[Film] Film 2014

[turienzo's lovechild]

Might be an unpopular statement but given the collective circle jerk about it, I was massively underwhelmed by wolf of wall street.

I just didn't care about his character at all

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Dallas Buyers Club

A superb performance by McConnaghy and Leto. McConnaghy is showing again that he is an actor of real substance. A brutal, compassionate and sometimes funny true story of the battle against hiv and aids in the mid/late 80's. Sets its stall out with the Bareback analogy at the start with the sex and rodeo riding.

The guy did live for a further 7 years , now he could live a normal life expectancy.

7.9

 

[herecomesaregular]

Just remembered why I avoid this thread - some wannabe critic always gives away the story/ending!!

 

[LamieRobertson]

Might be an unpopular statement but given the collective circle jerk about it, I was massively underwhelmed by wolf of wall street.

I just didn't care about his character at all

i think thats why Kermode didn't like it ...that and it being unnecessarily 3 hours long

 

[Nibble]

Saw American Hustle, too long but a good watch. Wolf of Wall Street holds no interest for me really.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Saw American Hustle, too long but a good watch. Wolf of Wall Street holds no interest for me really.

Agree re Hustle...had some nice humorous bits

 

[Nibble]

Agree re Hustle...had some nice humorous bits

Good wasn't it. WOWS has dicaprio who I can't abide and Scorcese hasn't made a good film in decades so not much promise in it.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Good wasn't it. WOWS has dicaprio who I can't abide and Scorcese hasn't made a good film in decades so not much promise in it.

Yes ..and the showing i went to was well attended ..and that was 3 weeks after release...watched Dallas Buyers Club over the weekend...same cinema/screening...and yet less than 10 people...good film though
Re LDC..i haven't got s problem with him...but i'm not keen enough for 3 hours!

 

[Acker79]

Robocop
I actually liked this. It suffers from a lack of colourful villains, which makes the final battle seem a bit flat, but as long as you go in and allow it to be its own film, its quite good (not as good as the original, of course, but good enough on its own).

Dallas Buyers Club
I liked this one, too, very much.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Gravity (3D)

Having missed this when it first came out I finally got round to watching it last night (Odeon Brighton, Screen 4) in 3D.

My aim was, and still is to watch it in Imax 3D, as I feel that this film is one that deserves the best projection you can get, but I might have to wait for the a possible re-run around Oscar time for that.

Overall, it was a gripping, perfect length story, with stunning visuals (for example the opening frame is of the arc of the earth from space, and the camera lingers there for long enough for the viewer to drink it in, and have a look around the image - which of course is in beautiful 3D. Quite a breath-taking opening.

The story is not complex, but the plot is gripping, tense and engaging all the way through. The visuals maintain their high standard throughout, and there are definitely sections where the added resolution and just sheer size of the iMax screen would have helped.

It's certainly not a film that you need to see multiple times, as there's no hidden depths there, but it is most definitely a film where watching in the cinema is a must, unless you've invested in one of those new fangled 4k (or higher) TVs.

Excellent movie, and well worth the trip to the cinema.

One final point - the Odeon do clip on 3D glasses for those of us who wear glasses for cinema viewing - much better (and less sweaty) than the ones that go over the top.


8.5/10

 

[keaton]

Her

Brilliant. Like all Jonze/Gondry/Kaufmann stuff it may turn off some people, but I thought it was excellent. Funny, romantic, thought-provoking and wierd. It does have issues towards the end but I still think it's worth 8.9/10

 

[Nibble]

I know it's not this year but I saw Captain Phillips for the first time the other day. Wasn't expecting much at all but I was enthralled. Just one of the tensest, edge of the seat films I have seen for an age. Very good.

 

[Acker79]

The Lego Movie
I really liked this. Lots of jokes everywhere - some funny stuff in the background as well as with the main action.

 

[Acker79]

Her
I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed it. I didn't hate it, it just seemed too... something. I don't know how to describe it. The idea is that he fell in love with his operating system, the problem is, to make that realistic, the OS has to be quite human, but the more human they made her, the less you bought into her as an OS.

I'm also not sure the characters hit the right note. They weren't quirky enough to be lovably quirky, but not regular enough to sympathise with as recognisable people.

 

[Acker79]

The Book Thief
It had a narrator (Death) who did voice overs at the start and end and a few points in the middle which seemed tonally out of keeping with the film itself. It would have been the sort you'd expect at the start of some happy christmas movie, and comes and goes feeling a little tacked on.

There was an issue for me in the English/German. The film couldn't seem to make up its mind how it wanted to approach the idea of being an English Language film set in Germany, which led to there being an inconsistency in that you would see the books were written in German, and they would read it out in English, but then later you would see them write things in English (while reading out what they are writing), and reading the book in german, speaking it in English, then getting up and writing it on the wall in English (as she learned words she wrote them on a wall).

The performances were good, but it's a story in which not a lot happens for most of it, it's just a story of (kinda) normal life. So at times it felt slow, and due to it being Germany during the war, being about the daughter of a communist being adopted by a man who paid a debt owed to the man who saved his life by taking his jewish son in and hiding him in their basement, it wasn't the happiest of films.

Having said that, I thought it was a pretty decent film, Geoffrey Rush was his usual enjoyable self, the little girl wasn't too annoying, and Emily Watson was more complex than she initially appeared to be.



The Monuments Men
I thought this was a bit disappointing, with some bits not really feeling like they were explained well, some bits feeling like they dropped the storyline, etc. Most other comments I would make are too spoilerish, but it was m'eh.

 

[Meade's Ball]

A little double this week of different films. To finish the Oscar-nominated (and winning) run i went to Her on Monday evening. I quite liked it for its depiction of modern life and humans disappearing into themselves with the aid of technology, human contact and company a rarer tendency, and the general comedy of the opening hour or so. When it gets a bit "serious" and "heavy" i didn't find narratively it knew what it was up to greatly, but overall interesting to watch for long spells the ever-so-slightly-twisted Joachim Phoenix's face simply listening and being charmed and trapped by the operating system identity that firstly mirrors him innocently and grows beyond him and away from him as time passes. I had to query myself as a viewer of spectacle, of the self-love of an online character i feign to be, and of the constant social niceties hiding the slightly murky seed within, after watching it. And then chuckled at some of the creepy romantic moments that the film showed. Meade quite liked for the most part.

The other film was last evening and it was the obvious tale of an air marshal with a drink problem who is afraid of flying suddenly faced with the mystery of who the incredibly clever murderer is on a plush flight to London. Non-Stop. There he is, Liam Neeson, a man who suddenly found himself the master of action movies with a leathery veneer and a tortured inner soul in his late 50s, sat shaking on take-off as the texts come through to him to state that someone will be murdered on this flight EVERY 20 MINUTES! We all know what's coming in this film, so from the off from Neeson's perspective we spot the various likely doers of this heinous wrongdoing, all of them fit to stereotype. My money was not on the bearded arab. Too obvious. But the scatty business-class space-sharer in the form of Julianne Moore? Hmm, maybe. Anyway, it goes on and bodies begin to pile up. And it becomes all the more stupid as it goes, sadly laughable by the conclusion. Dear oh dear. Neeson does what he does, but the nonsense in the narrative and the ludicrous finish had me want to go to Cineworld less. I'm sure i'll be there next week though, cheaply watching something i perhaps want to sneer at.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Good thread. For the first time ever I saw all the best picture and actor/actress/director nominees and couldn't really complain about the results.

I'm now going for the documentary and animated sections. I have The Act of Killing ready to go, but did see Mr Hublot the other night - very French bonkers but utterly delightful. I'm always impressed with some people's imaginations - where did they think that up from?!

 

[TotallyFreaked]

I've been on a bit of movie spree recently due to the amount of releases with great online reviews. However to tell you the truth I have been a bit disappointed. Went to see Inside Llewyn Davis, I'm a big Cohen brothers fan and probably expected too much and found it good and watchable but not brilliant as many reviews claimed. Also went to see Her, usually it would be everything I would like in a film but again found it good but not brilliant, the story and the voice of Scarlett Johansson as an A.I computer got on my nerves a little. Think maybe my expectations are a bit high and maybe the hype around films does not help

However the one film I have not been disappointed with was The Grand Budapest Hotel. I have to give a bit of a disclaimer that I am a massive fan of Wes Anderson films and would take a lot to be actually dislike one of his films but have found his recent films such as Moonrise Kingdom not quite as good as he older films . However i thought he was back to his best with this film, visually stunning, great story and some very strong acting (especially Ralph Fiennes) with a bit more humour than in some of his past films. I can understand that his films are not to every ones taste and may feel formulaic but thought it was up there with his best (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums) Going to see it again this weekend I liked it that much and if you are are at all a fan of any of his previous films i definitely recommend it, a visual feast.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Scarlett Johansson's seriously f*cked-up new film 'Under The Skin' at the Duke of Yorks is maybe the ultimate marmite movie. Lifeforce meets the Scottish Tourist Board's worst nightmare! Loved it!

 

[RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)]

I haven't been able to get out to the flicks for a while, but me and missus saw 12 years a Slave last night. It's been reviewed to death so I'll keep it brief.
It's an amazing film, but very hard to watch. Beautiful and horrific in equal measure. Some of the scenes are deliberately extended to draw maximum power and make you feel uncomfortable. One scene, the main character played by Britains Chiwetel Ejifor is lynched, but still alive just hangs there in total silence while everyone goes about their chores around him in a scene that seem to go on forever. Amazing performances by everyone, rising stars and established actors.
I can see why people thought it was over long, but I didn't mind that.
If you've been on the moon and haven't seen it yet, then do but be warned, it's not easy viewing.
Oh and my wife hated it, she wanted to leave after the 1hour. Apparently too much reality for her liking