Foxtrotlima

Just watched Choke on Sky anytime - thought it was OK, above the average dross on there.

Thanks for the heads up on that one bluemonday, sounds just like the kind of film I would enjoy. It is for sale on Play for £3.99 so I think I will give it a go.

Watched the Sunshine DVD last night, not bad.

Is that the Danny Boyle one with Cillian Murphy? I thought it was fantastic, a highly underrated film in my opinion.

I can appreciate your point of view LDV, but I think that the increased reporting on the Afghan conflict isn't lazy journalism. I think it could be a direct response to the amount of servicemen who have lost their lives. It has become disproportionate to previous recent conflicts with Operation Panther's Claw, and people who might not ordinarily have a view on the conflict are wanting to find out more.

What is quite astonishing is the amount of the population who have no idea why UK troops are in Afghanistan, and even with seemingly blanket coverage, they still remain in the dark.

I am not going to pretend to know enough if the recession has a direct effect on the amount of reporting from Afghanistan, but would be very interested to know.

I had a bit of a lazy week last week so managed to catch up with some films I had been meaning to see and some I have seen before (mainly off the comments in this thread).

Blood Diamond IMDb link. Very pleasantly surprised by this one, the actors were superb and I found the film quite thought provoking.

Gegen Die Wand IMDb link. Quite heavy going in places, but well worth the effort (it is in German with English subtitles).

Do The Right Thing IMDb link. A very astute look at racism in New York.

Sunshine IMDb link. One of my favourite sci-fi films ever made. The film is aesthetically beautiful, and the actors convey the claustrophobia they experience exceptionally well.

The Wind That Shakes The Barley IMDb link. A very profound and moving film, centering round the occupation of Ireland by the Black And Tans around 1920, and then the civil war fought in the country after the Black And Tans left.

Control IMDb link. The story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division, based on his widow's book "Touching From A Distance". Again, a brilliant film and the acting was exceptional.

Scarface IMDb link. Definitely needs no explanation, but I had forgotten just how good it was until I caught it at ungodly o'clock on Sky the other night.

Slim, sorry I missed you post, I haven't been on here in a while. I will try and give you my reasoning without giving too much away (don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it).

Like I mentioned before, I did think that the film was beautifully aesthetic, and the acting was superb but it wandered into a borderline nauseating Hollywood love story. I just found it terribly clichéd, and the coincidences were wandering into deus ex machina territory.

I am a huge Danny Boyle fan (loved Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine) so maybe my expectations were a little high. I just didn't think it deserved 8 Oscars, but in fairness, that is just my opinion.

jo79 - Umm, yep, I think we can safely say that I understood the title and realised that he was going to win, I might be daft but not that daft

I will definitely give you that Slim, that Slumdog Millionaire was a beautifully aesthetic film. I am definitely not going to take that away from it, but substance wise? I genuinely found it predictable, but I promise that I haven't misunderstood it at all. But, each to their own and I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one

I have to agree with oogie there, 28 Days Later is a fantastic film. Which leads me on to the next film, Slumdog Millionaire. I have to ask, Danny Boyle, what the fuck were you thinking? It was one of the most awful, predictable pieces of tosh I have ever had the displeasure of watching.

That is all.

First time I saw Southland Tales, I wasn't sure if I was watching the best or the worst film ever made. Hated some bits of it, couldn't understand what the hell was going on, but there was something about this big glossy bat-shit crazy film that I liked. I've seen it a few times now, and it's grown on me big time. And the soundtrack is superb - lots of ambient electronica linking songs by Radiohead, Muse and the Pixies.

 

(also - if you've seen the film but want to know more about it, there's a comic book that acts as a prequel, explains a helluva lot more than the film did)

I think I Will take your advice and give it another try. I have ordered Southland Tales - The Prelude Saga from Amazon. Many thanks for the heads up on that one.

I watched Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" ( IMDb link ) for the first time a week or so ago. It really was powerful film, capturing racial tensions in New York in the late 80's.

Another film that I have only recently seen, even though it has been out for 3 years is Tsotsi ( IMDb link ). I know foreign language films aren't to everyones tastes, but I can't recommend it highly enough.

I watched Southland Tales the other night ( IMDb link ). I wanted it to be good, and persevered with it but it was utter dross. Most disappointing

It is not often I watch Americas Got Talent but I was sent a bit of this via email this morning and it really is phenomenal.

Russian Bar Trio

I watched Léon for the first time in ages last night and enjoyed it as much as I did first time round. I think I am going to have a good old dig around my DVD collection as I quite fancy re watching The Godfather trilogy too.

Weezer's latest offering is a song called "Pork And Beans" from their Red Album. The video is actually rather funny, full of over played internet memes and "celebrities", but still amusing. There is no denying that it is a rip off of Barenaked Ladies "Sound Of Your Voice" but still worth a watch.

YouTube - Pork And Beans

(and a list of who appears on the video from Wiki)

This is a bit of a cross post from the "Last Non-Fiction Book You Read" thread, but it was watching this film that made me go and get the book.

Running With Scissors (IMDb link) was, in my opinion, superb. It is based on the teenage years of Augusten Burroughs. It is very hard not to give too much away, so I shall abbreviate what Sky said about it - vaguely on the lines of "This films makes The Royal Tenenbaums look like the most ordinary family on the planet".

It is very heavy going in places, but the cast is superb (Annette Benning, Joseph Feinnes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Patrick Wilson) and instead of pussy footing round the issue of mental illness, it kind of tackles it head on. IMDb only gave it a 6 - I honestly think it deserved more.

Should you ever feel the need, you can now learn

I caught "Election" on Sky Movies Indie or whatever it calls itself nowadays the other night :- IMDb link. It really wasn't what I was expecting and I was more than pleasantly surprised by it.

Well worth sticking on the Sky + planner for a rainy day.

I watched Chapter 27 last night and was more than pleasantly surprised. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

IMDb Link

The Departed

 

Matt Damon, Jac Nicholson. Directed by Martin Scorsese

 

Very good film!

Oh god, I forgot about this one. I caught it a few weeks ago and was more than pleasantly surprised. Definitely not my normal fare, but one hell of a good film.

I caught Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (definitely better than I thought) and Cloverfield, the latter being one of the best I have seen in a very long time - although I may be biased as I got myself caught up in the ARG for far too long!

Would recommend the first for a general all round good film, but Cloverfield if you fancy something to get your teeth into.

Watched Bender's Big Score (IMDB) last night and I was really pleasantly surprised. I had enjoyed The Simpsons movie earlier on this year, but Futurama has surpassed it.

I would recommend a watch, even the most die hard Futurama fan wouldn't be disappointed.

I had a bit of a nostalgic evening the other day, and watched Letter To Brezhnev. I had completely forgotten about it until I was watching the 25 Years Of Channel 4 show the other week. God, it is a good film!

I went to the cinema to see 30 Days Of Night tonight, and it was brilliant, but for all the wrong reasons.

I was really looking forwards to it as I had enjoyed Steve Niles' graphic novels. The three books are incredibly dark and brilliantly illustrated. Anyway, back to the film. The relatively unknown cast (Josh Hartnett aside) was more than credible, as was the cinematography. The slasher type gore was brilliantly executed and well filmed too.

Where the film fell down (billing itself as a horror) , is that it was actually laugh out loud hilarious. As a horror, it does not rate, but as a really good fun 'B' Movie, it really was brilliant, and well worth a watch.

Not for those easily offended by topical news..... (wait for 1.30 to kick in)

I have to add a spotted to MarcusAurelius too, but that was only because I had to pop into his place of work, introduce myself, and ask him which game my son wanted for his birthday!

Oh, and Mission, I am coming in to re arrange your envelopes in retaliation for your destruction of my display

I now hold you responsible for the copious amount of Stella I have just spat on my monitor laughing!

Here you go, try this one for a giggle.....

(guess it only hits a nerve if you are forces related, but hillarious none the less!)

I know the original mime for this one has been knocking around for sometime, but this did raise a smile with me....