Film 2013

[Acker79]

Iron man 3 - very good, built well, Ben Kingsley was fantastic, just a really clever interpretation of the character, the henchmen were hilarious, rdj was his usual fun self, like the second, could have done with more don cheadle.

Olympus has fallen - decent. Seemed a throwback to films like under siege and die hard with the one man army. Could have done with a touch more tongue in cheek to off set the ridiculousness of the story and the action. Glad to see a film not hold back on the violence in an effort to widen their audience with a lower rating.

Evil dead
I wasn't a particular fan of the original. I'm sure I watched it when I was younger, but don't have any strong memoirs of it. I did watch it again a few weeks back when it was on tv, and again no great connection.

I had a similar indifference to this remake, not particularly caring about most of the cast. I like the TV show suburgatory, so wanted to like Jane Levi's. character, but they don't really do anything to let you get to know her. The the violence is a bit repetitive at least three arms are removed in various ways, there's several endings.

 

[Meade's Ball]

The review i'd read today after seeing the new Iron Man said that Downey Jr should have been around in the halcyon cinematic days of the 70s and he really would have fitted in with his range of characters. I thought: YOU BLINKING WHAT? HE'S EXACTLY THE SAME IN EVERYTHING. And a bit bloody annoying with his fast-chatter wisecracking. I've not been impressed with the other Iron Men, partly because the comic was just so awful, but this one improved matters. I'm glad it makes out there'll be no more and maybe now he'll just turn up for big avengers follow-ups, but this was loud and enjoyable. I found it very funny because there's a major character called Trevor Slattery, who is also a bloke i went to uni with, now a football coach back in Ireland. Trevor told his girlfriend that he was gay in a cowardly fashion and took a long-haired friend with him to collect certain items he still had stored at her place, to make his gayness seem more real. This long-haired chap was me, with no idea inside me that he had told his long-term girlfriend this excuse for their split. And neither of us were gay. They're married now after reconciling some years later and i got the sense that my invite to the wedding arrived atonishingly and intentionally late thanks to memories of his tale of our hidden love that never was.
Anyway, Iron Man 3 had the wish to de-trillionaire the bigheaded Stark for a bit and that works for me. The film as a whole was filled with comicbook cliches and comicbook movie copies from the recent past, but they were woven reasonably. Could've been a bit shorter, but it was ok.

 

[RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)]

Just back from Iron Man 3 and have to say cracking fun. I loved the first film, not so much the second but this one was a real hum dinger. A proper crash bang wallop affair, but loads of witty banter and funny one liners. Robby D Jr is a perfect Tony Starks and long may he continue in the role, lots more of Gweneth this time and she stood up well, sexy and strong when required. The terrorist threat was very well done as well, dark and menacing and Ben Kingsley was on brilliant form as ever as the evil mandarin.Don Cheadle is great and with a big role as the iron patriot but for me was slightly lost in a busy film. And last but not least one of my favourite actors, Guy Pearce was superb also, good to see him back on the big screen.
As ever, there is always a little tip bit after the credits have rolled, Starks and David banner (hulk)
Its one for everyone, comic book geeks and regular cinema fans, go see it you won't be disappointed. Now I must fly, the Rowley signal has just been flashed into the stratosphere, I feel a match thread is needed.

 

[Bring back Bryan wade!!]

Never mind all that Rowley, you have more important responsibilities.....

Just back from Iron Man 3 and have to say cracking fun. I loved the first film, not so much the second but this one was a real hum dinger. A proper crash bang wallop affair, but loads of witty banter and funny one liners. Robby D Jr is a perfect Tony Starks and long may he continue in the role, lots more of Gweneth this time and she stood up well, sexy and strong when required. The terrorist threat was very well done as well, dark and menacing and Ben Kingsley was on brilliant form as ever as the evil mandarin.Don Cheadle is great and with a big role as the iron patriot but for me was slightly lost in a busy film. And last but not least one of my favourite actors, Guy Pearce was superb also, good to see him back on the big screen.
As ever, there is always a little tip bit after the credits have rolled, Starks and David banner (hulk)
Its one for everyone, comic book geeks and regular cinema fans, go see it you won't be disappointed. Now I must fly, the Rowley signal has just been flashed into the stratosphere, I feel s match thread is needed.

 

[RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)]

Never mind all that Rowley, you have more important responsibilities.....

Ha, I'm on it baby

 

[Acker79]

Star Trek Into Darkness
The first was something different a new take on Star Trek and so had a freshness to it that this inevitably lacks. There are some flaws, but generally I really enjoyed it. I didn't feel like there were any big twists or turns, but the story is well told and fun to see play out. Very much more of the same, in a good way, without being better than the first.

 

[Meade's Ball]

Saw that Star Trek the other day. You know, the new one with the youngsters in it. And it was ok i suppose. The opening scene had some stunningly pupil-broadening visuals, the colour of it all incredible. It was a good set piece and raised the moral dilemmas that were so consistently rich in the original series. Sadly, after that, it pretty much dumbed down and lost its way with some cheap dialogue and muddled storyline. The acting was not good for a fairly long spell, but when the action was allowed to take over again it thrilled as much as it needed to. Cumberbatch was good enough though as the super-powered villain. It just wasn't that engaging though. A blockbuster without much feeling, but pleasing to the eye on occasion.

 

[Meade's Ball]

Sometimes it's a relief when leaving a cinema to feel a little shaken, to question oneself, to have a little guilt inside for enjoying what you've just witnessed, for all its tender bleakness. And that's what i just had from Lore. Ok it's not fresh to our screens, but i kept missing it both earlier this year on its release and last year at the film festival when even though having a ticket, argued my way out of going after an emotional scuffle with my girlfriend that day. I was glad to finally catch up with it today. It's a film set in Germany at the point of Hitler's death. Victory is ours, but those affiliated with the Nazi's, and even those reasonably high up, are on the run from a murderous justice. The mother and father of one family look to flee, but it's Lore, with her younger sister and three younger brothers, one of whom no older than a year, who have to go it alone after their parents seem no more. Lore, 16 years old, must lead them to their aunty's home countless miles away, idling hungrily through the desolation, disguising their attachment to the evil that part caused it.
It was a fascinating tale. Germany is awash with carcasses and sin and a lawlessness that animalises all those desperate refugees and survivors of a moral holocaust and the travel of these children, innocent and pure yet tainted, is one that is enthralling and filled with the undecided. I found it a very worthy watch. Not a laugh a minute, but strangely beautiful.
The director of it is Australian, and one can feel that as much as it's part-funded in Germany and barely a word in English is spoken, probably musically there's a not fully germanic feel to its making. It makes for an interesting blend of an outsider's point of view for something darkly personal to Germany and all the film's cast.

Overall, a very good film. There.

 

[vegster]

Caught Star Trek Into Darkness on Tuesday evening at Duke's. Thoroughly enjoyable romp and the characters are starting to shine through. Zachary Quinto IS Spock and has some great lines with Kirk. Cumberbatch exudes menace and insanity. Some great cuts by JJ Abrams which looks good for when he gets hold of Star Wars.

An impressive 8.3

Now back to the binfests.

 

[Fungus]

Just got back from watching the new Star Trek movie. Rather disappointing, "oh, no, another fist fight", by the time the spaceship demolishes the skyscrapers, I was past caring. They seem to have mistaken obstacles for plot. The characters of Kirk, Bones, Uhura and Spock are great, but Scotty is annoying. Nowhere near as entertaining as the previous one.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Both these flicks are on TV and recommended by the Guardian TV Guide this week: Ils (French horror) and the Brideshead Revisited 2008 re-make. Does anyone have any intimate knowledge of whether either of these two are worth a watch?

 

[Meade's Ball]

I recommend a Hijacking. Borgen fans like me will be right at home with the cast, but overall it's a growingly claustrophobic little tale of procedure over direct action. Really good. Check it out.

 

[Acker79]

Both these flicks are on TV and recommended by the Guardian TV Guide this week: Ils (French horror) and the Brideshead Revisited 2008 re-make. Does anyone have any intimate knowledge of whether either of these two are worth a watch?

Ils (aka Them) is quite well respected. I saw it and remember mostly liking it.

 

[Nibble]

A family trip to the Everyman theatre in Walton this evening. 13 yr old niece with so we opted for Great Gatsby in 3 dimensions. The signs were not good, the bombast of Lurhman, the weird choice of Jay Z on score detail, babyfaced plum Decaprio, the potential rape of a good book. Lorks a lummy! I was impressed. Much so. It all works. I'd never seen a film in 3D before, and to be fair, apart from the party scenes it doesn't add a lot but was fine. A realy good film. I recommend. 7/10

 

[pasty]

A family trip to the Everyman theatre in Walton this evening. 13 yr old niece with so we opted for Great Gatsby in 3 dimensions. The signs were not good, the bombast of Lurhman, the weird choice of Jay Z on score detail, babyfaced plum Decaprio, the potential rape of a good book. Lorks a lummy! I was impressed. Much so. It all works. I'd never seen a film in 3D before, and to be fair, apart from the party scenes it doesn't add a lot but was fine. A realy good film. I recommend. 7/10

Well there you go. Horses for courses I guess. Mrs P and I went to see it yesterday as well, and also the first time we'd ever been to a 3D film. The 3D effects impressed me, but as you say I don't think it added much to the film. At 2 hours 20 mins it was overly long and drawn out, the modern music score over a 1920's story didn't work at all and overall we found it extremely boring and generally dull as dishwater. At one point I actually dozed off! 2/10

 

[Meade's Ball]

Well i took a break from unnaturally, or over-naturally, redenning in this sudden solar outburst by having my girlfriend and i go into the Barbican's new comfy screens to watch Gatsby. I am a fan of the book and wanted to be sick when watching the trailer with its over-colourful putreficaction of a text that spoke so vividly of an era and the vacuity of wealth, and sadly had that feeling much-repeated through the film. The story itself is great and can't help but partly grip thanks to memory of reading, but, unsurprisingly, the depth of the novel is completely banished by the over-showiness of this cartoonish and hammy piece. Di Caprio is usually a reliable source of at least reasonable acting, but it was horrible to see the utterly unbeguilingness of a figure meant to mesmerise all around him with his glitter and mystery. It seems he can't do smarm, only coming into his own when his brow furrows and the woes of the world are upon him. It was a mostly poor show that heightens its lack of understanding with its eye-blistering luminosity and lack of subtlety.

 

[Dancing Sock]

I watched The Impossible the other night, found it extremely difficult to watch, had me close to tears.

Another that came out in 2013 that I've watched (Well, Xmas 2012 in the US) is Django Unchained.

What a brilliant film that is, Jackson, Dicaprio, Waltz and Foxx were all at the top of their game, t'was a superb viewing and I've watched it three times now.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Argo:

Watched this last night on DVD and do not know what all the fuss is about. Other than Alan Arkin I thought the performances were tosh. Weak story, I had no empathy for the hostages whatsoever and therefore was disappointed when they got away at the end. The car chase down the runway was just ridiculous.

How that won best picture is beyond me - were there no other entries? Typical Hollywood, isn't the USA great, rubbish.

3/10.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Populaire - reasonably peachy. 7.112/10

 

[middletoenail]

I watched The Impossible the other night, found it extremely difficult to watch, had me close to tears.

Another that came out in 2013 that I've watched (Well, Xmas 2012 in the US) is Django Unchained.

What a brilliant film that is, Jackson, Dicaprio, Waltz and Foxx were all at the top of their game, t'was a superb viewing and I've watched it three times now.

I watched The Impossible on Thursday, and I agree, very moving. That said, I found it difficult to watch because it was filmed in shakey cam!