"Now Showing"

[Nemesis Inferno]

^Because it's French John

I watched Lion King 3 (or 1 1/2) yesterday and it was very amusing, cheered me up for bit... And I don't think anything can beat Nathan Lane being ironic about moving to the theatre district or humming 'It's a Small World'...

Also spotted some Hidden Mickeys :lol:

 

[Ploddish]

There will be blood - WTF? What on earth is this movie about? What is going on? I just can't quite grasp it.

DDL is superb, but everything was just kind of random. Mood swings, story jumps, times, characters appearing. I felt like I was stoned and bits kept on passing me by while I slept. Really odd film.

And then The Mist Shamefully, I enjoyed it. I thought the creatures were a bit rubbish, and the end was a little too obvious (though if it had ended any other way, I'd have felt cheated). It needed to have stopped just a bit earlier though so that you let it sink in over the credits, rather than letting it drag as much as it did.

The camera work was worse than Raybould at times too... It works if you do it all the way through, but the times it was shaky just looked slack, rather than adding anything.

Possible spoilers ahead!

Furie, TWBB is about greed, capitalism, hatred, and revenge. It's about being someone who thinks you're better than everyone else. Something like that, anyhow.

I found this. It's quite deep, really. Loved the film. DDL played what I think is possible the creepiest man I think I've ever had the pleasure to watch. Jonny Greenwood did a perfect job of scoring it. I found it brilliant to watch. Some stunning photography too.

I really quite liked the Mist, like I said before. I found the acting actually good across the board. The monsters weren't all that bad; they did defeat the point of being monstrous, which why clearly weren't, really. The photography was fine too, I thought. I mean, it's a film with almost no music, so most of the tension is conveyed through the camera. I thought it worked. Better than lots of other films, anyway.

 

[Aerith]

^Because it's French John

I watched Lion King 3 (or 1 1/2) yesterday and it was very amusing, cheered me up for bit... And I don't think anything can beat Nathan Lane being ironic about moving to the theatre district or humming 'It's a Small World'...

Also spotted some Hidden Mickeys :lol:

Trust you to notice it as a small world lol, he been spending to much time at disney!

And i spotted the hidden mickey thank you!

I WANT TO SEE VOLT! NOT BOLT!

 

[Ploddish]

Actually Furie, I found Mark Kermode's review of it. Just watch that to understand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGLwgy6 ... re=related

 

[peep]

BBC 4 had a Hitchcock evening, yay!

Started with The lady vanishes.

It was really good, takes a while for the story to get going but I find that with most of his films. The last half an hour is excellent and the plot twists are great.

Rating: 3/5

Then they showed a new documentary by Paul Merton on his early work which was really interesting.

The evening ended with his film Rebecca.

I wasn't that keen on this film, but like the lady vanishes it did get better towards the end as everything started to fall into place. Damn that maid/housekeeper person, evil! The film does have its moments, it is well directed etc but I just didn't enjoy it. Shame.

Rating: 2/5


I think they are showing the 39 steps tomorrow night, can't wait for that one.

 

[Rush]

On Friday night I saw Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. (2007)

I have some mixed opinions on this. My first is that I don't think it is an '18' film. There was much less violence than what I was expecting and it wasn't very strong violence either. If it's the not because of the violence, the 18 rating may be for it being quite a grown-up and mature musical.

I enjoyed most of the songs although I think the one song which ruined it was the 'Johanna' song which frequently annoyed me everytime it was played. My favourite songs were 'The Worst Pies in London' and 'A Little Priest.' (I think that's the one where they are deciding possible pie flavours.

It had a good plot and although it wasn't as dark as I had hoped it delivered. The singing wasn't the best but the acting made up for it in my opinion.

Overall an 8/10.

Last night I re-watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

As a big fan of the Pirates series, it makes me sad that everytime I re-watch this one it gets worse. The action scenes are good although the film moves along at a snail's pace and the parts in between are extremely dull and uneventful.

There is one part in the film though which I really enjoy which is the part where they are tipping over the Black Pearl. It puts a smile to my face and the music which accompanies it is fantastic. I think the music and that particular scene is what makes the film passable. Hans Zimmer did a great job.

It's a shame that it can't live up to it's prequels. 5.5/10.

 

[nealbie]

^ Looks like you had a nice night in with Johnny Depp then :wink:

 

[Dave]

If you've seen the stage show of Sweeney Todd you'll realise how gory the film is in comparison. It also has too much dark themes running beneath it which is kinda why it got its 18 certificate.
Johanna is one of the better songs in the film, problem is they picked the most creepiest looking boy, even though he's supposed to be a dashing young sailor....(again trying to make Depp look the sexiest person ever)

 

[nealbie]

^ It doesn't take much, he made Bloom look mediocre in Pirates. He has a certain "ruggedness" to him, which is better than "pretty-boy" anyday :wink:

 

[nadroJ]

I never liked Sweeney Todd, I found it too ridiculous. And I know some films are supposed to be over the top gore, but this one seemed to be trying too hard. It was such a typical Depp/Burton creation that I just thought boooorrring and never watched it again.

 

[nealbie]

^ You're right nadroJ... there does come a point where there's too much blood! And Todd passes that quite early on :lol:

 

[peep]

Yesterday I got some new DVDs and blu-rays so I decided to watch two of them today.

First I watched French comedy OSS 117: Cairo Nest of spies on DVD.

I loved this film when I saw it at the cinema and I love it even more on second viewing. The acting is brilliant and just the facial reactions by the characters is excellent and humorous. One thing that annoyed me at the cinema was the subtitles, half the time you couldn't read them, glad they cleared this issue up for the DVD release, that made me happy Basically it's how the Austin Powers films should have been like but failed to achieve.

Rating: 4/5


Next up was the full version of a kids film I watched in 3D at Futuroscope (see trip report), Fly me to the moon.

At Futuroscope it was 30 mins long and was really enjoyable, great for the whole family. This version was 1 hour and 20 minutes long, so what did they cut out for the Futuroscope version? Only a whole two sub-plots which includes action sequences and more entertaining characters (including a Russian villain voiced by Tim Curry and an adventurous Grandpa voiced by Christopher Llyod). The extra plot was great and the animation was good, though at times it was strange. Overall it is a great film that parents can easily watch with kids and all enjoy it. It just ain't a Pixar

Rating: 3/5

 

[Rush]

^ Looks like you had a nice night in with Johnny Depp then :wink:

I've actually just realised they both had Depp in it! Oh and it was two nights. :wink:

If you've seen the stage show of Sweeney Todd you'll realise how gory the film is in comparison. It also has too much dark themes running beneath it which is kinda why it got its 18 certificate.

I suppose that's true as well. I didn't even know there was a stage version of it. I feel dumb now. :lol:

I didn't think it was actually that bad in terms of gore. Just a couple of throat slashings.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

including a Russian villain voiced by Tim Curry

He does this to a brilliant standard in Red Alert 3 as well :lol:

 

[nealbie]

If you've seen the stage show of Sweeney Todd you'll realise how gory the film is in comparison. It also has too much dark themes running beneath it which is kinda why it got its 18 certificate.

I suppose that's true as well. I didn't even know there was a stage version of it. I feel dumb now. :lol:

And now you look dumb for admitting that :wink:

 

[Ollie]

Bolt 3D:
Finally got round to seeing this after begging my dad to take us to see it. I've liked the look of it since the first trailer I saw and have been waiting ages to see it.
Luckily I got to see it in 3D as I saw the film in Wimbledon which supports it whereas my local cinema doesn't. The first thing we found out watch ticket prices. In my local it's £5 for a student. In the one we went to it was £8.50 for a student and £10.50 for an adult, which is an absolute rip-off. It's probably just because it's in 3D they charge you more and they charge you for the glasses as well as they let you keep them.
Anyway. I tried not to let that ruin the film.
We got into the cinema and I saw kids everywhere and was dreading my chair been kicked the whole film and food being thrown everywhere. But surprisingly that didn't happen and I think it has something to do with how good the film was.

First things first. Before the film started there was the usual 'short film' by Disney. Usually these are good and I really enjoy them, but this one was all about 'Cars' And I hated that film so it didn't really appeal to me.

Anyway, onto the film. The 3D wasn't as good as I expected as I was expecting it to be like Pirates 4D where it comes right out the screen inches from your face. But instead it only gave a bigger depth of field some stuff came out the screen a few feet though but nothing that made you think "wow".
You kinda forgot about the 3D after a while and just enjoyed the film. The film was great and reminded me of the way they used to do Disney films and the way you felt when you watched them. The film looked great visually with individual hairs on the characters standing out and the animation was great.
The story had a great pace to it and had several funny moments that reminded me of good childhood memories.
The characters are great and have a real sense of personality. Rhino is brilliant as an avid fan of Bolt and provides the most laughs.
The film is quite long but the time flies by and it's the end of the film and you realise how good it was and you leave the cinema feeling satisfied that you've seen a good film.

Great to see Disney back on form and making another great film.

9/10

 

[mrclam]

expect many many more disney movies in 3d.. as they're MAJOR investors in tv companies making tv screens which can do 3d without the need of glasses

(which'll be the next "big thing" after hidef.. I'll give it 3 years max)

 

[F.A.S.T.]

I watched hand Hancock last night, and let me tell you, it was a pretty good movie.
I loved the part in jail, where he actually did shove the guys head up his ass. (and the "sex" scene)
I really enjoy moves that can include humor, and still be serious at the same time.
9/10

 

[peep]

I'm glad you enjoyed Bolt Ollie. Disney are releasing a bucket load of films in 3D over the coming years (including a re-release of Beauty and the beast in 3D) and it's the one thing that all of the film business is talking about. The whole idea is to give the film more depth, not for things jumping towards you, leave that to the lame horror films for that.

I watched two more films yesterday.

First film was Get Smart on DVD.

I think this is a great spoof, lots of very funny scenes and even Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) is watchable.

Rating: 4/5


Next up was the BBC Four Hitchcock season again, The 39 Steps.

It was a good film, well acted, well directed (though at times was a bit weird) and a good story. It has some classic scenes which are truly unforgettable.

Rating: 4/5

 

[furie]

Actually Furie, I found Mark Kermode's review of it. Just watch that to understand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGLwgy6 ... re=related

I understood all of it Ploddish. It's just that it didn't hang together "as a film". If you're going to produce a piece of art, then do it. Make people think and entertain them.

This was art dressed up as a standard film though. It was gorgeous, and DDL WAS superb. Only the actually story and plot just jumped and flipped and skipped between superb performances, brilliantly soundtracked scenes and great cinematography. That's why I couldn't grasp it, because the film didn't really know what it was. A piece of filmic art like Eraserhead or Barton Fink, or an epic story of a man's rise against the odds to become an oil baron. It never sat comfortably as either, and I believe it lost so much by trying to be both at the same time.

I did find a review which agreed with me completely, but can't find it again now.

It IS a lovely film, but it's trying to be too much and failing to be a good film overall.