Films you've seen lately

[jayne lee wilson]

Anyone else enjoying the sentient-AI trend this year? Following the tearfully-emotive Her, I loved the sleekly-styled EX Machina - whole new take on female empowerment, that one - and Chappie too (the slumdog millionaire becomes a technonerd, who'd've thought...), even if the latter's (very grand) finale is pure videogame...

Really need some good movies now True Detective is over . And given the (at least partly-deserved) critical reception to S2, probably won't come back...

[teamsaint]

Jeff,who lives at home.

Really nice film, funny and touching at times, and under an hour and a half.
Well worth a watch.

[Belgrove]

Surprising that none of you culture vultures have commented on the new Bond film! Whilst not up to its sublime, almost art-movie, predecessor, Spectre is a fun-filled spectacle and is exceptionally well crafted. There's even a Proustian reference for those nerdy enough to spot these things, which is entirely fitting with its underlying plot theme. You can also play Bond Bingo, ticking off the visual references to previous films in the canon, going right back to From Russia With Love. But it also makes a significant nod to a couple of Orson Welles' 'B-movie' thrillers too. The sequence in Rome manages to avoid all the visual cliches, providing a sumptuous feast in sepia and old gold. I was surprised by the level and nastiness of the violence given the certificate. But I guess kids see far worse in computer games, which after-all, is what this movie is. Sam Mendes has done a good job in managing to make the films in Daniel Craig's incarnation as Bond appear as separate volumes of a grander work.

[Tevot]

Hi there Jane,

I've got Chappie and Ex Machina on my "to watch " list, and I'll post my thoughts once I've seen them. I note though that Chappie has been by and large negatively received - which frankly gives me pause. It makes me wonder what Neill Blomkampf's Alien reboot will be like - if it ever gets off the ground.

Saw True Detective 1 (Finally!!) quite recently - and in the main imho it lived up to the hype. Excellent acting from Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan certainly - but I feel the last episode let it down - underwritten and descending into generic schlock horror on a par with the ending of the Silence of the Lambs where Clarice enters the Tooth Fairy's house...

Have you seen Locke? Now that is a film and a half.

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Tevot]

Hi there Belgrove,

Yet to see either version of Far from the Madding Crowd - though I recently downloaded the 1967 version. As per Mad Max - tbh I wasn't a fan of the originals. I think I've seen the first two - but not Beyond Thunderdome - I mean Tina Turner in the Outback !? Puhleese My disbelief is hanging off the Clifton Suspension Bridge

Yep - it was a franchise that made Mel Gibson's name - but imho he did far better work as an actor in Gallipoli , and We were Soldiers - and I would argue that his finest achievements have been behind the camera - helming Passion of The Christ and Apocalypto...

As for the Mad Max remake Fury Road - I thought it an enjoyable and very well made film. There's a section during a dust storm which is filmed in a blue filter - stunningly beautiful - in texture, depth, shade etc... Tom Hardy's Max is almost a peripheral character and Charlize Theron is a standout I think in her role....

Hardy is a bloody good actor though. Have you seen him in Locke? He plays an oddball construction manager, gauche, ill at ease with the human touch - but in such a way you gradually empathise with him and applaud his efforts to rectify a wrong despite the pain it causes to all concerned. All the more remarkable as the action takes place in a car and the dialogue takes place via a car phone !!

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Belgrove]

There are several reasons to see Danny Boyle's biopic of Steve Jobs. The performances of Michael Fassbender in the title role, Kate Winslett as Apple's marketing director (whom we are led to believe is one of the few individuals able to stand up to Jobs and deflect his resolve) and Jeff Daniels' sympathetic playing of the CEO of Apple, who fires and then rehires Jobs. The screenplay by Aaron Sorkin is highly structured yet unconventional, dense, witty, complex, and worthy of repeat viewings to tease out its nuances (the dialogue comes fast). Last is Boyle's direction that uses different musical styles and film stock in each the film's three eras, grungy 16mm, moving through lush 35mm to icy digital, to chart the progress of Jobs, whose character evolves yet paradoxically remains largely invariant. Any or all of these elements could win awards.

It references many of the shots and constructs used in Citizen Kane, and one can spot the parallels between the two films' principal subjects. The film opens with interesting grainy b&w footage from 1974 (when Jobs was 19) of Arthur C Clarke essentially predicting the smart phone and Internet. Even if you have no interest in the Apple phenomenon and computers, which is the exoskeleton on which this film is hung, it is worth seeing for what lies beneath - an essay on the cost that one with a messianic self-belief has upon his nearest, dearest and ultimately himself. A film for grown-ups.

[Tevot]

Hello there,

Thanks for the review of Steve Jobs, Belgrove which I'll definitely aim to see. Interesting though that it has been a commercial disaster in the States. Evidently a grown up free zone

I did manage to see both Chappie and Ex Cathedra recently. I liked them both. Chappie was imho hit and miss which I suppose one might expect from Neill Blomkampf's scatter-gun approach. It is a film teeming with ideas and playing with many genres - comedy, satire, thriller, fantasy and I suppose it is too much to take in. Is Neill Blomkampf a director whose vision and imagination exceeds his grasp - a bit like, dare I say, Terry Gilliam?

On the other hand, Ex Machina was cool, detached and absorbing. Fine performances all round - a couple of caveats being that it was fairly obvious what role Kyoko would play - and that the denouement teetered on the brink of unintended comedy...I had to stifle an inappropriate laugh... Interesting to read JLW's view that Ex Machina is a meditation on female empowerment. I'd agree and say also that it is perhaps a dissection of man's (indeed male) folly, vanity and stupidity.

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Richard Tarleton]

A bit late, but I thought it worth posting this quote from Max Hastings' new book on WW2 spies, codes and guerillas, "The Secret War", re The Imitation Game:

The 2004 Hollywood film about Turing, The Imitation Game, offered a version of his experience at Bletchley Park that was a travesty of the reality: far from suffering from persecution, he was treated there with a respect verging on reverance, albeit tinged with bewilderment at his eccentricities. Alastair Denniston, in the movie Turing's sinister nemesis, was in reality an enlightened administrator notable for his kindness. It is nonetheless rightful cause for amazement that when the great mathematician and pioneer of computing faced prosecution and ruin only seven years after the war ended, nobody in Britain's secret community, knowing of Turing's personal contributuon to victory, intervened to save him from chemical castration.

[pastoralguy]

I've just been to see 'Carol' starring the wonderful Cate Blanchett and Mara Rooney. A terrific film, beautifully acted.

[Tevot]

I've just been to see 'Carol' starring the wonderful Cate Blanchett and Mara Rooney. A terrific film, beautifully acted.

Hello there,

I'm glad you've enjoyed it Pastoral Guy. It is certainly one that I've been looking forward to as it has been collecting a number of rave reviews over the past few months.

One such is below on the RogerEbert.com website which I recommend as it covers and reviews a wide range of films - including ones that are little noticed in the UK press.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/carol-2015

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[pastoralguy]

Hello there,

I'm glad you've enjoyed it Pastoral Guy. It is certainly one that I've been looking forward to as it has been collecting a number of rave reviews over the past few months.

One such is below on the RogerEbert.com website which I recommend as it covers and reviews a wide range of films - including ones that are little noticed in the UK press.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/carol-2015

Best Wishes,

Tevot

Many thanks for that, Tevot. Very interesting.

[Ferretfancy]

Surprising that none of you culture vultures have commented on the new Bond film! Whilst not up to its sublime, almost art-movie, predecessor, Spectre is a fun-filled spectacle and is exceptionally well crafted. There's even a Proustian reference for those nerdy enough to spot these things, which is entirely fitting with its underlying plot theme. You can also play Bond Bingo, ticking off the visual references to previous films in the canon, going right back to From Russia With Love. But it also makes a significant nod to a couple of Orson Welles' 'B-movie' thrillers too. The sequence in Rome manages to avoid all the visual cliches, providing a sumptuous feast in sepia and old gold. I was surprised by the level and nastiness of the violence given the certificate. But I guess kids see far worse in computer games, which after-all, is what this movie is. Sam Mendes has done a good job in managing to make the films in Daniel Craig's incarnation as Bond appear as separate volumes of a grander work.

We went to see Mr Bond at the Odeon Leicester Square, but wish we had seen him elsewhere. The sound level in the large auditorium approached the threshold of pain, particularly during the battery of mindless ads which preceded the feature. I'm beginning to find the cinema going experience a real trial.

What about Spectre itself ? Well, I really wish that Sam Mendes was able to handle humour. It was a very po faced film, I thought, with few of the witty moments which seemed enjoyable about twenty Bond films back. Certainly the action was well staged, but almost every sequence began to seem interminable and they could hardly have invented a less fearsome villain. Give me Donald Pleasance as Blofeld with his white pussy cat any day. Altogether I feel this is a franchise that needs to be terminated, or as someone in the movie should have said over the PA - " PREPARE TO LAUNCH MISSILE ! "

[Stanfordian]

This afternoon I saw the Steven Spielberg film 'Bridge of Spies' starring Tom Hanks. It's superb film, fairly long but the time flew by.

I also really enjoyed the new Bond film Spectre. It's now a couple of weeks since I saw it and looking back I don't think it was as good as the previous two Bonds: Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.

[MrGongGong]

We went to see Mr Bond at the Odeon Leicester Square, but wish we had seen him elsewhere. The sound level in the large auditorium approached the threshold of pain, particularly during the battery of mindless ads which preceded the feature. I'm beginning to find the cinema going experience a real trial.

What about Spectre itself ? Well, I really wish that Sam Mendes was able to handle humour. It was a very po faced film, I thought, with few of the witty moments which seemed enjoyable about twenty Bond films back. Certainly the action was well staged, but almost every sequence began to seem interminable and they could hardly have invented a less fearsome villain. Give me Donald Pleasance as Blofeld with his white pussy cat any day. Altogether I feel this is a franchise that needs to be terminated, or as someone in the movie should have said over the PA - " PREPARE TO LAUNCH MISSILE ! "

That's all very well
but I found the whole thing sonically "unnatural".
I loved the volume, the trouser flapping bass in the explosions and nice to see the our Daniel has lost his Wirral accent completely.

[MrGongGong]

This

http://alvin-lucier-film.com

is sublimely wonderful

and this

http://accentus.com/productions/arvopaert-robertwilson-thelostparadise

is also worth watching but not likely to appear at your local multiplex