[Film] Film 2021

[Meade's Ball]

A couple of days with a pesky cough and cold may have kept me from work, but not the cinema. Masked and wheezing i've been through a brace of pics. The first of the 2, Hope, was best. A Norwegian family drama spoken heartfully as a memory from the director. 6 children in a range of ages, but it's the relationship of the parents that comes under fierce scrutiny when the mother is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, having a year before overcome lung cancer. It's christmas and clinics are temporarily closed, meaning they can only administer medication whilst consultations and scans are briefly on hold for 5 days or so. Each day that follows is filled with stress of such news, working out how and when to tell the children, and increasing resentment toward a husband who centred on his career for so long. Scathingly honest lines are thrust and accepted, with 2 decades of time spent half-together, kept as an occasional one for the children. Such dysfunction, but lovingly and enforcedly true.
Andrea Hovig is amazing in it, determined and motherly and disappointed, and Stellan Skarsgard is a little doughy and ancient, but deft in his performance. Quite moving and striking, overall, with the snippets of time in a family that can be crushing and revealing and a general part of conversation as if normal.

And today i went to West Side Story. I can't say i have strong memories of the original, but this seemed to be quite loyal to it, in terms of setting and time. The songs were great, and a couple of the dance sequences rich in rhythm and colour, but it didn't seem to adapt itself to now at all, and had a male lead who couldn't seem to dance all that well. Some lovely shots, but the unquenchable love didn't ring true and the message seemed unclear. I didn't really know why it was remade. A loving ode perhaps.

 

[Wozza]

I don't see many movies at the cinema.

I will go to see this movie at the cinema.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnXPwUPENo&ab_channel=MGM

Incredible trailer (with clips synced to Bowie's Starman!).

 

[Gabbafella]

I've just finished watching Resident Evil.
Up until the last 10 minutes, I really enjoyed it. Anyone who has played the games will like this film, so much better than the Milla Jovovich car crashes. RE1 and RE2 run alongside one another, with all the original characters, Claire and Chris Redfield, Leon S Kennedy, Jill Valentine and that **** Wesker. The mansion looked great, as did the police station, but some elements weren't explored enough. The Licker was only briefly in it and Tyrant was disappointing. Kind of feel like they should have made one film for RE1 and a separate one for RE2.
The Mrs thought it was stupid but agreed that if she had played the games then it would've been better.
I think nostalgia is definitely required when watching this, 7/10 from me, 3/10 from 'er indoors.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Going to see the new Matrix tomorrow, early reviews not promising. Hope it isn't shit.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[dannyboy]

Going to see the new Matrix tomorrow, early reviews not promising. Hope it isn't shit.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Watching it now . The fact I'm on NSC should tell you what I think of it. ......

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I Loved West Side Story but that will be no surprise to anyone. A very solid and visually superb remake. I thought the whole cast was amazing but especially Rachel Zegler, what a find she is. 94 out of 100

 

[Meade's Ball]

I was looking for a chance to watch Lamb, an Icelandic horror fable, and was quite happy to see it on at a Vue cinema at 9.40am. The perfect time for menacing fare, i feel, in part because which other fellow would go to such a place to sink themselves in the dour and deadly at such a time. I was alone throughout, and rather enjoyed it. The Icelandic landscape was stunning and the isolation for the couple in this farmland was haunting. I'd heard an interview with Noomi Rapace, who stars, and she said that on day 1 of filming she was there to help deliver lambs, a scent she will never apparently forget. She's a constantly good actress, Rapace, and here she broods with loss, until one particular lamb is born. When i first saw it, the creature, i had the privacy of an empty cinema to laugh and let out a big f*ck off. A couple more came out too as this lamb-child lived in the house with Rapace and husband, loved and cared for.
A pretty good show, i thought, with other family drama moments in it, as well as the macabre, which could never quite seem the norm.

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

Matrix 4, mixed reviews but thumbs up from me.

 

[Gabbafella]

Literally just finished watching Matrix. First half of the film was excellent, second half was beyond poor.
Initially there's a lot of nostalgia and it starts off making you wonder what is going on, why are the characters the way they are etc. But once the story starts to unfold, I got so bored of the constant spelling it out. "I'm this character and this is my backstory", play brief flashback, "I'm this character and this is my backstory", another flashback.
I totally lost interest after an hour or so, the constant spoonfeeding was a drain, and unfortunately it's been left open for another sequel. Certainly won't be watching it again.

 

[Easy 10]

A Norwegian family drama spoken heartfully as a memory from the director. 6 children in a range of ages, but it's the relationship of the parents that comes under fierce scrutiny when the mother is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, having a year before overcome lung cancer. It's christmas and clinics are temporarily closed, meaning they can only administer medication whilst consultations and scans are briefly on hold for 5 days or so. Each day that follows is filled with stress of such news, working out how and when to tell the children, and increasing resentment toward a husband who centred on his career for so long.

Just sounds like the perfect Christmas holiday fayre.

Eastenders is on at 9.35 Christmas day this year, btw

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Matrix 4, mixed reviews but thumbs up from me.

Same, I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Well worth a watch. Much more coherent than the third Matrix film.

 

[Acker79]

I think if you go into Matrix 4 looking for groundbreaking effects, and mind blowing action set pieces, I think you'll be disappointed. It focuses more on the story of Neo and Trinity, than on the story of the matrix (though that is of course there). Of course the continuing Matrix is part of it (as are the questions of reality, fate etc), the focus is on their love story. I think I was aware of this going in, so I quite enjoyed it. I really like Jonathan Groff's performance, and while part of me felt like Niel PAtrick Harris was a little out of place, I still enjoyed his performance, too.

 

[Gabbafella]

Watched "Don't look up" tonight. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchet, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, to name a few. I honestly expected way more from this film, and at 2.5hrs long, it's quite a painful watch. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, or serious enough to be a thriller/drama, it's bland throughout and no character really shines. It's not a bad film, but we only continued to watch it out of curiousity as to whether or not everyone dies.
Mediocre, forgettable and way too long.

 

[Mancgull]

I Loved West Side Story but that will be no surprise to anyone. A very solid and visually superb remake. I thought the whole cast was amazing but especially Rachel Zegler, what a find she is. 94 out of 100

Watched it tonight. I loved it too.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Belfast.

Very good.

Recommended.

93 / 110

 

[The Clamp]

Watched "Don't look up" tonight. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchet, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, to name a few. I honestly expected way more from this film, and at 2.5hrs long, it's quite a painful watch. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, or serious enough to be a thriller/drama, it's bland throughout and no character really shines. It's not a bad film, but we only continued to watch it out of curiousity as to whether or not everyone dies.
Mediocre, forgettable and way too long.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[The Clamp]

The Last Duel.

A brilliant watch. Ridley Scott directs the story of a possible rape from the perspective of three people involved, each telling their version of events in turn. Themes of misogyny, consent and the treatment of women. All relevant in current times but set in Medieval England.
And the hair styles. Extraordinary.

Olivia Coleman in Maggie Gyllenhall’s The Lost Daughter will be our post-walk viewing this afternoon.

 

[Acker79]

I've not really commented much on new 2021 films I've watched on streaming, so will catch up a few here:

Watched "Don't look up" tonight. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchet, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, to name a few. I honestly expected way more from this film, and at 2.5hrs long, it's quite a painful watch. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, or serious enough to be a thriller/drama, it's bland throughout and no character really shines. It's not a bad film, but we only continued to watch it out of curiousity as to whether or not everyone dies.
Mediocre, forgettable and way too long.

Pretty much exactly my thoughts.

The Last Duel.

A brilliant watch. Ridley Scott directs the story of a possible rape from the perspective of three people involved, each telling their version of events in turn. Themes of misogyny, consent and the treatment of women. All relevant in current times but set in Medieval England.
And the hair styles. Extraordinary.

I didn't get into this right away. The first version of the story, from Matt Damon's character's point of view seemed earnest and tbh a little dull. But when we then see the other points of view, it shows Damon's character to be a little full of himself and lacking in self awareness etc, and becomes much more fun.


Encanto
Latest Disney offering, with music from Lin Manuel Miranda. I really enjoyed this. It helped I had low expectations. But it's bright and colourful, has the standard disney message of family and finding what makes you special, and the songs are catchy. Good fun.

Tick Tick... Boom
Netflix musical about Jonathan Larson - the composer/writer of the smash hit, award winning musical Rent. This doesn't really cover the writing of Rent (apart from a closing note about his passing before the first performance of it), focuses more on his effort to write a futuristic show as his debut. I rather enjoyed it. Cool to see lots of broadway stars in small roles. It's based on an autobiographical stage show he wrote before Rent, and you can hear some similarity in the music.

Being the Ricardos
Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and it really feels like it. Had the structure of an episode of the west wing, with a hidden thing that was clearly bothering someone but we are not aware of what it is until the end. The film covers a week in the life of the 'I love lucy' show as a biography of Lucille Ball where they are trying to produce a weely episode while also dealing with accusation of communism, and a potential marriage breakdown/affair. JK Simmons as one of the shows co-stars was brilliant.

 

[bhafc99]

We should probably start a Film 2022 thread soon, but as this is technically a 2021 film I'll just stay here for now…

Summer of Soul.

Documentary on a 1969 music festival that took place in Harlem, same summer as Woodstock, but that's been largely forgotten. It was filmed, but the footage lay lost in a cellar for 50 years.

Some great performances (the audio quality is stunning), and the whole thing's intelligently interspersed with contextual commentary on the cultural and political changes of the time.

Well worth checking out – for example I'd never really paid Nina Simone much attention before, I knew she was a classic soul singer and all that, but she's absolutely revelatory here. Not only is her performance incredible, it's a generational call-to-arms that you can't imagine anyone ever even coming close to these days.

https://youtu.be/1-siC9cugqA

 

[Acker79]

We should probably start a Film 2022 thread soon, but as this is technically a 2021 film I'll just stay here for now…

There is one: https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?392241-Film-2022