[Film] Film 2017

[sussex_guy2k2]

I can't for a second rival Tom Hark's beautiful review, but last night I went to Trainspotting 2 in part from how he wrote of it. I was never a ginormous fan of the first one, but I think I came to it late and just wasn't that carefree whippsnapper any more that could embrace that interminable and bloody thrust toward opportunity. This one, though, was more right for me in its beautifully composed and shot take on the dreaded curse of time and wear. There's such a sad feeling toward those who've rottenly stuck to who they were, and those who've tried to break away but found no great sense of lasting worth in doing so. As they're mildly embedded in nostalgia, so are we whilst watching, and think there's still something in them, and the capers modestly thrill.
The performances were a bit cartoonish and extreme, but the direction and music were great. Some beautiful and refined imagery. Good film that.

I saw it today having never seen the first one (I know, shock horror!). I thoroughly enjoyed it and agree with your review.

 

[Stat Brother]

Late review, so I'll keep it brief.

Sing Street is on Netflix.

I watched the other night and thought it was really really nice.
I was surprised by in the end how invested in it I became.

Definitely recommend it to those of us of a certain age, looking back fondly to the 1980's,

 

[Meade's Ball]

I had me a half-day on Friday last, and of course that meant nipping to a new release. This time it was Loving.
I am not sure I had giantly high expectations of this, but I expected it to emotionally hurt in spells more than it did. The girlfriend actually fell asleep during it, which I only found out with an unusual snore from her. It wasn't worth nodding off whilst seeing, but it had a tv movie feel that it couldn't shake. It was as if they thought the constant buzz of crickets in the background gave for a spell of musty southern American realism. It got worse toward the end. The acting was ok, but neither actor quite mastered the subtlety of it that would have made the film more striking. Being softly twitchy didn't have Joel Edgerton seem to pulsate with the incurable inside, and some of Ruth Negga's facial movements had her acting loudly. The tale itself is one worth filming and knowing of, and it was all alright, but bits were dull and what ought to have horrified within didn't wholly. Negga was better than Edgerton, overall, I thought.

 

[Meade's Ball]

The girlfriend, who won't quite go and see anything at all, like me, always gets more cinematic near Oscar time. So, she declares a desire to see as many those listed for honours as possible. So, I quite happily go with her. Last week we first went to Lion. I cannae recall going to see a "weepie" or a "tearjerker", but this was certainly it, and a very good version of one. The first half of the film is better than the second, but the emotion of it all thunders piercingly throughout. The kid in it is great. And the landscape he's to scamper over in India is beautifully shot. The tale has a Dickensian feel to it, but that's no criticism. Who you are being in part thanks to where you're from was a theme in both this and Loving, but in this it strikes harder by the stark yet mesmerising landscape, and how the characters are connected to it. Some bits get a bit corny, but that's ok. Quite good really. Even Kidman gives a good enough show. The kid is the star of it though.

Second film was Fences, which we popped to see in a slightly chilly cinema yesterday morning. I had read a little bit about it, and I suppose I expected it to be a stage play on screen, with it being loyal to the source. And it was that, and being it was of course heavily dialogue-based. As with any plays I rarely go to, it takes me a while to accept the chatter and allow it to become a reality. In this film, the words and the dialect at the start are so plentiful, and loud, that I found it a bit unsettling. When it levels out, or I grew into it, it was ok though, and I could concentrate on the drama unfolding. Overall, it was alright, but not amazing. Oscar-wise, Denzel doesn't do an amazing job. He's alright, but doesn't capture the right element of charm in with his simmering brutality. The film itself was alright, but I wasn't as moved as I ought to have been. Viola Davis was good though. But the end of the film was cringeworthy.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I watched Moonlight today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Right up there with La La Land as the film of the year so far for me.

 

[vegster]

Managed to see Lion and The Lego Batman Movie in the last 3 days, Lion is excellent and very moving. Batman Lego, quite funny in places but hard to keep up with the crash bash speed.

Lion 8.5

Batman Lego 7.5

 

[Machiavelli]

I watched Moonlight today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Right up there with La La Land as the film of the year so far for me.

I managed to see Moonlight about a month ago, and would rate it as one of the best films I've seen in years. Another one I've seen recently, which reminded me of a composite of The Omen and White Ribbon, is The Childhood of a Leader, which is a cracking if disturbing film. Both this and Moonlight are visually stunning too.

 

[albion534]

Seen Hacksaw Ridge and Batman lego reecently

Both amazing films, albeit different

very much recomended

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Managed to see Lion and The Lego Batman Movie in the last 3 days, Lion is excellent and very moving. Batman Lego, quite funny in places but hard to keep up with the crash bash speed.

Lion 8.5

Batman Lego 7.5

I thoroughly enjoyed Lego Batman. It was a real Batman story, with character development, humour and decent (playful) action. What did you find it difficult to keep up with out of interest?

 

[vegster]

I thoroughly enjoyed Lego Batman. It was a real Batman story, with character development, humour and decent (playful) action. What did you find it difficult to keep up with out of interest?

Struggled with the fight and action scenes as it was so fast I could barely see who was beating who up at times.

Was tipped off about the fact there are lots or visual gags in the background and was trying to look at that while armies of good and bad guys were going in all directions!

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The Oscars 2017

I am predicting a few surprises tomorrow notably Moonlight winning best film over La La Land, not for merit but due to pc reasons after the recent criticism over lack of awards to non whites. This is a fair criticism but this film is not worthy of the accolade as it is frankly imo very overrated. It is a decent story about isolation, identity and sexuality but incredibly slow and tedious. ALL the critics absolutely adore it though, lauding it as the best film for decades and incredibly moving. Kermode was almost out of control with all the praise he heaped on it. The acting was good but I just did not get it, it left me cold. Judging by recent comments a lot of people disagree with me

La La Land is for me 10 x better and the worthy winner but in many ways I feel the best thing for this film now is to win very little at the Oscars, ironically the worst thing that happened for this film is in winning all 7 golden globes and numerous other awards as there has been a sustained and relentless backlash since then from a lot of critics and the public. Before the awards it got pretty much universal love and praise from everyone but in the last few weeks I have lost count of the amount of people who have said and written " it is a load of rubbish " It seems everyone who went to see the film recently was going into the cinema desperate to hate it and pick holes in it. If it wins 11 or 12 Oscars this will be very bad news for this magnificent film

Of the 5 films I have seen nominated Arrival is my second best, it is a beautiful and poignant film for the times encouraging nations to work together to find a solution for a future event that threatens Mankind, that was the gift from the Aliens, Amy Adams should definitely have got a best actress nomination

Third is Lion, a very moving and wonderful film

Fourth is Hacksaw Ridge, another great film

Fifth is Moonlight

So I expect Moonlight to get a surprise win, all the momentum is behind this film, Ladbrokes at 11 to 2 is definitely worth a tenner, La La Land is 1 to 7

Best actress surely has to be Emma Stone

Best actor Casey Affleck

Best supporting actor Ali for Moonlight

Best supporting actress Viola Davis for fences

Best Director Damien Chazelle for La La Land

What are your views and what films have you seen from the shortlist ?

Many thanks

 

[dolphins]

Saw Patriots Day yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. For whatever reason I knew little about the bombing other than the two explosions on the finish line, and don't recall what happened afterwards with the bombers themselves. This film cleared that all up. I'm sure some bits were changed for dramatic purposes but nevertheless from what my missus said last night when I was talking about the film, seems quite close to actual events. At the end some of the real victims give their thoughts which is quite moving.

Very much recommended.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Saw Patriots Day yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. For whatever reason I knew little about the bombing other than the two explosions on the finish line, and don't recall what happened afterwards with the bombers themselves. This film cleared that all up. I'm sure some bits were changed for dramatic purposes but nevertheless from what my missus said last night when I was talking about the film, seems quite close to actual events. At the end some of the real victims give their thoughts which is quite moving.

Very much recommended.

Thanks, I will give it a look

 

[Birdie Boy]

I think anyone reading LA LA Land is living in LA LA Land! It was just about watchable and the ending was quite strange.

Hacksaw Ridge is fantastic.

Patriots Day I thought was slow and I wasn't keen on the filming up until the bombing but then it was very good onwards.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I think anyone reading LA LA Land is living in LA LA Land! It was just about watchable and the ending was quite strange.

Hacksaw Ridge is fantastic.

Patriots Day I thought was slow and I wasn't keen on the filming up until the bombing but then it was very good onwards.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

The end was magnificent, what could have been, poignant and brave ending, each to their own, clearly a lot of people do not like La La Land, just think Moonlight is massively overrated, might have to give it a second view as it totally left me unmoved

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

IMDB is a very good guide of a film, there are anomaly's but it is accurate after tens or hundreds of thousands of votes and it is presently rating

La La Land 8.5
Hacksaw Ridge 8.3
Arrival 8.1
Lion 8.0
Moonlight 7.9

 

[Birdie Boy]

The end was magnificent, what could have been, poignant and brave ending, each to their own, clearly a lot of people do not like La La Land, just think Moonlight is massively overrated, might have to give it a second view as it totally left me unmoved

I turned moonlight off, bloody awful.

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[Birdie Boy]

IMDB is a very good guide of a film, there are anomaly's but it is accurate after tens or hundreds of thousands of votes and it is presently rating

La La Land 8.5
Hacksaw Ridge 8.3
Arrival 8.1
Lion 8.0
Moonlight 7.9

I always go by IMDB, anything rated over 6 is worth a go, imho.

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[Meade's Ball]

I think La La Land will for the most part walk it. Hollywood loves Hollywood, so a film about itself mostly bereft of pastiche should come out on top. It was well made and enjoyable and a good film tainted with sorrow, so it wouldn't be despairing in the slightest if it won. Moonlight had much more to it and it was a coming of age drama so rich with emotion that I'd be happy to see it awarded. But Manchester-by-the-Sea, mirroring my general gloominess, slightly topped the lot and I'd like to see a few prizes handed out in that direction.

Saw Hidden Figures the other day, or last weekend really, and it was alright. Those whom it was told about deserve such a story known.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I wouldn't personally have Arrival anywhere near best film. La La Land and Moonlight for me. Manchester by the Sea, whilst exceptionally acted and very real, just didn't touch the emotional heart strings enough for me. Hell of High Water is a hidden gem, albeit not quite as good as the previously two mentioned films for me. I'm yet to see Lion or Fences (although probably will tomorrow) so I can't comment.

For best female, it has to be Portman for me. Even though the film wasn't really my cup of tea, she was exceptional, although I expect Stone to walk it.

I'm also a tad surprised to see Ali the favourite for the male supporting actor. Whilst he's a good actor, I simply don't think his role was meaty enough to justify an oscar nomination. I'd personally prefer either Hedges or Bridges to win it, but I think the desire for a black person to win something will shine through in the voting in the supporting categories.

In terms of best male actor, it would be Affleck for me.

That's my two cents.