Last movie watched...

[shaolin_monkey]

Sorry to stay off topic, but I'll add that my company does not tolerate swearing, sexism, homophobia or racism - verbally or otherwise. They provide confidential channels for people affected by such things, and as a manager for said company I have had to take some of my staff down the disciplinary route for such things - and rightly so.  There's no place for it in any workplace that claims to be all inclusive.  There should be no place for it in a progressive society anyway!

[Jim_Campbell]

There should be no place for it in a progressive society anyway!

You talk like a girl, you big fucking poof!

Cheers

Jim

[Professor Bear]

Sorry to stay off topic

Clearly you are new here.

And to further stay off-topic: much as I hate to side with the "pull the stick out of your ass" brigade, swearing isn't really the same thing as hate crime.  At best it's just poor comportment.

[Hawkmumbler]

Unless your a stand up comedian. In which case it's fine. 

[NapalmKev]

Unless your a stand up comedian. In which case it's fine. 

Unless your Roy( call him shit he knows it) Chubby Brown. He's made a career out of being offensive to to everything; even Comedy! The guy is about as funny as a serious life threatening accident.


Anyway, the last film I watched was Shawshank Redemption. I've seen it many times but still watch it when it comes on the telly.
Amazing film as far as I'm concerned. One of the greats.


Cheers

[Tiplodocus]

Not seen Elysium but I remember thinking District 9 had way too much unimaginative swearing in it. To the extent that it turned me off the film.

[shaolin_monkey]

There should be no place for it in a progressive society anyway!

You talk like a girl, you big fucking poof!

Cheers

Jim

Where's the fucking 'like' button?!

[GrinningChimera]

Teddy Bear - A story of a shy Danish bodybuilder who goes to Thailand looking for love. Not the sort of thing I would usually watch but since I'm into bodybuilding I thought I would give it a shot. Recommended, especially if you are looking for something to watch with the girlfriend/wife (unless she doesn't like subtitled films)

And the best part is it's available to watch on youtube. I don't usually watch films on youtube, but since this doesn't seem to have had a worldwide dvd release and the only streaming service I can find for it are US only, I had little choice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKmXR0nNZ5w

If anyone does watch it, let me know what you think of it

[Hawkmumbler]

Gojira

In my own daft manner I have set out to watch all the Godzilla movies (and some other movies in the Toho continuity) in preparation for the new Godzilla movie hitting out screens next year. Kicking off with the original and the only truly "classic" (vomit) member of the series, Gojira itself. I have always preferred the original japanese version over King of the Monsters, but thats just personal taste,mI always found the scenes with Burr to be, thought well acted, a,little tacked on, and the dub to cheesy for the tone of the film.

The build up to Godzillas first appearance are very good. Foot prints, crushed buildings, and even radioactive trace are all seen in great detail, and his eventual reveal is surprisingly effective. Keeping the bulk of the beast hidden behind a mountain, and his size being shown via a tail mark and footprints there after. His rampage through the city is a combination of notorious man-in-suit animatronics and stop motion animation, showing everything in his path being destroyed The B&W nature of the film hides a lot of the tacky scenes to a point where they look highly stylised.

Acting is on fine form, with Akihiko Hirata (Sanjuro, Attack Squadron!) pulling off a self-repressed scientist who hates his discovery despite its potential to counter Godzillas attacks. Only the female lead, Momoko Kôchi, feels a tad dated in a role that is very indicative of how women where depicted in sci-fi the time.

The film owes a bit to The Quatermass Experiment as it was an early instance of post-modern, period science fiction. Although set at an indeterminable time in the future, it's clearly of the time period it was filmed. Which takes me onto the next pro-point. The anti-nuclear weapon message in the film is fairly clear, as the film regularly makes reference to how the unfolding events where triggered by the Hiroshima bomb. This could be translated to Godzilla being the manifestation of the earth rebelling against humanities unnatural experiments, and how if we continue down this path, we can only be held accountable for our own destruction. Or it could jus be a loud of silly balls.

Over all, I love this film, it's stylish, it's science it utterly baffling (Dinosaurs became extinct 2 million years ago? Seriously?), the destruction scenes are fun Top job, 4.5/5, go and see it kids.


BTW, the BFI dvd can be bought from Fopp around the country for a meagre £5. Highly recommended.

[Daveycandlish]

Man Of Steel

It passed a couple of hours amiably enough but was such an overdose of CGI spectacle that you didn't really care for the characters, which is why I still prefer the 70s movie.
Christopher Reeve is still Superman.
(And it wasn't help by Mrs C pointing out that Zod looked liked Adam Klaus out of Jonathan Creek)

[TordelBack]

E.T.: The Digi-buggered Version.  This was an odd re-watch of a film I'm never too sure about.  It's atmospheric, well-observed and generally pretty great right up to the bit where E.T. and Elliot are wired up on matching gurneys.  After that it becomes mawkish and manipulative, and then sort of disintegrates into an illogical chase scene where the pursuers know exactly where their quarry is going but elect to chase some clearly adult stuntmen on BMXs through a dedicated stunt track instead.  Still, the kids' performances are great throughout, and while Mom isn't going to be winning any childcare prizes, their suburban world is very believable. 

My own eldest got a kick out of the numerous SW and D&D references, and the idea that Dad was exactly the same age as Elliot in 1982 (albeit not living largely unsupervised in a mansion filled with cool stuff, even leaving aside the pet alien).  The film also held both kids' attention all the way through, and elicited (extracted) the requisite tears-under-false-pretences at the appropriate moments.  So it's certainly a success on that rather important level.

As to the digiwankery, the matte fixes are decent, and I actually don't mind the infamous gun-swap, since you really wouldn't notice unless you already knew and it does soften the rather unnecessary threat and make Keys and the cops more sympathetic, as they largely are.  OTOH the awful, awful changes to E.T.s eyes and his terrible CGI double just make me angry.  I know Senor Spielbergo has held his hands up on this one, but even so...

[HdE]

Just to stir the pot on this further:

I do agree that swearing, nudity, gore, and so on is often used with little consideration as to its narrative worth in various media, but saying people don't actually swear like that in real life is crazy talk - haven't you ever worked on a building site or a in a factory?  I've worked with many men who swear just as much as the cast of Elysium - if not moreso.

When I say that people don't swear in reallife like they did in Elysium (or a handful of other movies I could think of) what I'm actually suggesting this:

People are certainly capable of riddling their every sentence with expletives. I'd not dispute that for a second. However, when those people do that, what they say actually seems to make sense in terms of sentence construction. In Elysium (and it's not the first movie I saw that did this) the naughty words are just slung in willy-nilly.

So, I'd contend there's a difference between 'F***, man! Take this spaceship f***in' down to the surface!'

and: 'F***, man! Take this spaceship down to the f***in' surface!'

That's the sum total of my considered intellectualising of naughty words. I have to go get breakfast now.

[Colin YNWA]

Sorry I know its poor form to talk about another boarders avatar like this BUT does anyone else think that Joe Soap's new one is a bit like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer goes to the real world. A little wonky and unsettling.

I'm sorry I know that's rude... so to get back on topic my daughter and I are currently watching 'Boo, Zino and the Snurks'... I've no idea of what its like as I'm not really paying attention, as you can see...

[JamesC]

E.T.: The Digi-buggered Version.  This was an odd re-watch of a film I'm never too sure about.  It's atmospheric, well-observed and generally pretty great right up to the bit where E.T. and Elliot are wired up on matching gurneys.  After that it becomes mawkish and manipulative, and then sort of disintegrates into an illogical chase scene where the pursuers know exactly where their quarry is going but elect to chase some clearly adult stuntmen on BMXs through a dedicated stunt track instead.  Still, the kids' performances are great throughout, and while Mom isn't going to be winning any childcare prizes, their suburban world is very believable. 

My own eldest got a kick out of the numerous SW and D&D references, and the idea that Dad was exactly the same age as Elliot in 1982 (albeit not living largely unsupervised in a mansion filled with cool stuff, even leaving aside the pet alien).  The film also held both kids' attention all the way through, and elicited (extracted) the requisite tears-under-false-pretences at the appropriate moments.  So it's certainly a success on that rather important level.

As to the digiwankery, the matte fixes are decent, and I actually don't mind the infamous gun-swap, since you really wouldn't notice unless you already knew and it does soften the rather unnecessary threat and make Keys and the cops more sympathetic, as they largely are.  OTOH the awful, awful changes to E.T.s eyes and his terrible CGI double just make me angry.  I know Senor Spielbergo has held his hands up on this one, but even so...

I never realised there even was a digi-buggered version! Seems pointless to me.

The problem I have with ET is the same problem I have with Close Encounters and some of Spielbergs other films of this era and that's that everything thing looks dingy and dirty.
Whenever I watch ET I just want someone to open some curtains or put some lights on. The whole house looks like it needs a good spring clean too. I suppose this is to add realism but I find it distracting. Whenever I see that bit where ET hides in the mountain of cuddly toys I imagine that they're full of dust and need a good wash.

[JOE SOAP]

Sorry I know its poor form to talk about another boarders avatar like this BUT does anyone else think that Joe Soap's new one is a bit like that episode of The Simpsons when Homer goes to the real world. A little wonky and unsettling.

I woke up this morning and found it like that.