Last Movie you Watched?

KILL LIST. It's rare that I'm so taken with a film that I feel compelled to watch it again just a couple of days later, but such is my experience of Ben Wheatley's horror thriller, surely one of the most striking British entries in the field since THE WICKER MAN. And it's even better and more chilling on second viewing.

Mark Kermode nails it in his BBC radio review when he says that KILL LIST "does for horror what Shane Meadows did for the revenge drama with DEAD MAN'S SHOES. I mean, to say that it's a claustrophobic drama is to understate just how much you feel trapped within it as the action escalates. Effectively, what happens is, you sit there watching the film thinking: this is about to explode, it's about to go off in ways which feel really uncomfortable. Some horror films try to terrify you, some horror films try to repulse you, some horror films try to shock you. The primary register of KILL LIST is to make you feel extremely uncomfortable and it does it with real efficiency. ... KILL LIST is a perfect example of one of those films where you'd be very hard pressed to say what individual element of it that it was that was making you feel quite so uncomfortable, but it does it really efficiently. I mean, there is some, you know, graphic display in it, and some of the dialogue is very, very aggressive, but its primary register is this feeling of brooding, closing-in threat mixed with this sort of social realism which gives it the whole thing a really uncomfortable kitchen sink air to it, and you do genuinely buy into the drama in a way that, as things start to take a more outrageous turn, you are completely involved in it. I was genuinely wrung-out by it."

The Constant Gardener

Quite a good little film. Ralph and Rachel are great together and their acting is really good. It was mostly engaging, but the hand held camera was excessively used for no logical reason (such as during the golf sequence). But there are some nice visuals in there to admire. The score was quite good as well.

7.5/10

Sharky wrote:

It's either LEBOWSKI or A SERIOUS MAN for me.

A Serious Man? Really? That's the only Coen flick I've never been able to sit through...I dunno...it just doesn't engage me in the slightest. I've been assured by all my Jewish friends that it's because I'm not Jewish myself, so I kind of just left it at that.

I cannot stand BIG LEBOWSKI. Maybe it's everyone quoting it constantly like its modern-day Shakespeare or something, but I just do not get that movie.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I cannot stand BIG LEBOWSKI. Maybe it's everyone quoting it constantly like its modern-day Shakespeare or something, but I just do not get that movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVCtkzIXYzQ

You need to lighten up, Sykes.

P.S. Shouldn't you have said "everyone quoting it constantly likes it's modern-day Edward de Vere or something"?

Freudian slip there.

I just... don't... get it. I really can't articulate it anymore than that.

At least with me there is irony. My avatar history vs. yours (two ridiculously earnest comic book illustrations) is enough settle the matter.

Wait. Wait -- are you saying that because I like comic books I take things too seriously? Either I'm too dumb to follow this convoluted logic, or you're saying that I'm not allowed to enjoy fun things unless I'm making fun of them at the same time, OR we're about to get into a patented "the philosophy of culture" argument that goes nowhere.

Because if you're trying to prove I need to lighten up with the evidence that I enjoy reading comic books, I think your rationale has some problems.

Forces Spéciales aka Special Forces (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1656192/

4/5

unlike Hollywood movies of this kind (The Expendables) where the emphasis is on flashy, over the top action and big explosions and the good guys never die even when being shot at at point blank range;

this film is realistic and extremely emotional without the Hollywood BS!!

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Because if you're trying to prove I need to lighten up with the evidence that I enjoy reading comic books, I think your rationale has some problems.

No, but never mind.

Probably for the best. I'm not sure I'm up to duelling intellects with you tonight, especially since our debates never really go anywhere productive.

But I thought it was Sharky was allergic to joy.

Oh well, I love LEBOWSKI. My favorite comedy. I like misfits.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

But I thought it was Sharky was allergic to joy.

Ok, maybe I'm not lighthearted, but am I funny?

Drax wrote:

Sharky wrote:

It's either LEBOWSKI or A SERIOUS MAN for me.

A Serious Man? Really? That's the only Coen flick I've never been able to sit through...I dunno...it just doesn't engage me in the slightest. I've been assured by all my Jewish friends that it's because I'm not Jewish myself, so I kind of just left it at that.

I'd also say that A SERIOUS MAN is right up there. But it is all about Jewish religious identity, so if that kind of theological discussion doesn't interest you, A SERIOUS MAN might not be for you.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I cannot stand BIG LEBOWSKI. Maybe it's everyone quoting it constantly like its modern-day Shakespeare or something, but I just do not get that movie.

THANK YOU! I'd seen myself as vox clamantis in deserto.

Sharky wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

The diff between Airplane's hamfistedness and TBL's is that the former is actually funny.

They're both very funny, but are extremely different in the nature of their humour.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

TBL is simply a relentless stream of vulgarities patching together episodic character sketches of bizarre figures.

The vulgarities aren't there patch over anything, or simply thrown for the sake of it. It's there to embellish the characters, and The Dude and Walter's reactions to the Chandler-esque journey they find themselves in.

Looks like I might need Harms as my wingman here.

Patching together or not, they're the film's one constant. Mindless mesentery, one might say.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I cannot stand BIG LEBOWSKI. Maybe it's everyone quoting it constantly like its modern-day Shakespeare or something, but I just do not get that movie.

THANK YOU! I'd seen myself as vox clamantis in deserto.

story of my life, I might name my autobio' that. With permission.

Run with it, Hilly.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Run with it, Hilly.

thanks, we'll see what goes down.

Robin and the Seven Hoods

not quite Ocean's 11 but then what was? Bright, colourful with a couple of catchy songs but above all it has the gang. Sinatra, Martin, Davis and Papa Crosby himself. Not forgetting Peter Falk and in a rare flash of 'aha it's that guy' Victor Buono a.k.a. King Tut from Batman.

Did this film miss Lawford? (Scratched from the cast after a fall out involving a JFK visit) Probably not, for one he couldn't sing and his replacement Crosby...well...

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

The diff between Airplane's hamfistedness and TBL's is that the former is actually funny.

They're both very funny, but are extremely different in the nature of their humour.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

TBL is simply a relentless stream of vulgarities patching together episodic character sketches of bizarre figures.

The vulgarities aren't there patch over anything, or simply thrown for the sake of it. It's there to embellish the characters, and The Dude and Walter's reactions to the Chandler-esque journey they find themselves in.

Looks like I might need Harms as my wingman here.

Patching together or not, they're the film's one constant.

Nah, I'd say the neo-noir pisstake is its one constant, and what sets LEBOWSKI apart from the pack.

"I Love you Philip Morris" Good film. Possibly Jim Carrey's best performance. Ewan McGregor did well too. Visually the film looked great throughout. The movie was well directed, and really held my attention the whole way through. It was a nice balance of humor and real drama. I think the story was in a sense a metaphor for the gay experience in America, without over-sentimentalizing the topic.

Eyes Wide Shut

I liked it more than his 80s films, in spite of the leads. If it's all only metaphorical and concerning the couple's relationship and nothing else, then it's perhaps a bit limited in scope. The music was one of the assets, I believe. Another viewing is due some day. Still, nowhere near his great work up to 75.


Dr. No

My first BLU. It had to be a film I already knew well, so I ordered the best two Bond films of all time. 8)
Pic's sharp, the colours very rich. I think it looks as if we were on set, or better, right there with Bond on the spot in the adventure! You can discern the vein of the floor in Bond's apartment; also, the water on Miss Taro and Honey's skin looks very real and inviting.
Great film, though more on it at another place.


Hiroshima Mon Amour

Camera and music very impressive. After the first, it's hard to comment on the content, but I really liked it. Definitely much better than Godard's first one.

Was of the opinion the shark loved TWBB. :scratch:

Gray Lady Down, fairly average disaster fare notable for Christopher Reeve's debut movie even if he's reduced to "Yes, sir", "no, sir" dialogue. Heston looked like he wished he had drowned on the sub by the end of the movie.//// (500) Days of Summer, We reach.

Manhunter wrote:

Was of the opinion the shark loved TWBB. :scratch:

Nah, that's Harmsway.