Cinemexperience: part deux., Some more filums you saw. Options

[dandan]

transsiberian - kill off all my demons, and my angels might die too...

roy (woody harrelson) and jessie (emily mortimer) have been in china, helping roy's church on a humanitarian project. now, they're having a bit of a break before returning home; a trip from beijing to moscow on the trans-siberian rail road. they soon find themselves sharing their cabin with carlos (eduardo noriega) and abby (kate mara). whilst roy and jane are thinking of settling down, carlos and abby seem to be travelling from place to place with no detectable plan of action but, when roy misses the train at one of its frequent stops, jessie finds herself alone with her new companions, waiting for roy in a small russian town...

yeah, so there's a lot more to the beginning of the film than that, but one doesn't want to signpost the events and developments which are quite obvious to spot, once you start watching it. still, despite the predictable nature of some elements of the film, just like with director brad anderson's rather good 'session 9', the fact that these narrative turns are backed up with twists that are less easy to spot, make for a pretty good watch. also, as with 'session 9', anderson shows that he's more than competent when it comes to building up tension, creating an atmosphere and drawing you in to a narrative.

emily mortimer is, as usual, rather splendid; making the once wild, now almost ready to settle down, jessie appear as a well-rounded character. praise is also forthcoming for mr harrelson, who is rather fine as the naive, loving, train enthusiast. noriega, mara and ben kingsley, who plays a russian detective, provide solid support.

the film itself is an engaging watch, with plenty of tension, a few twists and only minor shortcomings, which can be quite easily forgiven as they're usually bookended by something quite good. the film also made me quite fancy taking the trip from beijing to moscow or vice versa...

good stuff...

[Sean of the Dead]

I fear reading film reviews may have turned my opinions into derivative sludge, both meaningless and useless, but nevermind...
Slumdog Millionaire
I found this to be a very enjoyable and aesthetically beautiful tale that certainly created a world that seemed both tangible, and occasionally fantastical. However, it didn't quite grip me as much as I hoped, with the world of the characters overshadowing their struggles, lives and actions. Indeed, whilst the actors gave excellent performances, it was not enough to steal the limelight away from their environment, distancing them from me and dissipating the tension at several points. That did not stop it from being an expertly crafted film with a framing device I felt was ingenious, but merely one I liked instead of loved.

Frost/Nixon
An enthralling film containing uniformly excellent acting that is hugely supported by Ron Howard's direction. The sense of importance this interview had is expertly conveyed, adding gravitas and suspense in a way that never feels heavyhanded. The real star, of course, is Mr Sheen who turns in an expertly polished performance. *badum-bum-tisch* This post was all leading up to that.

[melzilla]

This post was all leading up to that.

..and it was so worth it.

[sweetbutinsane]

The Beverly Hillbillies

Weird, but funny.

[curtinparloe]

Apocalypto
Fairly entertaining, but far too long.


Should have been called Apocalyptooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
o.

[GundamGuy_UK]

Death Race - Fucking awesome. I wish I'd seen this at the cinema, I loved every second.

(Most of) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - I showed my friend some clips of the Holiday Special, so we had to watch all the best bits of ESB after to try and stop ourselves feeling so dirty. In the end we watched all of it bar the Yoda/space slug bits, because we've seen the film a million times each and just wanted the action bits. I still think that The Battle of Hoth is the best stop-motion ever committed to cinema.

[logger]

Ahem

[GundamGuy_UK]

Ahem

True, that's excellent.

But the whole Hoth sequence looks fucking REAL, there are bits of it that I have no idea how they did.

[Sean of the Dead]

Heat
Two things.

1. Excellent film.
2. Shouty Al is hilari-awful.

[maian]

She's got a GREAT ASS!

That almost makes up for how terrible he is in most films.

[Sean of the Dead]

She's got a GREAT ASS!

That almost makes up for how terrible he is in most films.

That line reading is why he's the best in the bus(iness).

[Zoe]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

I wasn't disappointed, after being so impressed by the trailer a year ago, it's a rather beautiful film.

The short story is a peculiar allegory about how youth is wasted on the young, the film is a melancholy epic about the tragedy of mortality and the value of life. Fincher is a wonderful director, and this film shows yet more of his incredible range. It's visually stunning, but grounded by small moments of tenderness; a mother's hand, a old woman leading a young boy down the street, the quiet triumph of a woman in her sixties achieving her dream. It has real emotional resonance, combined with a very light touch and moments of comedy that avoid sentimentality and make the extended running time fly by. Certainly I can see where the comparisons with 'Forrest Gump' lie, but 'Benjamin Button' is a far more of a cinematic achievement and certainly less schmaltzy. The script deals with the central conceit so brilliantly, you buy it immediately. Benjamin's unusual condition only serves to highlight the beauty and cruelty of human life and death - we all start and end in diapers. Beauty fades, promise dies, we forget and are forgotten.

The special effects are remarkable, moreso because they're so underplayed.

It left me feeling thoughtful and sad, but satisfied. It'll be a very interesting film to watch at different ages in your life. I can imagine feeling very different seeing it at 67 than I do at 27.

Oh! And 'Scoop' (2006) was on when I got home. What a lovely surprise. No cinematic or DVD release in this country and suddenly it pops up on BBC2.

Very entertaining. God bless you, Woody.

[Ade]

I'm looking forward to seeing Benjamin Button all the more now. Hoping to see it tomorrow.

[Zoe]

There's a hilarious moment when Cate Blanchett sees Benjamin when he's the equivalent of 40 something (i.e. no make-up or special effects), after only knowing him previously as an elderly or middle aged man, and she just says with some surprise "you're perfect!" I was convinced she was going to say (with the same surprise) "you're Brad Pitt!"

[Ade]

I was convinced she was going to say (with the same surprise) "you're Brad Pitt!"

I'm going to be slightly disappointed now when she doesn't. But I'll keep an ear out for it all the same.