Last movie watched...

[Mabs]

Dune - a rewatch. Its been ages since i last watched it, its not a masterpiece by all means, but boy was it close to being one. Watching it again i realised a lot of sci-fi films had taken inspiration from it, not least The Chronicles of Riddick. Just the design of the Necromonger's ship screams Dune, not to mention names of planets like Helium PRIME and Dame Judi Dench narration at the opening is very reminiscent of Dune's opening. I wonder if we will ever get another attempt at a movie? Frank Herbert's original novella is so rich, that i would love to see a new film.

Have to give this a rewatch soon. Would love there to have been the Jodorowsky version with the Geiger and Moebius designs they started. Real shame that wasn't seen through.

I would've LOVED to have seen the Jodorowsky version! Some of the ideas he had were so mindbogglingly awesome! Of course sadly it never materialised; he did however go on to write The Incal with Moebius, which was basically his version of Dune (i'm nearly halfway through my reading of The Incal and i'm enjoying it immensly - its amazing because you can see how this comic inspired a new generation of writers, i even feel there's certainly some influence of The Incal in Brian K Vaughan's Saga series).
I don't know how true this might be, but apparently when Jodorowsky heard that someone else was directing Dune he was really depressed, as it was his dream to make the film. However, when he went to the cinema to watch it - he burst out laughing! Only Lynch could make a more weirder Dune than himself! 

[judda fett]

Hey Mabs if you haven't seen it is recommend La Constellation Jodorowsky, documentary from the mid nineties. Interviews with Moebius amongst others and Jodorowsky talking about his comic strip work and Dune.

[I, Cosh]

Just noticed I'd failed to correct my Tips-style reviews of what I saw earlier in the week.

Not entirely sure what prompted me to see The Silver Linings Playbook, but I loved it. It's not exactly a feelgood rom-com although it shares some of the same DNA, nor is it entirely a straight drama but an interesting hybrid of the two.

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are an ill-matched couple both struggling to come to terms with their different mental health issues and gradually coming to rely on each other. I'm no expert, but it does seem like a pretty sympathetic portrait. There are times when it's played for laughs but a couple of scenes where it transitions very sharply into quite uncomfortable territory while the photography, editing and sound design are all used clevelry to illustrate the lead's changing state of mind.

It's quite touching if slightly cheesy and, ultimately, quite hard to pin down. I later found it was from the same director as I Heart Huckabees which I also really enjoyed but would find difficult to explain. Lawrence is outrageously lovely in this.

Zero Dark Thirty I appreciated more than I enjoyed. A sort of espionage procedural leading up to the execution of Osama bin Laden, it's very well put together but lacks any real narrative to make it work as entertainment and seems intent on being a sort of anti war-film (as opposed to an anti-war film.) By that, I mean that it's deliberately structured to focus on the process of intelligence gathering that leads up to the final act assault on the compound with the SEAL team being just one of many different tools used to get the job done. Normally we'd expect a film to focus on those guys coming together, training for a mission, experiencing a few setbacks on the way then finally getting the lead that lets them get the job done but not here.

My first caveat, regarding story, is maybe a necessary trade-off for what the film is trying to show: the ten year effort to chase down individual leads in amongst a barrage of conflicting information and priorities. By focussing on the efforts of one agent and, mostly, a single lead it can be extrapolated out to the overall confusion and complexity but it necessarily becomes episodic and fractured. As a result, the few scenes where it tries to add in a more traditional "lone wolf fighting her own bosses to get the job done" seem preposterous and tagged on for no real reason.

There are plenty ethical questions you could debate around it too although I think the filmmakers try to have their cake and eat by maintaining a studious policy of depiction without commentary and spurious comments about realism. I'm interested to hear what CF thinks of the fire drills and disposition of troops in that final section.

I'm afraid Jack Reacher really was a colossal pile of shite. It starts off as if it's going to be an at least entertaining collection of thriller clichés but soon descends into farcical nonsense. The only thing going for it is an entertainingly evil turn by Werner Herzog as the villain.

[Frank]

Reign of Fire (2002), in which Christian Bale's character undergoes a traumatic experience in an underground cavern as a child which involves a winged creature. He loses his parents, adopts a beard and an accent which are equally unconvincing, dresses like a tramp and runs off to a bleak part of the world. Can anyone not see where this is going?

He meets a foreigner there who teaches him combat techniques based on ancient principles and gives him the knowledge he needs to defeat his enemies. He then sets out to build a better world using all kinds of neat homemade technology, his house burns down, and he has a punch up with a musclebound bald guy. Maybe if Bale had worn pointy ears and spoke in a silly growl the film would have been more successful.

The scene where they perform a DIY reconstruction of Empire Strikes Back to entertain the wee kids is great, but their cheering that film's cop out cliffhanger ending stretched credulity - they would have been screaming "JUST THINK OF AN ENDING!", like I did when I first saw Lucas & Kershner's film version. Gerard Butler has been faintly rubbish in films for longer than I remembered, although I could have sworn this film was much more than a decade old. It's still up on iplayer for 5 more days.

[Mabs]

Hey Mabs if you haven't seen it is recommend La Constellation Jodorowsky, documentary from the mid nineties. Interviews with Moebius amongst others and Jodorowsky talking about his comic strip work and Dune.

Thanks for the recommendation mate, i will definitely check it out. Theres another documentary also out called 'Jodorowsky's Dune' which i heard was really good. So two docs which are a must watch! Cheers.

[judda fett]

Haven't seen the Dune one so I'll keep em peeled for that. He is a very interesting individual and a powerful wizard (wait til you see La Constellation)

[TordelBack]

For 'wookie' read 'ewok'?

It was going to be Wookiees until quite late in the day.

[Hawkmumbler]

Rebuild of Evangelion 2.22 (2009)- 

[von Boom]

The Three Stooges (2012). I must admit I was laughing out loud at most of the gags and one liners, but I've always enjoyed the Stooges.

[vzzbux]

For 'wookie' read 'ewok'?

It was going to be Wookiees until quite late in the day.

Don't forget 2 Death Stars under construction.




V

[Hawkmumbler]

McBain (1991)- 
Good ol' low budget fun with Christopher Walken as former soldier now liberator McBain. Not a classic action film but awsome fun none the less and one I can watch all the time.

[TordelBack]

The Mechanic. Jason Statham really needs to get a new agent, or I need to marry a woman who doesn't make me watch his entire oeuvre.

[Buttonman]

I really enjoyed Flight, not just for the t&a but for a cracking crash sequence. Denzil is always good value but he was excellent here playing the bad boy Captain - loved the pivotal moment 'will he won't he?' moment with the vodka minature.

Also saw The Expatriate which was less good.

[Lenny_Zero]

THE MASTER

Its is one ambiguous trip.  Nothing is definite, but its all so damn compelling.  I had to watch it twice.  The critics have been either loving it or hating it.  I will say that if you don't follow the story too well, you will still appreciate this film as a work of art.  Some scenes are so breathlessly and painstakingly staged. just to be onscreen for less than 10 seconds.

If Joaquin Phoenix doesn't get the Academy Award for this thing, then...well I don't know.

Its the story of the beginnings of "The Cause" which is most definitely Scientology.  Joaquin Phoenix is a simple hedonist who stumbles across this cult and proceeds to get indoctrinated.  However, the way the story is told, you can't tell if key sequences are dreams or not.  While that sounds annoying, it isn't.  These actors are very present, and what they portray is borderline hypnotic.  I wouldn't say its of the same caliber of THERE WILL BE BLOOD but I will say that the same directing and storytelling (ahem) mastery is definitely afoot.  There are plenty of disturbing images, that jar the viewer at the moment, but once the entire film is consumed, their presentations are softened.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is great, and has always been great, but he just doesn't chew the scenery like Joaquin Phoenix.  Wow.  Phoenix becomes this despicable character named Freddy Quell and I'm sure it must have affected his personal life.

Watch it with someone you love and go out for drinks afterward.  Guaranteed you will be chattering about it for the rest of the night.

[Buttonman]

Regarding 'Flight' no one on the IMDb boards has responded to my post so here it is for you all to enjoy :


When Denzil's alarm goes off it's showing 7:14 - 'Flight 714' is a Tintin book - a coincidence? Hardly likely!