| Author | Message | ||
     Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1682 Registered: 09-2006 |
A Scanner Darkly Don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to this one...very good indeed (and very immersive on Blu-Ray). | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2152 Registered: 03-2005 |
The Moodists doing "Double Life." I've never thought of searching for their videos. Fantastic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKljMtFtS yE | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3174 Registered: 05-2005 |
The extras on the No Country For Old Men DVD. Pretty good, as these things go. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 318 Registered: 10-2006 |
Roxy Music’s reunion concert Live at the Apollo DVD is a stunner, one of the best filmed concerts I’ve ever seen, with delightfully detailed camera work and fluent, poetic editing – there’s a marvellous moment where a bead of BF’s sweat seems to be elegantly descending his cheekbone in time to the music. The band being far from the glam days of their youth, and with extra guitar Chris Spedding hovering in the shadows like a rather grumpy greengrocer, some musically accomplished eye-candy is cleverly introduced, with Julia Thornton (percussion & flowing blonde hair) especially seeming to have just stepped out of a Roxy cover. Entourage seasons 1 & 3 A bit disorientating jumping between the two, but TV is dishing it up like this. Snappiest dialogue (and some of the best looking women) on the box along with a monstrously marvellous performance from possibly Hamilton Academicals’ most famous fan Jeremy Piven. Half an hour of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the deadest fish of a film, if no-one in 30 minutes says anything amusing interesting or intelligent, why on earth continue, while the city itself, which I used to know quite well, is seen through the limousine-cocooned eyes of the Wealthy American Abroad, an artificial world of 5-star hotels, impossibly luxurious houses, and the most expensive restaurants. Infuriatingly dull. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1649 Registered: 01-2005 |
Stuart, I thought VCB got better once PC showed up in the last part of the movie. I enjoyed Whit Stillman's 1994 movie Barcelona from stem to stern though! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3200 Registered: 05-2005 |
I wasn't in that film Michael! | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 319 Registered: 10-2006 |
I'll have to look for that film, Michael - completely unknown to me, apart from what I've read here. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3203 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mad Men season two arrived this morning so that's what I'll be watching tonight. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1696 Registered: 09-2006 |
Hope you're enjoying, Padraig. Can't wait until Season Three makes it to video, though as it's still in the midst of airing on cable it'll likely be awhile. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1650 Registered: 01-2005 |
Stuart, Barcelona trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnytcMClO 38 Padraig wrote: >I wasn't in that film Michael! Hah, indeed you were not!! At least Penelope Cruz showed up though!!! | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 321 Registered: 10-2006 |
Thanks Michael! That trailer's better than all of Woody's last few films put together! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1697 Registered: 09-2006 |
As the other member of the Stillman fan club here, I can thoroughly second the recommendation, Stuart. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1698 Registered: 09-2006 |
And speaking of Woody, and "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex" in particular, RIP Lou Jacobi, one of my favorite character actors: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20091025/MEMORY/910259 998 | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1700 Registered: 09-2006 |
Juggernaut Mid-70s Richard Lester-directed flick combining a ripping suspense story (ocean liner held for ransom with 7 bombs aboard) with his trademark dry wit and physical comedy. Lots of fun. Plus: Anthony Hopkins and Ian Holm with full heads of hair (though Ian's looks like it might be a toupee)! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3205 Registered: 05-2005 |
I am enjoying it Allen, though there was one scene where dapper Don was supposed to be outside and it was so obviously a set that it looked really cheesy. I was surprised they would do that given their production values are normally so high. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1701 Registered: 09-2006 |
Thankfully if I noticed that at the time it's completely gone from my memory, Padraig. Have you reached the picnic scene with Don and his family? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1653 Registered: 01-2005 |
A Great Day In Harlem. Documentary about the famous 1958 photograph of most of the jazz greats taken by Art Kane. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-t3zCEox k4 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3207 Registered: 05-2005 |
No, but I'm aware of it from you and Hardin/LK/whatever discussing it here! I thought about it at a picnic table in the lovely North Harbour Reserve the other day! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3384 Registered: 05-2005 |
Wild beasts on Jools Holland. Fcekin superb band, i dunno they just ooze that J'Ne Se Qua. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3211 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just saw the picnic episode Allen! It lived up to my expectation. Every episode so far is great. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 102 Registered: 06-2005 |
Watched that show for Wild Beasts too Spence, thought they were excellent! Off to Yo La Tengo tomorrow night, who I first came across in Hal Hartley's films, what has become of him, Allen/Michael/anyone? From a couple of brief trawls it would appear that he is now a persona nongrata in American cinema for his anti-establishment stances but it's all a bit vague. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1703 Registered: 09-2006 |
Glad to hear it worked even though you knew what was coming, Padraig...the storytelling on that show is something close to elegant, I'd say. Peter, am not 100% sure about Hartley...the last one I saw was probably Henry Fool, and now that I type that I remember that a year or so ago he came out with a sequel to that (with Parker Posey) that got a little bit of attention, some of it good. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3386 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah Pete, I love em, I think they are feckin wonderful. Live is the real way to listen to this band. The album 2 dancers is one of the most intelligent, moving albums in the last 5 years IMHO. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1658 Registered: 01-2005 |
The US House passing the Health Care Act! | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 167 Registered: 05-2005 |
Roxy Music - More Than This documentary on story of the band with lots of interviews with band members and other musicians influenced by them. I really enjoyed this and dug out the first 4 albums after watching it but it's a general overview and I would still love to see a more in depth analysis on film of a band whose visual impact (look, covers etc) was as significant as their musical one. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3392 Registered: 05-2005 |
Question Time tonight. Apprently D Dimbleby won;t be chairing it tonight as he was kicked in the bollock by a bullock! Sounds like a potential Chris Morris newspaper headline, "David Dimbleby injured by bullock" could be turned into something funnier, Will Self is on tonight, I am sure the sarcastic intellectual wil dream up a corker tonight for Mr D's absence! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3254 Registered: 05-2005 |
A Serious Man. Brilliant. Very funny at points, but so dark most of the time. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3255 Registered: 05-2005 |
Also the video of the couple who gatecrashed the Obama dinner. Well, they looked like they belonged. Took some guts though. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 272 Registered: 05-2005 |
2012 - took the kids to it the other day and was expecting the worst. But I loved it. So ridiculously over-the-top in every department you can't help but be swept up in it. A lot of it is played for laughs - which I wasn't really expecting. You know how in some disaster movies there's two or three ridiculous near misses - well this movie has about 300 of them in the first hour. Destined to be recognised as kitsch classic I reckon. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3418 Registered: 05-2005 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMymF6OvJ rM Randy! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3419 Registered: 05-2005 |
what a stupid fu*kin question!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQuh85aSA dQ | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3420 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jesus, just found this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5vz0pHPo nU Randy! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2185 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for those links Spence. So, are the commenters right? Did Malcolm never have that huge helmet of hair? (It's very big!) His guitar playing on the screen certainly matches the soundtrack. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3421 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah he did, this clip was around well just after the C86 cassette, and they were shot hot, and yes he his hair was shit hot too! Later on in '89 when we played with them his head was bald. They were great guitarists, both of em, the whole band were great. McCarthy and Wolfhounds, by chance fell into the sme label stable, but both were out of time at the time and history has served them both well, as geneeye of the mid to late 80's indie period. I am proud of the fact that I remembered he played a Vox 12 string, that was stored in the memory banks for 20 odd years, not bad eh!? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3260 Registered: 05-2005 |
I saw two films over the weekend. Both were disappointing. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was a disappointment because I thought it was too preachy (I had the same problem with Happy Feet). My 8-year-old liked it a lot though. I usually like kids' films as they often have a lot of jokes aimed at adults in them, but this didn't. I also saw Cold Souls. I was expecting some kind of Being John Malkovich-style romp, but Cold Souls is more existential angst. There were some laughs, but with an awful lot of darkness in between. I like a bit of angst now and then, but this was not really my cup of tea. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3427 Registered: 05-2005 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzKYK9-HL -s | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 505 Registered: 10-2008 |
curb your enthusiasm is on a bit of a roll at the moment - last week saw larry killing the swan, this week he was accusing cheryl of having a menage a trois and saw him wearing womens panties - the mans a genius. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1810 Registered: 10-2004 |
I am watching some youtube clips of the best band ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P07Di283v fw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3hVEy8Y8 dg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukjnrXTTv PY&feature=related | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2190 Registered: 03-2005 |
How the hell did those vids log up over 60,000 views? | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1811 Registered: 10-2004 |
Because clearly that is the greatest band in rock 'n roll history. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3428 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jeff, the business! So gld you reminded me of Complete, the guitarist looks like John Head! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3429 Registered: 05-2005 |
That's the cast sorted for Deliverance - the sequel then!! | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 205 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jeff - thanks for the link, it's hysterical! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1812 Registered: 10-2004 |
Have you guys seen such PASSION before? | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1813 Registered: 10-2004 |
Quite bizarrely, I've managed to get "Beautiful Sunrises" stuck in my head after only hearing it 1.5 times. Help!!! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1686 Registered: 01-2005 |
My DVD/cd of I Often Dream Of Trains in New York (Live)- Robyn Hitchcock. http://www.amazon.com/Often-Dream-Trains -New-York/dp/B002PVIWSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UT F8&s=music&qid=1259959746&sr=8-1-catcorr | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2192 Registered: 03-2005 |
Well, there's your mistake Jeff. It's "Beatiful Sunrises." | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1815 Registered: 10-2004 |
"Beatiful Sunrises for MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Sigh... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3272 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Informant. It's great. Very funny. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 277 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Bob Dylan Christmas video. It's a classic! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVs6X9yIM _k&feature=player_embedded# | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3286 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's The Gary Shandling Show. Got the whole 16-disc box set in JB Hi-fi for $29! It's five times that price in the US for some reason! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 520 Registered: 04-2005 |
Stunning version of Nick Drake's "One of These Things First" by Piers Faccini and Camille (and a cellist called Dominique). http://www.blogotheque.net/Camille-Piers Beautifully shot clip. Camille gives the impression of someone that has never heard the song before and yet succeeds in bringing something quite powerful to it (her improvising around Faccinni's vocal at the end is spine-tingling. Well it tingled mine anyway) | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1720 Registered: 09-2006 |
Bowie's marvelous 3-song performance on Saturday Night Live in 1979 (with Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias). | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1831 Registered: 10-2004 |
This totally hilarious and entertaining, 7-part deconstruction of Star Wars: the Phantom Menace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgx rI | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 212 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bjork - Vespertine Live at the Royal Opera House an absolutely stunning audio and visual feast and how I wish I was there | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3318 Registered: 05-2005 |
Various Alan Partridge DVDs. Mostly laugh out loud hilarious. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1730 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, those are often prime examples of the excruciating-comedy-of-embarrassment (or lack of same). For me: Almodovar's "Talk to Her" and various Harry Potter movies. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1702 Registered: 01-2005 |
The Jazz Baroness on HBO. http://www.thejazzbaroness.co.uk/ | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1731 Registered: 09-2006 |
Interesting...was not aware of that story, though I'm going to start reading an exhaustive Monk biography quite soon, so I'm sure that'll be in there. Looking forward to playing plenty of Monk for soundtrack. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3330 Registered: 05-2005 |
I saw Nowhere Boy last night in the cinema. It was fantastic. I was really blown away by it. It was powerful and emotional and brilliantly acted, written, directed and shot. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 3461 Registered: 05-2005 |
Moon, a film with Sam Rockwell. A great film. Loved the way it looked, retrospectively futuristic. Great music, from a guy I know too, Clint Mansell. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3340 Registered: 05-2005 |
My films of the year for 2009 were: My films of the year 2009 1 Up 2 Nowhere Boy 3 Ponyo 4 Gomorra 5 Gran Torino 6 Anvil! The Story of Anvil 7 A Serious Man 8 Slumdog Millionaire 9 Sunshine Cleaning 10 Looking For Eric 11 It's Raining Pleasure 12 Changeling 13 JCVD 14 Angels & Demons 15 State Of Play Any more lists? | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 167 Registered: 10-2006 |
1. Gran Torino 2. Samson & Delilah 3. Avatar Can't wait to see Nowhere Boy.. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 623 Registered: 05-2005 |
Get your buckets ready.... I saw the 3D version of Avatar last week and was totally blownaway by it. It's a long movie (3 hours) but you are not out of it's grip for the whole time. Yes, there are some charcterisations from other movies (eg the general in Apocolyse Now) and some of the themes have been explored before(save the rainforest and indigenous cultures, the whole subplot of being someone else and living in a dream like in The Matrix) but it marries them nicely together. Provincial towns like Wollongong never get "arty" movies(!) like Nowhere Boy so I will have to go to Sydney for that one. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3341 Registered: 05-2005 |
I completely forgot Samson & Delilah Charles, thanks for reminding me. That's my new number 2! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2234 Registered: 03-2005 |
In a typical year I see no more than 3 or 4 films. I miss a lot of films that I want to see but just don't get around to. A couple weeks ago I saw "A Single Man." It takes vast liberties with the novel on which it is based and the film maker was a little too in love with re-creating his idealized version of Los Angeles in 1962, and you might have to be gay to get the most from it, but it's one of the most poignant explorations of mid-life existentialism I've ever seen. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 215 Registered: 05-2005 |
Let The Right One In was film of the year hands down for me. The Hurt Locker and District 9 were also very good | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 237 Registered: 05-2005 |
Whale War. I follow the Steve Irwin hunting the japanese whalers in Antartica! They're next to them now. It's thrilling, better than a movie! www.seashepherd.org | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1708 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, Nica lead a interesting life and there should be a ton about her in the Monk biography. If you want to read a great biography of Monk's fellow bebop piano pioneer Bud Powell, then I can recommend Dance of the Infidels: A Portrait of Bud Powell, by Francis Paudras. The book was used as the basis for the movie 'Round Midnight. http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Infidels-Por trait-Bud-Powell/dp/0306808161/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262717553&sr=1-1 | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1851 Registered: 10-2004 |
Saw the new Pedro Almodovar film Broken Embraces the other day. Like all his films, it was thoroughly entertaining, sexy, and fun. Other notable new 2009 films that I saw and liked: -A Serious Man (yet another fine Cohen brothers film) -Inglorious Basterds (not Tarantino's best, imo, but he is always at least entertaining) -The Hangover (saw this on a flight a couple months ago - was surprisingly really funny in the stupidest possible way) -Capitalism: a love story -Up (yeah, I was skeptical, but it was done well) -Cold Souls 2009 films I missed but want to see: -Gomorrah -Pirate Radio -Men Who Stare at Goats -Che -An Education | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1709 Registered: 01-2005 |
I'll agree with Jeff on Inglorious Basterds not being one of QT's best. I liked most of it, and Christopher Waltz deserves a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as Landa, the nasty Nazi. I thought Brad Pitt was only so-so in his role as the head Basterd and didn't help any in vaulting the movie to a higher status. The dialouge seemed to be off somewhat from previous QT efforts as well. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1852 Registered: 10-2004 |
Michael, I agree. Waltz's Landa totally overshadowed everyone in that film, and is definitely Oscar-worthy. I also agree that the dialog wasn't as strong. Part of the problem is that Tarantino's typical brand of irony and uber-specific cultural references doesn't translate as well in other languages nor in a WWII context. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 218 Registered: 05-2005 |
The opening scene is brilliant, as is the scene in the basement bar and there are some lovely visual touches but IB is too long by far, sags badly and ended up reminding me of the crap 60s version of Casino Royale at the end. Tarantino seems to lack the discipline required to ruthlessly edit all his ideas - there's a great film in there somewhere. Jeff is right about the anachronistic nature of the dialogue although oddly I didnt have too much problem with that aspect. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 152 Registered: 05-2005 |
Moon was the stand out of the year for me. Also Let the Right One In and District 9 was fun. I am a bit behind and expect that White Ribbon, Serious Man and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs should be up there too. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3346 Registered: 05-2005 |
I forgot about District 9 too! Here's my updated list. 1 Up 2 Samson & Delilah 3 Nowhere Boy 4 Ponyo 5 Gomorra 6 Gran Torino 7 Anvil! The Story of Anvil 8 A Serious Man 9 Slumdog Millionaire 10 Sunshine Cleaning 11 Looking For Eric 12 It's Raining Pleasure 13 District 9 14 Changeling 15 JCVD 16 Angels & Demons 17 State Of Play 18 Inglourious Basterds 19 Duplicity 20 Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1738 Registered: 09-2006 |
Enjoyed IB well enough in the theater, but tried to rewatch it again on video recently and quietly turned it off after half an hour...I think I may just be getting tired of Tarantino, period. A couple of commentators have mentioned the unrelentingly adolescent sensibility of a lot of what he does, and perhaps that's it - these concerns ands ways of feeling and expressing oneself just don't speak to me in even the smallest way any more. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1739 Registered: 09-2006 |
And thanks for the link, Michael. I'll see how I feel after making my way through the Monk one. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1710 Registered: 01-2005 |
QT's somewhat overlooked Jackie Brown still holds up well for me. The dialogue is not over-the-top and neither are the performances. Robert Forster and Pam Grier really are magical together as well as the other scenes they are in with Samuel Jackson. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 987 Registered: 08-2004 |
The Night James Brown Saved Boston - very good doc this. It doesn't paint JB as a martyr which is good.  | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1868 Registered: 10-2004 |
Old James Burke documentaries on youtube. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1748 Registered: 09-2006 |
Blazing Saddles Have long ago lost count of how many times I've seen this. For sheer volume of great laughs it has only Monty Python & the Holy Grail and Airplane! for company, IMO. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1729 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen wrote: >Blazing Saddles How 'bout some more beans Mr. Taggert? I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin' bushwackin', hornswagglin' cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1750 Registered: 09-2006 |
What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny"? "Make yourself at home"? "Marry my daughter"? You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 529 Registered: 04-2005 |
Joann Sfar’s excellent film ‘Gainsbourg (vie héroďque)’. Much more than a straight biopic of the controversial French singer, this is the director’s first film: he previously worked as a graphic artist and the film has some notable influences from that genre. And Juliette Greco’s cat gets to speak. Never in the history of cinema have so many cigarettes been smoked. Even the small children seem to constantly have a fag hanging out of their mouths. Éric Elmosnino is incredible in his portrayal of Gainsbourg and the physical resemblance is quite remarkable. Wonder if the actor is actually a smoker? The film is dedicated to Lucy Gordon (the English actress who plays Jane Birkin), who sadly took her own life in May of last year. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1756 Registered: 09-2006 |
Saturday Night Live, the next-to-last show in the 1980 season, right before all of the original cast left. The musical guest is a skinny-tie New Wave band called 3D. They sing a song called "All Night Television," probably in what they consider an ironic commentary to the show they're on. The observations in the lyrics are unfailingly smug and banal. The band struts and preens as if they're already huge stars. During the final good night, when everyone's standing on stage, not one of the cast members acknowledges their existence. As far as I know, they were never heard from again. Thank the fates. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1730 Registered: 01-2005 |
Last Days of Disco - Criterion Collection edition. I got a 33% coupon and decided to splurge on this, although I only bought it because my local Borders outlet didn't have a Criterion Collection copy of Wings of Desire or Paris, Texas. The sound is a huge improvement over the original LDOD DVD and the picture is also somewhat better as well. Great commentary track by Whit Stillman, Chloë Sevigny and Chris Eigeman. Speaking of Criterion, April 20th is the DVD and Blu-Ray release date for Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie (My Life To Live). | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 330 Registered: 10-2006 |
3rd time round for Band of Brothers, along with ER seasons 13 - 15 on DVD, all featuring the wonderful Scott Grimes. But only ER has Maura Tierney, whose scenes with Stanley Tucci are like a Wimbledon final - two great actors sparking off each other in the most delicious manner. And while a lot of actors can do drunk, her "just fallen off the bandwagon a bit drunk but think I'm in control of it maybe" drunk is excruciatingly brilliant. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1736 Registered: 01-2005 |
Stuart, If you haven't checked it out Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub are sparking off each other in Big Night while making the most delicious meals! One of the top food themed movies of all time. The whole caxst is so perfect. Ang Ling's Eat Drink Man Woman is another knockout food movie. One of these days I need to check out Babettes's Feast. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 287 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Cinema of Inappropriate Laughter present 'The English Patient': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UPmy-YhW DQ&feature=player_embedded | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1759 Registered: 09-2006 |
The DVD version of the McGarrigle Hour. Aside from a little questionable camerawork (some handheld stuff used for no discernable purpose, and some of those "dramatic" superimpositions that I thought Beck had finally put to death in the "Where It's At" video) it's a wonderful testament...beautifully sung and arranged, with very charming interactive interviews. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1762 Registered: 09-2006 |
Paranormal Activity Not entirely successful, but it does work up a nice creepy vibe a lot of the time. If you're at all interested in seeing it, I'd say that the less you know going in, the better. Biggest complaint: like "Blair Witch" and too many other modern movies, some (or sometimes all) of the protagonists are obnoxious, smug, pushy, clueless fools who begin to grate on one's nerves pretty quickly, and don't garner much sympathy. I'd hate to think that these are examples of the average American (or worse, what the average American aspires to be), but in my cynical moments I certainly do think that. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1763 Registered: 09-2006 |
To clarify slightly, I'm well aware that that description of the Ugly American has been around for a long, long time...my dismay is more towards the seemingly ever-growing shift that sees aggressive boobism as a positive, not a negative. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 533 Registered: 04-2005 |
Kesi Az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh (No One Knows About Persian Cats) by Bahman Ghobadi. Film with a pretty slender tale at its heart, but with a wide look at the underground music scene in Tehran. An real eye-opener in the sense that you realise to be an indie-rocker in modern day Iran is to run constant risk of imprisonment. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3388 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dirty Money, an amazing TV expose of the criminal underworld in Ireland and how the Criminal Assets Bureau is catching them. I watched all six hours of it on DVD between last night and this morning. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3389 Registered: 05-2005 |
I just watched Fast Food Nation. Even though I knew (mostly) what to expect, it was still a shock. Might be a while before my next burger. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1751 Registered: 01-2005 |
The Ian Curtis biopic Control. Such a shame that he was never able to control his epileptic seizures. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1771 Registered: 09-2006 |
Speaking of biopics about Ians, I just read that Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings) is going to play Ian Dury in a flick called (with ominous unoriginality) "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll." | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3392 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's out already Allen. It opened in the UK while I was in London recently. I didn't get a chance to see it but am looking forward to doing so when it opens in Sydney (if it does). It is supposed to be very good. Tonight I saw Invictus. Not as good as I'd hoped but not anywhere near as bad as I'd feared. There's a great Mandela picture to be made, but this isn't it. It had its moments though. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 215 Registered: 03-2007 |
Saw a small clip while watching the BAFTA'S on television last night and I thought Serkis was very convincing in the role. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1773 Registered: 09-2006 |
Sounded like good casting when I read of it. It'd also be nice if it prompted a little revived interest in his lovely music. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3400 Registered: 05-2005 |
Tropfest 2010 DVD. Free with today's Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers. I've just watched the entire thing - all 16 finalists and all the extras. Most of it is really good to great. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 154 Registered: 05-2005 |
Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood brilliant as the grumpiest of old men! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1757 Registered: 01-2005 |
Twin Peaks, Season one and two. It's been a long time since I've watched all the season two episodes. The first eight or episodes hang together decently, but the quality dropped off thereafter. The last episode (which DL directed) left so much hanging. Too bad HBO or Showtime didn't pick up a season three. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1776 Registered: 09-2006 |
Ponyo on Blu-ray...gets lovelier and more brilliant each time I see it, just like all Miyazaki's movies. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 590 Registered: 10-2008 |
heavy metal brittania. surprisingly entertaining bbc documentary, partly due to numerous(unintentional)pieces of comedy gold. to be fair, not one of the musicians interviewed appeared to take themselves very seriously. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3412 Registered: 05-2005 |
Allen, does the Ponyo Blu-ray have a Japanese language / English subtitles option? That's how I saw it in the cinema and it's how I'd like to have it on DVD. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1779 Registered: 09-2006 |
Yes it does, Padraig. I only watch the English language versions of Miyazaki's movies if I'm with a kid (or adult) who doesn't want to do any reading, or can't. There's also lots of good extras, which I believe are included in the DVD package as well. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3413 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks Allen. The version of the DVD released in Australia didn't seem to have that option, but I'll investigate further. I hope it does as I don't have a Blu-ray player. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1786 Registered: 09-2006 |
About to begin Mad Men, Season 3. All other obligations are now on hold. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3448 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's on the way to me too Allen! I saw the Irish film The Eclipse last weekend. It's very good. Scariest Irish film I've ever seen. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3459 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo tonight. It's great, if a touch confusing at times. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1005 Registered: 08-2004 |
Saw Shutter's Island on Friday. Very good thriller. Not as good as vintage Scorsese. Better than his last few. Dicaprio has not been a great asset. He's purty good in this one. There are some quite unsettling dream sequences/visions. For the most part it's Hitchcockian. Shades of Vertigo. With a spiral staircase no less. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3460 Registered: 05-2005 |
Didn't you like The Departed Jerry? I loved it, but maybe having lived in Boston and being Irish helps with that one. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 355 Registered: 10-2006 |
In Treatment season 1 Gabriel Byrne must have fallen to his knees and howled praise to all the gods of Gael when the scripts for this started coming through…finally something to get his teeth into. But all the actors make the most of these sharp scripts and in-your-face directing, glorying in the chance to put their characters across without any computer fakery and teenager-attention span half-minute scenes; though perhaps it’s mega-star-of-tomorrow Mia Wasikowska who shines out the most. Enthralling. Padraig - I hope you read the book first before seeing the Dragon Tattoo! The film is just a thumbnail sketch of the novel...the whole Millenium trilogy is a great read, but the cinema is forced to miss out a lot of the detail that makes it so gripping. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1006 Registered: 08-2004 |
I didn't get The Departed at all, Padraig. None of it worked for me. Gangs Of New York was even worse.  | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3462 Registered: 05-2005 |
Stuart, I have the book but haven't read it. Same deal with Shutter Island. | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 252 Registered: 05-2005 |
Agree with Jerry on the Departed, the last thing Scosese did I liked was Casino. My friend Michael described Gangs of New York as being 'a violent version of the Quality Street tin'. I watched Awaydays last night which I had steadfsatly avoided seeing believing it to be another rubbish football hooligan/thug culture movie (see Green Street, Football Factory etc or rather dont). It's actually a well made depiction of youth culture in 1979 Birkenhead/Liverpool which looks great and authentic, has some brilliant performances from new young actors and a great soundtrack - early Ultravox, Magazine, Joy Division, Cure etc. The fight between rival gans to 'The light pours out of me' is particularly memorable. It's far from perfect but goes to show that you cant judge a DVD by it's cover | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3470 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mad Men, season 3 box set. Allen, did you get it on DVD or Blu-ray? I don't have a Blu-ray player, but am curious to hear if it looks much different on it. Season 3 is as fabulous as the previous two, and even an average episode (such as the fifth on this season) is better than most other programs ever produce. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1791 Registered: 09-2006 |
After this many months of exposure I'd say that I'm quite convinced: not only Mad Men, but everything else looks much different, and better on Blu-ray. And they did a great job on this one...the colors are absolutely lush. Gives me an excuse to go back and watch the first two seasons again, as I watched those on DVD the first time. Definitely agreed on the quality of the season, too. The word 'elegant' keeps coming to me. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3476 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for that Allen. I saw She's Out Of My League in the cinema yesterday. I was the only person in the cinema on my own! Never mind, it was very funny and quite touching in parts. A mainstream Hollywood film worth seeing. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 634 Registered: 10-2008 |
channel 4 are currently running "comedy roasts" of celebrities at the moment. they are showing the usa version some nights and the uk version on other nights. the usa version is of course ten times lewder, cruder and therefore far funnier in every way. only thing is i havent heard of half the roasters - greg geraldo?, andy dick? crudest joke goes to some uknown (to me) and very funny female comedian whose name i cant even remember while roasting joan rivers. "joans vagina is so old it even has a separate entrance for black men" | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1793 Registered: 09-2006 |
Pet Shop Boys - Pandemonium: Live at the O2 They've done too many concert vids, but this is far and away the best one since their very first...the energy of the show is conveyed, and there's lots of fun stuff to look at. And the flow of more than 20 years of fine, fine songs is lovely to behold. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1771 Registered: 01-2005 |
Deadwood, Season 1. Dense thickets of wonderful language makes this one of my favorite series ever. Considering that the Hayes code which ruled over standards for Hollywood movies (until 1969's The Wild Bunch) and handicapped Westerns propably more so than any other settings, it took Deadwood to really set a new language standard for that genre. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3501 Registered: 05-2005 |
Billy Bragg giving a racist prick a piece of his mind during the UK election campaign. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/ apr/19/billy-bragg-clash-richard-barnbro ok | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1800 Registered: 09-2006 |
Avatar Lovely to look at, a real wonder of computer animation (because an animated film is what it is, really, nearly as much as any Pixar film - even the human actors have obviously had some digital sheen added to them to make them blend well with everything else). It's heart is (mostly) in the right place, too. Too bad it ends with yet another lengthy Epic Battle...even when they're done well, stuff like that mostly bores me to tears. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3515 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Day Today on DVD. I never saw it when it was on TV in 1994. Laugh out loud funny in so many spots. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1773 Registered: 01-2005 |
Classe Tous Risques, a 1960 French "gangster-on-the run" tale with a excellant lead performance turned in by Lino Ventura, a Criterion Collection DVD. It could be mistaken for a Jean-Pierre Melville movie style-wise, but it directed by Claude Sautet a couple of years before Melville hit his gangster stride with 1962's Le Doulos. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1791 Registered: 01-2005 |
Hiroshima Mon Amour, directed by Alain Resnais. Stunningly great. I don't know why it's taken me so long to watch this groundbreaking movie. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3550 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Damned United. A fantastic film. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3552 Registered: 05-2005 |
I also got out the Irish film A Film With Me In It last night. My local DVD shop is having a $2 weekend. I really enjoyed this too. It's very black humour, but definitely laugh out loud at times. First time in ages I watched two films in a row. Both are around 90 minutes long, which helps. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1806 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, Michael, and it also one that gains power with each viewing. I recently watched one of his from that same time period called Muriel. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 365 Registered: 10-2006 |
Well, that’s Lost then, scurrying to an end in a mellifluous farrago of tosh and humbug, and Sayid must have been particularly bemused. I was disappointed the Pink Rhino God from Planet Thwar didn’t make his long-awaited appearance, but there you go. As a series, a fine example of digging yourself an enormous hole then, failing to find a way out, decorating it as nicely as possibly. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 307 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw 'Oil City Confidential' last night , Julian Temple's doco on the history of Dr Feelgood, which is playing as part of the Sydney Film Festival. What a magnificent film! It might just be the best rock documentary I've ever seen. I loved the Feelgood's in their heyday but hadn't thought about them much for years. But this poignant and funny film really did emphasise the importance of the band as pre-cursors to the UK punk revolution of the late '70s. Temple does an almost magical job of evoking the band members early years growing up on Canvey Island. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 158 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mark I agree I think Oil City Confidential is a great film. Other great, if you will, rockumentaries I enjoyed recently were the Ramones one (end of the century?) and Anvil. But I still can't quite believe that the latter is not a spoof. |