Getting prepared to watch Lawrence of Arabia on blu ray! Never seen it!! Been holding out for a blu ray release for ages though and finally have 4 hours free to watch it.
Ridley Scott's prequel to the Alien/Aliens series of films, starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron. Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green are scientists trying to find the origins of mankind. When they find a series of cave drawings on different continents all depicting the same drawing, a man pointing to the sky and some planets, they believe they have found the origins of man. Years later a rich industrialist finances a space ship flight to the alien planet they believe is depicted in the drawings. Once there, the scientist's exploration discovers more than they bargained for.
As with all Ridley Scott films, Prometheus is beautiful to look at. Scott captures the beauty and the vastness of space and the planet the scientist land on. The CGI is very good and the creatures are menancing. The problem I had with the film was that the lack of character development. We learn very littler about the crew and scientist and thus I didn't care about them as much as I would have if I knew more about their background. Charlize Theron is especially under developed, I do not know why she is on the flight and I do not know why she acts like she does. Despite being the biggest name actor in the film she is given very little to do. Noomi Rapace who I had never seen before is very good as Doctor Shaw, she gets put through a lot in the film and is convincing in her depiction of pain, hopelessness and wonder.
As a prequel to Alien, the plot works as we see how the alien is formed, but overall I thought the film lacked the character development needed to involve the audience.
I understand a Prometheus 2 is in the works, I hope they spend more time developing the characters in that film than they did in this one. If they do and Scott is up to his usual visuals they could have a good film.
A really cute movie...full of nostalgia for us who remember the original show...and a great introduction for new fans. (My son loves Kermit, and the chickens) with some nice jokes for adults....
2nd viewing this morning, which is always a good sign.
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
As a youth I could not stand classical music, but as I grew older I learned to enjoy it and now marvel at the talent of the various composers. Mozart is one of my favorites, as such, I always wanted to watch Amadeus, the Academy Award winning film from 1984. Last night I finally took time to watch the 3-hour long director's cut version and thoroughly enjoyed it.
F, Murray Abraham plays mediocre, but hard working composure Antonio Salieri who marvels at the natural talent of Mozart while trying his best to ruin him. Salieri, a religious man, cannot understand how God would give a man like Mozart, who drinks, parties and chases women the musical gift he has, while denying Salieri, a religious, devout man less talent. Jealous of Mozart, Salieri begins a campaign to ruin Mozart. Eventually driven mad by his obsession with Mozart, Salieri tells the story of Mozart through flashback from his insane asylum.
Three hours is a long movie, but I was never bored watching the film. The performances are all top notch, F. Murray Abraham is utterly convincing as Antonio Salieri, his scenes from the insane asylum as he tells Mozart’s story, reveals through facial expressions his pain and grudging respect for his rival composer. Tom Hulce plays the extravert Mozart, driven to work hard and party hard, Hulce does a fine job revealing the various flaws in Mozart’s character. The music, especially if you are fan of classical music, is wonderful and the film is beautiful to look at, as the filmmakers did a wonderful job of recreating the gorgeous and opulent architecture and dress of the time.
I do not know how historically factual the story is, if the story is factual, it is a shame and reveals a deep human flaw, that so many people seemed intent on keeping a great talent like Mozart suppressed. Rather than champion him and support him, they ruined him for fear that the world would see their talent was lacking.
Steven Spielberg directed film centering on Abraham Lincoln's battle to pass the 13th amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. While overseeing negotiations for a possible end to the civil war, Lincoln also uses every tactic available to him to pass the bill that will outlaw slavery forever. Members of his cabinet and members of his own party are hesitant, but Lincoln's will to see the bill pass forces the reluctant parties to cast the difficult vote.
This is a marvelous film, superbly directed and acted, I have no doubt multiple Oscar nominations will be forthcoming for the participants. Daniel Day-Lewis is remarkable as Abraham Lincoln, his entire body reflecting the weight of the problems and decisions Lincoln was making. Sally Field as Lincoln's wife, Tommy Lee Jones as a leading Congressman in the fight against slavery, and David Strathairn as Lincoln's Secretary of State are all excellent in their roles. Spielberg's direction reveals a troubled Lincoln, using lighting and shadows to convey the weariness of Lincoln's soul and the weight of the problems he was dealing with.
The film is 2 1/2 hours long, but I was never bored and the film did not feel long. I have heard some complaints that there is a lot of talking in the film, well yes there is, but it is not boring, in fact it is fascinating. The dialogue reveals much about the various characters, some for slavery, some opposed and some unsure. The scene where the vote is taken the House of Representatives is superbly done and well acted by everyone.
Lincoln is an outstanding historical drama, which I highly recommend.
This was my third viewing, but I hadn't watched it since its 2009 Blu-Ray release so this was a big refresher. It is way better than I remember. I loved it then for being an R-rated superhero film that's source material was a beautifully dark statement about humanity. The film is gorgeous to look at thanks to Zack Snyder's visual fidelity to the original comics while loading the screen with lush color and dark texture that wasn't in the graphic novel. The rain, Dr. Manhattan's skin, the slow-motion splintering of breaking doors, and the cracking of bones are showcased in rich style. Zack Snyder noted Se7en as an inspiration for the transfer process of taking the graphic novel into his film (which runs 3 hrs 6mins in its Director's Cut form). This comparison is a welcomed and fair influence based on how dark and grotesque the film is willing to be, all while loading an endless amount of quotable philosophy and distress into the script. The unforgettable title sequence, featuring Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" over scenes of American pop culture in the Watchmen timeline (such as who filmed the moon landing or who really shot JFK), received universal acclaim.
The film clearly had a focus on its audio as well. The majority of the film's soundtrack was selected based on songs actually referenced in the graphic novel and Tyler Bates crafts a hard-boiled , thoughtful, and melancholy score that gets to the pensive doubts and steps effortlessly into the very well-recorded kicks, gunshots, and crowd riots.
The characters are all at the most intense moments of their lives, but the original novel is perhaps best praised for the creative and compelling alternate 1985 that they live in. Nixon is going strong, the nuclear war is coming, and vigilantes were once a fixture of global justice. This could have been taken in the direction of the average PG-13 summer comic book films that elect for enormous spectacle, but never go into depths of darkness, harsh dialogue, sexuality, and savagery thanks to their limits in trying to appeal to the market. While The Dark Knight calls on true questions of character that make me love it as a crime film instead of a comic book film, Watchmen answered greater curiousities for myself as horrifying the audience was sometimes exactly what it needed to do and successfully did.
I love the film more than I ever expected after my most recent viewing. The film conveyed that their world was a nightmare, unless they were willing to reap the toll needed to change it.
Dr. Manhattan is haunting, The Comedian's parody is noteworthy to any of us, and the rest of the love in a hurricane, moral ruins, and questionable beauties of society play out marvelously and stylishly like no other.
This was my third viewing, but I hadn't watched it since its 2009 Blu-Ray release so this was a big refresher. It is way better than I remember. I loved it then for being an R-rated superhero film that's source material was a beautifully dark statement about humanity. The film is gorgeous to look at thanks to Zack Snyder's visual fidelity to the original comics while loading the screen with lush color and dark texture that wasn't in the graphic novel. The rain, Dr. Manhattan's skin, the slow-motion splintering of breaking doors, and the cracking of bones are showcased in rich style. Zack Snyder noted Se7en as an inspiration for the transfer process of taking the graphic novel into his film (which runs 3 hrs 6mins in its Director's Cut form). This comparison is a welcomed and fair influence based on how dark and grotesque the film is willing to be, all while loading an endless amount of quotable philosophy and distress into the script. The unforgettable title sequence, featuring Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" over scenes of American pop culture in the Watchmen timeline (such as who filmed the moon landing or who really shot JFK), received universal acclaim.
The film clearly had a focus on its audio as well. The majority of the film's soundtrack was selected based on songs actually referenced in the graphic novel and Tyler Bates crafts a hard-boiled , thoughtful, and melancholy score that gets to the pensive doubts and steps effortlessly into the very well-recorded kicks, gunshots, and crowd riots.
The characters are all at the most intense moments of their lives, but the original novel is perhaps best praised for the creative and compelling alternate 1985 that they live in. Nixon is going strong, the nuclear war is coming, and vigilantes were once a fixture of global justice. This could have been taken in the direction of the average PG-13 summer comic book films that elect for enormous spectacle, but never go into depths of darkness, harsh dialogue, sexuality, and savagery thanks to their limits in trying to appeal to the market. While The Dark Knight calls on true questions of character that make me love it as a crime film instead of a comic book film, Watchmen answered greater curiousities for myself as horrifying the audience was sometimes exactly what it needed to do and successfully did.
I love the film more than I ever expected after my most recent viewing. The film conveyed that their world was a nightmare, unless they were willing to reap the toll needed to change it.
Dr. Manhattan is haunting, The Comedian's parody is noteworthy to any of us, and the rest of the love in a hurricane, moral ruins, and questionable beauties of society play out marvelously and stylishly like no other.
Chocolate - A convoluted revenge caper surrounding a strangely perceptive autistic teen Zen (Yanin “Jeeja”Vismistananda) and her fatal feud with a vindictive, vengeful Thailand mobster, pretentiously calling himself Number 8 (Pongpat Wachirabunjong). A slightly bland Hiroshi Abe and a sultry Ammara Siripong play Zen’s doomed gangster parents.The film is frequently punctuated by many well choreographed, memorable, and imaginative fight scenes, put together with generally top drawer production bit sullied somewhat by some slightly iffy visual effects (though an animated sequence from the point of view of Zen is well executed). Pongpat Wachirabunjong was OK as crimelord who holds self-destructive grudges and Taphon Phopwandee could‘ve been worse as a somewhat inept sidekick to Zen, but Dechawut Chuntakaro as No. 8’s sexually ambiguous lieutenant nearly steals the movie, though perhaps for the better we have Yanin “Jeeja” Vismistananda out acting half the adult cast. The climatic final battle (that admittedly ends up outstaying its welcome) gives me vivid flashbacks to Kill Bill Pt. 18/10
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...'
Musical that tells the story of Jean Varjean, who spends 19 years in a French prison for stealing some bread, after being paroled he receives some kindness from a Bishop and decides to change his life. He becomes a successful businessman and then through a series of circumstances he takes in the daughter of one of his employees who has died. He raises her while also being forced to go into hiding after his identity is discovered by Inspector Javert, a dedicated police official. The lead-up to the French Rebellion serves as a back drop to the story.
I have something of a mixed review for the film, although I found all of the performances to be outstanding, the film beautifully filmed and the musical numbers enjoyable, I also felt the movie was too long. It is the first film in a long time where I started to squirm in my seat to get more comfortable and to be surprised when another scene started after thinking the movie was over. The Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln, The Avengers and Les Miserables were all two and a half hour long films, but only Les Miserables felt long too me.
I have never seen the play, so I am happy I saw the film, the story is one of sadness and hope, I felt my heart go out to the characters, I rooted for them to succeed. Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway all sang well and played their characters well, I would anticipate some Academy Award nominations for the cast members. I also want to mention Samantha Barks who played the character Epinine. This was her first major film role, supposedly having beaten out Taylor Swift for the part and I thought she was excellent. Although not a major role, she caught my eye while on screen and I think she might have a bright future.
I have to recommend the film, because there is much to like in the movie, it just felt a little too long.
Jack Reacher, as I haven't read any of the novels. I enjoyed it
Has the feel of a 70's film but feel the 12a cert hinders it, I'd of
prefered a 15 so it could of been a little more realistic.
People I know who have read the books say it's a good action film
but not a Jack Reacher movie. )
Defiance,
Caught this the other night. Good movie about Four Brothers during WW2
who hid 1200 jewish people in the woods from the Nazis.
Daniel Craig is very good ( still think Layer Cake is his best ) a Great story
showing how the Human spirit can over come anything.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
FelixLeiter ♀Staffordshire or a pubPosts: 1,286MI6 Agent
Mary Poppins
Recorded it on New Year's Day and then watched it a few days later with my dad.
It had been years since I'd seen any of it and many years since I'd seen it in full. It was only as it finished that I realised that I had watched it all the way through without pausing it, something of a rarity with sky+ and dvds, and a testament to how much I enjoyed it. It was partly the nostalgia as it was one of my favourites as a young child, but it is also a great film.
I had forgotten just how many songs the film has. Every section of the film is a lead up to the next song so it really is very much a musical. Some, like 'Stepping Time', are really long. That one starts on the rooftops but continues in a slight variation as all the chimney sweeps come down into the Banks' drawing room. They are all great and uplifting songs too - there are no wallowing sections of the film when something has gone wrong.
I often found myself thinking back to my perceptions of the film as a child. I had no idea what the 'votes for women' section was about, several lines of dialogue went over my head, and I never got any of the jokes during the tea party on the ceiling scene, but really loved it this time round.
I also remember being rather scared for the few shots as Jane and Michael run away from the bank. They seem very small in amongst the crowd, quickly get lost down dark alleys, a dog barks loudly at them and a scary old woman appears before they finally bump into Bert, and even then they don't immediately recognise who it is. As a child, that part summed up all my fears about getting lost or separated from my parents. As an adult it was all over very quickly but I still judge it as a good scene.
There were a couple of negatives - I am aware that, animated or not, the animals are not really there ) and there are some special effects that stood out.
Overall, an enjoyable family film, especially post-Christmas, and nice to revisit.
I'm getting confused, you were FelixLeiter007 acc to Comings and Goings, are you the one who was trying to get off the smokes, or was that a FelixLeiterGirl?
It's gorgeous. It's haunting, dark, romantic, rich, European, love, and opulence. I just loved watching it. I really enjoy the ornamental decor of French and European palaces. The film is set at some sort of spa hotel in the countryside, apparently a former palace. The camera work is just excellent at highlighting how it the style inside and out drips with beautiful art from a bygone era. There's such an old and lost sense to the oversized halls and it makes it somewhat frightening to see how little the activity of the guests does to liven up the frozen luxury palace.
It is eery, desirable, mesmerizing. So many things that I enjoyed seeing. Like
The film is very intense with a dark and heavy pounding organ score throughout the entire film. The sweeping views of the hall suddenly seem like they are leading you to a crash or horrific crime around the endless corridors instead of allowing a sense of certainty in the design.
The people are all dressed in formal attire as if there is a ball or concert at any given minute during the day. It sometimes looks like the creepiest Armani ad from the 60s you could imagine. Chanel designed the female leads dresses, with an intention to create the look of past silent films with an uneasy distance. They strike such photogenic poses that are so clearly unnatural as they hold still for several shots and stand silent. Like watching photographs of a ballroom that burned down a few hours after they were taken.
The film's influence is still prevalent, having inspired a recent Chanel collection by Karl Lagerfeld, Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, and the imagery of Lana Del Rey's Château de Fontainebleau shoot for her "Born to Die" music video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bag1gUxuU0g
FelixLeiter ♀Staffordshire or a pubPosts: 1,286MI6 Agent
I'm getting confused, you were FelixLeiter007 acc to Comings and Goings, are you the one who was trying to get off the smokes, or was that a FelixLeiterGirl?
I am indeed the former FelixLeiter007. I have had one cigarette in the past 5 weeks.
24 As enjoyable as Jack Baer is there is only so much you can take
“The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. "
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
Django Unchained:
What can I say about this. 162 minutes of pure, over the top fun. The acting is over the top, the language is over the top and the violence is over the top. Good movie. 4.5 stars out of 5.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Taken from first hands accounts, the film tells the story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The film centers on a female CIA analyst Maya, played brilliantly by Jessica Chastain, who spends every waking hour tracking leads on bin Laden. Her obsession leads to a courier who she believes may by bin Laden's main courier. Despite little support from her superiors she keeps working the lead and promoting the lead to her superiors.
The film doesn't pull any punches, you see the torture (or not) of a detainee that has information the CIA wants, you see terrorist bombings and you see the resistance from the politicians to the CIA's findings. The actual raid on the compound is well done, some of it is shot as if looking through the night vision the assault team used. The film does not glorify or criticize what occurred, it attempts to show what occurred without judging. The film raises my appreciation for how hard some people work behind the scenes for the protection of freedom. It was one woman's hard work, with help from her team, that gave years of their lives to the hunt and were ultimately rewarded for their work.
Ransom - Back in the distant times of the 1990s when Mel Gibson was still some way away from going completely off the rails, Mel Gibson by the time of Ransom had already starred in nearly two decades of movies that were excessively violent and dark, and Ransom is no exception. A child kidnapped for ransom, threatened with death, and kept in quite brutalising conditions is the main plot device for goodness sake (it wasn‘t easy viewing for me when I first saw it at a much younger age). And things are helped along by moments of really nasty, bone crunching violence, close range gunshots, and pools of blood; a typical Gibson movie then. Mel Gibson’s rich industrialist gets pitted in a intense battle of wills against his son’s kidnapper, a corrupt NYPD officer played by Gary Sinise (I honestly can’t help but think Evil Mac Taylor - also watch out for Paul Guilfoyle in a supporting role), with the rest of Sinise’s gang of scumbag kidnappers led by Liev Schreiber (who too featured in the CSI franchise). It starts off tensely in it first act but seems to run out of steam by the end of its second act, with the third act being a escalation of unexpected plot twists. A solid 1990s thriller that has a pretty nasty side to it. Mel Gibson and Gary Sinise were great playing off against each other as obsessive opponents, with Gibson’s protagonist having a deep love for his endangered son, while Sinise’s antagonist channelled deeply malevolent greed, paranoia, and treachery. 7/10
The General’s Daughter - Savaged on its release back in 1999 it oddly foreshadowed mega hit 2000s crime shows CSI and NCIS (the urine coloured cinematography reminding me of CSI: Miami in particular). It is a flawed movie, what with John Travolta’s questionable Southern accent and the cliché, kinda scary US Military worshipping, but I found it surprisingly good in parts, with rock solid character actors like James Woods, James Cromwell, and Timothy Hutton elevating the somewhat wobbly scripting. English director Simon West (who also directed the dumb but fun Con Air and the just plain dumb Tomb Raider) clearly belongs to the same Bruckheimer stable that the derided Michael Bay and the much missed Tony Scott came from. Maybe this movie got a severe critical ribbing at the time (way back in 1999) due to how it unflinchingly depicted the ugly side of the US Military, which has since then bubbled up to surface during the 2000s, with the Criminal Investigation Command (the US Army’s equivalent of the NCIS) uncovering the corrupt covering up of institutional sexism and sexual abuse? 6/10
Freejack - A sci-fi action adventure that has a great concept and generally watchable, but demanded a script rewrite, David Bowie playing Mick Jagger’s role, and an additional twenty million dollars to the budget. Emilio Estevez plays an oddly lucky race car driver who in 1992, a split second before dying in an fireball, gets time scooped by a New York based megacorporation in the alternate future of 2009. In this grim dystopian urban landscape (even more rundown and oppressive than post-credit crunch America in real life) Estevez finds himself on the run from a flamboyant hired gun (played by the embarrassing Mick Jagger) and a corporate slimeball (the more respectable Jonathan Banks). Then Estevez’s character bumps into his fiancée from nearly two decades ago (Rene Russo) and more complications ensue. Mick Jagger just doesn’t work, the movie seems to collapse around him, and his performance is firmly in the so bad it’s good territory, with the aforementioned Banks and even fellow rockstar David Johansen giving better accounts of themselves. The other main antagonist, Anthony Hopkins, also has presence as a genuinely scary corporate supervillain trapped in a supercomputer, but he was going through a period of being too pleased with himself and demanded too much money for a relatively small role (with him standing in front of bluescreen filled in by amusingly dated early 1990s CGI). Emulating Blade Runner and the Mad Max trilogy too much - sci-fi movies that were already many years old by 1992 - it looks distinctly old hat in comparison to other contemporary early 1990s sci-fi movies such as Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Universal Soldier, and even Demolition Man. Total Recall is about as dated as Freejack (neither movies foreseen iPhones), however it had much more warmth, slickness, drive, and Arnie to it. First rate guilty pleasure schlock though. 5/10
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...'
The film raises my appreciation for how hard some people work behind the scenes for the protection of freedom. It was one woman's hard work, with help from her team, that gave years of their lives to the hunt and were ultimately rewarded for their work.
Protecting freedom by restricting freedom of potentially more people in general and inflicting extreme brutality on helpless captives to incompetently extract information from them?
'Alright guard, begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism...'
I was amazed at this film. Tarantino is on top form with excellent use of modern music
set to western images. The cast is brilliant with the "Buddy" movie part between Jamie Foxx
and Christoph Waltz Being my favourite part, as the two men become friends and respect
each other. A special mention for Samuel L. Jackson ( One of my favourite actors ) who
is Fantastic as Stephen. He should pick up a few awards for it.
It's hard hitting and Violent But as with all great westerns you'll leave the cinema
walking a little taller.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
The film raises my appreciation for how hard some people work behind the scenes for the protection of freedom. It was one woman's hard work, with help from her team, that gave years of their lives to the hunt and were ultimately rewarded for their work.
Protecting freedom by restricting freedom of potentially more people in general and inflicting extreme brutality on helpless captives to incompetently extract information from them?
Great to see Arnie Back on screen, Usual Shoot and Blow everthing up Movie, But great fun.
Although once again leaving the cinema I had to check that it was indeed a 15 cert as given
the level of violence I'd expected it to be an 18.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
Django Unchained 8/10. "We can all agree that the bags were a nice idea!" - Very funny movie while also managing to get across a lot of serious messages - impressed!
Comments
Film, gets better with every viewing. B-)
Watched it myself last night. Really is a top quality film with superb acting right throughout the cast.
"Details, details. Things to do. Things to get done. Don't bother me with details, just tell me when they're done. Who said that, son? ... "
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I think this is Craig's best film.
CR a close second -{
I'd pitch them the other way round, but it's a very close call! -{
Ridley Scott's prequel to the Alien/Aliens series of films, starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron. Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green are scientists trying to find the origins of mankind. When they find a series of cave drawings on different continents all depicting the same drawing, a man pointing to the sky and some planets, they believe they have found the origins of man. Years later a rich industrialist finances a space ship flight to the alien planet they believe is depicted in the drawings. Once there, the scientist's exploration discovers more than they bargained for.
As with all Ridley Scott films, Prometheus is beautiful to look at. Scott captures the beauty and the vastness of space and the planet the scientist land on. The CGI is very good and the creatures are menancing. The problem I had with the film was that the lack of character development. We learn very littler about the crew and scientist and thus I didn't care about them as much as I would have if I knew more about their background. Charlize Theron is especially under developed, I do not know why she is on the flight and I do not know why she acts like she does. Despite being the biggest name actor in the film she is given very little to do. Noomi Rapace who I had never seen before is very good as Doctor Shaw, she gets put through a lot in the film and is convincing in her depiction of pain, hopelessness and wonder.
As a prequel to Alien, the plot works as we see how the alien is formed, but overall I thought the film lacked the character development needed to involve the audience.
I understand a Prometheus 2 is in the works, I hope they spend more time developing the characters in that film than they did in this one. If they do and Scott is up to his usual visuals they could have a good film.
Worth a look on DVD/Blu-Ray
A really cute movie...full of nostalgia for us who remember the original show...and a great introduction for new fans. (My son loves Kermit, and the chickens) with some nice jokes for adults....
2nd viewing this morning, which is always a good sign.
As a youth I could not stand classical music, but as I grew older I learned to enjoy it and now marvel at the talent of the various composers. Mozart is one of my favorites, as such, I always wanted to watch Amadeus, the Academy Award winning film from 1984. Last night I finally took time to watch the 3-hour long director's cut version and thoroughly enjoyed it.
F, Murray Abraham plays mediocre, but hard working composure Antonio Salieri who marvels at the natural talent of Mozart while trying his best to ruin him. Salieri, a religious man, cannot understand how God would give a man like Mozart, who drinks, parties and chases women the musical gift he has, while denying Salieri, a religious, devout man less talent. Jealous of Mozart, Salieri begins a campaign to ruin Mozart. Eventually driven mad by his obsession with Mozart, Salieri tells the story of Mozart through flashback from his insane asylum.
Three hours is a long movie, but I was never bored watching the film. The performances are all top notch, F. Murray Abraham is utterly convincing as Antonio Salieri, his scenes from the insane asylum as he tells Mozart’s story, reveals through facial expressions his pain and grudging respect for his rival composer. Tom Hulce plays the extravert Mozart, driven to work hard and party hard, Hulce does a fine job revealing the various flaws in Mozart’s character. The music, especially if you are fan of classical music, is wonderful and the film is beautiful to look at, as the filmmakers did a wonderful job of recreating the gorgeous and opulent architecture and dress of the time.
I do not know how historically factual the story is, if the story is factual, it is a shame and reveals a deep human flaw, that so many people seemed intent on keeping a great talent like Mozart suppressed. Rather than champion him and support him, they ruined him for fear that the world would see their talent was lacking.
A wonderful film, highly recommend.
Steven Spielberg directed film centering on Abraham Lincoln's battle to pass the 13th amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. While overseeing negotiations for a possible end to the civil war, Lincoln also uses every tactic available to him to pass the bill that will outlaw slavery forever. Members of his cabinet and members of his own party are hesitant, but Lincoln's will to see the bill pass forces the reluctant parties to cast the difficult vote.
This is a marvelous film, superbly directed and acted, I have no doubt multiple Oscar nominations will be forthcoming for the participants. Daniel Day-Lewis is remarkable as Abraham Lincoln, his entire body reflecting the weight of the problems and decisions Lincoln was making. Sally Field as Lincoln's wife, Tommy Lee Jones as a leading Congressman in the fight against slavery, and David Strathairn as Lincoln's Secretary of State are all excellent in their roles. Spielberg's direction reveals a troubled Lincoln, using lighting and shadows to convey the weariness of Lincoln's soul and the weight of the problems he was dealing with.
The film is 2 1/2 hours long, but I was never bored and the film did not feel long. I have heard some complaints that there is a lot of talking in the film, well yes there is, but it is not boring, in fact it is fascinating. The dialogue reveals much about the various characters, some for slavery, some opposed and some unsure. The scene where the vote is taken the House of Representatives is superbly done and well acted by everyone.
Lincoln is an outstanding historical drama, which I highly recommend.
This was my third viewing, but I hadn't watched it since its 2009 Blu-Ray release so this was a big refresher. It is way better than I remember. I loved it then for being an R-rated superhero film that's source material was a beautifully dark statement about humanity. The film is gorgeous to look at thanks to Zack Snyder's visual fidelity to the original comics while loading the screen with lush color and dark texture that wasn't in the graphic novel. The rain, Dr. Manhattan's skin, the slow-motion splintering of breaking doors, and the cracking of bones are showcased in rich style. Zack Snyder noted Se7en as an inspiration for the transfer process of taking the graphic novel into his film (which runs 3 hrs 6mins in its Director's Cut form). This comparison is a welcomed and fair influence based on how dark and grotesque the film is willing to be, all while loading an endless amount of quotable philosophy and distress into the script. The unforgettable title sequence, featuring Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" over scenes of American pop culture in the Watchmen timeline (such as who filmed the moon landing or who really shot JFK), received universal acclaim.
The film clearly had a focus on its audio as well. The majority of the film's soundtrack was selected based on songs actually referenced in the graphic novel and Tyler Bates crafts a hard-boiled , thoughtful, and melancholy score that gets to the pensive doubts and steps effortlessly into the very well-recorded kicks, gunshots, and crowd riots.
The characters are all at the most intense moments of their lives, but the original novel is perhaps best praised for the creative and compelling alternate 1985 that they live in. Nixon is going strong, the nuclear war is coming, and vigilantes were once a fixture of global justice. This could have been taken in the direction of the average PG-13 summer comic book films that elect for enormous spectacle, but never go into depths of darkness, harsh dialogue, sexuality, and savagery thanks to their limits in trying to appeal to the market. While The Dark Knight calls on true questions of character that make me love it as a crime film instead of a comic book film, Watchmen answered greater curiousities for myself as horrifying the audience was sometimes exactly what it needed to do and successfully did.
I love the film more than I ever expected after my most recent viewing. The film conveyed that their world was a nightmare, unless they were willing to reap the toll needed to change it.
Dr. Manhattan is haunting, The Comedian's parody is noteworthy to any of us, and the rest of the love in a hurricane, moral ruins, and questionable beauties of society play out marvelously and stylishly like no other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRMjr1UKa5k
Excellent movie!
Especially Directors Cut
Musical that tells the story of Jean Varjean, who spends 19 years in a French prison for stealing some bread, after being paroled he receives some kindness from a Bishop and decides to change his life. He becomes a successful businessman and then through a series of circumstances he takes in the daughter of one of his employees who has died. He raises her while also being forced to go into hiding after his identity is discovered by Inspector Javert, a dedicated police official. The lead-up to the French Rebellion serves as a back drop to the story.
I have something of a mixed review for the film, although I found all of the performances to be outstanding, the film beautifully filmed and the musical numbers enjoyable, I also felt the movie was too long. It is the first film in a long time where I started to squirm in my seat to get more comfortable and to be surprised when another scene started after thinking the movie was over. The Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln, The Avengers and Les Miserables were all two and a half hour long films, but only Les Miserables felt long too me.
I have never seen the play, so I am happy I saw the film, the story is one of sadness and hope, I felt my heart go out to the characters, I rooted for them to succeed. Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway all sang well and played their characters well, I would anticipate some Academy Award nominations for the cast members. I also want to mention Samantha Barks who played the character Epinine. This was her first major film role, supposedly having beaten out Taylor Swift for the part and I thought she was excellent. Although not a major role, she caught my eye while on screen and I think she might have a bright future.
I have to recommend the film, because there is much to like in the movie, it just felt a little too long.
Has the feel of a 70's film but feel the 12a cert hinders it, I'd of
prefered a 15 so it could of been a little more realistic.
People I know who have read the books say it's a good action film
but not a Jack Reacher movie.
Defiance,
Caught this the other night. Good movie about Four Brothers during WW2
who hid 1200 jewish people in the woods from the Nazis.
Daniel Craig is very good ( still think Layer Cake is his best ) a Great story
showing how the Human spirit can over come anything.
Recorded it on New Year's Day and then watched it a few days later with my dad.
It had been years since I'd seen any of it and many years since I'd seen it in full. It was only as it finished that I realised that I had watched it all the way through without pausing it, something of a rarity with sky+ and dvds, and a testament to how much I enjoyed it. It was partly the nostalgia as it was one of my favourites as a young child, but it is also a great film.
I had forgotten just how many songs the film has. Every section of the film is a lead up to the next song so it really is very much a musical. Some, like 'Stepping Time', are really long. That one starts on the rooftops but continues in a slight variation as all the chimney sweeps come down into the Banks' drawing room. They are all great and uplifting songs too - there are no wallowing sections of the film when something has gone wrong.
I often found myself thinking back to my perceptions of the film as a child. I had no idea what the 'votes for women' section was about, several lines of dialogue went over my head, and I never got any of the jokes during the tea party on the ceiling scene, but really loved it this time round.
I also remember being rather scared for the few shots as Jane and Michael run away from the bank. They seem very small in amongst the crowd, quickly get lost down dark alleys, a dog barks loudly at them and a scary old woman appears before they finally bump into Bert, and even then they don't immediately recognise who it is. As a child, that part summed up all my fears about getting lost or separated from my parents. As an adult it was all over very quickly but I still judge it as a good scene.
There were a couple of negatives - I am aware that, animated or not, the animals are not really there
Overall, an enjoyable family film, especially post-Christmas, and nice to revisit.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It's gorgeous. It's haunting, dark, romantic, rich, European, love, and opulence. I just loved watching it. I really enjoy the ornamental decor of French and European palaces. The film is set at some sort of spa hotel in the countryside, apparently a former palace. The camera work is just excellent at highlighting how it the style inside and out drips with beautiful art from a bygone era. There's such an old and lost sense to the oversized halls and it makes it somewhat frightening to see how little the activity of the guests does to liven up the frozen luxury palace.
It is eery, desirable, mesmerizing. So many things that I enjoyed seeing. Like
The film is very intense with a dark and heavy pounding organ score throughout the entire film. The sweeping views of the hall suddenly seem like they are leading you to a crash or horrific crime around the endless corridors instead of allowing a sense of certainty in the design.
The people are all dressed in formal attire as if there is a ball or concert at any given minute during the day. It sometimes looks like the creepiest Armani ad from the 60s you could imagine. Chanel designed the female leads dresses, with an intention to create the look of past silent films with an uneasy distance. They strike such photogenic poses that are so clearly unnatural as they hold still for several shots and stand silent. Like watching photographs of a ballroom that burned down a few hours after they were taken.
The film's influence is still prevalent, having inspired a recent Chanel collection by Karl Lagerfeld, Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, and the imagery of Lana Del Rey's Château de Fontainebleau shoot for her "Born to Die" music video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bag1gUxuU0g
I am indeed the former FelixLeiter007. I have had one cigarette in the past 5 weeks.
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
What can I say about this. 162 minutes of pure, over the top fun. The acting is over the top, the language is over the top and the violence is over the top. Good movie. 4.5 stars out of 5.
Taken from first hands accounts, the film tells the story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The film centers on a female CIA analyst Maya, played brilliantly by Jessica Chastain, who spends every waking hour tracking leads on bin Laden. Her obsession leads to a courier who she believes may by bin Laden's main courier. Despite little support from her superiors she keeps working the lead and promoting the lead to her superiors.
The film doesn't pull any punches, you see the torture (or not) of a detainee that has information the CIA wants, you see terrorist bombings and you see the resistance from the politicians to the CIA's findings. The actual raid on the compound is well done, some of it is shot as if looking through the night vision the assault team used. The film does not glorify or criticize what occurred, it attempts to show what occurred without judging. The film raises my appreciation for how hard some people work behind the scenes for the protection of freedom. It was one woman's hard work, with help from her team, that gave years of their lives to the hunt and were ultimately rewarded for their work.
Highly recommend.
The General’s Daughter - Savaged on its release back in 1999 it oddly foreshadowed mega hit 2000s crime shows CSI and NCIS (the urine coloured cinematography reminding me of CSI: Miami in particular). It is a flawed movie, what with John Travolta’s questionable Southern accent and the cliché, kinda scary US Military worshipping, but I found it surprisingly good in parts, with rock solid character actors like James Woods, James Cromwell, and Timothy Hutton elevating the somewhat wobbly scripting. English director Simon West (who also directed the dumb but fun Con Air and the just plain dumb Tomb Raider) clearly belongs to the same Bruckheimer stable that the derided Michael Bay and the much missed Tony Scott came from. Maybe this movie got a severe critical ribbing at the time (way back in 1999) due to how it unflinchingly depicted the ugly side of the US Military, which has since then bubbled up to surface during the 2000s, with the Criminal Investigation Command (the US Army’s equivalent of the NCIS) uncovering the corrupt covering up of institutional sexism and sexual abuse? 6/10
Freejack - A sci-fi action adventure that has a great concept and generally watchable, but demanded a script rewrite, David Bowie playing Mick Jagger’s role, and an additional twenty million dollars to the budget. Emilio Estevez plays an oddly lucky race car driver who in 1992, a split second before dying in an fireball, gets time scooped by a New York based megacorporation in the alternate future of 2009. In this grim dystopian urban landscape (even more rundown and oppressive than post-credit crunch America in real life) Estevez finds himself on the run from a flamboyant hired gun (played by the embarrassing Mick Jagger) and a corporate slimeball (the more respectable Jonathan Banks). Then Estevez’s character bumps into his fiancée from nearly two decades ago (Rene Russo) and more complications ensue. Mick Jagger just doesn’t work, the movie seems to collapse around him, and his performance is firmly in the so bad it’s good territory, with the aforementioned Banks and even fellow rockstar David Johansen giving better accounts of themselves. The other main antagonist, Anthony Hopkins, also has presence as a genuinely scary corporate supervillain trapped in a supercomputer, but he was going through a period of being too pleased with himself and demanded too much money for a relatively small role (with him standing in front of bluescreen filled in by amusingly dated early 1990s CGI). Emulating Blade Runner and the Mad Max trilogy too much - sci-fi movies that were already many years old by 1992 - it looks distinctly old hat in comparison to other contemporary early 1990s sci-fi movies such as Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Universal Soldier, and even Demolition Man. Total Recall is about as dated as Freejack (neither movies foreseen iPhones), however it had much more warmth, slickness, drive, and Arnie to it. First rate guilty pleasure schlock though. 5/10
Protecting freedom by restricting freedom of potentially more people in general and inflicting extreme brutality on helpless captives to incompetently extract information from them?
I was amazed at this film. Tarantino is on top form with excellent use of modern music
set to western images. The cast is brilliant with the "Buddy" movie part between Jamie Foxx
and Christoph Waltz Being my favourite part, as the two men become friends and respect
each other. A special mention for Samuel L. Jackson ( One of my favourite actors ) who
is Fantastic as Stephen. He should pick up a few awards for it.
It's hard hitting and Violent But as with all great westerns you'll leave the cinema
walking a little taller.
LOL
Great to see Arnie Back on screen, Usual Shoot and Blow everthing up Movie, But great fun.
Although once again leaving the cinema I had to check that it was indeed a 15 cert as given
the level of violence I'd expected it to be an 18.