seen her character being built in other scenes but mainly because she's already told you she likes to rebel against her middle class upbringing via an opening narration that borders on infodump (another big problem for me was the flat and occasionally clumsy dialog, which was a contrast to how tight a Pixar script usually is IMO).  Even the film itself doesn't think much of this scene's contribution to the narrative, as the character tries to bring up her mountain-climbing at the dinner table only for it to be ignored in favor of talk of marriage.



* It could have been used to perhaps establish the rough geography of the kingdom where the ruined castle where the bear lives or a local village - if there were regular people in the film apart from royalty and their servants - was located in relation to Meridia's home, but even that's flubbed and there's no sense of the size or shape of the place beyond swooshy landscape shots.

[shaolin_monkey]

Even the film itself doesn't think much of this scene's contribution to the narrative, as the character tries to bring up her mountain-climbing at the dinner table only for it to be ignored in favor of talk of marriage.

It made perfect sense in relation to the narrative - check out the reactions of each parent to that bit of info.  It established the Chief was very interested in her daughters antics, and could see a lot of himself in her.  It also showed the Queen had her head too stuck in the politics of the kingdom to give a damn what her daughter had been up to on her only day off.  This served to further set up the conflict between mother and daughter which has to be overcome to the successful conclusion of the film.  It was almost totally narrative!

I rest my case, m'lud.

[TordelBack]

I'm with the Monkey rather than the Bear on this point.  That dismissal of her climbing adventures is actually a pretty pivotal scene in establishing the key relationships.  As to the dialogue, it was definitely looser than Pixar's usual, but OTOH it felt very natural, even appearing to be partially ad-libbed in Kelly McDonald's case (not that I'm suggested it actually was), and the consistent use of 'Mum' was both surprising and very welcome*. 

We need Roger back to mock my mawkish one-dimensionality, but this is one of relatively few films where I feel the family relationships and their consequences are something I'm really happy to have my kids learn from.  As noted earlier, there are very, very few kids' films that show a functional loving two-parent family, and explore the conflicts within that setup. as opposed to the innumerable ones where the death of one parent or break-up of the family are the starting point and/or problem to be resolved. 

(Obviously I'm not casting aspersions on the quality of one-parent or two-home families, but those situations are the bread and butter of kids' movies). 


*Quiet, you preverts.

[radiator]

Last night of the holidays, so instead of getting an early night to be fresh for going back to work this morning, me and my girlfriend decided instead to stay up til 3 in the morning watching The Terminator and Terminator 2 back to back - heaven!

She'd never seen the original before, and only dimly remembered seeing T2 some years ago, and loved both. Going to try and get her to watch Alien/Aliens soon (she's never seen either!).

I've always preferred T2, purely because of the fact it's the one I saw the most as a kid - but watching them back to back really reinforces how much better a film the original is. It lacks the spectacle, but is so much tighter and self-contained as a story, and tbh now I'm older there are many moments in T2 that seem a bit mawkish, goofy, over the top and cheesy, whereas the original has a really consistent tone throughout. Even the soundtrack of The Terminator now seems much cooler - I remember it sounding really dated in the nineties, but it's now swung around to being cool again - I guess because it's very John Carpenter-esque. The original also looks surprisingly awesome on Blu Ray for such an old/low budget film.

I'd literally watch both again right now if I could.

[Professor Bear]

Fair enough if you thought it added something to proceedings, my point was merely that if it was absent it wouldn't actually have made much - if any - difference to how the film played out.

As regards the two-parent family thing, I always assumed that paternal breakups being in everything was a symptom of the white collar of the average US screenwriter - mummy and daddy breaking up is a universal fear they can convincingly write about and use to connect with their audience more than "Obama made daddy's job at the slaughterhouse go away" or "the Serbs have taken my child to the rape camp."

[SmallBlueThing]

PROMETHEUS

Finally got around to watching this after getting it for Xmas, and really glad I did. Very much enjoyed- I assume it was telling a story about some kind of Intelligent Design and laying the seeds for a new trilogy- but to be honest, I just liked the groovy Lovecraftian monsters. The space medicine scene where Liz Shaw has the octopus monster baby taken out and her belly stapled was brilliant- and as for the the giant adult octopus that killed the big baldy bodybuilder man... well, it was R'yleh R'yleh fantastic!

None of it matters- it's just a timewasting sci-fi film- but I thought it was one of the best timewasting sci-fi films I've seen in ages. Loads of fun- Fassbender was great, as was Idris Wossname (even if his accent slipped a few times) Shame they ruined it by ending on that proto-Alien. I was hoping we'd get through the whole thing without explicitly referencing Giger's boring creatures.

A few niggles: Mainly the boring planet. In ALIEN they landed on windswept planet Hell- here, we find a planet mostly resembling Scotland in Spring. The space suits were very silly and there's no way I can reconcile that wonderful elephant-faced creature in ALIEN with a bunch of ridiculous playdoh-faced bodybuilders. Although just maybe the outrageously camp Engineers were always destined to unleash penis-monsters upon us. Maybe the whole thing is Ridley Scott's joke about God being gay- a big "fuck you" to the Church. All muscley, bald disco boys in tiny underpants. If that IS what Prometheus is all about, then I might just love it very much.

None of my niggles matter- it was massive fun and I'd happily watch the next one... when it's £7 on DVD, of course.

SBT