[Film] Film 2019

[Fungus]

Okay, I love sci-fi, and also went to see Ad Astra today, and was very disappointed.
Spoiler - Brad never goes "to the stars".
There was a lot of nonsense. In no particular order... he climbs into the airlock of a rocket in a silo, as the countdown is descending through "5..4..3...". So one of the crew already on board decides to shoot him, misses, hits a cannister of some deadly gas, which escapes and kills those not wearing a spacesuit (i.e. those that aren't Brad). As a stowaway, he's the only crew-member left alive for the flight from Mars to Neptune.
On the moon, there's a shoot-up between him and unknown (or did I nod off) other spacemen on golf-carts. Brad's "rover" flies over the edge of a huge crater, and just carries on when it hits the bottom.
On an urgent 79 day flight to Neptune, he flies really close to Jupiter and Saturn. Did the planets just happen to line up? Brad seems to inject himself with some sort of bag - for urine while he hibernates? No, he's awake and floating, slowly going nuts.
Of course, Brad's mad, bad dad is at the centre of problems on the Neptune space station, hasn't been heard from in 30 years, and is assumed to be dead. He isn't but kills himself soon after Brad arrives. That really dealt with the issues.
Final spoiler - he triggers a nuclear explosion, to stop the "mysterious power surges that threaten the stability of the universe" ... and his spaceship "surfs" the blast-wave, taking him back to Earth.
Oh, and the en-route diversion to a ship transmitting a mayday signal - the crew have been killed by some sort of space monkeys. Totally irrelevant to the story.
Sorry, but the more I think about it, the worse it gets. Beautifully filmed, well acted, but a ridiculous plot.
If I ever watch it again, it will only be to put the above list in sequence and to add all the other stupid bits I missed.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Seems only I like it then lol, Hey Ho my films of 2017 La La Land and 2018 The Shape of Water are routinely lambasted now. We have a trend but I loved it and it moved me greatly. Each to their own I guess

 

[The Clamp]

In an embarrassing bid to try and squeeze some value out of my Odeon Limitless membership I went and saw Rambo: Last Blood this evening.
A flimsy, wholly unnecessary, immature, and ridiculous end to the “saga”. It was awful.

The Joker next. I’m betting that’s gonna be better.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

In an embarrassing bid to try and squeeze some value out of my Odeon Limitless membership I went and saw Rambo: Last Blood this evening.
A flimsy, wholly unnecessary, immature, and ridiculous end to the “saga”. It was awful.

The Joker next. I’m betting that’s gonna be better.[/QUOTE]

I'm there tomorrow for this and I CANNOT WAIT.

 

[Meade's Ball]

In an embarrassing bid to try and squeeze some value out of my Odeon Limitless membership I went and saw Rambo: Last Blood this evening.
A flimsy, wholly unnecessary, immature, and ridiculous end to the “saga”. It was awful.

The Joker next. I’m betting that’s gonna be better.

On Saturday i have a film at 11.30am, then 1 at 6 and 1 at 9.30. Film festival time innit. So, i plan to finish the 11.30, hit a pub to watch the second half of the Albion, and then go see The Joker. It might not allow me to appreciate it as much, but i can't wait another week and a bit for it.

PS - is Richard Crenna still alive?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Okay, I love sci-fi, and also went to see Ad Astra today, and was very disappointed.
Spoiler - Brad never goes "to the stars".
There was a lot of nonsense. In no particular order... he climbs into the airlock of a rocket in a silo, as the countdown is descending through "5..4..3...". So one of the crew already on board decides to shoot him, misses, hits a cannister of some deadly gas, which escapes and kills those not wearing a spacesuit (i.e. those that aren't Brad). As a stowaway, he's the only crew-member left alive for the flight from Mars to Neptune.
On the moon, there's a shoot-up between him and unknown (or did I nod off) other spacemen on golf-carts. Brad's "rover" flies over the edge of a huge crater, and just carries on when it hits the bottom.
On an urgent 79 day flight to Neptune, he flies really close to Jupiter and Saturn. Did the planets just happen to line up? Brad seems to inject himself with some sort of bag - for urine while he hibernates? No, he's awake and floating, slowly going nuts.
Of course, Brad's mad, bad dad is at the centre of problems on the Neptune space station, hasn't been heard from in 30 years, and is assumed to be dead. He isn't but kills himself soon after Brad arrives. That really dealt with the issues.
Final spoiler - he triggers a nuclear explosion, to stop the "mysterious power surges that threaten the stability of the universe" ... and his spaceship "surfs" the blast-wave, taking him back to Earth.
Oh, and the en-route diversion to a ship transmitting a mayday signal - the crew have been killed by some sort of space monkeys. Totally irrelevant to the story.
Sorry, but the more I think about it, the worse it gets. Beautifully filmed, well acted, but a ridiculous plot.
If I ever watch it again, it will only be to put the above list in sequence and to add all the other stupid bits I missed.

And the award for Most Spoilers goes to...

 

[The Clamp]

And the award for Most Spoilers goes to...

Ridiculous post. Who tells the entire plot of a film with a tiny spoiler warning and the spoiler right next to it?

 

[The Clamp]

On Saturday i have a film at 11.30am, then 1 at 6 and 1 at 9.30. Film festival time innit. So, i plan to finish the 11.30, hit a pub to watch the second half of the Albion, and then go see The Joker. It might not allow me to appreciate it as much, but i can't wait another week and a bit for it.

PS - is Richard Crenna still alive?

I’m afraid Trautman, the only man who could control Rambo, or indeed the franchise passed before the last Rambo was made.

Good plan for Joker. Enjoy. We are off to see it on Sunday. See if we can’t put a smile on our faces.

 

[Fungus]

And the award for Most Spoilers goes to...

Ridiculous post. Who tells the entire plot of a film with a tiny spoiler warning and the spoiler right next to it?

Apologies, I just got so annoyed about the whole thing! Mods, feel free to edit or delete the post.

(Not sure you had to quote the whole post, though, THPP!)

 

[pearl]

I saw the trailer for Joker, it terrified me!

 

[Meade's Ball]

So it started for me this evening, the London Film Festival, and as with most years, it started well - probably because i am not too tired from it all to take in what i'm watching. This time around it was the Russian film Beanpole. I mean, in the name of all of bleeding heavens it was the usual concoction of searingly beautiful and shockingly horrific, but for me it reached its peak too early with this mix. A mere 15 minutes or so into this drama something so severe happens that i, and the film, couldn't quite recover. It was very well done, and horribly intrusive, but it was that type of film with a hard existence quite in your face. Thank god for a few comedic moments, and some troublesome romance to steer you from a traumatic syndrome experienced by so many. The walls in 1945 Leningrad are painted a slightly dulled blood red, but apparently there's a truth in that to counter the deadened feeling and deep struggle post-war, to imitate the feeling of life. But life itself, particularly for women as this drama portrays, will take a long to be resuscitated.
Overall, it was pretty good and a difficult watch, but with a style that mostly intrigued. The acting was great and the hugely tall actress playing Beanpole i found quite beautiful.
I look forward to tomorrow for a couple of films that should strike a little softer.

 

[Meade's Ball]

2 films yesterday, of mixed quality.
First up was The Cold Case Hammarskjöld, a documentary with moments of mild comedy in its telling - the maker, Mads Brugger, is an intriguing enough chap with an effective and enthralling manner of speech - but then a shocking array of truths coming out toward the end. It's about an investigation into the plane crash of the UN Secretary General in 1961, and in-depth study at that. It ends up with looking into Apartheid-stained South Africa and a military-group-for-hire carrying out some horrendous acts. The investigation into the plane crash takes that unexpected turn, and all the more interesting and shocking as it goes. A worthwhile watch, even if it starts a little slowly and frustratedly.

Second was The Climb. When reading the description i took to it in thinking of the 25 year friendship between these 2 American fellows, and maybe thinking of of myself at 44 and the friendships that have lasted since university, a closeness formed on the verge of adulthood. I thought it might warm me in a way. What i saw, though, didn't quite do that. There were some amusing moments in this comedy, but i didn't like, or believe in, the characters and supposed relationships formed, so it sat a little flatly with me. I didn't wait around for the q&a after and fled to be home to rest.
I was a bit disappointed with myself over that selection, and hope today's fare will be better. A Brazilian Western is first, so i have high hopes.

 

[The Clamp]

We went to see Joker this afternoon.
Most will know what to expect and it’s no worse for that . It delivers a few ( very few) well tuned surprises too.
Not the total masterpiece it’s been hyped to be but yeah, it’s a very good take on the character and it’s refreshing to see Joker not being played to be ultra cool but as a true grotesque.

It doesn’t deliver much more than the hype has prepped you for and it’s a tad disappointing for it but yeah, it’s a good take on the Joker origin and Phoenix gives a good performance.

7/10

 

[Meade's Ball]

We went to see Joker this afternoon.
Most will know what to expect and it’s no worse for that . It delivers a few ( very few) well tuned surprises too.
Not the total masterpiece it’s been hyped to be but yeah, it’s a very good take on the character and it’s refreshing to see Joker not being played to be ultra cool but as a true grotesque.

It doesn’t deliver much more than the hype has prepped you for and it’s a tad disappointing for it but yeah, it’s a good take on the Joker origin and Phoenix gives a good performance.

7/10

I nipped into see it between other films, and i'm a bit perplexed over my feelings for it. Joaquin was amazing, i thought, and that really makes the film, but jesus it's dour, and so like Taxi Driver and King of Comedy that i couldn't clasp it's specific identity. And i felt queasy with its take on mental illness. That sounds like i didn't like it, but i wouldn't say that. It was quite absorbing.

 

[Meade's Ball]

Now, onto the other films of the weekend. Um. What were they!? The fuzz around my brain says there were a few.
Ok. Got it. First up was Brazilian western Bacurau. It won best picture at Cannes. I wouldn't go that far, but it was good and impactful. Set a few years in the future, they say to begin with, and it was a message-filled take on life under Jair Bolsonaro for a village being deleted from the map. There is a modicum of gun-toting and tragedy, and the end of the film had me shed a tear - not so because of its ending but because of how some of the audience cried out their applause, with him hands and verbally. It meant so much to them and it spilled over a bit as the directors and couple of actors took to the stage. Anyway, a good film.

After Joker i booked a ticket for something that i hoped wouldn't tire me prior to the main event at 9.30. I had become a bit annoyed with myself after buying the ticket though, and watching the trailer. An Australian zombie comedy called Little Monsters. But, sobeit. It did what it said it would and brought some laughs here and there. All it had me think was how i don't like people over-enjoying things. The seats next to me were free for the first 15 minutes, but then the late-comers simply couldn't stop loving it and clapping and being hysterical (probably just being cheery really), and i found that excessive. It really talks of me rather than them though, and maybe my festival temperament.

The last of Saturday was The Lighthouse. I was in the super-comfortable Odeon Leicester Square again, and had a bit of a wait to get in as the red carpet wasn't shifting itself for us regular oiks. This delay meant the director and Willem Defoe appearing for just over a nano-second, and barely warming us to what was to come. Anywho, the 2 problems i had with it were where i was sat, which was someway back and not enveloping, and the director's choice, again, to use authentic dialogue. He did it for The Witch, but in this case the excellent Defoe had me concentrate so hard on what he was saying as a 19th century veteran lighthouse keeper that i couldn't relax into the horror and distress that was being shown and implied. I'll see it again when it's out next year, and sit right near the front, perhaps for a hard of hearing screening. You know, it was good though.

Yesterday was just the one film. Jojo Rabbit. I thought, you can't go wrong with an Adolf Hitler as your imaginary friend comedy, and there were some laughs - mostly near the start. But as a film, set in the end of the second world war, with 10 year Hitler youth Jojo gradually learning the error of his ways, it didn't comfortably fit together. The comedy and tragedy didn't blend, and it looks a bit like it has shown a thousand times to test audiences and meddled with a little by each. And the wry comedy of normalising Nazi policy and doings was over-used. Hitler was funny, but not in it enough.

Today, a brace of films will be seen. And then i plan to have a nap.

 

[Meade's Ball]

I just remembered that Rebel Wilson is in Jojo Rabbit too. I thought it best mentioned as a warning to those expecting non-stop laughs.

 

[Meade's Ball]

Ok ok silence at the back. And no interruptions. I'm to talk of 8 films. And i think i'll do it in reverse order, meaning the ones seen longest ago will be remembered least and barely even mentioned, perhaps.
First up is The Painted Bird. Well, this is a festival film and one i was glad to see/survive. At the Venice film festival viewers fled the theatre repulsed by what was on display, and i could understand that to an extent. Every chapter of this foul stagger through 2nd world war Czech Republic by a lone Jewish boy is filled with horror and distress. It's beautifully shot, for the most part, in black and white, but is difficult to stomach, with gouged-out eyeballs and severed heads and grotesque sexual stuff. It is a lawless and devastated land, with hatred of this boy strongly felt from a lasting mythology and a prominent reflection of nazism. It is brutal and unapologetic, and i will never watch it again, but i am glad to have got through it, and still able to see its beauty.

Next one is Bad Education, a Hugh Jackman flick of black comedy. It's of the true tale of a Long Island school and growing reputation thanks to the determined and charming reputation of the Superintendent played by Jackman. The house prices in the area are inflating hugely because of the results the school is bringing, so the godly identity of Jackman's man in charge is unquestioned, which is a lasting mistake. I thought it was alright. Jackman can't play a real person, with his booming theatricality, but subtlety isn't necessarily sought here. A bit on the smug side in its making, but there it was, reasonable and slightly comically dark.

Lo Llorona was a moving Guatemalan sometime chiller, but who is haunted is the fiendish dictator on trial for genocide. What we follow is his family and their state of being whilst protests grow louder outside and the sound of those he had killed echoes. I liked it. The chants of those protesters drag you in in some way, whilst the dictator and his unpleasant wife continue with the Boris-Johnson-esque labelling of "savages" for those simply wondering over the whereabouts of relatives long lost. It was potent and gripping as the four walls they are in seem to enclose. The director was out afterwards talking passionately over the film, and it was interesting to hear of his intentions before making it and it was such a collaborative effort in a country where the authorities sought to hold it down. A shame i didn't watch his other film at the festival.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire. A good film this. The director afterwards was excellent to listen to in the Q&A, wonderfully verbose and explanatory and comical with it.
The film itself was one of passion between the lasting love of 2 ladies in the higher classes, 1 sent to carry out a secretive portrait of a reclusive daughter. The mission is to accompany the girl and form a fake friendship whilst the painting is formed. Barely a moment passes before the romantic feelings inside start to bubble and bulge. It was well constructed and beautifully intense. The ending had me think of Carol and Moonlight, which is a good thing.

Happy Birthday. A French film this in which a birthday is to be celebrated and the bad feeling within a family is to be erupted. It was ok, but i can't say i felt an enormous amount for them all, or laugh enough when the fierce comments were unleashed. Catherine Deneuve plays the grandmama, but she felts lost in the noisy hysterics. This was no Festen.

The Perfect Candidate. I quite liked this film. I had very much enjoyed the director's first film, Wadjda, and whilst this isn't as good i still felt the emotion of being female, and having to strongly struggle, just being in Saudi Arabia. In this case it's a female doctor, her care at first rejected by an aged male patient, cursing the establishment for letting it be tainted by lesser creatures such as women. This is the first of many barriers for the doctor, and as obstinate as she is victory can usually only be seen rather than claimed. It got corny here and there, but i felt for her and was interested in the environment she was in. Not bad.

The House of Us. This was very much advertised as a Koreeda-esque chronicle, and that is certainly true. A girl's parents feel little but impatience for each other, usually in the company of young Hana, and you can feel the effect that rupturing has on her. During the summer break, though, she meets a pair of younger girls, and it is their familial bond that you notice forming in the absence of parents. It was gentle and simple in a way, but quite moving. Yeah i liked this one.

Atlantics. Did well at Cannes, apparently, but not hugely well with me. It was ok, but i don't recall being drawn into the supernatural elements of what unfolded in this mourning romance. I remember the main actress being rather beautiful indeed, but the loving ghost story plonking along a little.

 

[Goliath]

Ad Astra.What a disaster.

 

[Acker79]

Gemini Man
It was a decent, if unspectacular, action movie. Having seen de-aging done so well in multiple Marvel movies, and in the Tron sequel almost a decade ago, it's surprising to see how poor it's done in a film that is being largely sold off the fact it includes a "young" Will Smith. I don't know the exact CG science behind it, but it feels like Marvel and Disney start from a base of a real person, and use the computer to remove the signs of aging. It feels like it is still them, the voice is coming out of the head we see. With this, while there were some scenes that looked like they were made that way, the overwhelming majority of them felt like they got a body double and used an animated version of a younger Will Smith and stuck it on someone else's body. That led to two problems, first, the technology isn't there yet, and it looked video game-ish, two, there is a disconnect - the voice you hear isn't coming from the head you see, it's a dubbing (yeah, I know most films involve looping and recording after the fact, but it is usually based on sound levels and simply recording the same thing that the person in the video is saying). But that aside, like I said at the start, a decent enough action flick.


Joker
I don't think I liked this. It felt slow and ponderous, without really drawing me in. Ultimately it felt too real to justify the link to the Joker brand. It felt neither extreme, nor cartoonish or comic book-ish to be fitting of the character. And if you try to watch it as simply a coincidence that this character calls himself Joker and distance it from the DC brand/universe, it simply becomes a lesser attempt to evoke taxi driver (and I say that as someone who didn't really connect with taxi driver).

 

[pearl]

I'm looking forward to Doctor Sleep .... even Stephen King rates it