films we just saw
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Dr. Rick Daglass
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Saw Lust, Caution last night. Everyone who I saw it with though it was a masterpiece, but I was not so engrossed. Well acted and beautiful, but it lacked the tension and moral questioning of Verhoven's Black Book which had a similar story.
All I ever wanted to do was make people laugh, cry and shit themselves all at the same time.
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soulmining
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Catching up with a few earlier remarks...
Also agree that Perfume was a greatly overlooked film - looking forward to seeing it again on DVD, it's in my 'to watch' pile at the moment.
Had heard there was a different ending on the 1408 DVD - sounds horrible!
Good to hear more positive feedback to [Rec] - think it is due to get a nationwide release on 21st March.
Also preferred Black Book to Lust, Caution - the latter is beautifully shot and acted, but far too languid and slow I felt.
The only new film I've seen in the New Year has been Charlie Wilson's War which I'd recommend. Based on the true story of the American congressman who coverted funded the war in Afghanistan in the 80s it could have been a dull political drama, but the superb script really emphasizes the characters involved and is very amusing. Hanks is good, less staid than normal, but Philip Seymour Hoffman is the standout turn - he gets all the best lines. Certainly warrants the Best Supporting Actor nominations he's been getting for this film.
Also agree that Perfume was a greatly overlooked film - looking forward to seeing it again on DVD, it's in my 'to watch' pile at the moment.
Had heard there was a different ending on the 1408 DVD - sounds horrible!
Good to hear more positive feedback to [Rec] - think it is due to get a nationwide release on 21st March.
Also preferred Black Book to Lust, Caution - the latter is beautifully shot and acted, but far too languid and slow I felt.
The only new film I've seen in the New Year has been Charlie Wilson's War which I'd recommend. Based on the true story of the American congressman who coverted funded the war in Afghanistan in the 80s it could have been a dull political drama, but the superb script really emphasizes the characters involved and is very amusing. Hanks is good, less staid than normal, but Philip Seymour Hoffman is the standout turn - he gets all the best lines. Certainly warrants the Best Supporting Actor nominations he's been getting for this film.
First things first, stay calm.
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Grindhouse
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Tony jaa kicking ass in warrior king,i enjoyed Ong Bak and finally got round to watching this,and it didnt fail to please the fight scenes were so much better than in Ong Bak and even though it may have its plot holes its a damn fun action film,and tony jaa is just great cant wait to see his next film;just dont mess with his elephants or steal his villages statues!
Inside man great to see this again, even though if once seen its not the same,but great performances all round.
Inside man great to see this again, even though if once seen its not the same,but great performances all round.
"Time To Nut Up Or Shut Up"
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Team Banzai
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giles edwards
- Undead Horde
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I agree, voor. Lust, Caution is as much about Tony Leung as it is about Wei Tang as opposed to the very more subjective character journey Black Book. He's a fascinating character, especially if you look at how it relates to his work for Wong Kar Wai.
One of my friends brought up a great observation about the closing shot of Lust, Caution and that of Lee's previous film Brokeback Mountain, how they echo each other, down to the location, the swinging door, the space now empty...
Black Book is about outward, adventurous physicality defining the inner psychological workings of its characters, while Lust, Caution is all about the inner psychology almost puppetering the physical actions of the characters. It's an intesne, typically bold picture from Ang Lee and one I admire more as I think back on it.
They're similar jumping off points, sure, but their psychology couldn't be more different -- a product of how the Dutch would eventually usurp their occupiers while the Chinese would to all intents and purposes remain somewhat controlled as a nation. I can see that as the defining factor in the inner rage of Lee's film.
I also loved where their friend uncovers the group plan in Hong Kong -- the best depiction of the messy, chaotic ugliness of murder since Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. Such a stunning scene.
One of my friends brought up a great observation about the closing shot of Lust, Caution and that of Lee's previous film Brokeback Mountain, how they echo each other, down to the location, the swinging door, the space now empty...
Black Book is about outward, adventurous physicality defining the inner psychological workings of its characters, while Lust, Caution is all about the inner psychology almost puppetering the physical actions of the characters. It's an intesne, typically bold picture from Ang Lee and one I admire more as I think back on it.
They're similar jumping off points, sure, but their psychology couldn't be more different -- a product of how the Dutch would eventually usurp their occupiers while the Chinese would to all intents and purposes remain somewhat controlled as a nation. I can see that as the defining factor in the inner rage of Lee's film.
I also loved where their friend uncovers the group plan in Hong Kong -- the best depiction of the messy, chaotic ugliness of murder since Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. Such a stunning scene.
[i]"Would you like to take a closer look ?"[/i]
I agree with you, Giles. I think there's also a lot of slight nuances which fll in the gaps in [/b]Lust,Caution[/b] such as the mahjong game. I was reading some discussions where someone was talking about how the the way they play the game mirrors their feelings with him easing her off, giving her the better tiles - I'd like to in fact learn Mahjong just to be able to capture the intensity behind that scene.
It's also fascinating to watch Tony Leung's character struggle with emotions he has not had to face for a long time - not only love for Wei Tang but also his place in helping the Japanese during the invasion. He's not a man who is completely ruthless and regretless, he suffers but he never displays this suffering.
If any similarity, it is the theatricality of the two females which parallel each other. In Black Book Carice Van Houten dyes her "hair" in front of the mirror whilst her lover watches whereas Wei Tang is already an actress - her theatricality comes from a less voyerustic more escapist perhaps job-like source.
The idea of 'ideals' also differ very much in the film. In Black Book characters exploit ideas and each other in order to find a personal happiness, in [/b]Lust,Caution the repression of the society is so far entwined with their personalities that Tony Leung does not act to save the only person he cares for.
I think there could also be a small volume on the role of the wife in Lust,Caution but that will have to be left to another day!
It's also fascinating to watch Tony Leung's character struggle with emotions he has not had to face for a long time - not only love for Wei Tang but also his place in helping the Japanese during the invasion. He's not a man who is completely ruthless and regretless, he suffers but he never displays this suffering.
If any similarity, it is the theatricality of the two females which parallel each other. In Black Book Carice Van Houten dyes her "hair" in front of the mirror whilst her lover watches whereas Wei Tang is already an actress - her theatricality comes from a less voyerustic more escapist perhaps job-like source.
The idea of 'ideals' also differ very much in the film. In Black Book characters exploit ideas and each other in order to find a personal happiness, in [/b]Lust,Caution the repression of the society is so far entwined with their personalities that Tony Leung does not act to save the only person he cares for.
I think there could also be a small volume on the role of the wife in Lust,Caution but that will have to be left to another day!
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giles edwards
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Ah, the woman who of course knows everything (well, she is awesome at Mahjong, afterall -- love that observation) but says nothing. Nothing about the affair, about what her husband presides ever day. The great Joan Chen being typically...great.
I thought it was very odd that the first scene of the Mahjong game was shot so kinetically, but then, of course that makes perfect sense if you contrast it with the scene that comes afterwards narratively, the intense attempted assassination build up and how similarly that's shot and edited.
He really is one of our finest filmmakers.
Not that Verhoeven is a slouch.
I thought it was very odd that the first scene of the Mahjong game was shot so kinetically, but then, of course that makes perfect sense if you contrast it with the scene that comes afterwards narratively, the intense attempted assassination build up and how similarly that's shot and edited.
He really is one of our finest filmmakers.
Not that Verhoeven is a slouch.
[i]"Would you like to take a closer look ?"[/i]
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Satans Puppy
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so DVD must be same time in the US Ahem Showgirls cough cough.
Verhoeven on form is terrific. But bad Verhoeven is truly bad.
i don't know about Ang Lee, although I do love his work, there's something about chameleon nature which makes me feel repulsed towards him. I must have been one of the few people who did not like Brokeback Mountain that much. I thought too much was made for something not much. I enjoyed 'The Dying Gaul' much more which had a similar idea - thematically at least. Also I cannot help but giggle at that point in the film where one of our leads goes 'I ain't queer you know' and the other responds ' nope, neither am I' and both are so passionate about it. I t just sounded like a John Wayne moment gone wrong. (Now imagine that, John Wayne starring in Brokeback Mountain)
However we can say he is on a roll at the moment. I for one will be curious to see what's next. 'The Ice Storm' still sends a shiver up my spine whenever I remember it.
Verhoeven on form is terrific. But bad Verhoeven is truly bad.
i don't know about Ang Lee, although I do love his work, there's something about chameleon nature which makes me feel repulsed towards him. I must have been one of the few people who did not like Brokeback Mountain that much. I thought too much was made for something not much. I enjoyed 'The Dying Gaul' much more which had a similar idea - thematically at least. Also I cannot help but giggle at that point in the film where one of our leads goes 'I ain't queer you know' and the other responds ' nope, neither am I' and both are so passionate about it. I t just sounded like a John Wayne moment gone wrong. (Now imagine that, John Wayne starring in Brokeback Mountain)
However we can say he is on a roll at the moment. I for one will be curious to see what's next. 'The Ice Storm' still sends a shiver up my spine whenever I remember it.
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streetrw
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A load of DVDs to catch up on:
I finally managed to see the original Ju-On: The Grudge, and I think on balance I prefer the US remake. After a few of these Japanese horrors the spooky-eyed ghost girls and the long hair lose some of their impact. This one’s still scary in places, but it’s never as terrifying as I thought it would be. Worth a look, but it‘s not as good as the original Ring (probably the first of this wave that I saw).
I really enjoyed The Tube, a Korean action blockbuster that’s half Die Hard and half The Taking Of Pelham 123. Bad guys hijack a tube train, unaware that there’s a maverick cop on their trail. Several terrific action sequences ensue... Well worth renting.
I wish I’d caught Romanza Criminale on its cinema release: an Italian gangster epic in which a group of childhood friends become crime kingpins in 1970s Rome before it all goes horribly wrong.... Maybe it’s just a lite update of Once Upon A Time In America, but it doesn’t drag at well over two hours and is generally gripping throughout.
Believers is a persuasive little film in which two paramedics are held prisoner by a religious suicide cult who believe the world is about to end. It’s a bit on the long side and quite talky, but it’s well done and fortunately doesn’t paint its villains as barking lunatics. Good ending as well.
A repeat viewing of Hitchcock’s Frenzy, which I didn’t enjoy half as much as the last time I watched it. I love the 70s London (this was a time when you could drive round Leicester Square) and there are several terrific moments, the cast is full of familiar character faces (Bernard Cribbins, Clive Swift, Alec McCowen, Jean Marsh).... but it’s all a bit grubby and seedy and it just didn’t feel right.
Meanwhile, at the cinema... I’m trying to think of one single, solitary good thing to say about Balls Of Fury, and I can’t come up with anything beyond it being more or less in focus. It’s a table-tennis spoof of Enter The Dragon without any good jokes; it doesn’t make sense and it wastes Christopher Walken modelling a succession of Ming The Merciless’s old costumes. Ugly failed table-tennis prodigy Dan Fogler is dragged back into competition to infiltrate Walken’s secret base where he’s planning dastardly schemes involving something or other, but first has to be trained back to standard by blind James Hong. It’s not even close to being as good as it sounds.
We Own The Night is much, much better; dedicated cop Mark Wahlberg and his police chief dad Robert Duvall are after drug barons in 1990s New York; playboy club owner Joaquin Phoenix looks like being their way in. The twist is that Phoenix is Wahlberg’s brother.... Consistently involving and well shot, this is the kind of movie we don’t get enough of.
I finally managed to see the original Ju-On: The Grudge, and I think on balance I prefer the US remake. After a few of these Japanese horrors the spooky-eyed ghost girls and the long hair lose some of their impact. This one’s still scary in places, but it’s never as terrifying as I thought it would be. Worth a look, but it‘s not as good as the original Ring (probably the first of this wave that I saw).
I really enjoyed The Tube, a Korean action blockbuster that’s half Die Hard and half The Taking Of Pelham 123. Bad guys hijack a tube train, unaware that there’s a maverick cop on their trail. Several terrific action sequences ensue... Well worth renting.
I wish I’d caught Romanza Criminale on its cinema release: an Italian gangster epic in which a group of childhood friends become crime kingpins in 1970s Rome before it all goes horribly wrong.... Maybe it’s just a lite update of Once Upon A Time In America, but it doesn’t drag at well over two hours and is generally gripping throughout.
Believers is a persuasive little film in which two paramedics are held prisoner by a religious suicide cult who believe the world is about to end. It’s a bit on the long side and quite talky, but it’s well done and fortunately doesn’t paint its villains as barking lunatics. Good ending as well.
A repeat viewing of Hitchcock’s Frenzy, which I didn’t enjoy half as much as the last time I watched it. I love the 70s London (this was a time when you could drive round Leicester Square) and there are several terrific moments, the cast is full of familiar character faces (Bernard Cribbins, Clive Swift, Alec McCowen, Jean Marsh).... but it’s all a bit grubby and seedy and it just didn’t feel right.
Meanwhile, at the cinema... I’m trying to think of one single, solitary good thing to say about Balls Of Fury, and I can’t come up with anything beyond it being more or less in focus. It’s a table-tennis spoof of Enter The Dragon without any good jokes; it doesn’t make sense and it wastes Christopher Walken modelling a succession of Ming The Merciless’s old costumes. Ugly failed table-tennis prodigy Dan Fogler is dragged back into competition to infiltrate Walken’s secret base where he’s planning dastardly schemes involving something or other, but first has to be trained back to standard by blind James Hong. It’s not even close to being as good as it sounds.
We Own The Night is much, much better; dedicated cop Mark Wahlberg and his police chief dad Robert Duvall are after drug barons in 1990s New York; playboy club owner Joaquin Phoenix looks like being their way in. The twist is that Phoenix is Wahlberg’s brother.... Consistently involving and well shot, this is the kind of movie we don’t get enough of.
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Grindhouse
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welcome to the jungle turned up on my doorstep today and it wasnt as dissapointing as i had expected,made on a small budget,born out of jonathan hensleighs failed to get off the ground remake of the naked jungle,this follows 4 individuals off to seek a fortune in finding a long lost member of a rich wealthy family from the USA,(actually factual the person in question did exist and did go missing reputedly killed and eaten by cannibals) anyways of they go and much falling out ensues till they come across the tribesman and then the pace picks up to its climax ending,very much influenced by ruggero deodato's cannibal holocaust and the blair witch,i think its quite brave to make a film on this subject long after the string of italian cannibal gorefests have long since ended,apart from the odd few oddball ones that turn up from time to time,unfortunately its very low on gore but high on chills.
well worth checking out not sure not sure its worthy of dimension extreme label but the shaky cam on this was minimum and watchable.
well worth checking out not sure not sure its worthy of dimension extreme label but the shaky cam on this was minimum and watchable.
"Time To Nut Up Or Shut Up"
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Team Banzai
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AMERICAN GANGSTER - very very good performance by denzel washington in the latest from the currently hit-or-miss director ridley scott. happily this is one of his better recent movies (the same as the coen's return to form with no country for old men - which is unmissable). a bit slow out of the gate, but once past the 30-40 minute mark it proves to be a thoroughly engrossing film. the use of period music doesn't overwhelm in the way that some of scorsese's tend to do. a very satisfying watch indeed.
WALK HARD - wanted to enjoy this more than i actually did. a bit one note and while quite clever and cameo role filled some of the humour just doesn't hit the home runs it should. in a similar vein i also found both KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD to be over-long and over-rated (and indeed both on dvd un-rated) some funny moments in both, but not a patch on the great and hilarious teen comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR.
WALK HARD - wanted to enjoy this more than i actually did. a bit one note and while quite clever and cameo role filled some of the humour just doesn't hit the home runs it should. in a similar vein i also found both KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD to be over-long and over-rated (and indeed both on dvd un-rated) some funny moments in both, but not a patch on the great and hilarious teen comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR.
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Team Banzai
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AMERICAN GANGSTER - very very good performance by denzel washington in the latest from the currently hit-or-miss director ridley scott. happily this is one of his better recent movies (the same as the coen's return to form with no country for old men - which is unmissable). a bit slow out of the gate, but once past the 30-40 minute mark it proves to be a thoroughly engrossing film. the use of period music doesn't overwhelm in the way that some of scorsese's tend to do. a very satisfying watch indeed.
WALK HARD - wanted to enjoy this more than i actually did. a bit one note and while quite clever and cameo role filled some of the humour just doesn't hit the home runs it should. in a similar vein i also found both KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD to be over-long and over-rated (and indeed both on dvd un-rated) some funny moments in both, but not a patch on the great and hilarious teen comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR.
WALK HARD - wanted to enjoy this more than i actually did. a bit one note and while quite clever and cameo role filled some of the humour just doesn't hit the home runs it should. in a similar vein i also found both KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD to be over-long and over-rated (and indeed both on dvd un-rated) some funny moments in both, but not a patch on the great and hilarious teen comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR.
Saw a few titles in the past few weeks:
Planet Terror/Death Proof in the the Prince Charles. Second time seeing both films. Still thoroughly enjoyed them both. Both to me are as good as each other.
Kite Runner - this is another film which I haven't read the book for. Still rather enjoyed it. Rather unsurprisingly heavy going. Beautifully shot and some acting to match.
The Devil's Rain: Yep that film from the 70's with William"corset" Shatner. Which was in the 80's last time I saw it. Then watched it again recently. Some very cheap effects but does have some moments of creepyness. Some great shots of desert with the ghost town and boarded up church. Worth a watch!
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch: What a corker! Again, been a few years last I seen this. So different from the other Halloween additions. You can't really go wrong with Tom Atkins trying to save the day.
Also saw Dracula as played by Denholm Elliott from 1968 from the Mystery and Imagination series.
I thought it was excellent production. A slightly different take on the Dracula story. Denholm Elliott played a almost up to date version of Bela Lugosi -Dracula. He was excellent. Exuding malice and sensuality. Some atmospheric locations. Made this more of a enjoyable red blooded adaptation then the anemiac BBC adaptation of last year with Marc Warren.
Still ploughing through Roswell Series 3.....
Planet Terror/Death Proof in the the Prince Charles. Second time seeing both films. Still thoroughly enjoyed them both. Both to me are as good as each other.
Kite Runner - this is another film which I haven't read the book for. Still rather enjoyed it. Rather unsurprisingly heavy going. Beautifully shot and some acting to match.
The Devil's Rain: Yep that film from the 70's with William"corset" Shatner. Which was in the 80's last time I saw it. Then watched it again recently. Some very cheap effects but does have some moments of creepyness. Some great shots of desert with the ghost town and boarded up church. Worth a watch!
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch: What a corker! Again, been a few years last I seen this. So different from the other Halloween additions. You can't really go wrong with Tom Atkins trying to save the day.
Also saw Dracula as played by Denholm Elliott from 1968 from the Mystery and Imagination series.
I thought it was excellent production. A slightly different take on the Dracula story. Denholm Elliott played a almost up to date version of Bela Lugosi -Dracula. He was excellent. Exuding malice and sensuality. Some atmospheric locations. Made this more of a enjoyable red blooded adaptation then the anemiac BBC adaptation of last year with Marc Warren.
Still ploughing through Roswell Series 3.....
"We Who Walk Here Walk Alone"