Films you've seen lately

[Richard Tarleton]

A Last Quartet - see my post no 6 here.

An engrossing film, kb - highly recommended. Ideas from the lives of a few real life quartets, I think....I liked the way more layers if the inter-relationships were peeled away as the story progressed. The maker of the film explained in that interview on MM how they made the actors into string players - I was prepared to be sceptical but in the event it wasn't an issue for me. Strong acting all round, even a small part for my favourite cookery writer , as a doctor.

[aeolium]

"Amour" with Jean-Louis Trintingnant, Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert, about old age, illness and death, is unbearably honest, brutal, powerful and beautiful all at once. An unforgettable experience.

I agree - I saw this last week at our local film society. The performances by the two leads were phenomenal. The film, as Huck Finn said about the statements in Pilgrim's Progress, was "interesting but tough" - an extremely draining experience to watch but worth it.

[kernelbogey]

An engrossing film, kb - highly recommended. Ideas from the lives of a few real life quartets, I think....I liked the way more layers if the inter-relationships were peeled away as the story progressed [...]

Thanks Richard. I'm glad someone else has seen it!

[MrGongGong]

If you get the chance to see this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jan/10/jiro-dreams-of-sushi-review

go and see it
wonderful stuff (apart from the music .......... at times )

[Belgrove]

Nowadays January seems to be when all the decent films are released in preparation for the awards season. Last year at about this time saw two films about slavery in North America, Django Unchained being Tarrantino's stylised account and Lincoln, Spielberg's cooler and more removed take on the subject. This year we have Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, based on a true story that will, and deserves to be watched in years to come. It is a horrifying and distressing film, whose essence is about the extremes of humanity. It is brilliantly made, contains many remarkable performances and is extremely moving.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the negro free-man Solomon Northup from New York who is abducted and sold to a series of plantations in the South. It is a stunning performance, he can do so much with his soulful face, a face that contains so much sorrow, regret and humanity, you know what he is thinking inside but dare not express in words for fear of his life. The worst of these plantations is nothing less than a concentration camp, where forced labour is rewarded with arbitrary brutality and constant terror, meted out by the owner, played by McQueen regular Michael Fassbender. This is another remarkable performance of an appalling sadist who nevertheless is filled with a gnawing self-knowledge that what he is doing is evil, again portrayed without a word being said.

A particular style of McQueen is the long held shot, be it of a face in close up, a conversation or a scene of torture. It makes of one a voyeur, and so is unsettling, but effective for all that. The use of natural light gives both a sickly pallor and rank lushness to the southern scenes.

I was struck by the subtlety of the score, threateningly picking up on the thrumming paddle-steamer that bears Northup to the dreadful South, or elaborating upon the (deliberately) simple jigs he plays on his violin. It was a surprise to learn that Hans Zimmer was the composer, whose previous scores tend to be intrusive and percussively monotonous. This enhances the film rather draws attention to itself.

This is an important and sobering film that is difficult to watch, not least because it happened.

[Ferretfancy]

With the Oscars in view, I'm hoping that Gravity will not win. We went to see it in 3D at the Lumiere, and were not exactly impressed. It really didn't matter whether it was in 3D or not, the problem was that the film has an exciting first couple of reels and then becomes tedious. We are told repeatedly that the nice thing about being in space is the silence, not here it's not, since the music track roars thunderously throughout.

It might have been easier if the actors were in CGI instead of using the talents of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, most of the time you cannot see their faces, let alone hear their dialogue, which is all in the form of radio distort.

It isn't necessary to be a graduate in space science to comprehend the implausibilities in the action, it is fiction after all, but they did try my patience. Still, I didn't have turkey for Christmas, so perhaps this will do.

[johncorrigan]

With the Oscars in view, I'm hoping that Gravity will not win. We went to see it in 3D at the Lumiere, and were not exactly impressed. It really didn't matter whether it was in 3D or not, the problem was that the film has an exciting first couple of reels and then becomes tedious. We are told repeatedly that the nice thing about being in space is the silence, not here it's not, since the music track roars thunderously throughout.

It might have been easier if the actors were in CGI instead of using the talents of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, most of the time you cannot see their faces, let alone hear their dialogue, which is all in the form of radio distort.

It isn't necessary to be a graduate in space science to comprehend the implausibilities in the action, it is fiction after all, but they did try my patience. Still, I didn't have turkey for Christmas, so perhaps this will do.

I thought it was a gas, Ferret...jump on for the ride and go with it... couldn't agree more that the story was non-existent, conversation banal, but that didn't matter to me. The 3-D special effects were utterly stunning and I am no big fan of 3-D...I was on the edge of my seat throughout; and I was totally shattered by the experience...takes all sorts I suppose.
The film that I think should get awards is 'Mud' - one of those times when the Americans make a good go at doing a European style film...great performances throughout...loved it!

[Nick Armstrong]

Gravity....

The 3-D special effects were utterly stunning and I am no big fan of 3-D...I was on the edge of my seat throughout; and I was totally shattered by the experience...

... Same here, jc

[Ferretfancy]

I thought it was a gas, Ferret...jump on for the ride and go with it... couldn't agree more that the story was non-existent, conversation banal, but that didn't matter to me. The 3-D special effects were utterly stunning and I am no big fan of 3-D...I was on the edge of my seat throughout; and I was totally shattered by the experience...takes all sorts I suppose.
The film that I think should get awards is 'Mud' - one of those times when the Americans make a good go at doing a European style film...great performances throughout...loved it!

As an all sort, I'm glad you liked it more than I did ! I couldn't agree more with you about Mud. I saw it at Zeffirelli's in Ambleside after one of their meal and movie dinners. It's a beautifully paced film with great performances and a superb sense of place, one of the best of 2013.

[jayne lee wilson]

After mentioning the impact Life of Pi had on me on the footy thread, scanning through this one I note the queries about whether it would work as well away from 3D bigscreen.... having watched it twice on blu-ray, 32" screen, non-3D, I can only say that it was still a ravishing visual experience, BUT - above all, its emotional impact is overwhelming, immediate AND complex, an experience you think about long afterward... for me there isn't a dull or drawn-out passage anywhere, it's a compelling story, a great story greatly told... I don't think I've ever cried more over a film than this.

Directing, writing, editing (often overlooked - how cleverly you're led from scene to scene, Forman's Amadeus is brilliant in this), on every level Life of Pi is a great movie.

[Nick Armstrong]

After mentioning the impact Life of Pi had on me on the footy thread, scanning through this one I note the queries about whether it would work as well away from 3D bigscreen.... having watched it twice on blu-ray, 32" screen, non-HD, I can only say that it was still a ravishing visual experience, BUT - above all, its emotional impact is overwhelming, immediate AND complex, an experience you think about long afterward... for me there isn't a dull or drawn-out passage anywhere, it's a compelling story, a great story greatly told... I don't think I've ever cried more over a film than this.

Directing, writing, editing (often overlooked - how cleverly you're led from scene to scene, Forman's Amadeus is brilliant in this), on every level Life of Pi is a great movie.

[jayne lee wilson]

Quick (bleedin' obvious) correction - I meant "blu-ray, non-3D" of course! Bit hard to watch a blu-ray as a non-HD anything, really... sorry ...

[richardfinegold]

I don't think we've ever had a thread about cinema-going, and recommendations for films to see on the big screen. This occurred to me the other day when I saw a post somewhere else about Quartet, Dustin Hoffman's new film with Maggie Smith et al. Maybe the reason there's not been a cinema-going thread is that Forumistas are not great cinema-goers, in which case this thread will be dead in the water.

But it occurred to me again today that it might be fun to have a place where we can exchange recommendations, pool reviews &c.

It occurred to me because I would most enthusiastically recommend 'LIFE OF PI', Ang Lee's film based on the award-winning (Booker 2002) Yann Martel novel.

Enthralling, dazzling, gripping, sometimes funny - and not too much of the 'religiosity-lite' I'd slightly feared beforehand.

I'm not by any means a 3D enthusiast - too often, it seems to sap real-life action of reality, paradoxically - but it adds hugely to the impact of this film, especially of course the scenes in the Pacific, but also the early scenes in India.

The visual splendour of the film would in my view reward anyone sufficiently to warrant a trip to the cinema. It won't have the same impact on a small screen. I wouldn't be surprised if I go and see it again, just to experience the 'ride' again...

We missed it in the theatre, but I wound up buying the Blu Ray. It is plenty impressive on a 50 inch flat screen in surround sound, even in 2 D.

[Flosshilde]

When I saw it at the cinema in 3D (by mistake) I found the 3D effects iritating & very un-realistic (eg a humming bird the size of a cow hovering just in front of me). I watched without the special specs most of the time.

[Ferretfancy]

We missed it in the theatre, but I wound up buying the Blu Ray. It is plenty impressive on a 50 inch flat screen in surround sound, even in 2 D.

It's even better in 3D on our 46'' screen, in fact I think it is one of the few films that uses 3D effectively to intensify the drama, rather than just to give a visual thrill. Of the other 3D films we've watched at home, a few really impress, notably Toy Story 3, and Martin Scorses's Hugo.

Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder and The Creature from the Black Lagoon are the only 'historic' films I've seen restored. The Creature is fun to watch for 50s nostalgia, the Hitchcock makes very good use of 3D in a film mostly made on a single set, but it isn't one of Hitch's best.

The one stereoscopic film I would love to see reissued on Blu Ray is the hugely enjoyable MGM Kiss Me Kate, a film in which a real attempt was made to design the dance numbers for the 3D medium, but so far it has not surfaced.