Movie Discussion

[FourLaneBlue]

Saw two very different movies recently.

True Grit was excellent and was a really enjoyable experience. I am a fan of both The Coen Brothers and westerns in general so they were preaching to the converted, but it is highly recommended to all.

On the other hand, Skyline was one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies I have ever seen. It truly is one of those so awful they are amusing movies. Mix the worst script with the worst acting you can think of, and make it as brainless as possible, and there you go. The number of gaping plot holes must be in the thousands. I soon learnt, after about 7 minutes, to not take it at all seriously and it was much the better for it. Some of the effects were quite good though, to be fair.

[Nate]

Went to see The Kings Speech. Was great! Had my attention from start to finish.

[Hannah]

Went to see Gulliver's Travels last night. Had high hopes for it but I was unimpressed with the 3D effects and at times I was bored. Some funny moments but don't think it was worth paying to go see. Wait until it's on sky!

[Biddy]

Went to see Gulliver's Travels last night. Had high hopes for it but I was unimpressed with the 3D effects and at times I was bored. Some funny moments but don't think it was worth paying to go see. Wait until it's on sky!

Jack Black in it, enough said.

[Rovermatt]

Saw two very different movies recently.

True Grit was excellent and was a really enjoyable experience. I am a fan of both The Coen Brothers and westerns in general so they were preaching to the converted, but it is highly recommended to all.

On the other hand, Skyline was one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies I have ever seen. It truly is one of those so awful they are amusing movies. Mix the worst script with the worst acting you can think of, and make it as brainless as possible, and there you go. The number of gaping plot holes must be in the thousands. I soon learnt, after about 7 minutes, to not take it at all seriously and it was much the better for it. Some of the effects were quite good though, to be fair.

Skyline was the worst film I saw last year. Unspeakably bad.

[MarkBRFC71]

Saw two very different movies recently.

True Grit was excellent and was a really enjoyable experience. I am a fan of both The Coen Brothers and westerns in general so they were preaching to the converted, but it is highly recommended to all.

On the other hand, Skyline was one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies I have ever seen. It truly is one of those so awful they are amusing movies. Mix the worst script with the worst acting you can think of, and make it as brainless as possible, and there you go. The number of gaping plot holes must be in the thousands. I soon learnt, after about 7 minutes, to not take it at all seriously and it was much the better for it. Some of the effects were quite good though, to be fair.

Looking forward to seeing True Grit - am also a big fan of the Coens, and with Empire giving this a glowing review and 5 stars it's a must-see for me. Also quite fancy 127 Hours.

Finally managed to see Kick-Ass ..... great film, really enjoyed it.

[Tom]

Really looking forward to Tangled at the end of this month, gutted they didn't stick with the hand drawn / 3d hybrid style

[sleepyjack]

Edit: Wrong thread. Oops.

Since I'm here, True Grit was decent - not the awesome Coen fare I'm used to, but still pretty good. The King's Speech was surprisingly good, too. Never ever liked Colin Firth but he was great.

Edited January 8, 2011 by sleepyjack

[FourLaneBlue]

Looking forward to seeing True Grit - am also a big fan of the Coens, and with Empire giving this a glowing review and 5 stars it's a must-see for me. Also quite fancy 127 Hours.

127 Hours isn't bad. Unsurprisingly, it's a one man show and it is a good performance from Brolin. I don't think it is one of Boyle's best, to be honest, but is a decent film nonetheless.

[Rovermatt]

Brolin? James Franco surely?

[Eddie]

Best thing I can say about True Grit is that it felt like you were watching a classic western. It isn't the greatest movie ever, but it was very good for that genre. Very enjoyable.

[FourLaneBlue]

Brolin? James Franco surely?

Yes, Franco. Not sure why I got him mixed up with Brolin.

[Hughesy]

UNSTOPPABLE - Ok - 6.5/10 perhaps.

[Sandiway Blue]

UNSTOPPABLE - Ok - 6.5/10 perhaps.

I would agree with that,not bad but not outstanding either.

Managed to finally watch `It`s a wonderful life` over xmas,what a great film,thoroughly enjoyable! 9/10 for me.

Edited January 9, 2011 by bacup blue

[Stuart]

Tron Legacy is cracking.

Worst film I've seen this year. It's trying to be Star Wars: A New Hope in a computer but fails badly.

Dialogue awful. Graphics not great. Half of it's in 2-D - and they've even the cheek to tell you this at the start.

Almost walked out but was too busy falling asleep.

Daft Junk.

[Glenn]

Worst film I've seen this year. It's trying to be Star Wars: A New Hope in a computer but fails badly.

Dialogue awful. Graphics not great. Half of it's in 2-D - and they've even the cheek to tell you this at the start.

Almost walked out but was too busy falling asleep.

Daft Junk.

I loved it. Sure, it's an unashamed tribute to the original, but that was a shallow, weak plotted Disney film too. It didn't stop it being awesome.

.... and wasn't the whole point of the 2D/3D that the "real world" was shot as 2D and inside the machine as 3D ? It certainly wasn't the Harry Potter style "we've post-processrf this next scene in 3D, put your glasses on now".

[Paul]

Clearly not a movie but a new experience we had at the cinema last weekend. Cineworld, Bolton featured a live broadcast of the Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West) by the New York Met opera company. I didn't know cinemas did this sort of thing, it was both very good and very interesting, especially as during the intervals there was live broadcast of the set changes etc. which one would never usually see.

We're not great opera buffs, it's something we are trying out, and have been to a few live operas recently. Watching in the cinema is a very different experience from a truly live performance but gave us a chance to see one of the world's great opera companies "live" without flying to NY.

[only2garners]

Clearly not a movie but a new experience we had at the cinema last weekend. Cineworld, Bolton featured a live broadcast of the Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West) by the New York Met opera company. I didn't know cinemas did this sort of thing, it was both very good and very interesting, especially as during the intervals there was live broadcast of the set changes etc. which one would never usually see.

We're not great opera buffs, it's something we are trying out, and have been to a few live operas recently. Watching in the cinema is a very different experience from a truly live performance but gave us a chance to see one of the world's great opera companies "live" without flying to NY.

I didn't know there was opera on but I know the Cornerhouse in Manchester has a live feed of the musical Fela from the National this Thursday which is a similar idea.

You need to get down to see Opera North at the Lowry Paul, if you have not already done. Next visit is in the first week of March and I think we will be seeing Carmen.

Saw The King's Speech last night - excellent.

[Paul]

I didn't know there was opera on but I know the Cornerhouse in Manchester has a live feed of the musical Fela from the National this Thursday which is a similar idea.

Didn't know that. Interesting.

You need to get down to see Opera North at the Lowry Paul, if you have not already done. Next visit is in the first week of March and I think we will be seeing Carmen.

May well see you there in that case, I believe we have tickets. This will be my first Opera at the Lowry though my wife has been before. Love going to The Lowry, great building, lots of diverse stuff to see and a decent enough meal at Cafe Rouge!!

Saw The King's Speech last night - excellent.

Saturday for us.

For anyone who missed it locally Of Gods and Men is on at The Dukes Lancaster, January 17th-19th.

[FourLaneBlue]

The Fighter is not bad, very formulaic but enlivened by some excellent acting and expect Christian Bale to be nominated for his portrayal of Wahlberg's crackhead has-been older brother. The story itself is the kind of thing that has been seen a ton of times before. Enjoyable, but forgettable.

Of the three films I have seen recently I would recommend -

1st. True grit

2nd. 127 Hours

3rd. The Fighter

2,756,874th. Skyline

[only2garners]

May well see you there in that case, I believe we have tickets. This will be my first Opera at the Lowry though my wife has been before. Love going to The Lowry, great building, lots of diverse stuff to see and a decent enough meal at Cafe Rouge!!

We will be there on the Tuesday rather than Saturday. Saturday is Fulham away which is the perfect excuse for a weekend at the first born's flat in the East End. We will also more likely be in Pizza Express than Cafe Rouge! Agree with you on the Lowry - excellent venue, which I will be frequenting this Friday for the opening night of Richard Thompson's tour.

[RoyRover]

I've seen a couple of good movies recently. Sofia Coppola's new indie movie Somewhere is a brilliant movie. It stars Stephen Dorff, as a Hollywood actor who is emotionally dead from the vacant world he lives in. His daughter is the only thing of worth and their relationship is brilliantly captured. This is a very understated movie and you have to be a movie fan to really enjoy it. There are a couple of scenes, where nothing happens, as Dorff just sits in his empty world, which some people would just find boring. I also went to see The Way Back during the week, starring Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell and Saoirse Ronan. It's about people who escape a Siberian work camp during WW2 and trek all the way to India to escape communism. The cinematography is great and it's a good story, however there are parts where the film drags.

Another good movie is one with Robert DeNiro, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockford and Drew Barrymore called Everyone's Fine. I watched it online and really enjoyed it. Robert DeNiro is widower, who has never kept in close contact with his children. When they all cancel on coming to see him for a family reunion, he sets out to travel across America to see them all. It won't be winning any Oscars, but it was a nice movie, with some good scenes. Thinking of going to the King's Speech tonight.

[FourLaneBlue]

Another good movie is one with Robert DeNiro, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockford and Drew Barrymore called Everyone's Fine. I watched it online and really enjoyed it. Robert DeNiro is widower, who has never kept in close contact with his children. When they all cancel on coming to see him for a family reunion, he sets out to travel across America to see them all. It won't be winning any Oscars, but it was a nice movie, with some good scenes. Thinking of going to the King's Speech tonight.

Sounds similar in some ways to that Jack Nicholson movie, About Schmidt?

[RoyRover]

Sounds similar in some ways to that Jack Nicholson movie, About Schmidt?

I never saw About Schmidt, but I know it got good reviews.

I saw The Kings Speech last night and really enjoyed it. I thought that Colin Firth and Jeffrey Rush put in good performances. I was surprised at how funny it was too. A really good show, but I'm not sure it deserves all the acclaim it's been getting.

[Paul]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before but In Bruges is a well acted and very funny film. Watched it this morning while ironing!! You do need a very, very dark sense of humour though.