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[Film] Film 2019
- Thread starter Uncle Spielberg
- Start date
vegster
Sanity Clause
- May 5, 2008
- 28,273
It does not actually paint a great picture of Italian-Americans either.
God Argo. Has there ever been a worst best film winner ?
The film takes place over a course of a couple of months, and in that time he has accepted a total of one black person.
A lot of the criticism of this and similar 'white person solves racism' movies, is that they present this feeling that the racism at the start is rarely "the worst kind of racism" (for want of a better phrase) His racism at the beginning is movie racism that isn't anything he can't be redeemed for. He doesn't beat them up, he doesn't confront them, he doesn't (as far as we can assume) stiff them on their bill. He, subtly, when no one is looking, puts their glasses in the bin. Sure, that's racist, and bad. But come on, he didn't hurt anyone, so we can get behind his rehabilitation! Then, they present it as 'everything is right and just at the end', when the truth is that we don't see how he responds to other black people. We assume that he (and similar characters in these types of movies) has learnt to accept all black people, but that's not really shown. All we see is him accepted the one man he has spent time with getting to know.
I saw a review from someone, and I mostly agree with it, that if you view it as an odd couple movie it's fine. If you look at it as a movie about race in America during that time, it fails badly.
dolphins
Well-known member
Saw Cold Pursuit this week - nothing fantastic but entertaining enough, if surprisingly violent. Sort of film that suits Neeson as he hasn't got the widest of ranges...
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,362
Have to say that this is one uninspiring year for movies so far. The low number of posts on this thread sort of confirms that.
Uncle Spielberg
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #128
Green Book 88
All is True 82
Fighting with my Family 81
Instant Family 76
The Favourite 71
Can you ever foregive me 64
Average 77
All is True 82
Fighting with my Family 81
Instant Family 76
The Favourite 71
Can you ever foregive me 64
Average 77
Meade's Ball
Well-known member
I was fortunately stood up midweek. It was to be my second Spanish lesson - after getting on for 11 years with the same Spanish lady one would think i ought to have done this way before (and you'd be right, sometime thinker) - and, quite simply, the tutor didn't show. The teaching venue is a cinema - my choice - and i sort of hoped, after 5 minutes, that wouldn't show, as i had only shortly before read of Everybody Knows, and went through a variety of plans to see the film as soon as the lesson ended. It couldn't have worked, though, as there is no way i could cycle up a ridiculously steep hill, carry on for a mile or 2, and make it into the Phoenix cinema within about 12 minutes. Anywho, chance was on my side with the tutor, i find out later, thinking me not interested in a lesson 2 for not responding to a nice to meet you she'd sent a fortnight before. I made it, Ding dong!, for a Spanish film.
It was directed by one of my very faves, Asghar Farhadi - A Separation is one of the greats of this century - and had quite a cast in Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and the legendary Ricardo Darin. Needless to say, i was quite up for it, and it didn't disappoint. Farhadi had his usual style, but whilst the urgency and desperation of the unresolved was there, simmering and boiling in differing parts, it felt with fewer twists. The first half hour or so was everyone joining together and joyously celebrating a wedding in the village outside Madrid. But when a disappearance, and seeming kidnapping, go through at the wedding's end, we have a collection of drunken people thrown into disarray, and their views of each other more exposed as despair is intoxicates.
Some quality acting - Bardem is an excellent actor - , and striking moments, in amongst the suspense.
A couple of shots made me think of A Separation, and that is no bad thing. I look forward to Farhadi's next (and my rearranged Spanish lesson).
It was directed by one of my very faves, Asghar Farhadi - A Separation is one of the greats of this century - and had quite a cast in Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and the legendary Ricardo Darin. Needless to say, i was quite up for it, and it didn't disappoint. Farhadi had his usual style, but whilst the urgency and desperation of the unresolved was there, simmering and boiling in differing parts, it felt with fewer twists. The first half hour or so was everyone joining together and joyously celebrating a wedding in the village outside Madrid. But when a disappearance, and seeming kidnapping, go through at the wedding's end, we have a collection of drunken people thrown into disarray, and their views of each other more exposed as despair is intoxicates.
Some quality acting - Bardem is an excellent actor - , and striking moments, in amongst the suspense.
A couple of shots made me think of A Separation, and that is no bad thing. I look forward to Farhadi's next (and my rearranged Spanish lesson).
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,697
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,697
Terms of endearment and Ordinary People were pretty much shit .....and The Lord of The rings one was a ****ing joke
vegster
Sanity Clause
- May 5, 2008
- 28,273
Was thinking similar myself when I saw the previews of what is coming up.....not much by the look of it. I think after Stan and Ollie, Green Book and The Favourite ( not MY favourite) in quick succession we seem to be in a cultural desert for a while.
I think we get a lull around this time most years. You get some of the awards candidates early in the year, then the cinema seems to go into a lull, bringing back some of the films that won awards, leaving less space for new things. The newer movies tend to be smaller films, ones that at one point in production may have been seen as a potential award winner, but realisation sets in so it just slips out after the awards season ends, hoping everyone forgets about it by the next run of awards.
There are good films out there this year but they are a little thin on the ground.
One film that is not good is the one I took myself to see on Thursday. I’m on annual leave but found myself with a day to myself so decided to have a bite to eat in town and a trip to the talkies.
I saw The Aftermath with Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård, Shaun Evans and a light dusting of Martin Compston (who really has ballooned to a worryingly chubby state. He must look a sight in real life , being only 4’6” in height with a baby face and the body of Micky Rooney).
Anyway, it’s set in Germany immediately following the allied victory in 1945. Shaun Evans’ character is stationed in Germany and he and his troops are tasked with the “de-Nazification” of Germany.
He and his wife played woodenly by Knightley are housed in a former architects mansion but instead of sending him off to the camps to be processed and deemed safe or a danger they (ridiculously) insist he and his daughter stay.
With Shaun away from home so much and refusing to deal with the grief for a son killed in the Blitz and with Skarsgård’s character pretty much under house arrest Knightley and he end up falling in love and stealing hurried nooky behind the staff’s back.
Compston occasionally crops up as a Brit doing the same job as Evans. He hates Germans and drinks a lot.
It’s preposterous . It’s sweet and saccharine, it’s scared of dealing with emotion in any other than the most basic terms. It’s predictable, safe, and rather dull. Though Skarsgård give a good performance and Compston is a tinker, it fails because it takes an interesting subject and give it the full Mills & Boon treatment. Avoid. 2/10
Today I am off to see Fisherman’s Friends and Everybody Knows . The latter due to @Meade’s Ball review. The former because I never learn.
One film that is not good is the one I took myself to see on Thursday. I’m on annual leave but found myself with a day to myself so decided to have a bite to eat in town and a trip to the talkies.
I saw The Aftermath with Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård, Shaun Evans and a light dusting of Martin Compston (who really has ballooned to a worryingly chubby state. He must look a sight in real life , being only 4’6” in height with a baby face and the body of Micky Rooney).
Anyway, it’s set in Germany immediately following the allied victory in 1945. Shaun Evans’ character is stationed in Germany and he and his troops are tasked with the “de-Nazification” of Germany.
He and his wife played woodenly by Knightley are housed in a former architects mansion but instead of sending him off to the camps to be processed and deemed safe or a danger they (ridiculously) insist he and his daughter stay.
With Shaun away from home so much and refusing to deal with the grief for a son killed in the Blitz and with Skarsgård’s character pretty much under house arrest Knightley and he end up falling in love and stealing hurried nooky behind the staff’s back.
Compston occasionally crops up as a Brit doing the same job as Evans. He hates Germans and drinks a lot.
It’s preposterous . It’s sweet and saccharine, it’s scared of dealing with emotion in any other than the most basic terms. It’s predictable, safe, and rather dull. Though Skarsgård give a good performance and Compston is a tinker, it fails because it takes an interesting subject and give it the full Mills & Boon treatment. Avoid. 2/10
Today I am off to see Fisherman’s Friends and Everybody Knows . The latter due to @Meade’s Ball review. The former because I never learn.
sussex_guy2k2
Well-known member
- Jun 6, 2014
- 4,084
Crash.
Oh I didn’t mind Crash - although a bit contrived. What about Birdman then ? Utter garbage.
Of late I have found myself with some time on my hands. Today, with Mrs TC otherwise occupied and the weather being what it is I jumped on the bus and headed to the cinema to see a film that I knew was not going to be a masterpiece but held appeal as it ticks a few of my “guilty pleasure” boxes.
Fisherman’s Friends.
The based on true life tale of the fishermen of the Cornish village of Port Isaac who took their sea shanty turn to the world. Discovered by a music exec on a stag do and propelled to international fame the group of ten fishermen embark on a sentimental journey encompassing love, death and small town concerns.
It certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste and is by no means a great film but as I say, it appealed to me.
The ever reliable Daniel Mays portrays the music exec with sympathy and likeability. Thruppeny Bit or whatever she’s called is a comely love interest and the ensemble cast do a fine, If cliched job .
It’s heartwarming and well told. I was slightly distracted by the various moanings and toe tapping of my largely Baby Boomer co-viewers but I tolerated their proclivity to treat public spaces as if they were their own living room. Whispering, sighing that the cinema was too dark, endless fussing etc and rather enjoyed my afternoon.
It offers no surprises and nor should it. It was good.
6/10
Fisherman’s Friends.
The based on true life tale of the fishermen of the Cornish village of Port Isaac who took their sea shanty turn to the world. Discovered by a music exec on a stag do and propelled to international fame the group of ten fishermen embark on a sentimental journey encompassing love, death and small town concerns.
It certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste and is by no means a great film but as I say, it appealed to me.
The ever reliable Daniel Mays portrays the music exec with sympathy and likeability. Thruppeny Bit or whatever she’s called is a comely love interest and the ensemble cast do a fine, If cliched job .
It’s heartwarming and well told. I was slightly distracted by the various moanings and toe tapping of my largely Baby Boomer co-viewers but I tolerated their proclivity to treat public spaces as if they were their own living room. Whispering, sighing that the cinema was too dark, endless fussing etc and rather enjoyed my afternoon.
It offers no surprises and nor should it. It was good.
6/10
vegster
Sanity Clause
- May 5, 2008
- 28,273
Birdman was rather good, don't ask me what it was about though.
sussex_guy2k2
Well-known member
- Jun 6, 2014
- 4,084
I thought Crash was a big pile of steaming dog crap but lots of people seemed to love it.
I get why people wouldn't like Birdman, but I just loved Keaton's performance in it. It's a quirky film though, so I get why it's not for everyone.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Mary Poppins Returns
This had a tough act to follow, as the original is one of my all-time favourites. Predictably it cannot surpass that, but it certainly captures the spirit of the original and if you can resist constantly drawing comparisons, its a lot of fun. The kids in it are great, and they've carefully kept the original "look", with 2-D cartoon characters, at times its quite beautiful to look at. The songs aren't as memorable as the likes of Spoon and Chim, but a couple of the productions are quite spectacular, especially the one in the Music-Hall. Emily Blunt does a more than decent job with this and puts in just the right kind of prim-and-proper performance with a twinkle in her eye. Jack the streetlamp lighter (the "Van Dyke" character) is very good in support, and they wisely resisted making him a love interest for Mary.
A very enjoyable 82% from me.
This had a tough act to follow, as the original is one of my all-time favourites. Predictably it cannot surpass that, but it certainly captures the spirit of the original and if you can resist constantly drawing comparisons, its a lot of fun. The kids in it are great, and they've carefully kept the original "look", with 2-D cartoon characters, at times its quite beautiful to look at. The songs aren't as memorable as the likes of Spoon and Chim, but a couple of the productions are quite spectacular, especially the one in the Music-Hall. Emily Blunt does a more than decent job with this and puts in just the right kind of prim-and-proper performance with a twinkle in her eye. Jack the streetlamp lighter (the "Van Dyke" character) is very good in support, and they wisely resisted making him a love interest for Mary.
A very enjoyable 82% from me.