Author Topic: Film Reviews  (Read 24437 times)

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Offline Pendragon

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #30 on: June 21, 2011, 10:56:06 pm »
Yeah I must to confess we have the collection so far on dvd our excuse is we have a 13 yr old.  Loved the Lord of the Rings films too  D) $good$
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Fester

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #31 on: June 21, 2011, 11:26:56 pm »
Is anyone watching Game of Thrones then?

An adult version of Lord of the Rings I would say...
Fester...
- Semper in Excretum, Sole Profundum Variat -


Offline SDQ

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #32 on: June 22, 2011, 05:01:03 am »
I think Game Of Thrones has been an excellent series with a first class cast made up of predominantly British actors. I must confess to not having read any of the books (A Song Of Ice And Fire) it's based on but by all accounts it is quite faithful to them. With such a mix of storylines it was surprisingly easy to follow as all the Dynasties/Families from the Seven Kingdoms Of Westeros started to fight for control of the Iron Throne. It was so heavily hyped at the beginning I was a bit sceptical when I started watching but it was everything they promised and more besides!
Valar Morghulis

Offline DaveR

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #33 on: July 16, 2011, 09:46:33 pm »
I've never watched the Harry Potter films, so thought I would have a viewing binge to work my way through them recently. I wasn't sure if I would like them but I have to say they were excellent, very well made. Half Blood Prince was my favourite. Can't wait now for Deathly Hallows Part II. $good$

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" Trailer 1

Love the Harry Potter films. In the lead up to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, Cineworld will be showing all the other films.
Deathly Hallows 2 will be shown in 2D and 3D.
I've just seen Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows Part II. Excellent film, action packed all the way and all the bits of the plot going back to the start get tied up properly. Highly recommended!  $good$

Offline pentan

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A.Lonely.Place.to.Die My recommended movie
« Reply #34 on: June 23, 2012, 09:47:14 am »

Set in the Scottish Highlands this Movie is awash with beautiful scenery and awesome mountain climbs an aperitif for what is to follow.
A tense action thriller I would say was on a par with Deliverance a mostly British cast that give a fine performance a refreshing change in this movie is the lack of sex and drugs and rock n roll, they is a decree of violence but needed for the storyline
8/10

Offline DaveR

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Re: A.Lonely.Place.to.Die My recommended movie
« Reply #35 on: June 23, 2012, 05:26:20 pm »

Set in the Scottish Highlands this Movie is awash with beautiful scenery and awesome mountain climbs an aperitif for what is to follow.
A tense action thriller I would say was on a par with Deliverance a mostly British cast that give a fine performance a refreshing change in this movie is the lack of sex and drugs and rock n roll, they is a decree of violence but needed for the storyline
8/10
Sounds interesting, will give it a whirl.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #36 on: June 23, 2012, 06:12:08 pm »
You can't beat 'Pulp Fiction'  8) 8)
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Offline pentan

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #37 on: June 23, 2012, 09:41:27 pm »
To much sex drugs and rock-n roll med

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #38 on: June 24, 2012, 06:56:26 pm »
Enough about your private life, what about the film?  ;D
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #39 on: July 03, 2012, 02:04:18 pm »
Enough about your private life, what about the film?  ;D
hehe you make me giggle Andy  ;D
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Ian

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Re: The Lone Ranger (Sky Movies)
« Reply #40 on: April 21, 2014, 08:47:52 am »
Sky have started showing this very recent release which was a poor box office performer and which stars the redoubtable Jonny Depp as Tonto.

We're both Depp admirers, partly because he's an outstanding actor, partly because you rarely get anything from him which doesn't in some way confound expectations, and we were both curious to know why the proven combination of Verbinski (Director) and Depp didn't achieve the same outstanding success as the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

The film is told through the perspective of an aged Tonto - now impossibly on tour with a Wild West show, rather like Buffalo Bill's show of the turn of the 20th Century.  That might - possibly - have been the first mistake, since the effect of the technique is to slow the pace at crucial moments. However, there was probably a more significant reason why it stumbled.

Depp is reliably on form. His trademark cartoon-like eye movements, his sometimes bizarrely comic run and his incredibly well-timed use of bathos all contribute to his being one of the extremely few actors who can combine rich comedy with a genuinely heightened sense of real danger, often in the same scene.  Arnie Hammer, the co-lead, is good, but it must be mighty difficult acting alongside Depp for anyone. Helena Bonham-Carter is excellent, as are all the supporting cast and the action sequences are some of the funniest - and most visually effective - I've seen in a movie.

So why did it fail, albeit financially? The film, unfortunately, deals with a very well-known and comparatively recent episode in American history and the slaughter, by means of a concealed Gatling gun, of attacking Comanches was difficult to watch and too real, unlike the more make-believe scenes in Pirates. The villain of the film  - Butch (Cassidy) - was also extreme, and inflicts violence and cruelty which is extraordinarily visceral in its nature, and the effect of that is to make for uneasy watching. It's the extreme contrast between this elemental evil and Tonto's daftness that I suspect acts to unnerve the audience and possibly deter them from wanting to see it a second time. Film humour is a craft, and one way to make it work is through contrasting scenes of real threat and danger with scenes of incredibly silliness. I think perhaps that the film made the contrast too strong, so the relief gained when the humour arrives does not outweigh the anxiety generated by the danger and horror.

So, having said all that, is it worth seeing? I believe it is, if only to watch Depp, whose portrayal of Tonto is incredibly effective.  Depp uses his voice masterfully, and he imitates the drawling baritone of Robert Stack (The Untouchables) in every respect to perfection. As an aside, I'm not sure anyone else has noticed this as I can't find references to it anywhere.

The action sequences at the start and end are also phenomenal, and it's easy to see where the massive budget went. They're pulled off superbly, too, and although you know a lot is green-screened you really can't see the joins. The film is a little long: almost three hours which - at home - is bearable, but I can see the cinema audiences might not have been so forgiving. The original William Tell overture is played towards the end when the Ranger finally dons his mask and performs the most unlikely shoot-out scenes ever filmed (and the funniest, beyond doubt) but one high spot of the film is Silver.  The horse appears on rooftops, up trees, in train carriages - in short, anywhere it would be impossible for a horse to get, and that's a nice touch.

In summary, then, a film which it's worth seeing but not the best of Depp's (or Verbinski's) offerings. Nonetheless, an enjoyable ride and a a great deal of fun.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Fester

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Re: The Lone Ranger (Sky Movies)
« Reply #41 on: April 21, 2014, 11:07:39 pm »

We're both Depp admirers, partly because he's an outstanding actor, partly because you rarely get anything from him which doesn't in some way confound expectations,
.


Each to their own I suppose, and isn't it funny how people can have such different perspectives on the same subject?

You see I think Jonny Depp is a terrible actor.
I have always thought his mutterings were pretty much incomprehensible, although much of that could be down to my diminishing hearing, or the monotone drawl that passes for movie sound quality these days.

I have always thought that he played trivial parts, such as Edward Scissorhands.
I thought his depiction of Willy Wonka was not only trivia, but also unnecessarily sinister, when Gene Wilder played the part brilliantly and enjoyably a couple of decades before.

Whenever I see a new 'blockbuster' featuring Depp, I devoutly ignore it these days.

All this is in my own humble opinion.
Fester...
- Semper in Excretum, Sole Profundum Variat -

Offline Ian

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #42 on: April 22, 2014, 07:12:44 am »
Quote
Each to their own I suppose, and isn't it funny how people can have such different perspectives on the same subject? You see I think Jonny Depp is a terrible actor.

Well, you're not alone, that's for sure. When we first encountered his films I was of a similar opinion. He seemed entirely insubstantial as an actor, and there appeared to be little logic in his bizarre choice of parts. I suspect it was his three Oscar nominations and his 51 award wins which made me take a closer look at this small and seemingly odd actor. In some ways he's the Meryl Streep of actors; I could never understand why Barry Norman raved about her, until I really watched a film she was in, and then I realised.

The main component of an actor is their voice, which you touched on, Fester. I think that's when I started to reappraise him as an actor, because his vocal skills and the work he puts in to master accents, intonation, cadence and timing is astonishing. And above all, he's rarely the same in any two movies. I grant you he mumbles when he's not acting, however. In interviews you can barely discern what he's saying but in performance that's never been a problem for me. One issue, I now realise, is that modern movies are made with 7:1 soundtracks, and optimised for big theatres. That means unless you have a correspondingly decent set up in the house, you miss a lot, something I only discovered when I bought a Cambridge Audio centre speaker to match the rest of our kit.

One odd thing about him is that he rarely acts in films that do staggeringly well. Many of his films - if not flops - rarely make pots of cash, and part of that might be his long-time affiliation with the eccentric Tim Burton. But he knows the business well, and at 50 I doubt he's peaked.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #43 on: April 22, 2014, 09:18:22 am »
I don't think he's terrible (although I do find his Keith Richards tribute schtick in the Pirates series cringeworthy), but I do think Leonardo DiCaprio is a far better actor.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Film Reviews
« Reply #44 on: June 19, 2015, 12:29:12 pm »
I'm looking forward to the new James Bond film, 'SPECTRE':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPMMRdbU5Og

..and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIsauUFIguE