Originally posted by Dave2002
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Loved it in the cinema"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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I was thinking about the ending today, while on my walk.Originally posted by gurnemanz View Post
(SPOILERS)
On reflection, it’s the one part of the film that doesn’t convince and looks too much like something wished on the director by a financial backer (the film had a budget only three million dollars). Rather than snatching triumph from the jaws of defeat, he should’ve had a total mental and physical breakdown after competing his solo. That would have provided the (necessary) darker endingComment
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I stayed up last night to watch "Sylvia", Christine Jeff's 2003 film about Sylvia Plath, beautifully played by Gwyneth Paltrow, with Daniel Craig as Ted Hughes. Maybe underplayed, I don't know - what do other people think? I found it very moving, whether or not an authentic portrayal of their relationship: the discomfort and inability of those around them to do anything to help, and the state of mind that led to Plath's mental disintegration and suicide - all terribly, terribly sad. Not having read up anything about this I keep wondering - would she have lived today, or was the depressive condition her mother saw Ted Hughes as unsuited to cope with destined to destroy her, irrespective of Hughes's celebrity and own failings?Comment
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But it is still dark - dark with potentially (almost actually, during the film itself, physically and mentally) and mutually self-destructive obsession. Not Art for Art's sake but Life and Death for Art's Sake.Originally posted by Katzelmacher View Post
As I said above, it is redemptive but ambiguous, open-ended.....this is why it still grips you hard, even on repeat viewings.... leaving you thinking, if you just see it once more, you'll get some kinda closure.
Instead, it asks you to look into yourself... who are you? What would you give everything for? For Art, for "True Greatness"? Maybe after the blaze come the ashes in the mouth...you'd have to go back and keep lighting that fire, fuelling the fire, until....worth it, or not?
Try this commentary...
But remember the scene with Andrew and Fletcher in the bar? Fletcher recalls his Charlie Parker story, saying: "There are no two words in the English Language more harmful than "good job".
Some people think they see Fletcher mouthing "good job" to Andrew during the very last seconds of his final demonical solo... which would put another new slant on things. I keep watching again, but I'm still not sure what he says....
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No other fans of First Man here? Really?
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Watched Creation Stories last night, pop biopic about Alan McGee.... bit of a romp, bit overlong, by now archetypal nearly-dead-on-drugs-redeemed-in-rehab etc., but with great music (Primal Scream, Oasis etc) and a terrific central performance, scripted and directed in the creators' (in)famous Trainspotter style...wonderfully seedy, sordid scenes in Punk-Rock London crammed among the stoners and drunks in tiny pogoing clubs ...
Cath Clarke's review gets it spot-on....
Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 22-03-21, 20:08.Comment
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I recently watched Interstellar. I've never seen such amazing music design before. A soundtrack that tugs at the heartstrings.Comment
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Personally, I was disappointed with the music for that film, which I found to be decidedly sublunary - not to mention the fact that I just can't help but think of John Coltrane's album Interstellar Space, an album which actually does live up to its title!Originally posted by PhillipDine View PostComment
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Saw Full Metal Jacket last weekend. My wife had never seen it. fwiw we both enjoyed it much more than Apocalypse Now. There was a comment here that FMJ seemed disjointed, as the 2 halves of the movies were not of similar quality and seemed unrelated to each other. I had agreed with that but on re watching some links between the two halves became more apparent. in the first part , after being egged on by the maniacal DI, the rest of the trainees assault the designated misfit/scapegoat in their bunks at night. The assault is led by 'Cowboy" and Joker, who has been trying to protect Leonard (Pyle)), is egged on by Cowboy to participate against his will, and finally Joker acquiesces and delivers several blows.
At the conclusion of movie Cowboy again is leading his troops in a real war situation (Hue, during the Tet Offensive)
and his leadership choices are again disastrous, leading to several men dying at the hands of a sniper, and ultimately himself as well. When the sniper is finally wounded and captured by the surviving soldiers, Joker (who is the Everyman figure that tries to keep his humanity during the movie when the entire process of training and war dehumanizes all others) wants to transport her to a hospital, but is egged on by the others to shoot her and ultimately does. The depressing take home is that even the most well intentioned of us cannot escape the pressures of conformity and that we don't learn from experience. Perhaps not a typical Hollywood message, but it rings true.Comment
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Despite having seen it several times, I had quite forgotten just how searingly beautiful and moving is The English Patient. It looks ravishing, whether in the North African desert or Tuscany. Its plot is revealed slowly through a complex and intricate narrative that constructs, from a mosaic of morphine induced memories, how the eponymous patient came to bear his appalling injuries. It is epically romantic as the connections between four emotionally and physically damaged individuals emerge, but it never cloys into sentimentality. The scene when Kip hoists Hana aloft to inspect church frescos by the light of a flare is one of the most unlikely but romantic scenes in cinema that I know. The opening sequence tastefully marries image with music to establish the film’s exquisite sensibility from the outset. Director Anthony Minghella also wrote the literate screenplay which does justice in adapting Michael Ondaatje’s book. A gorgeous film that repays many viewings to reveal its subtle layers and flawless acting.Comment
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I've just finished watching the "Extras" supplement to the 1966 Losey/Pinter film "Accident", which I watched with great enjoyment last night. I first saw this film at the time it came out and, unable to connect in any way with either characters of situation, didn't enjoy or identify with it. Now it seems a remarkable achievement, and by all accounts an authentic portrayal of off-screen rivalries between the two leading male protagonists, Stanley Baker and Dirk Bogarde. The "extras" that come as add-ons, sometimes re-visiting locations decades after filming, in this case looking at the actors, contextualising underlying issues, but in this case unveiling the interconnections between actors, director and production team, are in many cases as good as watching the film itself; and I am saying this as someone who has made a priority of acquiring a large number of films - including documentaries as well as dramas - and finding inestimable value in re-visiting how the ways the creative personalities of the eras which formed us can be subject to critical re-assessment with the apocryphal benefits of age.
The question, is there anything shared in common that draws some of us back to what we may see as "golden eras" we've been lucky to have lived through? could almost amount to a thread of its own.Comment
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Promising Young Woman (Sky)....
Most visually stunning, emotionally devastating, witty and sharp, post #metoo film I've seen for ages......the finale will leave you first breathless, then probably in tears.... starts out as kooky, oblique rape-revenge-flick, develops into something much deeper, wrongfoots you on gender stereotypes all the way....
Brilliant writing and direction (Emerald Fennell) ....Carey Mulligan is mesmerising in the title role.... reviews etc deep in controversy, but that's a good thing....
Just - DONOTMISS!
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You all caught up yet with my hero Riz Ahmed (NightCrawler, Reluctant Fundamentalist etc) in Sound of Metal? (Amazon Prime, maybe others....)
He plays a drummer in a rock duo (akin to White Stripes etc) just on the verge of the bigtime, in love with each other and touring ecstatically in their big bus, who suffers sudden and profound hearing loss... which is conveyed, very movingly, from inside his own head.....
He has the dilemma - join and contribute to a Deaf Community, or save up the $1000s for cochlear implants?
Remarkably gentle, profound and insightful piece.... when the duo meet up after enforced separation (the guitarist having developed a solo career), your heart will truly break...
Great to see some outstanding new productions coming through after a barren year....but still difficult with the dispersion across so many platforms...Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 17-04-21, 13:09.Comment
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Got to see 'Nomadland' last night - it's been getting a bit hyped, as has the performance of Frances McDormand...all I can say was the film was wonderful, and McDormand was utterly sensational. As good a performance as I have seen in many a long year.
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Where did you see it, John?Originally posted by johncorrigan View PostGot to see 'Nomadland' last night - it's been getting a bit hyped, as has the performance of Frances McDormand...all I can say was the film was wonderful, and McDormand was utterly sensational. As good a performance as I have seen in many a long year."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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A pal has a friend in the film business, Nick, who gave me a shot of it.Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View PostComment
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I wonder why Baker and Bogarde didn't get on ...Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostComment
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Class, cultural and temperamental differences, which get heavy mention by those on hand at the time in the Extras section. I love those Extras, whenever they are provided - they make one reflect, add that extra dimension in appreciating both film and the time in which it was made.Originally posted by LMcD View PostComment
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