Uncle Spielberg's Film Club

[Meade's Ball]

I watched two films i'd not witnessed before (sadly missing Leslie Neilsen's Mr Magoo take) over the weekend. Both on freeview channels. The first was Charley Varrick with Walther Mattau as a criminal genius refusing to be struck by chance's bent horns in reply to a bank he'd wrongly robbed. Unbeknownsts to him, the mafia had money laundered there, and everyone knows they crave revenge eternally. Mattau amusingly outwits them, i suppose, whilst bloodily bedding the feminine needy, and never moving no matter the violence that approaches. It's made by Don Siegel, a director never as skilled as the money his films took announced, Pekinpah-ish in his urban gorilla warfare.

The other i saw was Under The Sand. Quite moving, i suppose. Incredibly sombre throughout, but slow-moving and almost mystical in the chosen blindness of it's lead character. There's a Kieslowskian feel to it at times, frozen and unaccepting in it's mourning narrative. Not a bad film, even if i don't like Ozon in general.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Layer Cake is on TV tomorrow. not going to trawl though all the pages but, any good?

 

[Easy 10]

Layer Cake is very good indeed. A Lock Stock for grown ups. 7.9.

I watched Apocalypto last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Builds the tension with some exciting action sequences and a fair amount of gratuitous GORE. Mel Gibson does seem to have something of a penchant for shooting prolongued gruesome torture scenes of semi-naked men having various parts of their anatomy torn out or chopped off. Or both.

I'll give it an enjoyable 7.3.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Blood Diamond 8.1

A very good thriller about corrupt diamond trading in Sierra Leone, an interesting story , lots of action and a film with heart and also a superb performance again from Leonardo Di Caprio, anyone who still thinks he cannot act after the Departed and Blood Diamond is in fact talking bollocks.

One of the best films of the last 12 months.

Recommended

 

[Nibble]

Saw Apocalypto yesterday. It was quite good.

DiCaprio is overrated but not a bad actor.

 

[Les Biehn]

Saw Pan's Labyrinth: 6.9

Not bad, couldn't really get into it for some reason. Something missing from both the fantasy and real sequences. Never really felt like I was going on any sort of journey but enjoyable never the less. Devils Backbone was better.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Apocalypto is shite.

Di Caprio is actually a very underrated actor. Probably because Titanic was utter bollocks its blotted his copy book.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

This weekend I saw

Shrek 3

Its harmeless fun, altho Donkey and puss are not in it enough it still has its moments, sadly the best lines are given away in the trailers.

6.5/10

 

[coventrygull]

Some dvd I have watched recently

Black Book

History of Violence

Perfume

Running scared

 

[Meade's Ball]

Saw Pan's Labyrinth: 6.9

Not bad, couldn't really get into it for some reason. Something missing from both the fantasy and real sequences. Never really felt like I was going on any sort of journey but enjoyable never the less. Devils Backbone was better.

I think some of the distance we might have from the film is a lack of background that the Spanish audience would find drab, unnecessary and matter-of-factual. Or at least that was the impression i had from some Spanish friends.
I thought it was beautifully horrific at times, the two key sequences of hand-eye man and evil father-in-law's self-administration of the stitches his sliced mouth required, but the characters seemed a tad empty without a longer moulding. They turn up and there's evil awaiting. I felt as if i needed a touch of seriousness in with the somewhat childish adventure, to make the confusion between a semi-chosen surreality's battle with society's barbarism all the more challenging and terrifying. That i felt the same as our heroine.
Visually i'd say it was a damn corker, a conflagration of the optics, but just slightly lacked the layers and perfectly-carved narrative to leave the mystery bedevilling and permanent as the credits rolled.

 

[Les Biehn]

I found the face smashing at the beginnning horrific.

 

[Goodfella]

'La Vie En Rose'

A surprisingly pleasant film portraying the tragic life of French singer Edith Piaf known as Le Mome ( Kid, or sparrow), how she was abandoned by her mother , bought up in a brothel, and when fame finally came, like so many, she succumbed to drink and drugs, a fantastic performance from Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf, and equally good performances from her co-stars, my only fault would be the editng, which makes it a little confusing at times, and at 2hrs 20 mins a tad too long.

7.5/10

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Saw 3 films over the week end

Strange Days - DVD 8.0 - This is a cult film which not many people have heard of but it is very very good and underated. Did nothing at the Box Office and dissapeared off the Radar but it is a very good story of trading in " experience " clips with a new device which can record real life experiences someone is having and other people can then play them back and have the same experience. It is a futuristic nightmare with a good interesting story and lots of action, a great turn by Ralph Fiennes in a quite unique performance in his repatoire and ably supported by Juliet Lewis, Angela Bassett and Tom Sizemore.

Eragon 7.4 - one of those films that you get an expect little of and it turns out to be a little belter, poor critical reviews put me off but it is a wholesome family tale about a Dragon and her rider and lots of scorcery and fantasy land stuff. Could do a lot worse on a soggy week end

Stranger Than Fiction - 6.4 - unique tale of a guy whose life is being written as he lives it and he hears the authors commentary, interesting but a tales of the unexpected 30 minutes sort of thing, ultimately a slight dissapointment again in view of very positive reviews

 

[aftershavedave]

we watched "novocento" last week which was ruinede by being a poorly dubbed version. 4 hours into the 5.5 hour epic we gave up.

next up was "the page turner" a french drama, trundled along very nicely, good story.

swimming pool with charlotte rampling was rubbish, although plenty of tits

finally last night watched "l'aile ou la cuisse" a kind of french carry on film from the 70's. bloody funny.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

we watched "novocento" last week which was ruinede by being a poorly dubbed version. 4 hours into the 5.5 hour epic we gave up.

next up was "the page turner" a french drama, trundled along very nicely, good story.

swimming pool with charlotte rampling was rubbish, although plenty of tits

finally last night watched "l'aile ou la cuisse" a kind of french carry on film from the 70's. bloody funny.

Are you French

 

[Man of Harveys]

I watched about five minutes of some Louis de Funes "classics" over the weekend - are there any films of his that DON'T feature a car going into some water (which is then comically still being driven by him while he pulls silly faces?)

Actually, has anyone in the UK ever heard of him, other than from abroad?

 

[aftershavedave]

I watched about five minutes of some Louis de Funes "classics" over the weekend - are there any films of his that DON'T feature a car going into some water (which is then comically still being driven by him while he pulls silly faces?)

Actually, has anyone in the UK ever heard of him, other than from abroad?

he was the star of l'aile ou la cuisse, see above!

 

[aftershavedave]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074103/#comment

6.9

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Oceans 13.

I havent seen the first two or the original rat pack edition.

Have to say I thought it would be a Hollywood beauty parade but actually I found I really enjoyed it due to having no pre conveived ideas.

Its also shot in the style of such films that its based on. Its about half an hour too long but I have to say messers Clooney, Pitt and Damon do put on a good show.

So 7.5 out of 10.

 

[Goodfella]

Just watched 'The Illusionist'

Edward norton stars in this 19th century tale of trickery pokery, with the inevitable love element.

Ok - 7/10

Am now going to watch 'The Good Shepherd' Directed by, and starring The one and only Robert De Niro.

Verdict to follow.