Films you've seen lately

[Belgrove]

Moses & Aron left me with the impression that Moses was little more than a gnomic purveyor of snake oil. In Ridley Scott's Exodus, his vision for the Hebrews is less philosophical and principally attributable to a bump on the head, whereupon God, in the visage of an English boy, speaks to him and makes him tea. If this sounds daft then just go back to the original text.

I loved the spectacle this old-fashioned-brought-up-to-date epic and was not bored in spite of the length. On return from his exile Moses becomes a terrorist, torching the granaries and launching a bronze-age rocket attack on the food chain - the irony of this will not be lost on the cinema goers of Gaza, if there are any cinemas left. The plagues of Egypt are suitably noisome and secularly inspired. The Passover is understated and cleverly done, reminding us that Scott has made some great sci-fi. There is a tiny kernel of a serious film embedded in this that occasionally pokes its head above the CGI splendours, but don't let that bother you, just enjoy the 3-D spectacle and Pharaoh milking his albino cobras.

[Nick Armstrong]

They're apparently planning to destroy the Curzon Soho on Shaftesbury Avenue, for the purposes of the Crossrail project.

I've supported this: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitio...he-curzon-soho

It's an oasis and it would be desperately sad to lose it.

Do please go ahead, cinephiles.

[teamsaint]

K

They're apparently planning to destroy the Curzon Soho on Shaftesbury Avenue, for the purposes of the Crossrail project.

I've supported this: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitio...he-curzon-soho

It's an oasis and it would be desperately sad to lose it.

Do please go ahead, cinephiles.

The whole crossrail project, seems, er, designed for engineering companiesrather than public value for money, or the real needs of commuters,shall we say.

Thanks for flagging this up, Cals.

[Ferretfancy]

The film "Pride" has just been released on DVD in America, its UK Release is in March. Pride has rightly been highly praised, I'd say it's very much in the tradition of films like Brassed Off or Billy Eliot.
To my sorrow and amusement somebody in the US has decided to edit the DVD cover, expunging a couple of brief references to the fact that it concerns the campaigns of a group of gay and lesbian activists during the Miner's Strike. Apparently this has been done just in case innocent viewers might risk becoming gay!

The distributors, CBS Films, are investigating why this has happened. What a country !

[johncorrigan]

The film "Pride" has just been released on DVD in America, its UK Release is in March. Pride has rightly been highly praised, I'd say it's very much in the tradition of films like Brassed Off or Billy Eliot.
To my sorrow and amusement somebody in the US has decided to edit the DVD cover, expunging a couple of brief references to the fact that it concerns the campaigns of a group of gay and lesbian activists during the Miner's Strike. Apparently this has been done just in case innocent viewers might risk becoming gay!

The distributors, CBS Films, are investigating why this has happened. What a country !

One of my films of last year Ff - some terrific performances in there, among whom the terrific Andrew Scott shone, in a subdued kind of way.

[bb]

2014 saw a marked decline in cinema going in the UK, although few of the most popular films have been mentioned in this particular thread. The Lego Movie, anyone?

The Guardian - Lacklustre films blamed for record fall in box office takings -
Revenues at UK and Irish cinemas fell 2.9% to £1.13bn, the most significant fall since records began in 1991

According to the British Film Institute, here are the 20 best films of 2014. We also saw two excellent 'scientific' rather than sci-fi films recently, although the theory of everything is no imitation game. The Imitation Game was criticised for historical inaccuracies, but the changes probably made for a better film!

PS Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything has been shortlisted in the four main categories at this year's Bafta awards, including best film. Eddie Redmayne, who plays Professor Hawking, and Felicity Jones, as his first wife Jane Wilde, are up for best actor and best actress. Once technical categories are counted, however, The Grand Budapest Hotel has the most nominations.

BBC News - Hawking biopic and Budapest Hotel lead Bafta nominations



Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is the frontrunner for the 2015 British Academy Film Awards after the announcement of the nominations, picking up nods in 11 categories. Birdman and The Theory of Everything both have 10, with The Imitation Game on nine. Those four films will compete for best film alongside Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, which has a total of five nominations.

The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything are also up for outstanding British film, a category rounded out by Under the Skin, Pride, ’71 and Paddington.

Three British actors are recognised in the best actor category: Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything and Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game. They will challenge Michael Keaton for Birdman and Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler.

BFI - BAFTAs 2015: the nominations in full

[DublinJimbo]

According to the British Film Institute, here are the 20 best films of 2014.

Of those, The Grand Budapest Hotel gets my vote any time. It lived up to (and in many cases exceeded) all the hype. A joy from start to finish.

[Ferretfancy]

Of those, The Grand Budapest Hotel gets my vote any time. It lived up to (and in many cases exceeded) all the hype. A joy from start to finish.

A terrific film which I saw at the Curzon Soho, now under threat of demolition.

[gurnemanz]

According to the British Film Institute, here are the 20 best films of 2014.

Of those 20 we saw only four:

Boyhood
Under the Skin
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mr. Turner

All very good. Despite regarding myself as a film fan, I will confess that I have never heard of some of them. Presumably, they never made got very far round the provincial multiplex circuit which many of us are forced to rely on. Some favourites we saw which are not on that list:

Tim’s Vermeer (had to see in London)
Dallas Buyers Club (surprised not in top 20)
The Imitation Game
12 Years a Slave
Inside Llewyn Davis (would be in my top ten)

Films we meant to see but missed:

Wolf of Wall Street
Calvary
Ida

[johncorrigan]

Saw 'Mr Turner' tonight in a the Dundee Film Theatre catch-up - at least 30 mins too long - Spall and his maid were brilliant mind you - scenery great - everything else passable.
Talking of too long I enjoyed the Hobbit3 but it could have finished last year - great costumes, weapons, bells, horns, but too many cheesy bits - Connolly was great being, well, Connolly on one of his old LPs.
My films of last year - 'Boyhood' (but Mrs C was less keen - wonder if it's a guy thing), 'Pride' which was totally top notch and Grand Budapest which just added to Wes Anderson's excellent bunch of films - also 'Guardians of the Galaxy' which was my favourite comic adaptation since the wonderful 'Dredd'. Would've loved to see 'Imitation Game' but didn't quite get there.

[Belgrove]

Birdman is a hoot! It is also a bravura piece of film making by Alejandro Inarritu, shot as if in a single fluid take. In truth the idea of the film did not appeal, but it won me over completely while watching, always a good sign. Ultimately it is exhausting being in the presence of Michael Keaton's washed-up movie actor who is trying to stage a play on Broadway, amid back-stage mayhem and the inflated egos of his co-performers, but then it would be. In the end we don't really know what is real and what is fancy, but that's showbiz in a nutshell. The cast is without flaw and are all doing feats which are technically astounding. Great use of music too: free jazz riffs percussively throughout to give an adrenaline-fuelled edge, punctuated by Mahler, Rachmaninov, Ravel and Tchaikovsky to accompany lyrical scenes of magical realism. It's like an amalgam of Orson Welles, Brian De Palmer and the Coen Brothers on amphetamines, yet contains moments of tender stillness that none of those have achieved. Glorious, ironic, hilarious and thrilling.

[johncorrigan]

Birdman is a hoot! It is also a bravura piece of film making by Alejandro Inarritu, shot as if in a single fluid take. In truth the idea of the film did not appeal, but it won me over completely while watching, always a good sign. Ultimately it is exhausting being in the presence of Michael Keaton's washed-up movie actor who is trying to stage a play on Broadway, amid back-stage mayhem and the inflated egos of his co-performers, but then it would be. In the end we don't really know what is real and what is fancy, but that's showbiz in a nutshell. The cast is without flaw and are all doing feats which are technically astounding. Great use of music too: free jazz riffs percussively throughout to give an adrenaline-fuelled edge, punctuated by Mahler, Rachmaninov, Ravel and Tchaikovsky to accompany lyrical scenes of magical realism. It's like an amalgam of Orson Welles, Brian De Palmer and the Coen Brothers on amphetamines, yet contains moments of tender stillness that none of those have achieved. Glorious, ironic, hilarious and thrilling.

Me, Mrs C and Master C all revelled in it this afternoon, Belgrove. As well as Keaton, a bravura performance I thought from the excellent Edward Norton and also from Emma Stone as Keaton's daughter. The soundtrack was utterly compelling and drove the film along accompanied by the excellent camera work.

[bb]

Leviathan

[Flosshilde]

What about it? Have you seen it? Is it any good?

[Nick Armstrong]

#161 & #162: I really need to see this, Messrs B & c. - thank you for your confirmation!

I also need to see the 'Budapest Hotel' film I think.....