Films

[jump]

Just watched Kick Ass 2 & it is rubbish.

[pink_triangle]

I like the sound of wolf of wall street, but a 3 hour running time is putting me of to.some extent.

[DomDom1984]

It flies by. Feels like a 90 minute movie. If you find the time, watch it.

[When Jokers Attack]

Scorsese and De Niro both peaked with Raging Bull.

[LondonTom]

I'm currently in the middle of a Harry Potter run as I am doing the studio tour on Friday and still have yet to see the last movie. (I actually brought the Blu-Ray set over a year ago with the intention of it, but didn't get round to it as I wanted to watch them ).

Up to Goblet of Fire now, which for me is where the movie series started declining rapidly. It just starts leaving to much out, plus I never really liked Michael Gambon as Dumbledore tbh. (The Richard Harris take is much more how I imagined him in the books.).

That said the first 3 films really are splendid and Goblet has it's moments, its just the whole bit around the Tri-wizzard ball really drags for me and the forced "happy" ending tacked on after Cedric's memorial.

[t8yman]

I really don't get/like Harry Potter, but my mum & dad took my son to the studio tour last year, all 3 of them said it was incredible.

[big joe]

I think Scorsese may have peaked with his new movie, but I'll give it time before deciding on that. Casino is his peak for me until I make that decision. As for movies I've seen recently, I gave second views to a few movies.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Funnily enough this was one of them. It's certainly the best movie of the Oscar season and might turn out to be one of my favourite movies of all time. It's just a total thrill to watch from start to finish. There's some scenes which get so many different reactions. Watching through your fingers at Donnie being a complete walloper ( glorious stuff from Jonah Hill, making the minimum SAG wage ), worrying about where it's all going and, the best bits, the pure hilarity at some scenes. One drug taking scene in particular provides a special moment. DiCaprio gets the plaudits here and rightly so, but the supporting cast are all on fine form. 10/10

12 Years a Slave

Doesn't go well with repeat viewings. When it loses the power of the big scenes, you realise Steve McQueen tries too hard far too many times to drive points home, to the point of tedium. Which is probably why Steve McQueen won't be anywhere near the Best Director prize. Makes me wonder why it's such a big favourite for Best Picture as well actually. The only reason I can think of is the whole "better make it look like we accept our past" thing, which seems to be making an impact. It's powerful for sure, and a story well told, but nowhere near as good as some may think. 7/10

American Hustle

Just as good as the first time. It's such a fun movie at times, but it's not nicey nicey stuff, and the thing with this is I don't get the comedy thing. Much more of a drama with the odd comic moment here and there. Jennifer Lawrence is gonna wind up being this decade's Meryl Streep, nominated and winning things all over the map. Such a wonderful actress and her turn here is majestic. Jeremy Renner's role is ridiculously underrated. His goody two shoes mayor could have turned into parody, but Renner turns him into one of the most sympathetic characters you could ask for and this is what makes some of the scenes close to heartbreaking as you know what he's getting into. All of the big twists are brilliantly done and many are completely unpredictable, which is nice. Cracking stuff. 9/10

I haven't seen Wolf Of Wall Street yet but it looks rather entertaining. With Scorsese, you are always in safe hands.

Very, very surprised you have put American Hustle over 12 Years A Slave. Astonished, in fact. I found it to be a moderately enjoyable romp with ridiculous hair. Amy Adams is excellent - as is her constantly exposed cleavage - and everyone else is good, i sniggered a few times, but that's about it. When the credits rolled on 12 Years A Slave i let out an exhausted sigh and stayed slumped for a few minutes. It felt like i had watched something important, a feeling i don't get often, and the film has stayed with me for the last week. The main torture scene is the most difficult scene to sit through i've ever seen and i'm not usually squeamish.

It was difficult not to shake off a faint feeling of shame after watching it, shame at being white. Even though the events portrayed in the film took place thousands of miles away, i felt disgusted that people could have acted that way and, as a white man, i felt rather uncomfortable throughout. I honestly think everyone should see this film and that it should be shown in schools. A proper history lesson.

All i took away from American Hustle was to remember to download the ELO song that plays over the credits.

Edited January 27, 2014 by big joe

[DomDom1984]

It's definitely an important movie, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good movie. I was blown away the first time because of the sheer power of it, but second viewing really did show off the flaws of the movie itself. I was rating the movie after all. Not the story behind it. The performances were excellent. Benedict Cumberbatch will be overlooked but he stole the show the small amount of time he was on screen.

I don't see American Hustle as anywhere near a comedy. Infact, at times it's pretty hard to watch. I was completely sucked into the mayor's character, and Bale was stunning, and those two things meant that their friendship was pretty hard to watch. Lawrence carried her scenes brilliantly as well as casting a shadow over other major things, and I just thought the whole thing was crafted much much better. I think in other hands, 12 Years a Slave would have been a better movie. I'd have said better hands but Steve McQueen is very good at what he does. I just think there were things in his movie which took away from it.

Out of the Furnace

Another of the movies that was expected to maybe take some acting nominations. Casey Affleck was getting shouts but he is absolutely horrendous here, which is a shame as I really like him. He's like a parody of a down in his luck vent, more funny than tragic. Christian Bale is astonishing though, and while Harrelson borders on parody too, he does manage to tread the line carefully and is wonderful. The plot... not quite matching the performances, but involving enough. There's not enough done to stress the relationship between the two brothers, and it all kind of plods along. In other hands, this would not be interesting at all, but for some reason, I found myself captivated by what was going on.

The stuff with the bare knuckle fighting only borders on interesting unfortunately. This is all overshadowed by a sense of something extremely watchable though. 7/10

[big joe]

Watched 4 films yesterday. God Bless America, Springsteen & I, American Hustle and re-watched Donnie Brasco. Possibly my favourite Pacino performance.

[dentalplan]

I think Scorsese may have peaked with his new movie, but I'll give it time before deciding on that. Casino is his peak for me until I make that decision. As for movies I've seen recently, I gave second views to a few movies.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Funnily enough this was one of them. It's certainly the best movie of the Oscar season and might turn out to be one of my favourite movies of all time. It's just a total thrill to watch from start to finish. There's some scenes which get so many different reactions. Watching through your fingers at Donnie being a complete walloper ( glorious stuff from Jonah Hill, making the minimum SAG wage ), worrying about where it's all going and, the best bits, the pure hilarity at some scenes. One drug taking scene in particular provides a special moment. DiCaprio gets the plaudits here and rightly so, but the supporting cast are all on fine form. 10/10

12 Years a Slave

Doesn't go well with repeat viewings. When it loses the power of the big scenes, you realise Steve McQueen tries too hard far too many times to drive points home, to the point of tedium. Which is probably why Steve McQueen won't be anywhere near the Best Director prize. Makes me wonder why it's such a big favourite for Best Picture as well actually. The only reason I can think of is the whole "better make it look like we accept our past" thing, which seems to be making an impact. It's powerful for sure, and a story well told, but nowhere near as good as some may think. 7/10

American Hustle

Just as good as the first time. It's such a fun movie at times, but it's not nicey nicey stuff, and the thing with this is I don't get the comedy thing. Much more of a drama with the odd comic moment here and there. Jennifer Lawrence is gonna wind up being this decade's Meryl Streep, nominated and winning things all over the map. Such a wonderful actress and her turn here is majestic. Jeremy Renner's role is ridiculously underrated. His goody two shoes mayor could have turned into parody, but Renner turns him into one of the most sympathetic characters you could ask for and this is what makes some of the scenes close to heartbreaking as you know what he's getting into. All of the big twists are brilliantly done and many are completely unpredictable, which is nice. Cracking stuff. 9/10

I think these are my three favourites of the year just gone. I often don't agree that much with the Best Picture picks but I guess the most hyped films this year actually turned out to be some of the best.

I can see why 12 Years A Slave might not have been as enjoyable but I agree with big joe, I got the feeling I'd just watched a very important film; the Schinder's List of this decade, maybe. I agree with every word on the other two though, it's just a shame they both had to come out in the same year as you only really get good crime comedies every few years.

[viberunner]

Haven't seen 12 Years yet.

Wolf of Wall Street fucking destroys American Hustle though. That people would put these films up as competition against each other is bewildering. It's like comparing Constable to Emin.

[DomDom1984]

What WOULD you put up as competition then? There's not many that come close. Only Her comes anywhere near.

[t8yman]

Just watched "Filth", holy shit it was a rough ride. As I heard one reviewer say when it released- its not a film you enjoy, more a film you endure. I loved it, but didnt enjoy quite a lot of it!

hows that for mixed messages?

[DomDom1984]

Fuck it, I enjoyed it. Sure the downward spiral can get a bit uneasy to put it mildly, but it remains a hell of a ride.

[modey]

Watched filth on ffiday, loved it!

[jump]

What WOULD you put up as competition then? There's not many that come close. Only Her comes anywhere near.

Hangover 3? Bad Grampa? Grown Ups 2?

[viberunner]

What WOULD you put up as competition then? There's not many that come close. Only Her comes anywhere near.

There is no need for me to put up a film as an award contender to Wolf of Wall Street, the academy has already done that.

It's called Gravity.

As for Filth, I watched it and loved it. Brilliantly done. It's the tone and style I wanted for Trainspotting.

[DomDom1984]

Gravity is nowhere near it. It's incredibly well made, and it's a terrific movie into the bargain, but it doesn't touch The Wolf of Wall Street. I'd say most of the other nominated movies are about on the same level. Her probably a touch above.

Filth is amazing.

[viberunner]

Disagree strongly. Gravity is easily the equal of Wall Street. They're so different though, and brilliant for different reasons, it's slightly silly to compare them.

Like comparing Ghostbusters to Goodfellas - they're allowed to be great but/and different.

[dentalplan]

Hangover 3? Bad Grampa? Grown Ups 2?

Bad Grandpa doesn't deserve to be lumped in with them! Actually, even Hangover 3 was a lot better than Grown Ups 2. I'm not sure there are many worse films I've ever watched than Grown Ups 2.

[DomDom1984]

Hangover 3 was actually decent in it's own way. I thought Bad Grandpa was absolutely horrendous although it did get good towards the end, sort of bringing it above Grown Ups 2. The first 75% was completely unforgivable though.

[Jackmypie]

I'm watching American Hustle at the moment but I keep getting distracted by Amy Adams horrendous British accent (I know she's a con artist but still). It's like Emma Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower but the other way around. Makes your ears bleed.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Jackmypie

[DomDom1984]

I was more distracted by her cleavage.

[Jackmypie]

I preferred Jennifer Lawrence much more

[DomDom1984]

August: Osage County

This is a cracking wee movie. Basically, you have the most dysfunctional family you can get. Almost nobody likes each other. I say almost. Anyways, just when you think to yourself "it can't get any worse for this lot", the movie hits you with a sucker punch which will leave you reeling, and this is before you know more shit is hitting the fan. The performances are fun, with Streep being spectacular. It's so well put together though. Takes it's time to take you where you're going and you'll be reeling by the end. My mate was watching through her fingers at times and I was close.

9/10