Films you've seen lately

[LMcD]

It cost some $15 million to produce and took some $57 million in the USA (Over $150 million worldwide). I thought it was a very sober examination of the perils and limitations of personal commitment when 'the system' has failed you. It also reinforces the view that even the strongest feelings generated by tragedy and injustice can fade relatively quickly as life moves on. I have to confess that any film starring Frances McDormand starts off at an advantage in my book! (I didn't realize that she was in 6 episodes of 'Hill Street Blues').

[Constantbee]

I have to confess that any film starring Frances McDormand starts off at an advantage in my book! (I didn't realize that she was in 6 episodes of 'Hill Street Blues').

Well, it was a movie not without controversy regarding its 'empty' portrayal of small town rural America, but from the very first shots I was gripped by Frances McDormand’s well crafted portrayal of the lead. Having listened to an interview with her afterwards I was impressed by the extent of her research into the character. She nearly turned the part down because it was unrealistic for a woman from that background to have their first child over 35, for example. And there’s a chilling real life precedent for the plot, too:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-43259912/meet-the-real-life-three-billboards-mother

[Dave2002]

I had to check out Frances McDormand, and of course she was the lead character in Fargo. Also I didn't know that she is married to Joel Coen - film maker.

[Nick Armstrong]

The Long Arm (1956) *repeated today (Sunday 18/11) at 17.20 on Talking Pictures TV

Another good one on Talking Pictures TV: starring Jack Hawkins as a phlegmatic Scotland Yard detective and a number of familiar faces, in a safe-robbery police caper set in London.

Very interesting to see several scenes, including the main dénouement, shot in and around the RFH, very new amid a lot of empty space (ideal for police car chases) when the film was shot, in autumn 1955 by the look of it - and judging by this concert poster:

[Dave2002]

Paddington 2

Seen it before, but it's even funnier the second time. Brilliant. Hugh Grant - superb!

[teamsaint]

All Night Long.
Patrick McGooghan , and a cast of Jazz greats.

A highly enjoyable glimpse into another world.

[richardfinegold]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Just watched this, as we have a Now TV subscription (Cinema) which I've cancelled and it runs out soon.

I really don't know what to make of this film. It seems to have been highly rated, and presumably not only in the UK, but also in the USA. Entertaining - sort of. Violent - yes in parts. Well acted - probaby.

What I really can't get to grips with is how it would be viewed in the USA, or even in different parts of the USA. Althogh the language is English, and I've even lived in the USA, I really can't understand this film from a cultural point of view. Perhaps I shouldn't try.

We enjoyed it very much. What in particular is your objection?

[richardfinegold]

We saw a Polish film yesterday, being distributed here by Amazon. It’s called Cold War, and it’s in black and white. It takes place in post WWII Poland and France, a rather bleak romance that spans a 15 year period and ends darkly. It’s main theme seems to be the difficulties that emigres experience adjusting to foreign cultures, as one half of the couple embraces Western Life and the other is repelled by it. It’s rather bleak message is accentuated by the black and white photography.

[Dave2002]

We enjoyed it very much. What in particular is your objection?

Hi Richard,

I kind of enjoyed it, but just wondered how people in the US would see it. It addresses several issues - violence against women, racism, police violence, gender discrimination, small town attitudes (whatever they are ...), violence in remote areas, people taking the law into their own hands. Obviously it's a film, so people shouldn't take it as "reality" - though some might/will. I didn't realise when I watched this that there is/was a real life basis for the action.

Re the police in the US - my own experience has been mostly positive - but I can see how things might get out of hand. I have been stopped while driving. As a non US citizen fortunately whatever I did was OK - but I think actions like getting out of the car might be really dangerous. As long as I was talking to the officers I found them helpful and courteous, but I wouldn't want to upset anybody who had a gun. I gather, having talked to fairly senior officers from San Francisco (while on holiday this summer), that they are trained reasonably well, and accidents shouldn't happen - but they still might. A non English speaking foreigner who didn't follow instructions might have problems if stopped by US police officers.

Maybe there are some police officers like the ones in the film - but I rather hope it was just a "parody" - stereotypes which aren't actually true. The police chief (film) however, was a decent chap. As I wrote before, although I've lived in the US, I think the way the film works may be different for US citizens, and do they view it "literally" - or just as a good story?

Perhaps the most frightening experience we had in the US, was in a Denny's Diner (I think it was Denny's) in LA close to midnight. There were around 6 security guards in the restaurant, all packing heat, and they were then joined by a similar number of police after a while, all similarly armed. I believe they were there to protect me, but it did not make me feel comfortable. I had to remind myself not to even think of touching the guys' guns as they walked around the tables.

[richardfinegold]

I don’t think that as an American, the movie should be any more comprehensible than To a non American. The characters are complex, exhibiting likeable and reprehensible characteristics simultaneously. I am not sure that there necessarily was a point, as opposed to a slice of life.
Are there no Law Enforcement authorities that abuse their positions in the U.K.?

[LMcD]

I don’t think that as an American, the movie should be any more comprehensible than To a non American. The characters are complex, exhibiting likeable and reprehensible characteristics simultaneously. I am not sure that there necessarily was a point, as opposed to a slice of life.
Are there no Law Enforcement authorities that abuse their positions in the U.K.?

Am I alone in thinking that it could easily be mistaken for a Coen brothers film?
And, in response to your question regarding Law Enforcement authorites - yes!

[richardfinegold]

Am I alone in thinking that it could easily be mistaken for a Coen brothers film?
And, in response to your question regarding Law Enforcement authorites - yes!

It did feel like a Coen brothers film, and of course having Francis McDormand as the lead reinforces that feeling

[Rjw]

Pleasantville, a lovely film¡

[Richard Tarleton]

Talking of Coen Brothers films, I've just watched The Ballad of Buster Scruggs on Netflix - a series of half a dozen blackly comic tales of the Old West - superb (award-winning) cinematography.

[johncorrigan]

Went to see 'Nae Pasaran' yesterday. Director Felipe Bustos Sierra's father was a journalist who went into exile after the brutal overthrow of the Chilean leader Salvador Allende in 1973. Sierra decided to go and find out about a story he had heard growing up about a group of workers in Scotland who had blacked Chilean plane engines in protest against the Junta's actions against the democratic will of Chilean people. He met some of the instigators in the Rolls Royce Factory in East Kilbride, one man, Bob Fulton, now in his 90s. He also interviewed people in Chile and investigated the impact that the boycott had made as well as exposing once again the brutality of the Pinochet regime. This was a very interesting and moving documentary about ordinary people taking a stand, and it was very well put together by Sierra.