Films you've seen lately

[Richard Tarleton]

I found it a strange, subdued, miserable film, in which little or nothing happens. Although Nighy was quite intriguing as the extremely dour bookworm, his totally ineffective opposition to the local philistines was rather frustrating. How could you find this film "marvellous" and Roma boring? I kept on wishing for an earthquake, a fire, a drowning, a riot, or just a squabble (!) to liven things up. But, no, the Spanish director wants us to get the never-ending tedium of British seaside life by expressing the tedium directly, without relief. Maybe it was sponsored by the Spanish tourist board? (OK, at the end, one of my wishes was answered, but it was so low key and anti-climax it didn't help alleviate the tedium.) James Lance was quite unsettling and amusing as the louche BBC producer Milo North, but much more could have been made of his character, as with Nighy. It was quite perceptive on conformism and philistinism in British life, but there was not enough plot or intrigue to keep this in the air. Such a waste of some very good actors. So I'm with "rotten tomatoes" here, this is "rotten", 2/5. In fact it's the main cause of me deciding to quit Netflix...

TBF I said the actors were marvellous, the film merely lovely, and that was partly because I was enjoying the Strangford Lough scenery which I used to live very near.....

[richardfinegold]

I saw Black Klansman. I had forgotten how absolutely un subtle Spike Lee is. He manages to kill an interesting story with his heavy handed posturizing.

[Richard Tarleton]

A most peculiar film, The Wife - the role for which Glenn Close lost out to Olivia Colman at the Oscars. Jonathan Pryce plays a writer who wins the Nobel Prize for Literature....a credulity-stretching plot, and plot twist.... Max Irons plays their son, excellent British character actor Richard Cordery in a small role, playing his agent.... That's three British actors doing American accents, I'd love to know how they (mainly Price and Irons) strike American ears. Irons, whom I've seen in a couple of things on TV, a rather wooden actor, in spite of his distinguished acting genes.

But interesting to see how truly weird the whole Nobel ritual is.

[johncorrigan]

I always liked Adam and Joe, the comedy duo, whether on TV or in their magnificent BBC Radio 6 show. So when Joe Cornish directed his first film I looked forward to it. 'Attack the Block' from 2011 did not disappoint - I thought it was exciting and funny and nicely offbeat sci-fi, with some very good acting performances and some scary-ish monsters. Anyway, yesterday morning the weather turned a bit sour out here, so I decided to bin the gardening and instead headed into Dundee to catch a late morning showing of Joe's latest, 'The Kid Who Would Be King' starring one Louis Serkis (son of Andy) as the Kid. It's a take on the Arthur tales brought into the 21st Century. It wasn't perfect but it had plenty laughs and some good performances particularly from the two Merlins, Angus Imrie; and Patrick Stewart, like he had just nipped over from the National where he had been performing King Lear. Very enjoyable Saturday lunchtime entertainment.

[Mal]

TBF I said the actors [the Booshop] were marvellous, the film merely lovely,...

I think it made things worse that these were marvellous actors without a vehicle to reveal how marvellous they are. OK they were acting well in the low key scenes, but I kept on waiting for something marvellous... never happened... low key all the way... lacks tension indeed!

[gurnemanz]

Saw Capernaum yesterday. Compelling performances, especially from the 12-year-old main protagonist (and his one-year-old co-star!). Touching, sharply edited and with a very snappily delivered narrative and fascinating documentary insights into the Lebanese milieu which the boy has to find a way of getting to grips with. Harsh, shocking at times, but with a tinge of humour.

Not generally to be found in local multiplexes, so the film needs seeking out, but well worth doing so. We went to Bath Little Theatre and made a day of it with some light shopping and the excellent George Shaw exhibition at the Holburne.

[Belgrove]

... I had forgotten how absolutely un subtle Spike Lee is. He manages to kill an interesting story with his heavy handed posturizing.

I agree entirely, never understood why he is rated so highly.

Alien is 40 years old! An anniversary showing at the cinema still produced gasps and jumps from the packed audience. Unsurprisingly it's showing its age a bit - the computer hardware is very IBM and now looks antediluvian, but the rust-bucket spaceship is timeless and does a wonderful job at generating unease, the use of the creaking iris shutters in the air ducts is a master stroke. Gerry Goldsmith's understated score (influenced by Ives' Unanswered Question perhaps?) causes anxiety too, overlaid by reverb and whispery metallic chatterings. And after all the mayhem, the soothing balm of Howard Hanson's 2nd Symphony as Ripley drifts into slumber, like Snow White in her glass casket. It's a remarkable piece of cinema, that taps into our deepest fears. It stands the test of time.

[richardfinegold]

I agree entirely, never understood why he is rated so highly.

Alien is 40 years old! An anniversary showing at the cinema still produced gasps and jumps from the packed audience. Unsurprisingly it's showing its age a bit - the computer hardware is very IBM and now looks antediluvian, but the rust-bucket spaceship is timeless and does a wonderful job at generating unease, the use of the creaking iris shutters in the air ducts is a master stroke. Gerry Goldsmith's understated score (influenced by Ives' Unanswered Question perhaps?) causes anxiety too, overlaid by reverb and whispery metallic chatterings. And after all the mayhem, the soothing balm of Howard Hanson's 2nd Symphony as Ripley drifts into slumber, like Snow White in her glass casket. It's a remarkable piece of cinema, that taps into our deepest fears. It stands the test of time.

Spike Lee is PC, of course, and the under 40 Generation doesn’t comprehend understatement...having been raised on television, they believe that the audience needs to be hit over the head repeatedly to make a point.
I made the mistake of renting Aliens and letting my young children watch, around 25 years ago. One told me that it gave him nightmares for years

[jayne lee wilson]

End of Watch….(David Ayer 2012)

Two LA Cops (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña) patrol some of the tougher neighbourhoods, encountering situations which become increasingly violent, dangerous and upsetting…. inadvertently stumble on the house/stash (and much worse….look away now, etc) of a Mexican Drug Cartel (you really, really don’t want to do that …..) finally lured into what becomes a breathlessly tense, heartstopping climactic shootout….

It’s a compelling watch from beginning to end of….
Some handheld camerawork from Gyllenhaal himself as Taylor, who, film-within-film style, has ambitions to make a documentary about their work, adds greatly to the realism, grit and tension. Great chemistry and dialogue between him and Zavala (Peña) with much charismatic in-car repartee (True Detective style) reveals their deep friendship… so all the more moving when things get, well, rather serious…

C4/Filmfour have been putting out some great late night movies recently - this is the best thing I've seen Jake Gyllenhaal in since the stunning Nightcrawler (one of my all-time Top Ten for sure)....

***
(The Alien franchise was a rare example of a series which maintained quality pretty well wasn't it? Until you get to Prometheus I guess, but even that OTT number was quite scary & inventive...and Michael Fassbender's android character David was exquisitely cold and self-interested. Even when reduced to...a head...)

[Stanfordian]

'The Aftermath' - Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård and Jason Clarke.

[Nick Armstrong]

Talking Pictures again.

Most enjoyable outing for one of Les Six on TPTV...

The Detective - Alec Guinness's 1954 turn as G.K Chesterton's "Father Brown", with Cecil Parker, Joan Greenwood, Peter Finch, "Sidney" James etc...

And a delightful score by Georges Auric

[Edgy 2]

Most enjoyable outing for one of Les Six on TPTV...

The Detective - Alec Guinness's 1954 turn as G.K Chesterton's "Father Brown", with Cecil Parker, Joan Greenwood, Peter Finch, "Sidney" James etc...

And a delightful score by Georges Auric

The Night My Number Came Up

This coming Thursday at midnight.

Super little film with Michael Redgrave,Sheila Sim and Alexander Knox.

Suitably dramatic music by our man Malcolm Arnold

[Edgy 2]

How did we manage without Talking Pictures TV ?

Recents

The Fallen Idol (Ralph Richardson,music by Alwyn)
The Rocking Horse Winner (Produced by John Mills,Alwyn’s music)
Geordie (Bill Travers,Alastair Sim,Alwyn again)
The Loves Of Joanna Godden (Googie Withers,music by RVW)

Not decided if they are all keepers yet.

[kernelbogey]

Beast
Written and directed by Martin Pearce (2017)
A terrific romantic thriller, which I've just seen at our local Film Society.

[Conchis]

I saw Vice on Sunday.

Personally, I think it glamourised Cheney. I'm pretty sure the real D.C. is now receiving lots of pervy fan-mail from women who can't wait to land him in the sack.