Movie review thread...
-
The Informant, Matt Damon, 7.5/10<br />
<br />
I liked this, based on a true story and a book. <br />
<br />
Damon is brilliant as 'the informant' narcing on his huge organisations part in price fixing of lysin (sp??)....but all is not what it seems -
thanks to a free credit on pay for view on cable ~due to crappy service (pays to complain) ~ watched the "Boys are back" (its hard to find anything watchable ~ tried to convince my wife that kinky cheerleaders would be good) had her crying within minutes pretty formula mum dies dad struggles bringing up the kids/ob coming to terms with dead wife, ex-wife, estranged son from aforementioned wife, living in Australia etc..
-
[quote name='Gary']thanks to a free credit on pay for view on cable ~due to crappy service (pays to complain) ~ watched the "Boys are back" (its hard to find anything watchable ~ tried to convince my wife that kinky cheerleaders would be good) had her crying within minutes pretty formula mum dies dad struggles bringing up the kids/ob coming to terms with dead wife, ex-wife, estranged son from aforementioned wife, living in Australia etc..[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
clive owen? -
[quote name='Gary']yeap ~ wife thought it was going to be a action/comedy due his presence ~ my comment of a dead wife being a good start didn't go down to well.[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
Excellent! <br />
<br />
Watched the recent HBO biopic on [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin"]Temple Grandin[/URL] last night. It was a fairly conventional biopic, and a bit cheesy, but it nicely illustrated her thought processes and methods for coping with human socialising. <br />
<br />
[QUOTE][B]Temple Grandin[/B] (born August 29, 1947) is a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title)"]Doctor[/URL] of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Science"]Animal Science[/URL] and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor"]professor[/URL] at [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_State_University"]Colorado State University[/URL], bestselling author, and consultant to the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock"]livestock[/URL] industry in animal behavior. As a person with [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-functioning_autism"]high-functioning autism[/URL], Grandin is also widely noted for her work in autism advocacy and is the inventor of the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hug_machine"]hug machine[/URL] designed to calm hypersensitive persons.<br />
<br />
She claims she is a primarily visual thinker[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin#cite_note-6"][7][/URL] and has said that language is her second language. Temple attributes her success as a humane livestock facility designer to her ability to recall detail, which is a characteristic of her visual memory. Grandin compares her memory to full-length movies in her head that can be replayed at will, allowing her to notice small details. She is also able to view her memories using slightly different contexts by changing the positions of the lighting and shadows. Her insight into the minds of cattle has taught her to value the changes in details to which animals are particularly sensitive, and to use her visualization skills to design thoughtful and humane animal-handling equipment. She was named a fellow of the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_of_Agricultural_and_Biological_Engineers"]American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers[/URL] in 2009.[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin#cite_note-7"][8][/URL][/QUOTE] -
[COLOR="red"][SIZE="4"][/SIZE][FONT="Verdana"]WARNING SPOILER Boy in the Striped Pyjamas WARNING SPOILER[/FONT][/COLOR]<br />
<br />
Apologies I don't know how to work spoilers.<br />
<br />
[QUOTE]I saw 'The boy in the stripped pyjamas' last week. I thought that it was told really well. The ending was tragic but I think it fitted the story.[/QUOTE]<br />
The ending really pissed me off as basically you're manipulated into feeling sad at the death of the little German boy, despite throughout the movie in the camp people are getting killed all the time. -
[quote name='Nepia'][COLOR="red"][SIZE="4"][/SIZE][FONT="Verdana"]WARNING SPOILER Boy in the Striped Pyjamas WARNING SPOILER[/FONT][/COLOR]<br />
<br />
Apologies I don't know how to work spoilers.<br />
<br />
<br />
The ending really pissed me off as basically you're manipulated into feeling sad at the death of the little German boy, despite throughout the movie in the camp people are getting killed all the time.[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
I came away thinking about the irony in his death. Exactly the point you make about the death all around and then this seemingly minor one. Its supposed to annoy you I think. Also it highlights that one death should be no more important than another and the only way Bruno's(german boy) father would learn this is by basically killing his own son in the manner he disposes of all the jews. Though obviously the movie ends abruptly so I've drawn my own conclusions. Also I haven't read the book. -
Shutter I sland. Thought I'd read reviews here but didn't come up when I searched.<br />
<br />
Had read and heard good things about this but frankly I was a little disappointed. Not beccause it was bad because it isn't but it didn't deliver on the hype.<br />
<br />
It's a homage to film noir/Hitchcock I guess and works reasonably well as such, but it just seesm like everyone is going through the motions a bit from Scorsese down.<br />
<br />
Ben Kingsley in particular hams it up. It's all a bit predictable - the lighting, the music, the plot developments are all telegraphed well in advance.<br />
<br />
Also at 2 1/4 hrs started to drag. 6.13 -
[quote name='dogmeat']Shutter I sland. Thought I'd read reviews here but didn't come up when I searched.<br />
<br />
Had read and heard good things about this but frankly I was a little disappointed. Not beccause it was bad because it isn't but it didn't deliver on the hype.<br />
<br />
It's a homage to film noir/Hitchcock I guess and works reasonably well as such, but it just seesm like everyone is going through the motions a bit from Scorsese down.<br />
<br />
Ben Kingsley in particular hams it up. It's all a bit predictable - the lighting, the music, the plot developments are all telegraphed well in advance.<br />
<br />
Also at 2 1/4 hrs started to drag. 6.13[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
Sexy Beast and House of Sand and Fog were his last good turns but not dick all since.<br />
<br />
Still Im looking forward to seeing this movie. I haven't really read into it too much so maybe it'll play well for me. -
[quote name='dogmeat']Shutter I sland. Thought I'd read reviews here but didn't come up when I searched.<br />
<br />
Had read and heard good things about this but frankly I was a little disappointed. Not beccause it was bad because it isn't but it didn't deliver on the hype.<br />
<br />
It's a homage to film noir/Hitchcock I guess and works reasonably well as such, but it just seesm like everyone is going through the motions a bit from Scorsese down.<br />
<br />
Ben Kingsley in particular hams it up. It's all a bit predictable - the lighting, the music, the plot developments are all telegraphed well in advance.<br />
<br />
Also at 2 1/4 hrs started to drag. 6.13[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
It's doing boffo box-office, already Scorsese's biggest money-maker ever. <br />
<br />
It seemed to me that the past bunch of years Scorsese, who has been an insecure shorty since childhood, has been shamelessly, pathologocally lusting after validation in the form of an Oscar gong and making, by his own earlier high standards, mediocre movies that hit the cliche "Oscar-worthy" paint-by-numbers and suffer for all of it. They finally gave him what he wanted for The Departed, which wasn't a tremendous film by any stretch, but I thought, good, now maybe he can go back to making his absorbing, uniquely signature movies.<br />
<br />
I thought Shutter Island might be the one, his homage to his idol Val Lewton. <br />
<br />
Mistake. I watched it and thought it like a mediocre overlong episode of Twilight Zone. And it wasn't scary in the slightest. It certainly doesn't help things that the TV commercials for the movie are promising a "surprise shocking twist ending." Errrr, publicist dumbarses, if you promise a surprise twist ending, then the twist is kinda spoiled when the audience is expecting and waiting for it. <br />
<br />
Worth a watch, but save your dollars for the dvd rental.<br />
<br />
6/10. -
Edge of Darkness - Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone - crime/conspiracy action thriller<br />
<br />
Not bad, 6.5/10, lost half a point for saddo Hollywood ending.... -
[quote name='taniwharugby']Edge of Darkness - Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone - crime/conspiracy action thriller. Not bad, 6.5/10, lost half a point for saddo Hollywood ending....[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
Thanks for that. I was tossing up whether to go and see it at the movies or wait for the dvd to come out. Dvd it is. <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> -
[quote name='Razbra']I came away thinking about the irony in his death. Exactly the point you make about the death all around and then this seemingly minor one. Its supposed to annoy you I think. Also it highlights that one death should be no more important than another and the only way Bruno's(german boy) father would learn this is by basically killing his own son in the manner he disposes of all the jews. Though obviously the movie ends abruptly so I've drawn my own conclusions. Also I haven't read the book.[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
[quote name='Nepia'][COLOR="red"][SIZE="4"][/SIZE][FONT="Verdana"]WARNING SPOILER Boy in the Striped Pyjamas WARNING SPOILER[/FONT][/COLOR]<br />
<br />
Apologies I don't know how to work spoilers.<br />
<br />
<br />
The ending really pissed me off as basically you're manipulated into feeling sad at the death of the little German boy, despite throughout the movie in the camp people are getting killed all the time.[/QUOTE]<br />
<br />
After thinking about it for a while I think I agree with both of you now. It's one of those movies that gave me a lot to think about and it took a while to process it. The little boy dying at the end just proved how incredibly wrong the whole war was when it took his father experiencing it himself to realise that what he was in charge of was wrong. -
[QUOTE]It seemed to me that the past bunch of years Scorsese, who has been an insecure shorty since childhood, has been shamelessly, pathologocally lusting after validation in the form of an Oscar gong and making, by his own earlier high standards, mediocre movies that hit the cliche "Oscar-worthy" paint-by-numbers and suffer for all of it. They finally gave him what he wanted for The Departed, which wasn't a tremendous film by any stretch, but I thought, good, now maybe he can go back to making his absorbing, uniquely signature movies[/QUOTE]<br />
I haven't seen Shutter Island so can't comment on it as yet - I have read the book though so am interested to see what he does with it.<br />
But I completely disagree re: the Departed which I think is one of his best films and a return to top form after the so so Aviator and the completely crap Gangs of New York.
Heard an interview the other day with an autistic woman has no facial recognition ability whatsoever so can never put a name to a face. Uses shoes to remember names. Must be hell at the beach
