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The Last Film You Saw - 2017


Athena

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Went to see Murder on the Orient Express this morning.  I must be in the minority of not reading the book or seeing the earlier film, so I had no idea of the story, but how can anyone resist a director and cast like this.  I had sumptuous visuals in terms of cinematography, costumes and production design and a great script that has a feeling of the 1930s without being too plummy or full of "gosh" and "jolly hockey sticks" styles of dialogue that period pieces sometimes suffer from.  I loved how the tone moves from bright, witty and slightly playful at the beginning, through to thrilling and then to an kind of philosophical feeling.  I absolutely loved it.

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I'm glad to hear that, Chesil :). I've read the book but not seen any film adaptations, I look forward to see the new one and see how it compares to the book. I'm glad you liked it a lot.

 

The last film I saw was Beetlejuice. It was different than what I was expecting, but it was nice :).

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9 hours ago, vodkafan said:

I watched David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me film last night. So weird. I have never seen any of the Twin Peaks TV series, new or old . Not sure what to make of it.

 

I can't imagine that making a whole lot of sense!

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15 hours ago, Inver said:

We went to see Murder on the Orient Express last weekend. I had my doubts about Kenneth Branagh being Hercule but I was pleasantly surprised actually.

I'm going to treat myself to a matinee to see OE this afternoon or tomorrow. Can't wait!

 

20 hours ago, chesilbeach said:

Went to see Paddington 2 at the cinema today. Absolutely wonderful :wub: 

I didn't realize there was a P2!!! I've got to take the grands to see it but I'll have to divvy them up. No way I'm taking 5 (baby wont be going) to the movies at the same time. I'd have to sell a kidney!

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On 17/10/2017 at 11:05 PM, willoyd said:

The Leeds International Film Festival programme has come out in the past week, and it looks excellent, so much so that I've bought a full pass that allows access to pretty much every film.  .....  It could be a hectic fortnight!!

 

 

It was!  A quick summary of the new films I saw:

 

Thelma (Norway):  Typically noirish Scandinavian psychological thriller.  Thelma, a product of a tight-knit, religious, family is in her first days away from home at university.  She starts developing a relationship with a fellow student, and her family relationships start to feel repressive.  Thelma finds the power of emotions are able to make things happen.  I'm not normally into anything smacking of the supernatural, but this was a really gripping spine-tingler, with real depth to the central characterisation.  Loved it.

Glory (Bulgaria): apparently trivial story about railway worker Tsanko who is awarded a watch for honest reporting of a find of money on the tracks.  His old, trusty, watch, a gift from his father, is lost by the PR staff, whilst the new one soon stops working.  Tsanko tries to recover the old one, and is constantly frustrated.  The film has much to say about post-Communist society! 

The Teacher (Slovakia). It's 1983, and  the class's new teacher wants to know the jobs of all the parents of her pupils.  She then oh so innocently exploits them to the full to her advantage!  Funny, acerbic, examination of both the corruption and the parents' responses to it.

Wonderstruck (USA).  Two parallel stories, set 50 years apart, of children with hearing impediments setting out from small-town America to New York City in search of parents.  Took a bit of getting going for me, and erred perhaps a bit too much on the schmalzy side for my taste, but ended up feeling quite satisfied.  But then, I can watch Julianne Moore in pretty much anything!

Jane (USA).  Biopic of Jane Goodall using recently rediscovered colour film from her early visits to Africa.  Stunning - an absolute must see film. Loved the Philip Glass score too.

Ex-Libris (USA). Documentary on the life of the New York Public Library.  A big film, over 3 hours long, and could perhaps have done with further editing, as there is some repetition, but still thoroughly absorbing, and amply demonstrating how central to society libraries can be.

Brimstone and Glory (USA, Mexico). All about the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico.  Vivid, exhilarating, and oh so scary - H&S, what H&S?!  Short, powerful and visually stunning,

Let There Be Light (France and others). A film on efforts to develop fusion energy, particularly focused on the building of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France.  A film of some potential spoiled by terrible sound which made a good third of the film completely incomprehensible.

Mountain (Australia). Examining the 'pull' of mountains.  By the director of 'Sherpa', one of the best documentaries I saw last year.  Superb images, exciting score, the film steadily grew on me after a start that did leave me wondering where it was going to go - we soon found out.  One that has to be seen on the big screen.

Normal Autistic Film (Czech). Interviews and films half a dozen autistic children and their families, encouraging the watcher to start seeing the world through their eyes and appreciating the alternative thinking that comes with what others might see as a disability.  Certainly makes one question what is 'normal'!

Tracking Edith (Germany, UK).  Great nephew examines the life of Edith Tudor-Hart, famous photographer of the 1930s and 40s, but also a lynchpin in the Cambridge Five spy network.  Had me enthralled from start to finish.

Animals (Austria).  Viennese couple Nick and Anna leave their city apartment behind in the hands of sitter Mischa, and head off to the Alps for six months.  Dreams, time-shifts, two-timing, doppelgangers, mixed up identities, mysterious rooms and events all help to confuse and confound in a film that smacked of Twin Peaks.  A film that demanded concentration and left me completely bemused, but thoroughly gripped.

Dave Made A Maze (USA).  Dave's girlfriend returns from a weekend away to find that Dave has spent the time building a labyrinth in the sitting room from cardboard boxes, a labyrinth in which he is well lost.  Annie and friends go in on a rescue mission.  Darkly funny, with some superb sets, and quite a few nods to genres and specific films, spoiled a bit on occasions by some iffy, banal, dialogue,

Three Billboards Outside Ebberston, Missouri (USA).  A clumsy title perhaps, but anything but clumsy film that at times left me gasping for breath.  Mildred's daughter has been dead for months, having been raped and murdered, and there has been no progress in finding the killer.  She hires three billboards on the outskirts of town and has them postered with a message that cuts to the heart of the town, targeting the respected police chief, and setting off a chain of events that ranges across the brutal, foul mouthed, blackly funny, and deeply emotional. whilst upsetting the viewer's perceptions and preconceptions at every turn - and there a lot of these.  This was the closing film of the festival, and voted the best of the fortnight; I'm not really surprised.  For me, it ranked alongside Jane and just in front of Thelma.

I also saw a number of the short films (the Sci-Fi collection was particularly good) and a couple of films in the retrospective strand too.  I also missed out on quite a lot of others (!), and have a fair old list of fllms to follow up. All in all, an excellent festival.  The only difference I'd make is that I'd have made sure I saw a few of the other films too - something to plan for next year!

 

 

 

 

Edited by willoyd
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6 hours ago, More reading time required said:

I watched La-La Land on Netflix the other day. Whilst I liked it, I couldn't quite see what the hype was all about. Perhaps I need to watch it again...:unsure:

 

That's probably not necessary, unless you really want to.  Quite a lot of people felt the same as you, or, indeed, were rather more disparaging.  Personally, I was thoroughly disappointed on several fronts, particularly after the promising opening.  I certainly have no intention of revisiting either now or in the foreseeable future.

Edited by willoyd
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Raffles - David Niven, Olivia DeHavilland - 1939 b&w film. Cricketer Raffles is really a Gentleman Burglar, who decides to go straight due to the love of a good woman. But his bestie - and brother of the woman - has been gambling and is in deep doo-doo , needing lots of money to avoid shame and jail. It's a delightful romp with fun performances. :)

 

Cheaper by the dozen - clifford Webb, myrna loy. The original of the Steve Martin film, it's just delightful and somewhat deeper than the remake. :)

Edited by Little Pixie
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14 hours ago, Raven said:

Wrath of the Titans

 

I don't think I've ever seen a film with so many wooden performances; Sam Worthington's acting runs the gamut from A all the way to A and the rest weren't much better, either.

 

 

When Katharine Hepburn appeared in a play on Broadway, ’tis said that Dorothy Parker cracked: “Miss Hepburn ran the whole gamut of emotions—from A to B.”

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We Are Still Here  6/10

I know it's a popular horror thing recently, with stuff like House of the Devil & It Follows, to give off a timeless feel, as though the movie could be set in the golden age 70s/80s. But man this one took it to another level. Feels like it time traveled from 1988, like something I would have rented on vhs as a kid. First half had a fresh take on the new england haunted house genre, creepy vibe, nicely shot, bad acting but that kind of added to the appeal. Then it goes gonzo with splatter deaths, terrible effects, bad ghostmonster costumes, the works.

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On ‎28‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 10:16 AM, Litwitlou said:

 

When Katharine Hepburn appeared in a play on Broadway, ’tis said that Dorothy Parker cracked: “Miss Hepburn ran the whole gamut of emotions—from A to B.”

 

Worthington's range is less, trust me.

 

Watched the Hammer version of The Hound of the Baskervilles yesterday, and as someone at work said today, it's like watching a carry on film but with horror instead of the laughs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

 

I must confess to being disappointed. 

 

Not a terrible film by any means - and way better than any of the prequels - but it didn't pay off what was set up in the first film for me, and I hate how they have used/where they have taken the original trilogy characters.

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