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Movie Review; So we don't go to the bad movies!
Topic Started: Feb 17 2008, 07:14 PM (3,097 Views)
Almonaster
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The Imitation Game

At the other end of the scale, this was a very serious movie indeed. All the cast did a sound job, with Benedict Cumberbatch giving an excellent performance as Alan Turing. The film does not shy away from the issues, and gives a gripping account of Turing's life, centring on the work at Bletchley Park but framed by scenes from his schooldays and later years.

I'm geeky enough to have wanted more detail on the codebreaking maths, but I suspect that for most people there was plenty. One of the big revelations for me was how far we've come in the last few decades.

There were a few minor flaws, and at times it was not pleasant, but that was inevitable. There is a lot of complexity and a set of well-drawn characters, a strong story line, and a depth that you rarely find in recent cinema. At the end of the film, I immediately wanted to see it again.

10/10 - do not miss this one.
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

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Almonaster
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A useful resource if you're looking for something to watch...

http://agoodmovietowatch.com/
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

Visit Al's FractAl Gallery

I'm in ur detailz likin' ur sinz. :evil:
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Matilda Love
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^ thanks for this Al


Last night I didn't get to play Watercooler much - but not because of work this time, it was a movie. It is rare a movie wants to absorb all my focus these days, but 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' did.

Has anyone here seen it?

For me it had it all.
Colours and textures, storyline, reality knit seemlessly with dream/fantasy, another life I had not imagined before, heartfull characterisation, a gaping cultural gap, etc

Beasts of the Southern Wild
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together.
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Almonaster
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/\ Blocked on copyright grounds. :angry: :rolleyes:
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

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Matilda Love
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Dang!
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together.
ParrrrTay
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Almonaster
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A heartwarming short film Loteria TVC.
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

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I'm in ur detailz likin' ur sinz. :evil:
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Matilda Love
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:) :Stormaen: :)
Thanks for sharing
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together.
ParrrrTay
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Redundancies
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let's revive this thread a bit! The last post was November, so I'll list the movies I've seen since then, in order I saw them...

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - Um, it's Star Wars. Get it/borrow it on DVD if you haven't seen it already.

HAIL, CAESAR - I'll give the caveat that I haven't seen other Coen brothers movies, but this one is a fun romp through Cold War-era Hollywood. It's quirky, it's fun, it's a good waste of a couple hours, but nothing groundbreaking.

SOUTHBOUND - This is an indie horror anthology film (think Twilight Zone-ish) that follows five separate but connected stories (each leads into the next and the fifth circles back to the first). It's worth a watch if you can find it and if you like stuff like the Twilight Zone.

DEADPOOL - For any fans of the character, they won't be disappointed. The movie has all the violence and attitude that you'd expect from Deadpool. My only issue was that there were a few scenes that were hard to watch, which lowered my enjoyment of the film.

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL - A boy with mysterious powers is being hunted by the government and a church/cult. This is a fun movie with excellent performances; I heartily recommend this one.

THE JUNGLE BOOK - There's nothing I didn't like about this movie - the scenery was gorgeous, the voice acting was superb, the plot was straightforward but well- constructed, and Mowgli's actor is great for a 12 year old kid. Go see this movie.

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME - This spiritual successor for "Dazed and Confused" (which admittedly, I also haven't seen) doesn't work for me. It's basically just a bunch of "bros" doing "bro" stuff, leading me to not care about them or anything they did.
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Matilda Love
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Good to hear a decent review for The Jungle Book Red, thanks for that - I have heard so many bad ones I have been slow to get out and see it. But trust your judgement. Midnight special sounds interesting too.

I don't see that many movies, bit of a shame.

I have seen 'The Dressmaker'
A movie testing the limits of small town personality 'secrets', 'conflicts' and bullying. In this movie the tension pivots around a particularly nasty past event that will not stay buried once 'The Dressmaker' returns home to care for her old mum.
Judy Davis as the old mum sizzled so much I was completely captivated, while Kate Winslet (the dressmaker) keeps no prisoners, and Hugo Weaving (the copper) is a dream come true.
Set in 1951, the heat and the wind is oppressive.

I have also had an opportunity to watch 'Miss Potter' on DVD.
The story is about both the musings and the creative/business journey of Beatrix Potter, author of the Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck et al books, which some may recall from their childhood.
The movie encounters Beatrix from Cupid's (or was that Puck's) perspective, comically portraying the suitors her parents introduce, that her strong will would not allow her to accept.....but she does form two love interests of her own volition, each a treasure in equal measure. Consistent is her love of art and the Lakes District.
A great joy to watch.
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together.
ParrrrTay
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disposablepuppetland
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I watched Son of Saul yesterday.

The reason I watched it was due to it being the first Hungarian film to ever win an Academy Award, and my wife, who is Hungarian, was quite exited about this.

The film is brilliant. However, I would stop short of fully recommending it. It is unrelentingly brutal, callous and bleak. This is deliberate and appropriate. The film follows a few days in the life of Saul Ausländer, a member of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz, and it is partly based on actual events.

The acting, unusual selfie-style filming, and excellent sound, makes it very convincing. Watching it was unpleasant. My wife was in tears at several points.

So overall it is a fantastically well made film, fully justifying its accolades. whether you want to watch it though rather depends on what you want to get out of it. You certainly won't feel good afterwards.
[align=center]This is what DPL is about - Also known as The Justified Ancients of West-Side - Furthermore known as the Jam
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Redundancies
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Forgot to post this yesterday, but I saw WARCRAFT over the weekend. It's a good movie; go see it! (I'm not biased at all. No sir)
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Almonaster
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I saw an interesting (if overly-chattily presented) clip about the making of Warcraft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ROUcUrhXYo


Mad Max: Fury road

It's always tricky for a new actor to take over an iconic role. I didn't really warm to the new Max. There were also the usual gaping plot holes. Once past those, this was a decent film. A lot of good action sequences, some very impressive stunts and some credible attempts at characterization. Plus chaos spiky bits. Lots of chaos spiky bits. :yes:

7/10
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

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jDELIGHT
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Miss Hokusai is coming to the U.S. and Canada (well, Toronto anyway) in October. It's been out on DVD/Blueray in the UK since March. I've been waiting for this one!
Miss Hokusai trailer with English subs

The animation is beautiful, and the story is compelling. That's my impression from the trailer.

:popcorn:

A 21-Skwerl Salute for the Dizzy Twirling Hippy Chick!

"Your only true land based hope are aerodynamically correct goats." JT
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Almonaster
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For more on Hokusai, try this biopic
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

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disposablepuppetland
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Almonaster,Jun 21 2016
01:00 PM
Mad Max: Fury road

It's always tricky for a new actor to take over an iconic role. I didn't really warm to the new Max. There were also the usual gaping plot holes. Once past those, this was a decent film. A lot of good action sequences, some very impressive stunts and some credible attempts at characterization. Plus chaos spiky bits. Lots of chaos spiky bits. :yes:

7/10

I saw this earlier in the year as well. I was hugely disappointed. Worst film I've seen for years.

Firstly, it's not a Mad Max film. The character that's supposed to be Max does not have Max's personality and does not seem to have Max's past either. (Max did not have a daughter) There is no attempt to link the events in the previous films to this one.

That does not necessarily make it a bad film in its own right though. Complete lack of plot, characterisation and realism do that. I didn't find my self caring about any of the characters. They just seem to be mindless automatons. Max was always fairly stoic and terse in the old films, but in this one he barely says a word. The action is relentless and there are no breaks to discover anything about any of the characters.
The film also suffers from inconsistent tone. Lurching from cartoony violence on one hand, to serious issues like slavery on the other. It feels rather like Waterworld in this regard.

The film was widely praised for its feminism, which I find bizarre. There is nothing feminist about this film. Yes, the protagonist is female, but she acts like a man. The message is basically: To be strong, woman has to become a man. Contrast this with a genuine female action character like Ellen Ripley from Alien: The Ripley character could not have been played by a man.
The other female characters are in two groups: The antagonist's harem - five beautiful, helpless waifs who need rescuing; and the Vuvalini tribe. The Vuvalini tribe are at least somewhat more interesting. Middle-aged women rarely appear in action roles. However, they are almost all killed off as cannon fodder without really leaving any impression.

The first two Mad Max films had a gritty realism to them. Their setting was just about plausible and the plot was completely believable. Beyond Thunderdome lost a bit of this, but Fury Road does away with it completely and goes pure comic-book. Everyone's a hero, wounds are shrugged off, guns have infinite ammo. Some people obviously like this style but for me it just makes it boring.

There are some good points: The film is beautiful. Some of the action sequences are very good.
[align=center]This is what DPL is about - Also known as The Justified Ancients of West-Side - Furthermore known as the Jam
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jDELIGHT
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Fun is the only noise you should hear
disposablepuppetland,Sep 2 2016
01:42 PM
Almonaster,Jun 21 2016
01:00 PM
Mad Max: Fury road

It's always tricky for a new actor to take over an iconic role. I didn't really warm to the new Max. There were also the usual gaping plot holes. Once past those, this was a decent film. A lot of good action sequences, some very impressive stunts and some credible attempts at characterization.  Plus chaos spiky bits. Lots of chaos spiky bits.  :yes:

7/10

I saw this earlier in the year as well. I was hugely disappointed. Worst film I've seen for years.

Firstly, it's not a Mad Max film. The character that's supposed to be Max does not have Max's personality and does not seem to have Max's past either. (Max did not have a daughter) There is no attempt to link the events in the previous films to this one.

That does not necessarily make it a bad film in its own right though. Complete lack of plot, characterisation and realism do that. I didn't find my self caring about any of the characters. They just seem to be mindless automatons. Max was always fairly stoic and terse in the old films, but in this one he barely says a word. The action is relentless and there are no breaks to discover anything about any of the characters.
The film also suffers from inconsistent tone. Lurching from cartoony violence on one hand, to serious issues like slavery on the other. It feels rather like Waterworld in this regard.

The film was widely praised for its feminism, which I find bizarre. There is nothing feminist about this film. Yes, the protagonist is female, but she acts like a man. The message is basically: To be strong, woman has to become a man. Contrast this with a genuine female action character like Ellen Ripley from Alien: The Ripley character could not have been played by a man.
The other female characters are in two groups: The antagonist's harem - five beautiful, helpless waifs who need rescuing; and the Vuvalini tribe. The Vuvalini tribe are at least somewhat more interesting. Middle-aged women rarely appear in action roles. However, they are almost all killed off as cannon fodder without really leaving any impression.

The first two Mad Max films had a gritty realism to them. Their setting was just about plausible and the plot was completely believable. Beyond Thunderdome lost a bit of this, but Fury Road does away with it completely and goes pure comic-book. Everyone's a hero, wounds are shrugged off, guns have infinite ammo. Some people obviously like this style but for me it just makes it boring.

There are some good points: The film is beautiful. Some of the action sequences are very good.

Completely agree, DPL. On my list of One-and-Done. :-(

A 21-Skwerl Salute for the Dizzy Twirling Hippy Chick!

"Your only true land based hope are aerodynamically correct goats." JT
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jDELIGHT
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Fun is the only noise you should hear
Almonaster,Aug 30 2016
05:04 PM
For more on Hokusai, try this biopic

I was thinking of you when I saw the trailer. Great stuff and thanks for the link!
:ebil:

A 21-Skwerl Salute for the Dizzy Twirling Hippy Chick!

"Your only true land based hope are aerodynamically correct goats." JT
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Matilda Love
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I know I am often a bit late, but I finally saw 'Pride' for the first time.
I was deeply touched by this movie.
The core is sad, the results everyone fought for were never achieved, but gladly, the unexpected was.
It made me understand how we just need to keep moving forward, working together across our self imposed barriers for something....the good we expected may never evolve, but other new ways forward can unexpectedly present themselves.
Based on real events and characters, the movie seemed to easily portray people at their adorable and fallible best, with love.

Just in case not all of you have already seen it!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFY0wHpR5o
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Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart go together.
ParrrrTay
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Almonaster
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I thought I had reviewed Pride, but I can't find it.


I agree Mattie, a lovely slice of life. Cue middle-aged Welshwoman - "where are my lesbians?"
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

Visit Al's FractAl Gallery

I'm in ur detailz likin' ur sinz. :evil:
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Redundancies
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Recent major movies I've seen:

LEGO BATMAN - A fun ride from beginning to end, it starts out just hilarious and then moves into ridiculously good action. If you're familiar with the popular versions of Batman, there's a lot of fun Easter eggs in it too.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017) - It's better than the 90's animated version, and that's saying a lot. Some plot holes get filled, there's more songs, and on the whole it feels less like Belle is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Oh and the Beast/Prince doesn't look like a derp once the spell is broken (oops, spoiler)

SPLIT - Great movie, if slow in places. James McAvoy is fantastic at making each of his character's split personalities really feel different, and there was plenty of suspense and thrills. Is it bad that I was rooting for him a little bit?
Seeking to bring back the Ministry of Darkness

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