Uncle Spielberg's Film Club

[AZ Gull]

Saw a couple of films this weekend over here in the desert that are well worth checking out.

Firstly, Brick - best described as film noir set in a US high school. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was in Mysterious Skin. Some quality moments. (Currently has a rating on IMDb of 8.1). My rating: 7.8

Secondly, Quality of Life, a truly independent film about a couple of "graffiti-writers" in San Francisco. Made with an unknown cast (one of the main characters was an actual graffiti artist with no previous acting experience who was being consulted on the screenplay, but was asked to stand in when the lead dropped out a week before filming began). There was an interesting Q & A with one of the producers after the screening, who gave an insight into the problems of making a low-budget film. Rating: 6.3

 

[A Melbourne Albion Supporter]

Nightwatch: Strange Russian hybrid of Underworld, Blade and Buffy. First of a trilogy apprently. Good to see a film with great production values being made outside of Hollywood. 7/10.

Prime: Uma Thurman nothing more needs to be said. A stock standard romantic comedy, thankfully minus Ms Aniston 6.5/10.

Constant Gardener: Great photography, interesting plotline, good acting, Rachel Wiess well worth watching. 8.5/10.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

5 for King Kong

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I have had good reports about the Constant Gardener but a guy in the dvd shop was overheard saying it was " utter gash ", strange how someone can think a film is brilliant and someone else thinks it is gash.

AI

 

[CHAPPERS]

Oi GARTH, have you seen JARHEAD?

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Not yet is it any good

 

[Marshy]

National Treasure

Nicholas Cage plays, er Nicholas Cage pulls a blonde stunner and finds some treasure. Or something. Sean Bean plays, guess what, an English baddie. If anyone really can’t wait for the Devinci code (plot identical) get this out on DVD, otherwise tidy your sock draw or do something more interesting.

Dull and predictable. Toilet. 3.5 out of 10.

I really enjoyed National Treasure 7.5

 

[CHAPPERS]

Not yet is it any good

Dunno mate, I might buy it though. From what I've heard it's meant to be pretty decent.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

War type films I rate

Saving Private Ryan
Casualties of War
Hamburger Hill
Platoon
The Thin Red Line

 

[Pevenseagull]

War type films I rate

Saving Private Ryan
Casualties of War
Hamburger Hill
Platoon
The Thin Red Line

more like ..........

The Thin Red Line
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Ice Cold In Alex
The Killing Fields


I saw "Black Hawk Down" last night, heard/ read a lot of good things about it but was mightily disappointed (4.7)

 

[Les Biehn]

I have had good reports about the Constant Gardener but a guy in the dvd shop was overheard saying it was " utter gash ", strange how someone can think a film is brilliant and someone else thinks it is gash.

AI

A guy in the video shop ah? So you trust him but poo pooed my opinion when I said it was, and I quote 'utter gash'.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

We are talking about the Constant Gardener Les, have you seen that

 

[Les Biehn]

We are talking about the Constant Gardener Les, have you seen that

Yes, I told you about six months ago it was 'utter gash'. However you choose to tell me that I was talking rubbish. Now video shop boy is suddenly the worlds top reviewer. I'm very upset unc.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I haven't seen it. It seems to be like a lot of Fiennes film , either love or hate ala The English Patient which I think is very good.

 

[JJ McClure]

I saw "Black Hawk Down" last night, heard/ read a lot of good things about it but was mightily disappointed (4.7)

Are you mental?

Black Hawk Down is an absolutely stonking war movie.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Another quiet week. Not much coming out on dvd or in the cinema. But did watch

The Constant Gardener

Les Biehn said this was utter gash as did someone else in the dvd shop , however I know lots of people who rate it highly so I pushed this into the dvd slot and settled down with interest.

This is a good film, there is no doubt about that. It is interesting and intruiging. I thought the message about the big pharmaceutical companies testing new drugs on the African so they could launch it and makes billions was well told and well acted.

The only thing I couldn't quite fathom out was how and why Rachael Weiss won both the Oscar and the Bafta for her performance. Ok it was a good, solid turn but oscar winning, I think not. For me the film was held together much more tightly by Ralph Fiennes who did not win any awards but the film was Fiennes more than Weiss for me.

I am not going to add it to the Spielberg dvd collection but it was a good watch 7.5 out of 10.

 

[Les Biehn]

Rachael Weiss gave a hammy, over ernest performance, Fiennes was much, much better than her. Ok the film isn't utter gash but it but its all been done before this government/corporation conspiracy stuff, and certainly done better.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Waiting.

Very funny film in the American Pie/ Road trip mould.

Would suggest it to people who liked the above.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Uncle Spielberg's film recommendation this week

A blistering performance by Ray Milland one of the best in film history.


The Lost Weekend (1945)
Directed by
Billy Wilder

Genre: Drama / Film-Noir (more)

Tagline: The Screen Dares To Open The Strange And Savage Pages Of A Shocking Best-Seller!

Plot Outline: The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout. (more) (view trailer)

User Rating: 8.2/10 (3,747 votes) top 250: #227

Complete credited cast:
Ray Milland .... Don Birnam
Jane Wyman .... Helen St. James
Phillip Terry .... Wick Birnam
Howard Da Silva .... Nat, Bartender
Doris Dowling .... Gloria
Frank Faylen .... 'Bim' Nolan, Male Nurse
Mary Young .... Mrs. Deveridge, Birnem's Landlady
Anita Sharp-Bolster .... Mrs. Foley, Cleaning Lady (as Anita Bolster)
Lillian Fontaine .... Mrs. Charles St. James (as Lilian Fontaine)
Frank Orth .... Opera Cloak Room Attendant
Lewis L. Russell .... Charles St. James
(more)

Runtime: 101 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification: Germany:12 / Argentina:16 / AustraliaG / Finland:K-16 / Sweden:15 / USA:Approved

Awards: Won 4 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 3 nominations (more)


LOST WEEKEND...

User Comments:

Textbook drama about addiction powerfully told..., 2 March 1999

Author: Donald J. Lamb from Philadelphia, PA

From the first shot of a bottle hanging from a drunk's apartment, we realize we are about to see a clever addict and a weekend of his demented exploits. Ray Milland has an honest face, not unlike Jimmy Stewart's, however, with this character it is only skin-deep. The great thing about his performance and the film as a whole, is that his face will gradually change, becoming dark and chilly, just like Stewart's in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Stewart had lost his life momentarily. Milland has lost his soul to the bottle and he will stop at nothing to quench his thirst.

This really is a textbook example of the alcoholic's lies and schemes, a precursor to LEAVING LAS VEGAS, although there are people in this film who care about the drinker from the beginning. He just can't stop and we start to lose whatever sympathy we had for him because of how he treats other people. This is a drunk with a sober man wanting to come out, but Wilder's script dives deeply into the unpredictable outcomes of most alcoholics.

LOST WEEKEND was innovative and was almost never released because test audiences could not take the film's realism. The hospital sequence retains its horror, and Milland's withdrawal-induced hallucination of a rat in the wall was like him looking in the mirror. See this movie and you will come away with a completely informed and scary anthology of the antics of a hopeless alcoholic. This is amazing considering it came out of the old Hollywood system.

 

[afters]

what on earth are you doing watching a half-decent film US? was the wrong film in the AI box?