The film thread.

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I read a book about Handmade Films a few months ago, so bought DVDs of some of their stuff - watched A Private Function last night and it was well-acted - saw it back in the day and the humour felt a bit lame, both then and now.

Mona Lisa yesterday, which I wasn't that enamoured by when it came out. Really enjoyed it though, and a cracking restoration to blu ray.

 

[Arron]

Keeping up with the only-on-DVD and often in the bargain bin...

Proof of Life -- A-list cast and stark realism of South American kidnapping. Mixed reviews from the pro critics leading to a break-even box-office but strong reviews from audiences. If you enjoy Andy McNab books, this is one for you.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Ditto The Final Curtain - a pitch-black comedy with Aidrian Lester, Peter O'Toole and Aiden Gillen. It's about a fued between two game show hosts, and scripted by John Hodge, who scripted Shallow Grave and the Trainspotting films.

 

[davidf]

Casino last night, revisited in 4K. Looks great, and as with other Atmos and DTS:X mixes, the sound effects and score/music tracks stand out more, which is great for Scorsese films with the fantastic 70s tracks he uses throughout his films like this and Mean Streets.

 

[davidf]

Two films last night from Alfred Hitchcock that I’ve never seen before - Sabotage, and Young And Innocent, both from the 1930s. Love Hitchcock’s look, style, and even the humour of his films, which he also includes in the very serious ones. A true director in every sense of the word.

I love directors who fully understand what they’re doing, what they want to achieve, and do it all knowing exactly what the audience needs to see, and how they need to see it. One example is they way he uses the camera to show an individual’s point of view - so if a character‘s attention is caught by something, or their attention is shifting between things, the camera conveys that and shifts quickly between the subjects, just as we would do with our own eyes.

 

[WayneKerr]

Dune: I read all the novels in the 80's and have all the iterations of this fantastic sci-fi story on various disks. This is sci-fi at its best, along with the original Blade Runner.

Finally rented Dune (2021) on Prime this weekend to see if it's worth purchasing the hard-copy. What a let-down!

Wonderful cinematography and a reasonable cast but where is the background history which was covered so well in the 1984 David Lynch film? Anyone who is coming to this without prior knowledge would think this is another Star Wars. It's not! The script writing is weak and as such the characters are poorly played: Lady Jessica is reduced to a snivelling weakling where in the novel and the original film she is a strong lady and not to be messed with. Paul Atreides looks like a model and a brooding pubescent boy, again nothing like the novel or the original film. All the main characters do not have the same impact as in the novel or the original film, they are all too weak. The only aspect which I found better was the CGI (special effects) but this should be the case anyway as the original film was nearly 40 years ago, same era as Blade Runner.

We then discover that this 2.5hr film only covers half the ground of the original film... this is Part 1, with probably many more parts to come... milking it - Star Wars style. With so much time on their hands they could have easily explained the history of this conflict.

Personally, for sets, acting with a much stronger cast and a better script with a truer storyline the 1984 release is still the best, (even though Lynch hated it).

Villeneuve was up against it for Blade Runner 2049 as the original is so iconic, but he didn't do a bad job. Dune (2021) just doesn't do it for me so I guess I must look to the 1984 release as being the iconic release.

 

[davidf]

@WayneKerr
I thought Villeneuve did a great job with BR2049. Watched it 11 times so far, and the only reason I’ve not watched it so far this year is I want to put it through its paces with some Perlisten speakers when they turn up.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

It's not a fashionable opinion, but I prefer 2049 to the original.

Carrying on with Handmade, watched The Long Good Friday last night - great film.

 

[WayneKerr]

@WayneKerr
I thought Villeneuve did a great job with BR2049. Watched it 11 times so far, and the only reason I’ve not watched it so far this year is I want to put it through its paces with some Perlisten speakers when they turn up.

Agreed, as a sequel BR2049 is very good. Unfortunately Dune is a retelling of the original and it fails to impress me as too much history has been left out of the script.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

A few bits and bobs from the 'now cheap on blu ray' camp:

Dead Calm - really enjoyed it and much better than DVD, as you'd expect.

Cube - a very interesting idea (a group of strangers trapped in a structure made of cubes, some booby-trapped, others not) - acting and script not up to the concept, but there you go.

Little Shop of Horrors - I'm not one for musicals, but I do like this - saw a stage version many, many years ago, where as the lights went down at the end, Audrey II makes a lunge forwards - the first 4-5 rows all jumped backwards.

Lost Boys - not as much fun as it thinks it is, and the acting is almost all execrable.

 

[DCarmi]

Two films last night from Alfred Hitchcock that I’ve never seen before - Sabotage, and Young And Innocent, both from the 1930s. Love Hitchcock’s look, style, and even the humour of his films, which he also includes in the very serious ones. A true director in every sense of the word.

Sabotage was the film where Hitchcock said he made his biggest mistake. He built up tension, drawing in the audience and then had the bomb go off. He never did that again.

My personal favourite from that era (other than 39 Steps and the Lady Vanishes) would be The Foreign Correspondent, if I am allowed to sneak in a film from 1940.

 

[davidf]

Sabotage was the film where Hitchcock said he made his biggest mistake. He built up tension, drawing in the audience and then had the bomb go off. He never did that again.

My personal favourite from that era (other than 39 Steps and the Lady Vanishes) would be The Foreign Correspondent, if I am allowed to sneak in a film from 1940.

I was quite surprised about the bomb, especially being innocently transported by a child - didn’t feel like Hitchcock, but made it all the more shocking. Foreign Correspondent and The Lady Vanished were both excellent, but my 1940 film would be Rebecca. I can’t say I dislike any Hitchcock films if I’m honest.

 

[davidf]

Double bill tonight of Leviathan and Harbinger Down.

One film thinks it’s Alien under the sea, and the other thinks it’s The Thing on top of the sea. But both have one thing in common - the cause of the unnatural mayhem in both films was the discovery of something lost/abandoned by the Russians…

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Lost Boys - not as much fun as it thinks it is, and the acting is almost all execrable.

Continuing the 80s tat theme:

Flatliners - enjoyable though not as good as it thinks it is, and the original Fright Night - saw at the cinema when it came out and whilst the leads are wooden, but Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell acquit themselves fairly well. I went to university in Leeds donkey's years ago and always hear this snippet of a conversation overheard on a bus when the latter is mentioned: 'Roddy Mac-Dowull - 'im oo wur int planit uv the airps.'

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Insomnia - One of Christopher Nolan's earlier (and to my mind, better) works - Al Pacino is fantastic (but then when is he not?) and Robin Williams displays a darker side to his repertoire.

 

[DCarmi]

And going back to the '30s. Watched "The Thin Man" again recently. Based on a Dashiell Hammett novel, it stars the excellent William Powell and the glorious Myrna Loy. It's a comedy, detective film, with a sharp and witty script and decent cast (and dog).

The first of 5 sequels is also good. The remainder are a bit formulaic, if enjoyable.

 

[davidf]

Insomnia - One of Christopher Nolan's earlier (and to my mind, better) works - Al Pacino is fantastic (but then when is he not?) and Robin Williams displays a darker side to his repertoire.

Roll on a 4K release. Love the film, and Williams’ performance (as well as Pacino’s).

 

[Ivabigun]

I watched The Protégé on Amazon Video last night with Sam L Jackson, Michael Keaton and Maggie Q. Good fun and she never seems to look older! 🙂

Try "Ava" with chastain , she is an awesome badass .

 

[Ivabigun]

I remember listening to Dave Lee Travis on Radio One in 1979 when he had been to see 'Alien' the night before at the cinema. He said he had never experienced such heightened tension and terror in the cinema. We tend to forget what an impact the film had at the time!
I will never forget the first time I saw Ian Holm 'erupting'......😁

I saw trailers of "Alien" on reel to reel back in the day on a living room wall and was terrified for weeks . uber cool .

 

[Ivabigun]

I saw Star Wars with my Mum, was 5. Remember Empire very well, particularly Hoth, as it lit up the whole cinema so much. Top Gun was my first under age visit to the cinema. Sadly missed out on seeing Aliens at 13 on a French exchange. My Uncle let me watch For A Few Dollars More while babysitting once, must have been about 7.

Clint is definitely my guilty pleasure, particularly Leone and Dirty Harry.

Recently I really enjoyed Promising Young Woman.

Those old harry movies have a great comedic under tow with one liners , Try the "Trouble with the curve" Clint and Amy Adams , I was really surpised I had not seen this sooner .
I saw star wars and empire strikes back , back to back in an old large screen Odeon , epic for a kid on a school day with my dad .

 

[Ivabigun]

@WayneKerr
I thought Villeneuve did a great job with BR2049. Watched it 11 times so far, and the only reason I’ve not watched it so far this year is I want to put it through its paces with some Perlisten speakers when they turn up.

There has to be more after 2049 , the uprising of a clone slave race has so many realities not to be missed , but agree deeper than most give it credence for , in my opinion .

 

[Ivabigun]

It's not a fashionable opinion, but I prefer 2049 to the original.

Carrying on with Handmade, watched The Long Good Friday last night - great film.

I can agree , but they are " interlinked " , LGF , old but brutal classic , Hoskins nailed it .

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

The Amityville Horror - still not very good after all these years.

And Now For Something Completely Different - German blu ray as we never got that release - lovely to see it with better picture quality, though alas the optional subtitles don't tell you what the funniest joke in the world actually is...

 

[DCarmi]

though alas the optional subtitles don't tell you what the funniest joke in the world actually is...

A man walked into a pub...

...nah! Might get arrested for mass murder!!

 

[DCarmi]

Watched Still Crazy again on Saturday. I hadn't realised that the chap playing Brian, wrote and directed Withnail and I and was also Oscar nominated for the Killing Fields screenplay.

It is no Spinal Tap but still an amusing watch.