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RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 10/2/2013 9:41:33 PM

Deviation

Posts: 26923
Joined: 2/6/2006
From: Enemies of Film HQ

Billy Liar (John Schlesinger, 1963, UK)- So my experiences with the kitchen-sink dramas and the British New Wave have been good, though only once resembling great. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner was a superbly edited, acted and directed piece, if not too cold and distant due to what character it is dealing with. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning's once subversiveness is almost disappeared and dead, and feels about as subversive as your grandma. Out of the movement, If... has been the one to impress me completely, even if that is not exactly kitchen sink. So what is there to keep me going throughout the wave without sort-off forcing myself to? Well, this masterpiece, dealing with a lazy and ambitious kid who wants to do big things but seems to lack the will to do them and leave his town. It shares the excellence performances of all the previous three mentioned, Anderson's flights of fantasy and also adds a fascinating young one as a lead, very flawed but never to the extent that any sympathy or coldness is lost. The flights are superbly edited and directed into the scenes without going into a tangent with them, it is deliciously directed by then "the next best thing" Schlesinger, who would later go and do the even more perfect Midnight Cowboy (and The Next best Thing, in a case of career fall so steep it is tragic) and has a truly awesome soundtrack.

Better then The Decemberists song too.

(10)

End of Watch (David Ayer, 2012, USA)- Last year, Dredd was released in the US and bombed, to the internet's infinite sadness. However, something good happened that week as well, this was a hit. And it deserves to be. Ayer's choice of making the film resembling found footage is a bit flawed, mostly because he himself isn't really that interested in making it a found footage film and everything here (other then the opening which is clever) could work without it and a certain Mexican female gangster is a walking irritation. These are the problems with it, everything else is extremely strong, Gyllenhaal and Pena are excellent and have great chemistry, and the chemistry also works with both LAPD's wives, the plot focusing on day jobs and a bigger cult-like gang growing around them which they can barely comprehend is fantastically scripted and the film has a very strong emotional core. It's close to being a deserved cop classic, were it not for an awfully written antagonist and an almost-gimmicky direction style that Ayer isn't really interested in following.

(8/10)

Shadow Dancer (James Marsh, 2012, UK/IRE)- This is great. This is going great and really strong. This is good. This is sort-of good. I'm really hating this soundtrack which is almost a mood killer and makes it look like a tv-drama. This is going good. Well I'm not sure the plot is working well now with that kiss, it seems to have taken a soppier direction. This is kinda poor now. That is a surprising ending. Oh well, this is fine though it could have been stronger and Owen's character is somewhat underdeveloped, which wouldn't be such a problem (on the Irish republican side, it is quite a strong film, both in the portrayal and the dilemma of the lead single mother) were it not for the direction the story goes with him which feels, dunno, way too dramatic, soppy, melodramatic and tonally inconsistent with the rest?

(7/10)

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon, 2012, USA)- The strongest entry on the trilogy (outside that excellent Nick show), the best paced and incredibly animated. It's fun, even if Katy Perry's Fireworks needs to disappear from anywhere it can be listened to, for God's sake, it must be eliminated from the world of sound right now.

(6/10)

< Message edited by Deviation -- 10/2/2013 9:44:09 PM >

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

(in reply to matty_b)

Post #: 1561

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 10/2/2013 9:48:44 PM

Deviation

Posts: 26923
Joined: 2/6/2006
From: Enemies of Film HQ

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

Kanal (Andrzej Wajda)

One of the most relentlessly crushing, pessimistic and bleak films about the failure of resistance in war I've ever seen. There is literally no spark of hope to be found anywhere as the Polish resistance are forced to flee into the underground sewer system as the Germans march remorselessly towards them. But yet, like a lot of other similarly bleak films, its sheer desperation becomes something oddly invigorating and brilliant. (5)

It would be if you are a Nazi. Are you a Nazi matty?

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

(in reply to matty_b)

Post #: 1562

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 11/2/2013 1:54:16 AM

MonsterCat

Posts: 6411
Joined: 24/3/2011
From: St. Albans, Hertfordshire

Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson; 1997)

It doesn't quite hold up after all these years, but it's still a vibrant, funny and often heartbreaking effort from Anderson. As is the case with most of Anderson's work it has soul, heart and a genuine love for its messed up but inherently decent central characters. It's a genuinely entertaining film, but There Will Be Blood and Magnolia are far better works.

_____________________________

Films watched in 2013

(in reply to Deviation)

Post #: 1563

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 11/2/2013 7:52:51 AM

matty_b

Posts: 13123
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Deviation

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

Kanal (Andrzej Wajda)

One of the most relentlessly crushing, pessimistic and bleak films about the failure of resistance in war I've ever seen. There is literally no spark of hope to be found anywhere as the Polish resistance are forced to flee into the underground sewer system as the Germans march remorselessly towards them. But yet, like a lot of other similarly bleak films, its sheer desperation becomes something oddly invigorating and brilliant. (5)

It would be if you are a Nazi. Are you a Nazi matty?

I'm in training.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
Mattyb is a shining example of what the perfect Empire Forum member is.

(in reply to Deviation)

Post #: 1564

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 11/2/2013 1:45:25 PM

rick_7

Posts: 5758
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: The internet

The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993) is a very watchable, sometimes exciting Grisham adaptation that lacks credibility,�and is beset by a certain vagueness, but gets by on the strength of its cast.�An ambitious young Harvard law graduate (Tom Cruise) signs up with a high-powered, secretive Memphis firm, only to find that they're really corrupt, and he's never allowed to leave. Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn do their starry bit, but the real draw is a ridiculously good supporting cast, with�a realistic turn from David Strathairn as Cruise's jailbird brother, an eye-catching performance from a red-permed Holly Hunter (the same year as The Piano), who seems to have wandered in from a '40s dime novel, and an overpoweringly sleazy one from�Gene Hackman, who's simply excellent, twinkling ominously as Cruise's lascivious mentor. (He fancies Tripplehorn, not Cruise. I think.)�Elsewhere,�Ed Harris turns up as an irascible fed, Wilfred Brimley is gruffly intimidating as the firm's security chief and there are bits from Gary Busey, Hal Holbrook and Paul Sorvino. I've no idea why it's two-and-a-half hours long, but it's good fun�for the most part, and the padding comes at the start rather than during a particularly well-edited final third, packed with snippets of action and suspense, cross-cut for maximum effect. (2.5)
�
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006) - An old man has a fight. (2.5)

Delicious (David Butler, 1931) - Janet Gaynor and Charlie Farrell co-starred in three of the best dramatic movies of the late silent period: Frank Borzage's breathtaking metaphysical trinity of 7th Heaven, Street Angel and Lucky Star. With the advent of sound, the pair were peculiarly�reinvented as a musical-comedy team - albeit one not averse to heavy melodrama - and�placed in movies like this one, an antiquated but fairly enjoyable vehicle in which Gaynor's Scottish waif falls in love with rich boy Farrell while en route to start a new life in America, only for the immigration authorities (and his horrendous fiancee) to put a dampener on things. The story isn't the strongest and the comic relief from El Brendel is very dated (aside from his surprisingly funny song, "Blah Blah Blah Blah, Love"), but Gaynor is incredibly charming - even taking into account her unusual Scottish accent - particularly when shyly crooning Somebody From Somewhere direct to camera, the transcendent highlight of the Gershwins' first full movie score. A vocal coach would tell you there are lots of things wrong with her voice, and�whether by accident or design she starts singing ahead of the beat,�but that certain�quality in her singing, and the subtle emotion she invests in the words�just blew me away.
�
While the movie stops and starts, and rather creaks in that early talkie way, there's curiosity value to spare. Virginia Cherrill, who played the blind flower seller in Chaplin's City Lights the same year, is a massive bitch as the love rival. There's a peculiar dream sequence in which Gaynor is welcomed to America by nine dancing Uncle Sams. And the ambitious climax, set to New York Rhapsody (a second gem from the erratic musical material), is really quite impressive - Gaynor wandering the intimidating city at night, the citizens, the buildings and even the river grasping at her -�though it pales alongside similar sequences in Street Angel and Murnau's rather silly film, The Last Laugh. It's weird, it's wooly and there's a daft Russian-themed song called�Katinkitsha that seems to have been staged by the world's laziest drunk choreographer (why does Gaynor end the number with a chair round her neck?), but if you aren't won over by the leading lady's wide-eyed characterisation - and that short, earnest tune she sings from under a blanket - your heart may well have stopped beating. (2.5)

< Message edited by rick_7 -- 11/2/2013 1:47:02 PM >

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Post #: 1565

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 11/2/2013 1:47:36 PM

rawlinson

Posts: 40612
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.

quote:

ORIGINAL: rick_7
�
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006) - An old man has a fight. (2.5)

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rick_7)

Post #: 1566

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 11/2/2013 1:51:47 PM

impqueen

Posts: 6920
Joined: 24/7/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: rick_7

The Firm (Sydney Pollack, 1993) is a very watchable, sometimes exciting Grisham adaptation that lacks credibility, and is beset by a certain vagueness, but gets by on the strength of its cast. An ambitious young Harvard law graduate (Tom Cruise) signs up with a high-powered, secretive Memphis firm, only to find that they're really corrupt, and he's never allowed to leave. Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn do their starry bit, but the real draw is a ridiculously good supporting cast, with a realistic turn from David Strathairn as Cruise's jailbird brother, an eye-catching performance from a red-permed Holly Hunter (the same year as The Piano), who seems to have wandered in from a '40s dime novel, and an overpoweringly sleazy one from Gene Hackman, who's simply excellent, twinkling ominously as Cruise's lascivious mentor. (He fancies Tripplehorn, not Cruise. I think.) Elsewhere, Ed Harris turns up as an irascible fed, Wilfred Brimley is gruffly intimidating as the firm's security chief and there are bits from Gary Busey, Hal Holbrook and Paul Sorvino. I've no idea why it's two-and-a-half hours long, but it's good fun for the most part, and the padding comes at the start rather than during a particularly well-edited final third, packed with snippets of action and suspense, cross-cut for maximum effect. (2.5)

All of that. I didn't like the film but I did enjoy the performances from those in support but the running time has no justification.

quote:

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006) - An old man has a fight. (2.5)

_____________________________

Yes, always.

Mr Clever!

You were expecting someone else?

(in reply to rick_7)

Post #: 1567

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 11/2/2013 4:21:29 PM

Beetlejuice!

Posts: 6292
Joined: 24/11/2005

6. Chinatown - 9/10
Polanski's detective film remains impressively watchable on repeat viewings, perhaps because the plot is so twisty that its hard to soak it all in in one viewing. Nicholson's Gittes remains the definitive cinematic private detective.

(in reply to impqueen)

Post #: 1568

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:52:19 AM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2585
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

The Dark Knight Rises (2012, Nolan, 2nd viewing)

It's already been discussed to death LITERALLY EVERYWHERE ON THE INTERNET so I'll just say, even on second viewing it's a very flawed film but I love it regardless. Tom Hardy is a superb villian, Anne Hathaway really surprised me with how good she is as Catwoman and the rest of the cast does it's job quite aptly (Bale as usual is pretty solid, JGL is always highly watchable and there's even small support roles for Ben Mendelsohn and Juno Temple yayyyyy).

< Message edited by scarface666brooksy!! -- 12/2/2013 1:56:12 AM >

_____________________________

My Aussie Film Thread - Film #6 The Last Wave.

(in reply to Beetlejuice!)

Post #: 1569

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 8:15:14 AM

AxlReznor

Posts: 1095
Joined: 2/12/2010
From: Great Britain

Before The Rain (Milcho Manchevski, 1994)
How this film managed to gain so much critical acclaim, I don't know. It starts off interesting and pretty, but over the course of the film I lost count of the amount of times people's heads were nearly entirely cut out of the picture when we were supposed to focusing on them. People would speak, and their eyes would disappear into the top of the screen! Bad photography doesn't usually bother me, but it was so distracting here, when there really wasn't much else going on for the majority of the film that it affected my enjoyment. Which isn't good as after the restaurant shooting I started to rapidly get bored anyway. It's not terrible, but it's not one I'd be recommending. (6/10)

_____________________________

"It's amazing how many supposed 'plot holes' turn out to now be plot holes if you'd just pay attention", Me

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 1570

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 11:22:45 AM

Deviation

Posts: 26923
Joined: 2/6/2006
From: Enemies of Film HQ

I thought the photography was great for what the film needed to be, it's exquisite when in Macedonia. I had bigger problems with the editing.

Amaze soundtrack too.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

(in reply to AxlReznor)

Post #: 1571

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 11:36:59 AM

AxlReznor

Posts: 1095
Joined: 2/12/2010
From: Great Britain

I loved the scenery shots. Reminded me of Zhang Yimou at points. But either the director had no clue how to shoot people, or the version on Lovefilm Instant cuts a large portion of the picture out (which is possible).
I did enjoy the sountrack, though.

_____________________________

"It's amazing how many supposed 'plot holes' turn out to now be plot holes if you'd just pay attention", Me

(in reply to Deviation)

Post #: 1572

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 11:52:07 AM

Deviation

Posts: 26923
Joined: 2/6/2006
From: Enemies of Film HQ

I can't really think of an extreme case where most characters where left out so much that I took notice. The only time I saw that was in Dogtooth but that film is so unconventional and bizarre that actors being partially out of focus or have bits cut out only makes sense.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

(in reply to AxlReznor)

Post #: 1573

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 12:49:50 PM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2585
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

My Neighbour Totoro (1988, Miyazaki, 2nd viewing)

Re-watches can really change my opinion on any film, but my opinion remains the same with Totoro on second viewing. It still is one of the loveliest, warmest and sweetest films about childhood ever made. Actually no, it's one of the loveliest, warmest and sweetest films ever made, period. It also contains one of the greatest modes of transport in cinematic history

_____________________________

My Aussie Film Thread - Film #6 The Last Wave.

(in reply to Deviation)

Post #: 1574

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 12:51:59 PM

AxlReznor

Posts: 1095
Joined: 2/12/2010
From: Great Britain

quote:

ORIGINAL: scarface666brooksy!!

My Neighbour Totoro (1988, Miyazaki, 2nd viewing)

Re-watches can really change my opinion on any film, but my opinion remains the same with Totoro on second viewing. It still is one of the loveliest, warmest and sweetest films about childhood ever made. Actually no, it's one of the loveliest, warmest and sweetest films ever made, period. It also contains one of the greatest modes of transport in cinematic history

I want a Catbus! Totoro is fantastic... it's a good job I like it, considering how obsessed my wife is with it.

_____________________________

"It's amazing how many supposed 'plot holes' turn out to now be plot holes if you'd just pay attention", Me

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 1575

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 12:55:40 PM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2585
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

quote:

ORIGINAL: AxlReznor

I want a Catbus! Totoro is fantastic... it's a good job I like it, considering how obsessed my wife is with it.

I'd love a little model of the Catbus

Or Totoro himself.

And you both clearly have excellent taste

One of my best friends loves it and another one hates it (something I will never forgive him for)

_____________________________

My Aussie Film Thread - Film #6 The Last Wave.

(in reply to AxlReznor)

Post #: 1576

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:14:42 PM

matty_b

Posts: 13123
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

Memories of Murder (Joon Bo-Hong)

AKA that Korean film that Zodiac is quite simlar, too. To be strictly fair, the fact that they're both based on true stories of an unsolved serial killer can't really be helped, and aside from that they differ quite significantly. Fincher's film was more concerned about the obsession that took over certain people involved in the case and provided genuine theories as to the killer, whereas here it's more of a critical look at how Korean society reacted to its first ever serial killers. The police torture a mentally-disabled young boy amongst others as a suspect and when a genuine lead surfaces nothing can be done about it because troops are police are busy elsewhere putting down a student demonstration. It's not a dry piece of criticism, however, it's gripping and atmospheric with one genuinely terrifying scene and an absolute killer of a final line/shot. (4)

< Message edited by matty_b -- 12/2/2013 1:15:00 PM >

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
Mattyb is a shining example of what the perfect Empire Forum member is.

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 1577

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:31:28 PM

elab49

Posts: 52022
Joined: 1/10/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: scarface666brooksy!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: AxlReznor

I want a Catbus! Totoro is fantastic... it's a good job I like it, considering how obsessed my wife is with it.

I'd love a little model of the Catbus Or Totoro himself.

And you both clearly have excellent taste One of my best friends loves it and another one hates it (something I will never forgive him for)

_____________________________

Lips Together and Blow - blogtasticness and Glasgow Film Festival GFF13!

Films watched 2012

Annual Poll 2012 Countdown Started.

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 1578

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:35:12 PM

AxlReznor

Posts: 1095
Joined: 2/12/2010
From: Great Britain

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

Memories of Murder (Joon Bo-Hong)

AKA that Korean film that Zodiac is quite simlar, too. To be strictly fair, the fact that they're both based on true stories of an unsolved serial killer can't really be helped, and aside from that they differ quite significantly. Fincher's film was more concerned about the obsession that took over certain people involved in the case and provided genuine theories as to the killer, whereas here it's more of a critical look at how Korean society reacted to its first ever serial killers. The police torture a mentally-disabled young boy amongst others as a suspect and when a genuine lead surfaces nothing can be done about it because troops are police are busy elsewhere putting down a student demonstration. It's not a dry piece of criticism, however, it's gripping and atmospheric with one genuinely terrifying scene and an absolute killer of a final line/shot. (4)

Another film I'm waiting for Lovefilm to put up on Instant. Or alternatively Filmfour to air it at a reasonable hour. Looks brilliant.

_____________________________

"It's amazing how many supposed 'plot holes' turn out to now be plot holes if you'd just pay attention", Me

(in reply to matty_b)

Post #: 1579

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:35:26 PM

homersimpson_esq

Posts: 19969
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Springfield

I'm going to write about them all, but I watched Final Destination 2 last night for the first time since it came out (I am actually in love with AJ Cook) and it really holds up so, so well. The way it builds on the first film is inspired. In terms of horror sequels, it's one of the very strongest.

AJ Cook. Man, she's aged well. Sigh.

In Final Destination 2 (2003)

And now.

_____________________________

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.

TREK WARS

(in reply to matty_b)

Post #: 1580

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:36:36 PM

matty_b

Posts: 13123
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AxlReznor

quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

Memories of Murder (Joon Bo-Hong)

AKA that Korean film that Zodiac is quite simlar, too. To be strictly fair, the fact that they're both based on true stories of an unsolved serial killer can't really be helped, and aside from that they differ quite significantly. Fincher's film was more concerned about the obsession that took over certain people involved in the case and provided genuine theories as to the killer, whereas here it's more of a critical look at how Korean society reacted to its first ever serial killers. The police torture a mentally-disabled young boy amongst others as a suspect and when a genuine lead surfaces nothing can be done about it because troops are police are busy elsewhere putting down a student demonstration. It's not a dry piece of criticism, however, it's gripping and atmospheric with one genuinely terrifying scene and an absolute killer of a final line/shot. (4)

Another film I'm waiting for Lovefilm to put up on Instant. Or alternatively Filmfour to air it at a reasonable hour. Looks brilliant.

Tis indeed.

_____________________________

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
Mattyb is a shining example of what the perfect Empire Forum member is.

(in reply to AxlReznor)

Post #: 1581

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:38:36 PM

MonsterCat

Posts: 6411
Joined: 24/3/2011
From: St. Albans, Hertfordshire

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Final Destination 3 > AJ Cook and Final Destination 2

_____________________________

Films watched in 2013

(in reply to homersimpson_esq)

Post #: 1582

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:43:03 PM

homersimpson_esq

Posts: 19969
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Springfield

quote:

ORIGINAL: MonsterCat

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Final Destination 3 > AJ Cook and Final Destination 2

Oh man, Winstead is in 3? I had totally forgotten that. I've moved it up my 'to rewatch' pile. If I hadn't already decided to watch Zefferelli's R&J tonight cos it's the old guy's 90th birthday today, then FD3 would be being played instead...

But yeah, AJ Cook is still better then Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

_____________________________

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.

TREK WARS

(in reply to MonsterCat)

Post #: 1583

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 1:47:33 PM

scarface666brooksy!!

Posts: 2585
Joined: 24/10/2007
From: The Valley of the Wind

Memories of Murder is fantastic, one of the best films I've seen this year.

quote:

ORIGINAL: elab49

I WANT IT.

_____________________________

My Aussie Film Thread - Film #6 The Last Wave.

(in reply to homersimpson_esq)

Post #: 1584

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 6:31:09 PM

homersimpson_esq

Posts: 19969
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Springfield

Only on an internet film forum would the image of an attractive lady be passed over for a comment on a plush doll from a Japanese children's animated film.

That being said, I also would like a catbus plush.

I would just like AJ Cook, too.

_____________________________

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.

TREK WARS

(in reply to scarface666brooksy!!)

Post #: 1585

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 12/2/2013 9:34:50 PM

Rebel scum

Posts: 3156
Joined: 2/1/2006

1-North By Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959) 10/10

Hitchcock's finest hour, a flurry of enjoyable brilliance that's both thrilling and wonderfully funny. Cary Grant makes for a great lead and James Mason as the baddie is James Mason, so he's awesome. It also features possibly cinema's finest 10 minutes, the crop duster set piece.

_____________________________

"We are not safe! A dark menace rises to the east! Duckies go quack! Cows go moo! I want ice cream. Verily, will you two hobbits join my quest?"

(in reply to homersimpson_esq)

Post #: 1586

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 13/2/2013 9:17:53 AM

MOTH

Posts: 3194
Joined: 3/10/2005
From: Sittin' on the dock of the bay

About Elly (Asghar Farhadi, 2009)
Not quite as good as Farhadi's masterful A Separation, but another wonderfully observed and acted drama, as a group of friends on a weekend break play the blame game when one of their party goes missing in alarming circumstances. Farhadi's deft script continually drip-feeds us information about the situation as secrets and lies are revealed in credible, compelling fashion, whilst the character relationships also act as a window on Iranian culture for Western audiences. It's absorbing drama, not because the revelations are that wildly surprising, but because Farhadi has taken the time to show that, for these characters, bound by the rigid moral code of Iranian society, the consequences could be devastating. Also, Golshifteh Farahani, who plays Sepidah, is a lovely girl. (8/10)

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I've only gone and set up a blog! This week I've been mostly reviewing Wreck-It Ralph, Flight, an Ida Lupino double bill and Star Trek Into Darkness Click : The Fast Picture Show

(in reply to Rebel scum)

Post #: 1587

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 13/2/2013 10:30:04 AM

Qwerty Norris

Posts: 3218
Joined: 26/10/2005
From: Edinburgh

quote:

ORIGINAL: MOTH

About Elly (Asghar Farhadi, 2009)
Not quite as good as Farhadi's masterful A Separation, but another wonderfully observed and acted drama, as a group of friends on a weekend break play the blame game when one of their party goes missing in alarming circumstances. Farhadi's deft script continually drip-feeds us information about the situation as secrets and lies are revealed in credible, compelling fashion, whilst the character relationships also act as a window on Iranian culture for Western audiences. It's absorbing drama, not because the revelations are that wildly surprising, but because Farhadi has taken the time to show that, for these characters, bound by the rigid moral code of Iranian society, the consequences could be devastating. Also, Golshifteh Farahani, who plays Sepidah, is a lovely girl. (8/10)

Thank you.

February viewings thus far, none of which have been at home...

26. Hyde Park on Hudson (2012, Michell)

A film about two special relationships, with neither particularly convincing thanks to a lack of satisfactory development (although Bertie & Elizabeth's one fares much better thanks to the talents of West & Colman) & a peculiar first person narration. You kind of wish the film had focused centrally on the royals journey of diplomacy, even at the risk of it feeling like The Kings Speech 2 : Speak Harder. Murray and Linney are fine, yet the material they've left with isn't up to the mark. Periodically, it looks quite nice though.
2/5

27. Gangster Squad (2013, Fleischer)

What a cast! What a nose! What a bore. It's so interested in moving through its by the numbers narrative at a hundred miles an hour that it forgets to let any scene or any conversation linger. Clearly it needed more kids with fire crackers.
1/5

28. McCullin (2012, D & J Morris)

This absorbing and deeply moving documentary is as much a confessional piece to ideas of voyeurism as it is a personal account of the life and work of a truly remarkable man. Also serves as a chilling reminder to the monstrous potential of the human race. Fully deserving of its bafta recognition.
4/5

29. Bullhead (2011, Roskam)

Belgium's oscar entry from last year is a bit frustrating. On the one hand you have a fascinating and emotionally engaging character study of tragedy, addiction & obsession anchored superbly by Rust & Bone's Matthias Schoenaerts (so far my favourite performance witnessed in a cinema in 2013, even if it is technically a 2011 film); yet on the other there's a muddled and tonally confusing criminal underbelly tale which over-complicates the narrative and ultimately feels a bit unnecessary. Still, a good debut by Roskam and on this evidence Schoenaerts is certainly an actor to keep tabs on.
3/5

30. Hitchcock (2012, Gervasi)

There's a pleasure to be found in getting a glimpse of Psycho from behind the scenes, but ultimately it plays out like a fairly unremarkable television drama with a banal subplot of possible infidelity and a series of unconvincing dream sequences which exist to portray Hitch's motivation for the project, yet they don't translate this idea successfully. The performances are good, but they need better material in order to be truly effective. For the moment, Gervasi's strengths remain in documentary.
2/5

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Qwerty's Top 10 of 2013 (so far)

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. No
3. A Hijacking
4. In The Fog
5. Good Vibrations
6. McCullin
7. Beyond the Hills
8. The Place Beyond the Pines
9. Wreck-it Ralph
10. Shell

(in reply to MOTH)

Post #: 1588

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 13/2/2013 10:33:06 AM

matty_b

Posts: 13123
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

Cockneys vs. Zombies (Matthias Hoehne)

It's not that Shaun Of The Dead was the first ever zom-com, but it was such a successful one that anything after it does tend to pale in comparison, and Hoehne's effort never really establishes its own identity. Beyond the title, it doesn't really have much to the concept or little in the way of good jokes. True, there's a few chuckles to be found in the zombies attacking a nursing home and Richard Brier's zimmer-frame dependent Hamish just about outpacing a zombie, but it mostly resorts to shouted insults along the lines of "Oh, fuck off you zombies!" "Oh, fucking hell - more zombies!" or, most memorably of all, "I've got tits, you tit!" and the idea of pensioners with guns gets old pretty quickly. If I'm being kind it's not completely dreadful, the lightweight material giving it a fairly breezy pace, but Hoehne's style - quick cuts and flashbacks - is very much Wright-lite. Add to that some really clunky scenes of trying to force some pathos in where the film hasn't earnt any with its wafer-thin characterisations and you've got something that is clearly a case of title first, film second. (2.5)

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
Mattyb is a shining example of what the perfect Empire Forum member is.

(in reply to MOTH)

Post #: 1589

RE: Top 100 Films I've Watched This Year: 2013 - Discus... - 13/2/2013 10:46:18 AM

elab49

Posts: 52022
Joined: 1/10/2005

I thought it was OK - maybe more to 3/5 rather than 2.5, but it had gotten reasonable reviews so I was hoping more that they'd gotten the tone right for a bit of fun. I don't think they quite achieved it though, but it passed easy enough. I think the script was better than the film.

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Lips Together and Blow - blogtasticness and Glasgow Film Festival GFF13!

Films watched 2012

Annual Poll 2012 Countdown Started.

(in reply to matty_b)

Post #: 1590