The Film Thread

[Ginko]

Chinatown is a great movie and often argued as the most complete and perfect movie script in screenwriting circles.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Ginko

[8pints]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YcOle0dahM

 

I told you he was real CVByrne.

[tonyh29]

Forgot .. I also watched Kon-Tiki * on the same flight

 

I'm a bit biased as I've been to the exhibit in Oslo and also grew up being fascinated about the story

 

The film moves along well at a good pace , and assuming you know the story won't deliver any shocks , but I'd recommend it none the less for you like those historical type films about human endurance / stupidity

 

  I'd give it an 8 /10  .. I'd probably have scored it higher than that but for an absolutely appalling piece of artistic license in one scene involving sharks , the script writer should have been sacked on the spot and the director made to walk the plank for keeping it in the film

 

 

 

* for those not familiar

 

The story of legendary explorer Thor Heyerdal's epic 4,300 miles crossing of the Pacific on a balsa wood raft in 1947, in an effort prove it was possible for South Americans to settle in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

Edited September 5, 2013 by tonyh29

[Dante_Lockhart]

I watched Star Trek 2 last night, loved it. Can't wait for the 3rd. (This is from someone who never watched the TV series)

[Meath_Villan]

I watched Star Trek 2 last night, loved it. Can't wait for the 3rd. (This is from someone who never watched the TV series)

 

 

While your waiting watch  ST wrath of khan 

Edited September 5, 2013 by Meath_Villan

[BOF]

I can't take the original ST series seriously. I just see them as ironic B movies.

[Designer1]

Jack Nicholson retires from acting

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Mars Attacks was his finest moment.

[ender4]

Best film you've seen during 2013 so far?

the film must have been released in the last 2 years.

 

I'm going to go with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which i thought was excellent, but probably won't appeal to everyone.

[BOF]

Jack Nicholson retires from acting

or not

[Meath_Villan]

He just couldn't remember if he quit

[Chindie]

Saw Elysium at the weekend, haven't really had chance to get some thoughts down about it.

 

It's a slightly odd film. I'll get to that.

 

It's a film that cements Blomkamp as a man with a very 'real' vision of the near future. I bought everything in District 9, the future/alien tech looked very real, very credible, very believable, and he created a world that had that to it's core. Elysium is similar. I adore the art design of everything, the droids policing Earth and Elysium look so grounded in reality I can almost picture them stalking the streets a few decades from now. Elysium itself is a little less credible somehow but still isn't fantastical enough to warrant taking you out of the film (and it also is effectively a big multi million dollar reminder that Blomkamp was going to do a Halo movie... as the place basically is a ring world). It's a great setting for a clunking allegory. 

 

The film itself is also just inherently brilliant looking, it's well shot with some thoroughly impressive effects and more than a few vistas will raise a mental 'Wow... that's purdy' I'd wager. Even the grimy bits are so well shot that they have a beauty to them.

 

And I guess theres not really a bad performance here. Some characters are underwritten - Matt Damon's love interest serves mostly as a device to move the plot and is otherwise paper thin, Sharlto Copley's villain is a cartoon character that jars strangely with the movie's more serious intentions and messages (as fun as the character is), Jodie Foster is on screen for about 10 minutes and effectively appears to play the Devils Bureaucrat... but no role is badly done.

 

And theres some decent action.

 

As said though it's a slightly odd film. It feels like it never really gets going. I walked out feeling like I'd watched a first act of a movie for 90 mins with a third act whacked on the end.  I think this is down to the film feeling like it's rushing through things, it never quite lets something linger and settle. Theres everything there for a straight forward 3 act plot, but it doesn't feel like the film satisfyingly goes through that structure. It's not helped that the film is so far from subtle it's clouting you over the head from the word go. This is a film with a very clear wild view, with an astoundingly clear message and is keen to make sure you know. It feels like an argument in need of nuance. For example... everyone on Elysium is an utter bastard. To the extent, in one scene, an Elysium resident at work on Earth demands an employee cover his mouth when speaking to him and also asks that a dying man be cleared away off premises because he might make a mess. That kind of very childish black and white goes right down through the very fabric of the film and while it makes for a fun enough movie if Blomkamp wants to make a serious point he could do with learning about the shades of grey between any opposing stances.

 

Elysium suffers for being District 9's younger brother, really. District 9 was the golden boy, plucked from obscurity to great success and Elysium got those boots to fill and was found wanting. Fun, pretty, a believable sci fi future, but more than a little flawed. You'll see worse films this year.

[OutByEaster?]

Jack Nicholson retires from acting

 

But..but...who's going to play Jack Nicholson in films from now on?

[Wainy316]

Enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness.  Feel slightly better about the new Star Wars films in Abrahams hands.

[Pelle]

Just watched Mad Max for the first time in my life. It was decent, but I expected more action. 6/10, I think. Have the 2nd one too, but that's for another day.

[tonyh29]

Pelle, on 06 Sept 2013 - 11:15 AM, said:

Just watched Mad Max for the first time in my life. It was decent, but I expected more action. 6/10, I think. Have the 2nd one too, but that's for another day.

 

 

wait until Jaws and The Godfather make it to Sweden   ..you'll be blown away

[Pelle]

 

Pelle, on 06 Sept 2013 - 11:15 AM, said:

Just watched Mad Max for the first time in my life. It was decent, but I expected more action. 6/10, I think. Have the 2nd one too, but that's for another day.

 

 

wait until Jaws and The Godfather make it to Sweden   ..you'll be blown away

 

 

I've heard about those films. Thought they were more of a myth. Is it true that they really made a film of Gone with the wind starring Clark Gable?

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

from Peter Bradshaw's review of 'Diana'

 

I hesitate to use the term "car crash cinema".

 

Heh.

[smetrov]

Saw Elysium at the weekend, haven't really had chance to get some thoughts down about it.

 

It's a slightly odd film. I'll get to that.

 

It's a film that cements Blomkamp as a man with a very 'real' vision of the near future. I bought everything in District 9, the future/alien tech looked very real, very credible, very believable, and he created a world that had that to it's core. Elysium is similar. I adore the art design of everything, the droids policing Earth and Elysium look so grounded in reality I can almost picture them stalking the streets a few decades from now. Elysium itself is a little less credible somehow but still isn't fantastical enough to warrant taking you out of the film (and it also is effectively a big multi million dollar reminder that Blomkamp was going to do a Halo movie... as the place basically is a ring world). It's a great setting for a clunking allegory. 

 

The film itself is also just inherently brilliant looking, it's well shot with some thoroughly impressive effects and more than a few vistas will raise a mental 'Wow... that's purdy' I'd wager. Even the grimy bits are so well shot that they have a beauty to them.

 

And I guess theres not really a bad performance here. Some characters are underwritten - Matt Damon's love interest serves mostly as a device to move the plot and is otherwise paper thin, Sharlto Copley's villain is a cartoon character that jars strangely with the movie's more serious intentions and messages (as fun as the character is), Jodie Foster is on screen for about 10 minutes and effectively appears to play the Devils Bureaucrat... but no role is badly done.

 

And theres some decent action.

 

As said though it's a slightly odd film. It feels like it never really gets going. I walked out feeling like I'd watched a first act of a movie for 90 mins with a third act whacked on the end.  I think this is down to the film feeling like it's rushing through things, it never quite lets something linger and settle. Theres everything there for a straight forward 3 act plot, but it doesn't feel like the film satisfyingly goes through that structure. It's not helped that the film is so far from subtle it's clouting you over the head from the word go. This is a film with a very clear wild view, with an astoundingly clear message and is keen to make sure you know. It feels like an argument in need of nuance. For example... everyone on Elysium is an utter bastard. To the extent, in one scene, an Elysium resident at work on Earth demands an employee cover his mouth when speaking to him and also asks that a dying man be cleared away off premises because he might make a mess. That kind of very childish black and white goes right down through the very fabric of the film and while it makes for a fun enough movie if Blomkamp wants to make a serious point he could do with learning about the shades of grey between any opposing stances.

 

Elysium suffers for being District 9's younger brother, really. District 9 was the golden boy, plucked from obscurity to great success and Elysium got those boots to fill and was found wanting. Fun, pretty, a believable sci fi future, but more than a little flawed. You'll see worse films this year.

 

 

I felt pretty much the same (About Elyshiuim) - the film is setting the scene nicley and the plot is developing well - but then it just descends into a chase and a fight - could have been brilliant........ 

 

A far better film is Riddick - predictably it won't get a good press - but its a good combo of story and action - I would really recommemd it.....a far better all round film than Elyshuim.

[Designer1]

Just watched Mad Max for the first time in my life. It was decent, but I expected more action. 6/10, I think. Have the 2nd one too, but that's for another day.

 

Always found the love for the original Mad Max a bit baffling to be honest, I found it incredibly clunky.

 

The sequel however, is absolutely **** glorious. Brilliant, brilliant action movie.

 

Must say Tom Hardy looks the part for the new version, and at least he's not a racist arsehole.