Last Movie you Watched?

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Mr. Brown wrote:

Random YouTuber said he was the inspiration for Dude Lebowski. I see it.

Hayden?

I can see THE LONG GOODBYE as an inspiration for the film, but the character was inspired by Jeff Dowd.

Maybe it was just the beard. Or that YouTube user is just a dumb fuck.

Anonymous (I) (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521197/

Interesting movie about William Shakespeare not being the author of his plays, poems and sonnets.

I am not sure how much of it is real and how much of it is fiction and I am by no means, a Shakespeare Thespian but I was enthralled by this movie!

I give this a 4/5

J. Edgar (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1616195/

Long and overbearing quasi biographical movie of J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial Director who heavy-handedly ran the FBI for 36 years.

Leonardo DiCaprio turns in a surprisingly good performance in the title role and he is supported by a fine cast;

yet this is one time I feel Director Clint Eastwood has missed his mark.

Too many characters come and go never to be seen again and the pacing of the film could had used some polishing and better editing.

I give this a 3/5

I luv muslemz

Mr. Brown wrote:

YouTube user is just a dumb fuck.

There's your answer. YouTube has surpassed IMDB in sheer user stupidity a few years ago.

The Hunger Games...I went with a very narrow mind but was pleasantly surprised...niece got to say, "I told you so." :drunken:

HANNA. A risible and achingly trendy retread of Bourne. Not without entertainment value, but on the whole a tedious, soulless and numbing experience.

Loved HANNAH. Infinitely superior to BOURNE in every respect, and with far more soul and richer themes at play. The corruption and Western betrayal of childhood, the universality of myth, and a stirring performance from Saoirse Ronan. Amazing that a director who produced Merchant Ivor sh**e like ATONEMENT could produce something as fresh and alive as this.

I'll add that the Chemical Brothers's score is one of the finest in years. Gets a lot of play in Sharkville.

The best thing about HANNA is that it's got me thinking that QUANTUM OF SOLACE isn't nearly so bad after all. Thank goodness Eon didn't hire Joe Wright.

Can't see the comparison to QOS, at all.

Gotta say though, this isn't a proper film debate without Harms. I want to hear his take (assuming he's watched it).

Sharky wrote:

Loved HANNAH. Infinitely superior to BOURNE in every respect, and with far more soul and richer themes at play. The corruption and Western betrayal of childhood, the universality of myth, and a stirring performance from Saoirse Ronan. Amazing that a director who produced Merchant Ivor sh**e like ATONEMENT could produce something as fresh and alive as this.

Really? Out of the three films I've seen of Wright's, I'd say Hanna is the weakest. Pride and Prejudice is outstanding, but Atonement is Wright at his best! What don't you like about Atonement?

FieldsMan wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Loved HANNAH. Infinitely superior to BOURNE in every respect, and with far more soul and richer themes at play. The corruption and Western betrayal of childhood, the universality of myth, and a stirring performance from Saoirse Ronan. Amazing that a director who produced Merchant Ivor sh**e like ATONEMENT could produce something as fresh and alive as this.

Really? Out of the three films I've seen of Wright's, I'd say Hanna is the weakest. Pride and Prejudice is outstanding, but Atonement is Wright at his best! What don't you like about Atonement?

Everything. Stuffy, limp drama, sentimental, self-important crane shots, the lot. It's the kind of tripe that gives British cinema a bad name.

Sharky wrote:

Can't see the comparison to QOS, at all.

Well, they're both recent action thrillers set in the world of espionage. I bring up QUANTUM OF SOLACE because I view it as a dull, badly-scripted affair with an inflated sense of its own importance, hampered further by pointless and irritating visual flashiness and poor characterisation.

Having seen HANNA, though, I realise that Wright's film is far more guilty in all those respects. And don't get me started on its intelligence-insulting plot holes and violations of its own so-called internal logic.

HANNA has an interesting premise but it's poorly developed and never once sets foot outside the well-worn realm of action movie cliché. It's like a lab-created hybrid of THE BOURNE IDENTITY, BATMAN BEGINS, SHOOTER, SALT and indeed virtually any recent spy/assassin/action flick you care to name. There's hardly the faintest emanation of originality.

Saorsie Ronan does what she can with the material, but the film tries (and fails) to have it both ways with her character. It tries to present her as a gentle innocent who goes all wide-eyed with delight when presented with a lightbulb or a kettle, enjoys friendship bracelets and girly sleepovers and yearns only to hear this mysterious and wonderful thing called music.... and it also tries to present her as The Terminator - a child who can kill scores of people at once without even batting an eyelid. Selling her in both these guises at once just doesn't work, at least not in the hamfisted and by-the-numbers way that Wright attempts to make it work.

It's impossible to buy any of it for a single second. Not once do we feel that Hanna is in any kind of real danger (because she has fighting abilities that make Bond and Bourne look like old age pensioners), so we're not captivated by her plight. There's nothing particularly sympathetic or engaging about her, or any of the other characters. (Incidentally, is Cate Blanchett now specialising in over-the-top and annoying villains, and does the poor viewer really need to witness her unpleasant dental routine? Or maybe that bit is a "clever" nod to MARATHON MAN, I dunno.)

HANNA's derivativeness and half-baked script might not matter so much if the film had some energy and flair, but Wright's direction is dull. There are no striking visuals, the locations are unattractive and not even the action scenes have much of a pulse.

Sharky wrote:

Gotta say though, this isn't a proper film debate without Harms. I want to hear his take (assuming he's watched it).

I'd also like to read Harms' take.

Sharky wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Loved HANNAH. Infinitely superior to BOURNE in every respect, and with far more soul and richer themes at play. The corruption and Western betrayal of childhood, the universality of myth, and a stirring performance from Saoirse Ronan. Amazing that a director who produced Merchant Ivor sh**e like ATONEMENT could produce something as fresh and alive as this.

Really? Out of the three films I've seen of Wright's, I'd say Hanna is the weakest. Pride and Prejudice is outstanding, but Atonement is Wright at his best! What don't you like about Atonement?

Everything. Stuffy, limp drama, sentimental, self-important crane shots, the lot. It's the kind of tripe that gives British cinema a bad name.

Rubbish. I think it's a fantastically crafted film. The tracking shot at Dunkirk alone is enough to warrant it five stars. The script is fantastic, and the acting is perfect. What do you think of the music?

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There's hardly the faintest emanation of originality.

The incorporation of the Brother's Grimm fairytales alone, is highly original for this kind of film. Not to mention to the contrast between innocence and killing-machine, and the dilemmas she finds herself in.

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not even the action scenes have much of a pulse.

Thanks to the Chemical Brothers and some superb editing, they have more than a pulse. They're rip-roaring, "fuck yeah!" moments where every facet of film making comes together in perfect alignment.

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There's nothing particularly sympathetic or engaging about her,

I find her childlike nativity and unintentional humour ("How did your mother die?" "Three shots to the head"), and gradual awareness about herself and the world, very engaging. The Terminator-moments of course challenge one's sympathy, but they're sparing and elegantly handled enough for me to still like the girl.

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Saorsie Ronan does what she can with the material, but the film tries (and fails) to have it both ways with her character. It tries to present her as a gentle innocent who goes all wide-eyed with delight when presented with a lightbulb or a kettle, enjoys friendship bracelets and girly sleepovers and yearns only to hear this mysterious and wonderful thing called music.... and it also tries to present her as The Terminator - a child who can kill scores of people at once without even batting an eyelid. Selling her in both these guises at once just doesn't work

Well, she's never both at once. He's either a killing machine or (trying to be, and often failing) a regular teenage girl. However, the film does display a compelling conflict between these two sides of her, and her general lack of identity as a human being (not simply amnesia). Far more profound than Bourne. It says something far beyond hand-wringing, Guardianista politics. Something we can all relate to.

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There are no striking visuals

I count the opening/closing statement with the gunship fairly striking, along with the abandoned funfair, music video-inspired escape from the underground HQ, shipping crate chase, seedy Brothers Grimm club, and shots of Cate Blanchett cleaning her teeth. Granted, it could have done without the digital grading, but that goes for nearly all films these days.

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Incidentally, is Cate Blanchett now specialising in over-the-top and annoying villains, and does the poor viewer really need to witness her unpleasant dental routine? Or maybe that bit is a "clever" nod to MARATHON MAN, I dunno.)

I thought that was an allegory to the queen from Snow White, or similar archetypes. Her body slowly deteriorating as her obsession grows stronger.

FieldsMan wrote:

The tracking shot at Dunkirk alone is enough to warrant it five stars.

:roll:

FieldsMan wrote:

What do you think of the music?

Derivative bollocks.

ATONEMENT is not without its flaws, but it's so vastly superior to HANNA it isn't true.

I can't see that. It's like comparing HOWARD'S END to LEON.

Ah... welcome back, Harms.

Goodbye.

Sharky wrote:

The incorporation of the Brother's Grimm fairytales alone, is highly original for this kind of film.

Possibly, although the fairytale symbolism is very "on-the-nose" and in any case adds nothing.

Sharky wrote:

Not to mention to the contrast between innocence and killing-machine, and the dilemmas she finds herself in.

The contrast between innocence and killing-machine isn't really any different to the klutzy Clark Kent/all-powerful Superman contrast. Also, as presented by Wright and co., these two sides to Hanna are too divorced from each other, too jarring and unbelievable (even within the context of the kind of action flick for which suspension of disbelief is always a must).

What are the interesting dilemmas she encounters, and how are they resolved in an interesting way? I saw nothing that I hadn't seen already in dozens of other, better movies.

Sharky wrote:

Thanks to the Chemical Brothers and some superb editing, they have more than a pulse. They're rip-roaring, "fuck yeah!" moments where every facet of film making comes together in perfect alignment.

They almost sent me to sleep.

Sharky wrote:

"How did your mother die?" "Three shots to the head"

I concede that that exchange made me chuckle. It's one of the few good moments.

Sharky wrote:

Well, she's never both at once.

Which is precisely the problem, really. Ronan seems to be playing two different characters in two different films. Here's a scene in which she's a killing machine. Here's a scene in which she's a regular teenage girl. Here's a scene in which she's a killing machine. Here's a scene in which she's a regular teenage girl. Repeat until fade.

Sharky wrote:

It says something far beyond hand-wringing, Guardianista politics.

HANNA's "politics" are every bit as Guardianista as Bourne's. Think of the "One nation under CCTV" graffiti, for instance.

Sharky wrote:

music video-inspired escape from the underground HQ

Yep, it's certainly music video-inspired. That's what's wrong with it.

I'm with Sharky on this one. I think Hanna is great. And speaking of QOS...I realized after watching Hanna that Hanna was pretty much everything I was hoping QOS would be under Forster's reigns: a super-stylish action flick that ponderously explores it's own themes without shoving it down the audiences throat. Of course, I love Bourne as well, but Bourne goes about itself a little differently than Hanna does.

An argument between my two favourite iconoclasts. Where can I buy popcorn? ;)

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

I kinda stopped paying attention after a while. Just didn't grab me as it went on.

Sharky wrote:

I want to hear his take (assuming he's watched it).

I haven't. Don't really have any interest.

Now, when is HAYWIRE out on DVD again?

Have you seen Atonement, Harms?

Harmsway wrote:

Now, when is HAYWIRE out on DVD again?

You'd rather re-watch a soulless Soderturd BOURNE-ripoff than HANNAH? That says everything.

Loomis wrote:

Possibly, although the fairytale symbolism is very "on-the-nose" and in any case adds nothing..

On-the-nose and earnest it might be (that's too much for many in today's world of snark and hipsterdom), but the film's narrative structure and framing of the story is based on Grimm's tales. The film is essentially a modern fairytale. Because of that, the symbolism tales add a richer layer.

I'll also add that SHOOTER, BOURNE, SALT, HAYWIRE, and other genre dreck lack the cultural edge that HANNAH holds. It addresses not only a hypothetical future, but our present and our past. Like Tim Burton, Joe Wright understands the power of childhood myth in informing social morality, beliefs, and how one relates to the wold.

Loomis wrote:

The contrast between innocence and killing-machine isn't really any different to the klutzy Clark Kent/all-powerful Superman contrast.

I don't see any problem with. Hannah is a kind of superhero (more superhuman) and told within the structure of a myth/fairytale, so the dichotomy can afford to be pretty distinct, jarring and simplistic. Also, a great deal of the film's tension (especially in the second act) comes from not knowing when Hannah will switch. We know it's going to happen, but not necessarily how and when.

The consequences of Hannah's freakouts are numerous, but her relationship with the other girl, her family, and her gradual realisation that she's abnormal are key. Her killing-machine half is blessing in the short term, but a curse in the long term. HANNAH's arc is one of alienation and epiphany.

Loomis on the Chemical Brothers wrote:

They almost sent me to sleep.

I suggest the following:

a) Watch the film again.

b) Invest in some better speakers. A large subwoofer helps.

c) See you're local GP and ask him/her about male menopause. This could be serious.

Loomis wrote:

HANNA's "politics" are every bit as Guardianista as Bourne's. Think of the "One nation under CCTV" graffiti, for instance.

Objecting to a 1984-style, big government, all-seeing state is far more Torygraph or even Daily Mail than anything to do with The Guardian's politics. I can't remember any scathing attacks on American/British foreign policy in HANNAH. Enlighten me.

Loomis wrote:

Yep, it's certainly music video-inspired. That's what's wrong with it.

Your stuffiness showing. The music video is one of the most accessible, alive and powerful art forms in today's media. More filmmakers should look to its aesthetics with a discerning eye rather than snootily dismiss them. Thankfully we've got directors like Neveldine/Taylor, Olivier Megaton, Paul W.S. Anderson. John Moore, Luc Besson, Spike Jonze, and Michel Gondry, who have their fingers on their pulse.

Your days are numbered.

I found Hanna much like I found Drive just too much a case of style over substance, and for an action film much of the action is actually pretty sloppy, the hand to hand combat in particular is completely without 'punch'. Cate Blanchett is woefully underwhelming as antagonists go and sadly there's no real tension generated by any of the adversaries depicted (though Tom Hollanders camp turn was borderline fun).

Like so much of todays action, there's plenty of noise and frenetic running but imo no reason to feel involved or care.