Films! good, bad, recomendations, and general film talk

[MDV]

I left The Road feeling very empty indeed (not hungry, emotionally). The only other film of recent times that left me feeling like that was Children of Men (although not quite a s empty!)

Yeah - very different films, but I know what you mean.

I didnt like the road per se, but it was a very good film. It, like children of men, had a very bitter-sweet ending;

Semi-spoilers!










 you cant help feel for Aragorns ethically questionable efforts to prepare his son for his death, and for his sons loss when he does die, but it also worked out best for the kid. The corrolory in children of men of course being that the girl and child reach the research dudes trying to fix the infertility, but the dude gives his life for it to happen. Both very harsh-but-good endings, which I like to see, it makes a change.














/spoilers

Predators rocked. Gatling plasma-caster FTMFW!

[_tom_]

Lucky Number Slevin - when this was first out I avoided it as the name sounded really stupid. Turns out it's actually pretty good, although I did sort of predict the ending/twist halfway through.

Just watched Fight Club for the first time in ages, absolutely love this film :D Although perhaps quite ironic that I watched it on our brand new home cinema system :lol:

[WezV]

watched the walking dead last night.  it seems promising but i dont know how the zombie apocalype thing will work out over a whole series.

[Plexi Ken]

Iron Man 2 - I was disappointed with this film IIRC it got good reviews, for me the first film was so much better. Much of the action set pieces were just CG models fighting each other. It was a bit like watching someone else playing a video game.

Das Experiment - German language film from 2001 based (in part) on the 'Stanford prison experiment'. It was quite good with strong performances, an above average and competently made film just lacking a bit of 'something special'. Oddly the film has dated quickly, the music cue sounded like the film was 20+ years old.

[Ian Price]

Just watched Fight Club for the first time in ages, absolutely love this film :D Although perhaps quite ironic that I watched it on our brand new home cinema system :lol:

Might have to put this on now. Great, great film. I hope you haven't had a gas explosion!

[_tom_]

It seems too cliche to say it's my favourite film but it probably is. Each time I watch it I'm entertained and I really like the vfx even though they look slightly dated compared to more modern things like Avatar.

[Ian Price]

Not a cliche at all Tom. It's up there with my favourites. I do need to be in the right mood to watch it though.

[Sifu Ben]

Just watched Juno. Not bad, but I don't see what all the fuss was about.

[Ian Price]

Just watched Juno. Not bad, but I don't see what all the fuss was about.

Yeah - decent film, not much happens in it really but it's alright. The Jason Bateman character annoyed me quite a bit.

[MDV]

Iron Man 2 - I was disappointed with this film IIRC it got good reviews, for me the first film was so much better. Much of the action set pieces were just CG models fighting each other. It was a bit like watching someone else playing a video game.

Das Experiment - German language film from 2001 based (in part) on the 'Stanford prison experiment'. It was quite good with strong performances, an above average and competently made film just lacking a bit of 'something special'. Oddly the film has dated quickly, the music cue sounded like the film was 20+ years old.

I liked Iron man 2.

The dramatisation of the stanford experiemnt got a little silly for my tastes. I felt that they went a little far trying to film-ify it with the ending and some of the characterisations, creation of a primary protagonist and antagonist and detracted somewhat from how utterly terrifying the findings (and events of) the stanford experiment actually are (by taking away its generality).

But, on the other hand, the head of the experiments girlfriend coming fresh to the events a couple of weeks in and saying 'this is barbaric, stop letting them do that to each other!' isnt really a viable ending compared to what they did in the film.

[dave_mc]

Just watched Juno. Not bad, but I don't see what all the fuss was about.

+1 EDIT: I still say ellen page's best work was in trailer park boys!

[Plexi Ken]

I loved Juno for its wonderful, lyrical, witty, real-world dialogue.

[_tom_]

Very late on this but just watched Being John Malkovich - loved it but I probably wouldn't want to see it again.

[Plexi Ken]

The Men Who Stare at Goats - Not a bad effort but (as with so many films) should have been much better. There's a series of big names in the cast but none really nail their characters (Jeff Bridges being the possible exception). There are some funny moments but few are laugh-out-loud. The script is OK but it relies too much on that 'one mans personal journey of self discovery' cliché.

[Philly Q]

In the last week or so I've seen four films at the London Korean Film Festival:

The Man From Nowhere
I Saw The Devil
Secret Reunion
Bestseller

All thoroughly good stuff, even though I Saw The Devil wasn't quite the 10/10 masterpiece I was expecting.