The Hindenberg, a borathon about the doomed airship, with William HOlden and Anne Bancroft. Really tries to jump on the Airport disaster film bandwagon but it drags on and on. I think I saw Hitler youth Ralph from Sound of Music turn up as an (American) Nazi.
The Sound of Music, superb stuff really. You could be cynical about it but when you're watching you don't want to be. Funny how all the characters are American bar the authority figures or leads: Julie Andrews, Plummer and the nuns. Mind you, you know you're getting older when you start sympathising with the cynical types, ie the rich matronly suiter of Captain von Trapp who doesn't quite fit in and wearily suggests to her friend Max, when Fraulein Maria and her gang start up another song: "You should have told me... I'd have brought along my harmonica."
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
Checked out The Avengers today. It kept me entertained for the two plus hour running time. Good story, great action, and some good humor to. As one other person above said, Loki and Hulk at the end was just pure awesomeness!!!! My only complaints about this movie is the sound. The gunfire didn't seem overly loud and the scenes where characters crashed through glass seemed quitter than it should. It caught me off guard when the lack of sound happened. In the end though I guess it worked out. At least I wasn't blown out of my seat with lots of noise. Oh, one last thing. I got to see The Dark Knight Rises trailer on the big screen.
One last thing. There's a little teaser during the credits, so stay and watch. Also, at the end of the credits is a short clip to. IMO, not worth staying for, but it's there if you feel inspired to sit and watch.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Welcome to super hero movies, Joss. Please make more...
Dunno what you're talking about mr. M...the clip at the end is absolutely worth it. I read that they shot that the day before the release, hence why Ruffalo looks like he's trying not to laugh so hard...
Hey! Observer! You trying to get yourself Killed?
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Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Welcome to super hero movies, Joss. Please make more...
Dunno what you're talking about mr. M...the clip at the end is absolutely worth it. I read that they shot that the day before the release, hence why Ruffalo looks like he's trying not to laugh so hard...
I didn't even notice Ruffalo. I was sitting there just waiting, and waiting. Is the scene shot an inside joke or something? I just didn't understand it.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Welcome to super hero movies, Joss. Please make more...
Dunno what you're talking about mr. M...the clip at the end is absolutely worth it. I read that they shot that the day before the release, hence why Ruffalo looks like he's trying not to laugh so hard...
I didn't even notice Ruffalo. I was sitting there just waiting, and waiting. Is the scene shot an inside joke or something? I just didn't understand it.
The scene is a little gag on something Iron Man said near the end of the movie. I'll put this in spoiler tags for anybody who hasn't seen the movie....
After Iron Man destroys the alien armada with the nuke and is revived by the Hulk's scream, he says something to the effect of wanting to take everyone to "Shawarma", even though he doesn't know what it is. Shawarma is, if I'm not mistaken, a type of middle eastern food. Thus the scene at the very end of the Avengers hanging out in a bombed out restaurant while the owners quietly clean up in the back. Apparently the food wasn't particularly good since we only see Thor and Black Widow taking a bite. Also of interest is the fact that Captain America is covering his face with his forearm. That's because Chris Evans had a full beard for another role he was working on, as well as a shaved head which was conveniently hidden by a wig.
The whole scene is really just a little lark.
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
Thanks Tony!! I remember that now. I just didn't make the connection at the time.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Thanks Tony!! I remember that now. I just didn't make the connection at the time.
And I hear that Chris Evans had grown a beard for another role by the time they thought to shoot this, so that's why he has his hand in front of his face :P
Hey! Observer! You trying to get yourself Killed?
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LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
The last scene of "The Avengers" was a fantastic joke on fans of the last several Marvel films, which always had final (post-credit) scenes with teasers for upcoming films. The last scene in this one is simply hilarious, IMO...it's like the producers are saying to us: "Gotcha! Made you look!" )
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I didn't stick around till the end of the credits of Avengers, thinking (a) the cameo by a famous villain a couple of minutes into the credits was the "bonus;" and (b) since those closing scenes in previous movies were to set up The Avengers, there's be nothing to set up this time around. Silly me. . .
Anyway, last night I watched Martin Scorsese's Hugo. I absolutely loved it, mainly because I'm fascinated by early silent movies and Hugo is a genuine Valentine to them. Wait, it's supposed to be a kids' movie? Who cares. . .
In the 3D Odeon showing of Avengers Assemble (the best Marvel movie since Iron Man) I stubbornly waited till the end of the credits (when the Marvel logo showed up then the screen went blank) and I didn't see the final tongue in cheek restaurant segment.
Though people had a right laugh at Loki getting completely winded by the Hulk. Captain America was more than a soldier when on two occasions he gave battleplans to other characters in the New York invasion that bought time, minimised civilian casualties, and ultimately tipped the balance.
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...'
After escaping from a supermax prison on the moon, alien supervillain Boris The Animal erases Agent K from reality and facilitates an invasion that will almost certainly destroy the Earth. Agent J must travel back in time to stop Boris, save the younger version of his partner and end the invasion before can begin.
After the terribly disappointing Men In Black II it took 10 years for the producers to come up with another adventure; happily, MiB III marks a return to form with a winning mix of action, clever humor and some pretty nifty 3D effects. Wil Smith delivers a fairly understated (by his standards) performance as J while Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin split the duties as the elder and younger K. The film should be seen if only for Brolin's amazing performance; he doesn't so much imitate Jones as utterly inhabit him, capturing every physical nuance and vocal pattern and mannerism. Michael Stuhlbarg is also very good as Griffin, an alien who can visualize all possible futures and possesses one of the pieces to Earth's salvation. Bill Hader makes a hilarious appearance as Andy Warhol, who has more than a few secrets of his own. The time travel angle can always get a bit dicey in movies like this but director Barry Sonnenfeld and writer Etan Coen handle the various possible time paradoxes reasonably well. In terms of 3D, the film gleefully embraces the "in-your-face" style of 3D as we get lots of stuff poking and flying out of the screen including the business end of various ray guns and assorted alien entrails. Agent J's time jump to 1969 is probably one of the best 3D sequences yet put to film.
Overall, MiB III was a fun adventure with equal parts of humor, adventure and a bittersweet little twist at the end that puts K and J's relationship in a whole new light. Just the perfect thing to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon in a movie theater in my opinion.
This French film noir is a classic for a reason. It is a story of a diamond heist and what happens after. The film is stylish, brutal, smart and tense. He central heist is 32 minutes long and there is no dialogue or musical score during that time, and it works briliantly! In Mexco it was banned because so many robberies were inspired by it. The burglary tecniques used are simple and inteligent. This movie is highly recomended. Directors such as Michael Mann, Quentin Tarantino, Stanly Kubrick and John Woo have been clearly inspired by Rififi. There is talk of a US remake starring Al Pacino,God knows why it has taken so long!
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,774Chief of Staff
Prometheus in 3D.....
I'm not sure it lives up to the hype - which films ever do though ?...but its a great film all the same...it looks spectacular...the 3D really works - and actually added to the experience for me....I think Scott does a great job of telling the story...but it does feel like that this is a film to set up the film he REALLY wants to make....no issues with any of the actors/acting either...Theron is VERY HOT :x ....and Rapace is every inch the Weaver of the Alien movies....top marks for Fassbender too....this guy is a legend in the making...
It wasn't quite the film I expected it was going in....but that just may be a good thing....
A dark retelling of the Snow White tale, which is far, far away from the Disney version.
Charlize Theron is wickedly good as the dark witch Ravenna, living under a spell that allows her to live forever, as long as she occasionally literally sucks the life out of some young female. Kristen Stewart is Snow White, daughter of the king who was killed by Ravenna. Destined to become the fairest of them all, Snow White is imprisoned by Ravenna, but escapes to the dark woods, an area few people venture to. Ravenna sends The Huntsman played by Chris Hemsworth (Thor) to bring Snow White back. From there the movie is a series of chases, escapes, battles and spells.
I enjoyed the film, but I do have a few minor complaints. Kristen Stewert plays Snow White well, but the story does not allow her to portray much magical goodness. A few scenes, like one where she is in the enchanted forest allows a brief escape from the darkness and we get to see her goodness. I would have enjoyed a few more scenes like that. My other complaint is at times I had trouble understanding the dwarfs, yes the movie has dwarfs, but they are not sleepy and grumpy. Not sure if it was the theatres sound system or just the dwarfs voices, but at times part of the theatre was laughing at what the dwarfs said, while my area sat stone silent.
Those complaints are minor, as overall I really enjoyed the film. Charlize Theron nails the dark witch, evil and tortured; she displays her emotion with just a touch of restraint which makes her all the more menacing. Chris Hemsworth and Stewart are fine in their roles, with Stewart saving her best for the climactic battle. The film is dark, yet visually interesting, which keeps the mood of the film appropriately sullen. Clocking in at a little over two hours, the films moves along with only a brief slow area where the dwarfs sit around a camp fire and discuss life. I enjoyed the film and recommend it.
This is probably the best romantic commedy I have ever seen. Faint praise, you might think. What about this: (500) Days of Summer is really a good film.
It is about a boy (the exelent Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who meets a girl (the fantastic Zooey Deschanel). The rest of the story is far more origional. The movie is inteligent, moving, strangly honest and naturally witty. There are some scenes that stands out. The split screen sequence showing imagination and reality and the scene showing the feeling of walking to work after getting laid by the girl you have dreamt of for some time are really memorable. Perhaps this is the rom-com for people who don`t like romantic comedies?
Christopher Nolan's film set in Victorian London featuring two magicians (played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) who initially work together as assistants but later become bitter rivals after Jackman's wife drowns in a water tank during a performance that goes tragically wrong, for which Jackman blames Bale's character.
Saw this for the first time on TV last night. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the period setting, and was engrossed from start to finish with the numerous twists and turns, some of which were signposted. A film that will require repeat viewing to try and make sense of it all. The only downside (but not for me) it could be argued is that things become more science fiction than magic with the introduction of Tesla's machine. Thoroughly recommended.
Moore Not Less 4371 posts (2002 - 2007) Moore Than (2012 - 2016)
When scientists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway find proof that our world was seeded by aliens and a roadmap to their potential location industrialist Peter Weyland finances a trip to the stars ostensibly in the name of science but, of course, with other motives as well.
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he first explored in Alien to give us this story about mankind's search for the secrets of its origins and the horrors it encounters when it gets to literally meet its makers. The film isn't really a prequel but more of a side story that takes place in the same universe and makes use of some of the same archetypes.
Prometheus tries to be both a hardcore, "big idea" science fiction film as well as a horror movie like its illustrious predecessor. Unfortunately, it really doesn't succeed at accomplishing either. While the film poses some pretty interesting questions about where we may come from, the crew sent to find the answers is made up of some of the stupidest people you are ever likely to meet. The idiotic way in which some of the characters interact with the mysteries they encounter pretty much dooms Prometheus from ever being mentioned in the same breath as 2001 or Forbidden Planet. In terms of scares, the movie never manages to reach that frantic, visceral pace of the original, presenting instead a deliberate, almost leisurely story punctuated by moments of stress.
Other than Noomi Rapace's Dr. Shaw and Michael Fassbender's robotic David (a precursor to Ash and Bishop) the rest of the cast is made up of forgettable non-entities who pretty much stand around and do nothing other than provide the occasional fodder. Charlize Theron is utterly superfluous as the requisite Company bureaucrat, Logan Marshall Green comes across as such a jerk as Dr. Holloway that you feel zero empathy for him when David decides to conduct a little experiment. Idris Elba has little to do beyond trying to get in Theron's pants before displaying a little final act heroism. And Sean Harris and Rafe Spall (Fifield and Milburn) may well be two of the stupidest people ever put on film, leaving you to wonder who in their right mind would put these two morons on a spaceship with such an important mission.
Where the film succeeds is in its look and its success at really taking you to an alien planet. Scott makes good use of 3D, giving the large rooms and long corridors below the surface of LV223 a sense of massive scale and depth. Its just a pity that the storytelling doesn't come close to matching the visuals.
If Ridley Scott intends to make a sequel to Blade Runner or a followup to Prometheus (the ending of the film clearly leaves open the possibility of more films) one can only hope he will get some better writers. Damon Lindeloff's (of Lost fame) rewrite of a Jon Spaihts draft clearly isn't up to the task and is an indictment of what passes for good writing in Hollywood these days.
This is the Marvel version designed as a tie-in with the current Avengers Assemble, or The Avengers to give it the UK title.
Saw it on telly, watchable, no ad breaks for first hour or so bizarrely. I'd have felt cheated to pay £15 to see it at the cinema though, as the main lead and main special effect, the Hulk, looks like CGI thru and thru. Norton was okay in the role, though why anyone might think an actor like that would stay on for any kind of sequel given his contentious history, I don't know.
Overall, the film did lack the key factor from childhood - a mad sense of serial fun and frolics, replacing it instead with sombre portentousness, as with the Batman franchise. And you can't say Hulk really took on anyone that useful, it's not a Superman-style movie. I do feel these superheroes have problems conjuring up great villains when it comes to the movies. Either they're humans, in which case you feel the villain might almost be the underdog, or they're some alien creature from the same strand, in which case the hero is almost part of the problem.
Dear John starring Channing Tatum :x
Sentimental war drama/romance.
Great to see Channing on the beach with shirt off and of course in US marine uniform...grrrr!!
Cried all the way through the second hour, but thoroughly enjoyed it!
Early 70s thriller, not oft seen on UK TV, about Donald Sutherland meeting up with call girl Jane Fonda to investigate his pal's disappearance. An odd film, the plot is typical TV drama nothing special, a bit Kojak, but the vibe is eerie with lots of tapes and listening devices characteristic of the era and films such as The Anderson Tapes and The Converstation.
Sutherland is a cold fish playing a warm hearted guy, a weirdo playing Mr Normal, it's a paradox. Fonda is superb and totally deserved her Oscar, conveys the mixed feelings of a character who likes to be in control, to counter the fact that as a wannabe actor her character has no say in anything much at all.
A bit strange pairing, Sutherland seems to be an older guy, in his mid 40s, and part of the golf club set, yet Fonda must be late 20s, so can't see where that would go.
A well-shot thriller, kept me watching until nearly 2am.
Brill stuff! It was the climax with the hotel in the desert exploding, Craig running along in tight black outfit, a bit 1960s cool, a bit Dangerman (Secret Agent man for Yanks), shooting glass as he tries to nab Greene (though why, it now occurs to me, if he wants to question him).
The way the fire takes over is brilliantly directed, quite epic.
It then goes wrong, with Craig and Olga in the car (where did the car come from it now occurs to me, where did they leave it if they approached the hotel from afar, no lookouts?), Craig looking like Sting in Dune, and I hate to say this, but I just can't quite hear what he says, it's so low and mumbley. Oh, when he lets Greene go, it doesn't work for me, his delivery rubs me up the wrong way. He's got the voice of a real charmless, cocky b&stard, no suavity. It should be like Moore giving the drug pusher cynanide in The Wild Geese, steely.
But it's the script, blimey, did it need a polish. I like the scene with the Canadian intelligence officer at the end, though you do sort of wonder again, just strolling out the building and letting the officers enter. Like, huh? Can't that bloke escape? Maybe he just tossed over a magazine and said, 'Hey, just wait there, and I'll send the boys up.'
The dialogue between M and Bond is atrocious. The scriptwriters really made their point with their strike.
Luckily I watched MI4, to see how it should be done.
Still think they missed out not getting Simon Pegg to play Bond.
as his films are very successful )
Did Craig come up with the "I can't find the stationary " line as that's a Classic.
always gets a laugh. And Dumpimg Mathis in the skip, Brilliant very Fleming.
( I remember Bond was always dropping dead friends in skips )
mo·ment/ˈmōmənt/
Noun:
.A very brief period of time. Yes I can agree with that. )
( loved the silly walk at the end)
Also re-watched Serlock Holmes,Game of shadows. Great fun -{
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
Borrowed this film from a friend... it started off quite slow (apparently it was supposed to be non stop laughs... ) BUT there were some very funny gags.... and it got better as it went on.
Basically 3 friends all have 'horrible bosses' and decide to kill them - as you do ) - and it led to some rather squirm worthy incidents - not to mention the laugh out loud first attempt at a hit man
Jennifer Aniston's famous banana eating incident lasted all of 2 seconds (maybe that's all it takes :v) and the hype surrounding this movie definitely outweighed the laughs it got from me... however, it didn't cost me anything to watch it, so it passed an otherwise uneventful Sunday evening -{
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
The Reader. It's a very powerful film, set in post-war Germany about a romance between a young boy and an older woman, who suddenly disappears, only to emerge again 8 years later on trial for war crimes, and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He struggles with his love for her, and disdain for the horrors of the events that she allegedly committed during the war.
Brilliant performances by the actors - Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet and German youngster David Kross. I loved this film.
I saw this last night.... wow, what a performance from Kate - and indeed a very powerful film. The palpable feeling of obsession (that comes with a new relationship) his utter blindness love/lust for her, and then when she disappears his internalisation of how much it hurt him, combined with learning about her part in the War, but then also his overwhelming guilt he feels when he doesn't bring forth some critical information about her, that could in fact reduce her sentence.
Brilliant movie... and I'm not surprised Kate won her first Oscar for this perfomance.
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
Saw the Woman In Black last night. Hammer House of Horror style, very well done and thoroughly eerie in the build up. Actually, bloody scary! Not often I jump during a scary scene, but there were certainly a few moments and my heart was actually pounding at one point! All in all a very good horror without gore and violence, in the old school and a good film for Daniel Radcliffe to move away from Harry Potter with. 9/10.
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Here's an odd one on telly last night as I was idling after the Spain Portugal game. Some teenage American kids. Susan Sarandon pops up. Then Pierce Brosnan! And Carey Mulligan, of Drive and soon Great Gatsby fame.
What film is this?
It's impressive. A family getting over the death of their golden boy eldest son, seen in flashbacks. Superior acting all round with Pierce just about holding his own, and sometimes very impressive indeed, some very affecting moments from him. Oddly, he is in another similar sounding film with Robert Pattinson later. This one, however, is called The Greatest, it turns out by looking at imdb. I didn't see it out, I felt I had to get an early night, but looks well worth catching if you UK viewers see it in the schedules again. It has quite an eerie feel, a bit of an atmosphere that slowly grows on you.
I have seen all the Pixar movies and thought everyone of them was exceptional, until I saw Cars 2, which wasn't terrible, but was still not up to the previous Pixar standard. I am happy to report that Pixar is back in stride with its latest release Brave.
Brave tells the story of Merida, a young Scottish girl, who is the daughter of the King and Queen. She enjoys riding horses and practicing archery more than engaging in the duties of a Princess, much to the chagrin of her mother. When her mother announces that the time has come to promise her hand to the son of one of the other clans leaders, she revolts. In true Disney fashion she rides into the forest where she meets a witch and asks the witch to cast a spell on her mother. The spell is meant to change her mother's thinking, but when the spell goes all wrong, Merida is forced to use all her physical skills and some skills she didn't realize she had to save her mother.
I saw the standard version of the film as I read several blogs that stated the 3-D was not worth the extra admission cost. However, I still found the film beautifully drawn with visually interesting landscape and interiors. Merida is drawn with flowing red hair to match her fiery disposition and gorgeous piercing blue eyes. The music in the film matches the visuals, as you would expect the music has a Scottish folk song feel to it, while still providing the suitable emotional feel to the scene.
Disney can tell a Princess story, but this one is different, the heroine is independent, at times rash, not anything like Snow White. The witch is unlike any witch you have seen before, a little goofy, yet still providing some fear. The King is brave, but not too noble, providing comic relief along with Merida's triplet brothers who can't help but get into mischief.
Merida is voiced by Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly voices the King and Emma Thompson is Elinor, the Queen. As I watched the film I did not recognize any of the voices which I prefer, as I find recognizable celebrity voices to be a distraction to my acceptance of the characters. In Brave, the actor’s voices belonged to the characters, not the actors.
I enjoyed this film more than I anticipated, there was laughter, tension, joy and at the end, applause from the audience. I attended the film with my wife, two sons who are 17 and 24, and my son’s girlfriend and everyone enjoyed it. Pixar is back, highly recommend.
As with all Pixar movies, there was a short film shown before Brave. I usually enjoy these short films, but this one, La Luna, did nothing for me. Visually somewhat flat, the story is only mildly interesting.
Woody Allen continues jaunting around Europe's most famous and photogenic cities. After exploring London, Barcelona and Paris, he has now settled in the Italian capital, which serves as the setting for his most out-and-out farce since...well, arguably Love And Death in 1975.
What we have are four interwoven but completely unrelated storylines:
1) A retired American opera director (Woody himself, in a refreshingly humorous role that involves no dalliances with absurdly younger women) comes to Rome to meet his daughter's fiance, only to discover that the boy's father has a spectacular operatic voice...so long as he is singing in the shower.
2) An American architecture student (Jesse Eisenberg, whose nervous energy recalls a young Woody) falls for his girlfriend's visiting friend (a pretentious, semi-slutty actress played fabulously by Ellen Page), all the while being counseled by a famous architect (Alec Baldwin) who may or may not be a real person.
3) A newlywed couple from the Italian countryside who are in Rome to meet his well-connected relatives become separated just after they arrive. She ends up in the hotel room of a famous lothario actor, while he ends up with a prostitute (a film-stealing Penelope Cruz) who arrives at his room by mistake.
4) A boring office clerk (Roberto Benigni, who, incredibly, is not annoying) suddenly becomes a celebrity for no reason at all and must deal with reporters and paparazzi before becoming yesterday's news just as quickly.
Allen's gift is that, as with Midnight In Paris, he enables the suspension of disbelief with good writing. Just as we could accept Owen Wilson traveling back to the 1920s, we can accept Alec Baldwin showing up everywhere and addressing characters (not just Eisenberg's) as if he were sitting on their shoulders. The problem, though, is that the film is just a series of vignettes. Yes, they are amusing, but without a central narrative arc the whole thing feels like a collection of sitcoms rather than a movie. While I haven't laughed as hard in a Woody Allen film since who-knows-when, ultimately this one is not among his classics.
My wife's choice last night on sky, and she chose Bridesmaids. I braced myself for girly crap, but it was bloody hilarious! Absolutey funny and cringeworthy at times. The characters were great, and script was loaded with brilliant lines and visual humour. It's typically gutter humour, maybe I was in the right mood for a good laugh, but I've tuned into some big names doing comedies lately and been really disappointed. This was a really fun film to watch!
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Comments
The Hindenberg, a borathon about the doomed airship, with William HOlden and Anne Bancroft. Really tries to jump on the Airport disaster film bandwagon but it drags on and on. I think I saw Hitler youth Ralph from Sound of Music turn up as an (American) Nazi.
The Sound of Music, superb stuff really. You could be cynical about it but when you're watching you don't want to be. Funny how all the characters are American bar the authority figures or leads: Julie Andrews, Plummer and the nuns. Mind you, you know you're getting older when you start sympathising with the cynical types, ie the rich matronly suiter of Captain von Trapp who doesn't quite fit in and wearily suggests to her friend Max, when Fraulein Maria and her gang start up another song: "You should have told me... I'd have brought along my harmonica."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
One last thing. There's a little teaser during the credits, so stay and watch. Also, at the end of the credits is a short clip to. IMO, not worth staying for, but it's there if you feel inspired to sit and watch.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Welcome to super hero movies, Joss. Please make more...
Dunno what you're talking about mr. M...the clip at the end is absolutely worth it. I read that they shot that the day before the release, hence why Ruffalo looks like he's trying not to laugh so hard...
mountainburdphotography.wordpress.com
I didn't even notice Ruffalo. I was sitting there just waiting, and waiting. Is the scene shot an inside joke or something? I just didn't understand it.
The scene is a little gag on something Iron Man said near the end of the movie. I'll put this in spoiler tags for anybody who hasn't seen the movie....
The whole scene is really just a little lark.
And I hear that Chris Evans had grown a beard for another role by the time they thought to shoot this, so that's why he has his hand in front of his face :P
mountainburdphotography.wordpress.com
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Anyway, last night I watched Martin Scorsese's Hugo. I absolutely loved it, mainly because I'm fascinated by early silent movies and Hugo is a genuine Valentine to them. Wait, it's supposed to be a kids' movie? Who cares. . .
Though people had a right laugh at Loki getting completely winded by the Hulk. Captain America was more than a soldier when on two occasions he gave battleplans to other characters in the New York invasion that bought time, minimised civilian casualties, and ultimately tipped the balance.
After escaping from a supermax prison on the moon, alien supervillain Boris The Animal erases Agent K from reality and facilitates an invasion that will almost certainly destroy the Earth. Agent J must travel back in time to stop Boris, save the younger version of his partner and end the invasion before can begin.
After the terribly disappointing Men In Black II it took 10 years for the producers to come up with another adventure; happily, MiB III marks a return to form with a winning mix of action, clever humor and some pretty nifty 3D effects. Wil Smith delivers a fairly understated (by his standards) performance as J while Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin split the duties as the elder and younger K. The film should be seen if only for Brolin's amazing performance; he doesn't so much imitate Jones as utterly inhabit him, capturing every physical nuance and vocal pattern and mannerism. Michael Stuhlbarg is also very good as Griffin, an alien who can visualize all possible futures and possesses one of the pieces to Earth's salvation. Bill Hader makes a hilarious appearance as Andy Warhol, who has more than a few secrets of his own. The time travel angle can always get a bit dicey in movies like this but director Barry Sonnenfeld and writer Etan Coen handle the various possible time paradoxes reasonably well. In terms of 3D, the film gleefully embraces the "in-your-face" style of 3D as we get lots of stuff poking and flying out of the screen including the business end of various ray guns and assorted alien entrails. Agent J's time jump to 1969 is probably one of the best 3D sequences yet put to film.
Overall, MiB III was a fun adventure with equal parts of humor, adventure and a bittersweet little twist at the end that puts K and J's relationship in a whole new light. Just the perfect thing to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon in a movie theater in my opinion.
This French film noir is a classic for a reason. It is a story of a diamond heist and what happens after. The film is stylish, brutal, smart and tense. He central heist is 32 minutes long and there is no dialogue or musical score during that time, and it works briliantly! In Mexco it was banned because so many robberies were inspired by it. The burglary tecniques used are simple and inteligent. This movie is highly recomended. Directors such as Michael Mann, Quentin Tarantino, Stanly Kubrick and John Woo have been clearly inspired by Rififi. There is talk of a US remake starring Al Pacino,God knows why it has taken so long!
I'm not sure it lives up to the hype - which films ever do though ?...but its a great film all the same...it looks spectacular...the 3D really works - and actually added to the experience for me....I think Scott does a great job of telling the story...but it does feel like that this is a film to set up the film he REALLY wants to make....no issues with any of the actors/acting either...Theron is VERY HOT :x ....and Rapace is every inch the Weaver of the Alien movies....top marks for Fassbender too....this guy is a legend in the making...
It wasn't quite the film I expected it was going in....but that just may be a good thing....
A dark retelling of the Snow White tale, which is far, far away from the Disney version.
Charlize Theron is wickedly good as the dark witch Ravenna, living under a spell that allows her to live forever, as long as she occasionally literally sucks the life out of some young female. Kristen Stewart is Snow White, daughter of the king who was killed by Ravenna. Destined to become the fairest of them all, Snow White is imprisoned by Ravenna, but escapes to the dark woods, an area few people venture to. Ravenna sends The Huntsman played by Chris Hemsworth (Thor) to bring Snow White back. From there the movie is a series of chases, escapes, battles and spells.
I enjoyed the film, but I do have a few minor complaints. Kristen Stewert plays Snow White well, but the story does not allow her to portray much magical goodness. A few scenes, like one where she is in the enchanted forest allows a brief escape from the darkness and we get to see her goodness. I would have enjoyed a few more scenes like that. My other complaint is at times I had trouble understanding the dwarfs, yes the movie has dwarfs, but they are not sleepy and grumpy. Not sure if it was the theatres sound system or just the dwarfs voices, but at times part of the theatre was laughing at what the dwarfs said, while my area sat stone silent.
Those complaints are minor, as overall I really enjoyed the film. Charlize Theron nails the dark witch, evil and tortured; she displays her emotion with just a touch of restraint which makes her all the more menacing. Chris Hemsworth and Stewart are fine in their roles, with Stewart saving her best for the climactic battle. The film is dark, yet visually interesting, which keeps the mood of the film appropriately sullen. Clocking in at a little over two hours, the films moves along with only a brief slow area where the dwarfs sit around a camp fire and discuss life. I enjoyed the film and recommend it.
This is probably the best romantic commedy I have ever seen. Faint praise, you might think. What about this: (500) Days of Summer is really a good film.
It is about a boy (the exelent Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who meets a girl (the fantastic Zooey Deschanel). The rest of the story is far more origional. The movie is inteligent, moving, strangly honest and naturally witty. There are some scenes that stands out. The split screen sequence showing imagination and reality and the scene showing the feeling of walking to work after getting laid by the girl you have dreamt of for some time are really memorable. Perhaps this is the rom-com for people who don`t like romantic comedies?
Christopher Nolan's film set in Victorian London featuring two magicians (played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) who initially work together as assistants but later become bitter rivals after Jackman's wife drowns in a water tank during a performance that goes tragically wrong, for which Jackman blames Bale's character.
Saw this for the first time on TV last night. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the period setting, and was engrossed from start to finish with the numerous twists and turns, some of which were signposted. A film that will require repeat viewing to try and make sense of it all. The only downside (but not for me) it could be argued is that things become more science fiction than magic with the introduction of Tesla's machine. Thoroughly recommended.
When scientists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway find proof that our world was seeded by aliens and a roadmap to their potential location industrialist Peter Weyland finances a trip to the stars ostensibly in the name of science but, of course, with other motives as well.
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he first explored in Alien to give us this story about mankind's search for the secrets of its origins and the horrors it encounters when it gets to literally meet its makers. The film isn't really a prequel but more of a side story that takes place in the same universe and makes use of some of the same archetypes.
Prometheus tries to be both a hardcore, "big idea" science fiction film as well as a horror movie like its illustrious predecessor. Unfortunately, it really doesn't succeed at accomplishing either. While the film poses some pretty interesting questions about where we may come from, the crew sent to find the answers is made up of some of the stupidest people you are ever likely to meet. The idiotic way in which some of the characters interact with the mysteries they encounter pretty much dooms Prometheus from ever being mentioned in the same breath as 2001 or Forbidden Planet. In terms of scares, the movie never manages to reach that frantic, visceral pace of the original, presenting instead a deliberate, almost leisurely story punctuated by moments of stress.
Other than Noomi Rapace's Dr. Shaw and Michael Fassbender's robotic David (a precursor to Ash and Bishop) the rest of the cast is made up of forgettable non-entities who pretty much stand around and do nothing other than provide the occasional fodder. Charlize Theron is utterly superfluous as the requisite Company bureaucrat, Logan Marshall Green comes across as such a jerk as Dr. Holloway that you feel zero empathy for him when David decides to conduct a little experiment. Idris Elba has little to do beyond trying to get in Theron's pants before displaying a little final act heroism. And Sean Harris and Rafe Spall (Fifield and Milburn) may well be two of the stupidest people ever put on film, leaving you to wonder who in their right mind would put these two morons on a spaceship with such an important mission.
Where the film succeeds is in its look and its success at really taking you to an alien planet. Scott makes good use of 3D, giving the large rooms and long corridors below the surface of LV223 a sense of massive scale and depth. Its just a pity that the storytelling doesn't come close to matching the visuals.
If Ridley Scott intends to make a sequel to Blade Runner or a followup to Prometheus (the ending of the film clearly leaves open the possibility of more films) one can only hope he will get some better writers. Damon Lindeloff's (of Lost fame) rewrite of a Jon Spaihts draft clearly isn't up to the task and is an indictment of what passes for good writing in Hollywood these days.
This is the Marvel version designed as a tie-in with the current Avengers Assemble, or The Avengers to give it the UK title.
Saw it on telly, watchable, no ad breaks for first hour or so bizarrely. I'd have felt cheated to pay £15 to see it at the cinema though, as the main lead and main special effect, the Hulk, looks like CGI thru and thru. Norton was okay in the role, though why anyone might think an actor like that would stay on for any kind of sequel given his contentious history, I don't know.
Overall, the film did lack the key factor from childhood - a mad sense of serial fun and frolics, replacing it instead with sombre portentousness, as with the Batman franchise. And you can't say Hulk really took on anyone that useful, it's not a Superman-style movie. I do feel these superheroes have problems conjuring up great villains when it comes to the movies. Either they're humans, in which case you feel the villain might almost be the underdog, or they're some alien creature from the same strand, in which case the hero is almost part of the problem.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Sentimental war drama/romance.
Great to see Channing on the beach with shirt off and of course in US marine uniform...grrrr!!
Cried all the way through the second hour, but thoroughly enjoyed it!
Early 70s thriller, not oft seen on UK TV, about Donald Sutherland meeting up with call girl Jane Fonda to investigate his pal's disappearance. An odd film, the plot is typical TV drama nothing special, a bit Kojak, but the vibe is eerie with lots of tapes and listening devices characteristic of the era and films such as The Anderson Tapes and The Converstation.
Sutherland is a cold fish playing a warm hearted guy, a weirdo playing Mr Normal, it's a paradox. Fonda is superb and totally deserved her Oscar, conveys the mixed feelings of a character who likes to be in control, to counter the fact that as a wannabe actor her character has no say in anything much at all.
A bit strange pairing, Sutherland seems to be an older guy, in his mid 40s, and part of the golf club set, yet Fonda must be late 20s, so can't see where that would go.
A well-shot thriller, kept me watching until nearly 2am.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Brill stuff! It was the climax with the hotel in the desert exploding, Craig running along in tight black outfit, a bit 1960s cool, a bit Dangerman (Secret Agent man for Yanks), shooting glass as he tries to nab Greene (though why, it now occurs to me, if he wants to question him).
The way the fire takes over is brilliantly directed, quite epic.
It then goes wrong, with Craig and Olga in the car (where did the car come from it now occurs to me, where did they leave it if they approached the hotel from afar, no lookouts?), Craig looking like Sting in Dune, and I hate to say this, but I just can't quite hear what he says, it's so low and mumbley. Oh, when he lets Greene go, it doesn't work for me, his delivery rubs me up the wrong way. He's got the voice of a real charmless, cocky b&stard, no suavity. It should be like Moore giving the drug pusher cynanide in The Wild Geese, steely.
But it's the script, blimey, did it need a polish. I like the scene with the Canadian intelligence officer at the end, though you do sort of wonder again, just strolling out the building and letting the officers enter. Like, huh? Can't that bloke escape? Maybe he just tossed over a magazine and said, 'Hey, just wait there, and I'll send the boys up.'
The dialogue between M and Bond is atrocious. The scriptwriters really made their point with their strike.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Don't tell Thunderpussy though.
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Still think they missed out not getting Simon Pegg to play Bond.
as his films are very successful
Did Craig come up with the "I can't find the stationary " line as that's a Classic.
always gets a laugh. And Dumpimg Mathis in the skip, Brilliant very Fleming.
( I remember Bond was always dropping dead friends in skips )
mo·ment/ˈmōmənt/
Noun:
.A very brief period of time. Yes I can agree with that.
( loved the silly walk at the end)
Also re-watched Serlock Holmes,Game of shadows. Great fun -{
Borrowed this film from a friend... it started off quite slow (apparently it was supposed to be non stop laughs...
Basically 3 friends all have 'horrible bosses' and decide to kill them - as you do
Jennifer Aniston's famous banana eating incident lasted all of 2 seconds (maybe that's all it takes :v) and the hype surrounding this movie definitely outweighed the laughs it got from me... however, it didn't cost me anything to watch it, so it passed an otherwise uneventful Sunday evening -{
I saw this last night.... wow, what a performance from Kate - and indeed a very powerful film. The palpable feeling of obsession (that comes with a new relationship) his utter blindness love/lust for her, and then when she disappears his internalisation of how much it hurt him, combined with learning about her part in the War, but then also his overwhelming guilt he feels when he doesn't bring forth some critical information about her, that could in fact reduce her sentence.
Brilliant movie... and I'm not surprised Kate won her first Oscar for this perfomance.
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What film is this?
It's impressive. A family getting over the death of their golden boy eldest son, seen in flashbacks. Superior acting all round with Pierce just about holding his own, and sometimes very impressive indeed, some very affecting moments from him. Oddly, he is in another similar sounding film with Robert Pattinson later. This one, however, is called The Greatest, it turns out by looking at imdb. I didn't see it out, I felt I had to get an early night, but looks well worth catching if you UK viewers see it in the schedules again. It has quite an eerie feel, a bit of an atmosphere that slowly grows on you.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I have seen all the Pixar movies and thought everyone of them was exceptional, until I saw Cars 2, which wasn't terrible, but was still not up to the previous Pixar standard. I am happy to report that Pixar is back in stride with its latest release Brave.
Brave tells the story of Merida, a young Scottish girl, who is the daughter of the King and Queen. She enjoys riding horses and practicing archery more than engaging in the duties of a Princess, much to the chagrin of her mother. When her mother announces that the time has come to promise her hand to the son of one of the other clans leaders, she revolts. In true Disney fashion she rides into the forest where she meets a witch and asks the witch to cast a spell on her mother. The spell is meant to change her mother's thinking, but when the spell goes all wrong, Merida is forced to use all her physical skills and some skills she didn't realize she had to save her mother.
I saw the standard version of the film as I read several blogs that stated the 3-D was not worth the extra admission cost. However, I still found the film beautifully drawn with visually interesting landscape and interiors. Merida is drawn with flowing red hair to match her fiery disposition and gorgeous piercing blue eyes. The music in the film matches the visuals, as you would expect the music has a Scottish folk song feel to it, while still providing the suitable emotional feel to the scene.
Disney can tell a Princess story, but this one is different, the heroine is independent, at times rash, not anything like Snow White. The witch is unlike any witch you have seen before, a little goofy, yet still providing some fear. The King is brave, but not too noble, providing comic relief along with Merida's triplet brothers who can't help but get into mischief.
Merida is voiced by Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly voices the King and Emma Thompson is Elinor, the Queen. As I watched the film I did not recognize any of the voices which I prefer, as I find recognizable celebrity voices to be a distraction to my acceptance of the characters. In Brave, the actor’s voices belonged to the characters, not the actors.
I enjoyed this film more than I anticipated, there was laughter, tension, joy and at the end, applause from the audience. I attended the film with my wife, two sons who are 17 and 24, and my son’s girlfriend and everyone enjoyed it. Pixar is back, highly recommend.
As with all Pixar movies, there was a short film shown before Brave. I usually enjoy these short films, but this one, La Luna, did nothing for me. Visually somewhat flat, the story is only mildly interesting.
Woody Allen continues jaunting around Europe's most famous and photogenic cities. After exploring London, Barcelona and Paris, he has now settled in the Italian capital, which serves as the setting for his most out-and-out farce since...well, arguably Love And Death in 1975.
What we have are four interwoven but completely unrelated storylines:
1) A retired American opera director (Woody himself, in a refreshingly humorous role that involves no dalliances with absurdly younger women) comes to Rome to meet his daughter's fiance, only to discover that the boy's father has a spectacular operatic voice...so long as he is singing in the shower.
2) An American architecture student (Jesse Eisenberg, whose nervous energy recalls a young Woody) falls for his girlfriend's visiting friend (a pretentious, semi-slutty actress played fabulously by Ellen Page), all the while being counseled by a famous architect (Alec Baldwin) who may or may not be a real person.
3) A newlywed couple from the Italian countryside who are in Rome to meet his well-connected relatives become separated just after they arrive. She ends up in the hotel room of a famous lothario actor, while he ends up with a prostitute (a film-stealing Penelope Cruz) who arrives at his room by mistake.
4) A boring office clerk (Roberto Benigni, who, incredibly, is not annoying) suddenly becomes a celebrity for no reason at all and must deal with reporters and paparazzi before becoming yesterday's news just as quickly.
Allen's gift is that, as with Midnight In Paris, he enables the suspension of disbelief with good writing. Just as we could accept Owen Wilson traveling back to the 1920s, we can accept Alec Baldwin showing up everywhere and addressing characters (not just Eisenberg's) as if he were sitting on their shoulders. The problem, though, is that the film is just a series of vignettes. Yes, they are amusing, but without a central narrative arc the whole thing feels like a collection of sitcoms rather than a movie. While I haven't laughed as hard in a Woody Allen film since who-knows-when, ultimately this one is not among his classics.
6/10
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