list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

Kayleur wrote: I find myself once again watching one of the finest productions to come out of BBC. (NOT the American version.) Bob Hoskins should have won an award for this. Simply brilliant acting by all -Gemma Craven, the ubiquitous Freddie Jones, and Kenneth Coolley, a superb actor who never got as many roles as he deserved. This quite long miniseries has everything I usually HATE: its a musical. Its all about big band/40/50s vocoder-type crooner music. Still its one of my fav series ever. I cant really put my finger on what elevates this to an altogether other level. One of the things certainly is the thread of profound sadness that runs through the story (of Arthur,a travelling salesman selling sheet-music from town to town at the tail-end of the sheetmusic era when grammophones were just coming in to put an end to people entertaining themselves.) You have this very sad story of a man passionate about popular music and passionate for sex, but married to an over-shy, sex-abhorring wife. And yet this sadness is continually broken/juxtaposed by the musical sections (his fantasies) which ,like the music of the time, was ever stupidly peppy/cheerful. Basically about human nature and the life-asserting strength of music. Simply outstanding.

Kayleur wrote: I find myself once again watching one of the finest productions to come out of BBC. (NOT the American version.) Bob Hoskins should have won an award for this. Simply brilliant acting by all -Gemma Craven, the ubiquitous Freddie Jones, and Kenneth Coolley, a superb actor who never got as many roles as he deserved. This quite long miniseries has everything I usually HATE: its a musical. Its all about big band/40/50s vocoder-type crooner music. Still its one of my fav series ever. I cant really put my finger on what elevates this to an altogether other level. One of the things certainly is the thread of profound sadness that runs through the story (of Arthur,a travelling salesman selling sheet-music from town to town at the tail-end of the sheetmusic era when grammophones were just coming in to put an end to people entertaining themselves.) You have this very sad story of a man passionate about popular music and passionate for sex, but married to an over-shy, sex-abhorring wife. And yet this sadness is continually broken/juxtaposed by the musical sections (his fantasies) which ,like the music of the time, was ever stupidly peppy/cheerful. Basically about human nature and the life-asserting strength of music. Simply outstanding.

I'm guessing that you're talking about Dennis Potter's 'Pennies from Heaven?'
Which begs the question: vocoder type music from the 40's/50's?

`Jupiter Ascending'

What starts with potential as a kind of space opera/40's-50's pulp sci-fi romp quickly falls apart into a soulless, bland, completely unengaging waste of time. Totally devoid of even the slightest hint of humour, endless dialogue filled with nothing but explanatory exposition and an utterly uninteresting story overall, it's clear not a single actor read the script when they signed on. This $170 million dollar dud will be the last time the Wachowski `brothers' are ever given full control of a film, and they are showing more than ever that they may have been a `one trick pony' with their success with the first `Matrix' movie (well, and `Bound'). It doesn't help that about an hour into the film you suddenly realise you've been staring at a bunch of swirling colours and movement on screen but have absolutely no idea what any of it is about. Thank goodness the male and female leads are so attractive that they distract from what a joyless experience it really is. Depressing Hollywood self-indulgent excess at it's absolute worst!

Edited by Aussie-Byrd-Brother - February 25 2015 at 02:33

[QUOTE=Toaster Mantis] If you're confused as to what call the Wachowskis, just call them "siblings". One of them getting a sex change has no doubt left a lot of journalists confused about which words to use when discussing their earlier career.

No idea, Toaster. But I certainly didn't mean it to come across like I was having a shot at them.

A FIELD IN ENGLAND

rather confusing, totally uninteresting ,partially-experimental film shot in b&white.

1648 AD. Deserters find themselves in an overgrown field. (Indeed most of this movie is them walking thru this field. Its a sort of play ,but set in a fricking field!)

An Irish alchemist (with apparent powers over men's minds - but this is not stressed) forces - hey! coincidence of coincidences - a famous alchemist's apprentice (who just happens to have survived the battle) and a handful of others to find the "treasure" buried somewhere in the field.
They come upon a ring of mushrooms, make soup and get hallucinations/paranoia off them. Things get even more incomprehensible/trippy (in a medieval sorta way). They get pulled into nigh madness. Seems the feild itself is pulling them in??? WTF???
The movie has a warning for the stroboscopic effects - I guess so epileptics dont watch.

It becomes apparent the Irishman is not hoping to find gold.
The spot is found and they dig only to find a skull.
From here on nothing is explained - its as if the qwest itself is important, not the final result.

In the end you feel your time has been wasted ; that you have fallen prey to some artsy-fartsy joke.


.....

Yes, my last review was Pennies From Heaven.
Sorry about that.

Walton Street wrote: Toaster Mantis wrote: It seems like most of the films the Wachowskis directed after The Matrix, except maybe Speed Racer, seem to have been received as extremely ambitious and kind of admirable in that regard but the final result not being very good at those lofty goals. i thought Cloud Atlas was a fine film ..

a very fine film

For the record I haven't seen Cloud Atlas so I can't have an opinion on it. I imagine it would at the least be interesting to watch, even if it isn't very good.

Toaster Mantis wrote: Today I watched this movie...

Excellent flick, and Popol Vuh soundtrack is great too

It's a shame that Klaus Kinski rarely appeared in films of that high level (except for Werner Herzog legacy, of course), he was a hell of an actor.


Edited by ole-the-first - February 25 2015 at 13:50

ole-the-first wrote: Toaster Mantis wrote: Today I watched this movie... Excellent flick, and Popol Vuh soundtrack is great too It's a shame that Klaus Kinski rarely appeared in films of that high level (except for Werner Herzog legacy, of course), he was a hell of an actor.