Films you've seen lately

[richardfinegold]

Saw Peter Rabbit... enjoyed the first and last thirds, but did it have to be ever so very violent? Culminating in: a dynamited burrow, a falling tree and shattered conservatory with destroyed artwork...in the Lakes.... My God, this is Peter Rabbit, Mr Director (Will Gluck)...

Lovely animals though - fluidly mobile, visually gorgeous, cute and endlessly expressive. The slightly mad Rooster, expressing loud amazement at each daily return of the sun, was very funny; and the exquisitely camp Pig who can't help his gobbling greed before any food...."oh, just the one" he says, before devouring the plateful...

Funny thing now: after rereading this post... I think I might like to see it again....

(What with Watership Down was well....I didn't plan on having Rabbit for Christmas...)

saw Peter Rabbit with my Grandchildren, who were mesmerized, and I enjoyed it as well

[Belgrove]

The Favourite is a fanciful drama predicated on the rivalry for Queen Anne's affections between Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill, played by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone respectively. It's like nothing I've seen, being a punky-Sapphic mash-up between The Draughtsman's Contract, Blackadder, a Restoration Revenge tragi-comedy and Alice in Wonderland (if you get my drift...). It is both very funny and very sad. Olivia Colman's performance is a wonderful creation, who somehow convinces at the inconceivable anguish and consequent mental and physical cost of a woman who has outlived all her seventeen children; but all three turn in commendable performances. It looks gorgeous, being primarily shot at Hatfield House (with Hampton Court being snuck in), but with unconventional use of wide-angle lenses that give a further sense of distortion to the warped world of the Court. The choice of music is similarly dislocated. A weird and wonderful film.

[vinteuil]

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... yes : we saw The Favourite yesterday and loved every moment of it. Certainly the best film of the year so far...

Colman, Weisz, and Stone all at the top of their game, stonking performances. Every shot a beautiful photograph in its own right. Gorgeous costumes and settings. Funny, filthy, witty, moving.

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[Serial_Apologist]

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... yes : we saw The Favourite yesterday and loved every moment of it. Certainly the best film of the year so far...

Colman, Weisz, and Stone all at the top of their game, stonking performances. Every shot a beautiful photograph in its own right. Gorgeous costumes and settings. Funny, filthy, witty, moving.

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Blimey - I bet that cost a lot to do! They charge the earth to get in that place!

[Serial_Apologist]

I Daniel Blake, the acclaimed Ken Loach film, is showing on BBC2 tonight at 9.45.

[vinteuil]

Blimey - I bet that cost a lot to do! They charge the earth to get in that place!

... the film seems to have been surprisingly cheap to make*. According to IMDb it had a budget of only $15 million - and gross box office by 3 Jan 2019 in the USA alone was already over $17 million.

[ *no car chases, of course... ]

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[richardfinegold]

Mary, Queen of Scots yesterday. I can’t vouch for Historical Accuracy. I thought the film bent over backwards to make the title character appeal to modern sensibilities in terms of being a Feminist, Religiously Tolerant, and friendly to Gays. Someone else will have to comment on the accuracy of that portrayal. Well acted, but after a while I couldn’t keep up with the Scottish intriguing, and pretty much every character besides the Noble Mary is depicted as a backstabbing (in some cases, literally) s—-, and the constant good vs implacable evil theme wore me out

[ardcarp]

I Daniel Blake, the acclaimed Ken Loach film, is showing on BBC2 tonight at 9.45.

Just watched it. Very moving and sadly a true picture of how our society treats those who, for whatever reason, have fallen on hard times. I have personally known of people who have had their Disability Allowance overturned or reduced. It's government policy.

May I ardently recommend Forumistas, whatever their political persuasion, to watch this.

[Serial_Apologist]

Just watched it. Very moving and sadly a true picture of how our society treats those who, for whatever reason, have fallen on hard times. I have personally known of people who have had their Disability Allowance overturned or reduced. It's government policy.

May I ardently recommend Forumistas, whatever their political persuasion, to watch this.

I can think of a few people I'd like to tie to a chair and force to watch this.

[ardcarp]

I had exactly the same thoughts.

[LMcD]

Just watched it. Very moving and sadly a true picture of how our society treats those who, for whatever reason, have fallen on hard times. I have personally known of people who have had their Disability Allowance overturned or reduced. It's government policy.

May I ardently recommend Forumistas, whatever their political persuasion, to watch this.

I have seen it, and heartily second your recommendation. Dare I say that the director deserves universal credit?

[ardcarp]

The nuts and bolts of claiming benefits had obviously been assiduously researched by Ken, down to the minutest details of Job Centres (or whatever they're called). As an experiment I Googled 'how to claim benefits' and it really is an online nightmare, especially for those like Daniel Blake who have no idea of how to navigate the web. I thought much of the acting was superb...and I wonder if Ken Loach incorporates some improvised dialogue in the film? It certainly had great spontaneity at times. I also loved the way that he 'cut away' from some scenes without labouring the detail (in an American way) and leaving the viewer to fill in the gaps.

[gurnemanz]

We saw it at the cinema and I can remember shedding a tear.

[pastoralguy]

Mrs. PG worked in a Job Centre for some time and eventually left after a mild breakdown since she was forced by management into, basically, being a professional bitch - a role that's definitely against her nature. She had a 'target' of interviewing people within 4 minutes which was completely unrealistic. What she found especially difficult to 'action' was implicating people for sanctions, especially those who had learning difficulties who genuinely couldn't fulfill the criteria required of the bureaucratic's.

Like myself in nursing, there were colleagues who thrived on having control over vulnerable people and those were the people who tended to be favoured/promoted. Fortunately, she was in a position to be supported by her parents when she was needed to look after them.

[DracoM]

I reckon I got out of my profession just in time.

Saw the darkened road ahead - profession has now trudged it for some years. I had some wonderful times, met wonderful people, some of whom I still keep up with, but.....talk to them now enmeshed still, and I am SO, so glad to be out...

..and so sorry for them.