# Films you've seen at the cinema: 2020



## Reno (Jan 2, 2020)

Continued from:

List the films you've seen at the cinema: 2019



Gramsci said:


> just wondering who starts 2020 thread?



I did, because the thread title could do with a change.


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## Gramsci (Jan 2, 2020)

Thanks Reno . If any poster should start this thread it should be you with your knowledge of film


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## Gramsci (Jan 2, 2020)

Well I saw JoJo Rabbit.

But first off thought I'd put this review up. I'm extending the definition of cinema a bit.

I went to see the Turner prize winner and imo film maker Mark Leckey at the Tate Britain.

A gallery of the Tate Britain has been turned into a all surround "cinema" for this artist who works in found footage and film.

A taste of his work here courtesy of dogmatique Featuring the bridge of his youth that feature in a lot of his work.



I knew nothing of this artist until I went to Tate Britain on the off chance.

I thought it would be rooms of work. It was not it was one room showing his films on the walls. Ended up staying to watch all of it.

I looked the guy up and he comes across as a pain in the ass. Like Tracey Emin I really don't want to know about them.

The work however is pretty amazing. I just sat their and watched the whole three works.

He has built a replica of the motorway bridge in the gallery. It really works.

Mark Leckey: O' Magic Power of Bleakness – Exhibition at Tate Britain | Tate

Personally I would not say it was bleak.

The best film was his most recent where glue sniffing youth are brought together with trippy story.

Sounds naff but seeing it it really works.

I saw another exhibition today of the Korean artist working with film


Nam June Paik – Exhibition at Tate Modern | Tate

An earlier generation to Mark but a continuity / influence even if unintended.

Nam worked with technology and was fascinated by it like Mark. Nam was also influenced by Joseph Beuys interest in shamanism and spirituality. I would say the same for this later generation -Mark. fascination with technology and popular culture. And how the two can be combined in progressive ways.

Joseph Beuys is a key figure in performance art/ political art.

Mark isn't full on political artist. But in his film in this exhibition he locates what could be seen as mundane youth experience as something elevated to artistic experience in a way that is not condescending.

I was impressed by end of it.


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## Reno (Jan 2, 2020)

I really enjoyed the Mark Leckey Installation on my last visit to London. Quite spooky too.


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## Gramsci (Jan 2, 2020)

JoJo Rabbit.

Jojo Rabbit (2019) - IMDb

Well. I really enjoyed it and so did my partner. I gave her the choice of this film or Little Women. As it happens she choose this film as she had read Little Women and found it to "sweet". So "womens" films don't always appeal to women.

As she said to me it's a good thing she chose ther film. Rightly imo.

I haven't read film reviews over Xmas so didn't know about this film before seeing it.

A comedy about the Holocaust and Hitler. Could be tasteless but wasn't. I saw a very good Italian film way back where this worked

Life Is Beautiful (1997) - IMDb

This film reminded me of the famous film "The Producers". In the case of that film it was a "musical" within a film. In this case the Comedy and camp humour are within the film itself. Its not distanced.

This film got panned in the Guardian. I think the concept was missed.

This is seeing it through a small boys eyes who knew nothing except Hitler. Seeing war through the eyes of a young person is not new idea and it works in this film. His relationship with his mother ( Scarlett) is very well done. She is trying to protect him and shield him. This relationship worked well in the film and I won't say the plot spoiler.

There is great performances from Scarlet , the director ( Hitler) and Sam Rockwell ( as the Producers influenced camp Nazi). Not forgetting the young actor who played the boy and his fat friendly innocent friend ( touch of Lord of the Flies )

It has moments of tension as one wonders who will survive the end of the war.

The weakness of the film is imo does it tell us anything new?

Why make a film about racism now that features the Nazis?

The context of "The Producers" was the McCarthy clamp down on Hollywood.

Now everyone except a few nuts agree Nazis were bad. Does this film tell anything new to us about racism and how its normalised? I don't think so.

Its of the liberal if only people got to know each other then everyone would see we are all the same line of argument in the film.

Still its very well done.


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## Sue (Jan 2, 2020)

Little Women. Probably wouldn't have bothered if I hadn't had a free ticket. For fans of the books, it also covers Good Wives. Better than expected. Although...



Spoiler



In the books, Professor Bhaer is much older than Jo and iirc explicitly described as ugly --  as she gets to know him, she sees through that to his good heart. It kind of misses the point to make him young and good looking. (Also not sure why he appears to be French rather than German. )


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## Orang Utan (Jan 2, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> Well I saw JoJo Rabbit.
> 
> But first off thought I'd put this review up. I'm extending the definition of cinema a bit.
> 
> ...



I only know this by him but it's incredible:

makes me very emotional


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## Gramsci (Jan 2, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I only know this by him but it's incredible:
> 
> makes me very emotional




that was part of the exhibition. thanks for the YouTube version.

seeing it projected on massive wall with the sound is however different experience to watching it on small screen.


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## 8115 (Jan 3, 2020)

Little Women. Pretty good. Made me feel ashamed for not enjoying the books when they were pressed on me as a child. I liked the feminism.


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## moonsi til (Jan 3, 2020)

First film of 2020 was ‘JoJo Rabbit’ - agree that it is very well done. I also enjoyed the clothes /furniture & the bright colour of the film.


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## spanglechick (Jan 3, 2020)

Also saw “Jojo Rabbit” today 🐇 🇩🇪. 

It was funny and sad and beautiful and tense and silly.  I liked it.  

I’m not sure the message was important - its just an exceptionally charming “coming of age” thing, with the unusual setting emphasising the universality of shared experience.  So much so that I had a millisecond of looking at the two best friends and asking myself whether they were supposed to be junior versions of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Obviously not, but it had that kind of feel.  

There is no message still left to be shared between cultural liberal types, about the Nazis, and I think reviewers who went looking for more message in the setting are barking up the wrong tree.  

Johannes has never been more likeable and every element of the production design was exquisite.


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## metalguru (Jan 4, 2020)

Uncut Gems

A preview at the Prince Charles Cinema of the new Josh and Benny Safdie film, starring Adam Sandler as a shady jeweller with a deathwish gambling habit.

It's definitely a powerhouse of a film that drags you into its own grimy atmosphere and frenetic world, but it's also exhausting to see people behaving like idiots for 2 hours and with basically with most of the dialogue seeming to be:

"Fuck you!"  
"Yeah? Fuck you!"

But there's some great acting and  a few comic moments.


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## Buddy Bradley (Jan 4, 2020)

Also saw Jojo Rabbit today. It was about as Wes Anderson as a movie could be without actually being a Wes Anderson movie - even the colour palette and costuming was reminiscent of things like Moonrise Kingdom. Throw in a bit of Jared Hess-style casting of Sam Rockwell, and you'd be forgiven for not guessing this is the same Taika Waititi that directed Thor Ragnarok.

The actual story itself was okay, but not as amazing as I went into it expecting it to be. I thought Rebel Wilson was a bit wasted, and they didn't quite get the relationship between Jojo and his mother right, there were some weird off-notes in some of the dialogue that didn't ring true (like that whole "pretending to be the father" scene which just didn't land properly). His best friend was great, though, Elsa was very good, and some of the scenes (like the endless Heil Hitler bit) was brilliant.

Overall 7/10.


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## blossie33 (Jan 4, 2020)

Aquarela - powerful visual documentary on the theme of water shot in various locations, Greenland, Iceland, Russia, Miami and Mexico etc.


Edit: soundtrack was very loud!


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## Lord Camomile (Jan 9, 2020)

Jojo Rabbit on Monday, A Long Day's Journey Into Night this evening.

Quite different films.


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## Threshers_Flail (Jan 9, 2020)

Watched La Dolce Vita on Friday. was beautiful, completely forgot about Nico's cameo, awful but a nice surprise.


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## Griff (Jan 10, 2020)

Saw The Gentlemen the other day and am surprised to say I really enjoyed it. Nowhere near as 'geezerish' as you'd expect from Guy Ritchie.
Grant, Farrell and McConaughey were all excellent. 

I'll get me coat..


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## Gramsci (Jan 10, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Watched La Dolce Vita on Friday. was beautiful, completely forgot about Nico's cameo, awful but a nice surprise.



I see it is on at limited release at cinemas. Is it really good on big screen?


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## Gramsci (Jan 10, 2020)

I saw 1917 today at screen one in the Ritzy cinema ( London).

I have avoided reviews as didn't want to know to much.

It really needs to be seen on a big screen. There is also an IMAX version. I would recommend trying to see it now.

A staggering piece of work.

It is straightforward into the action deceptively simple story making. Goes along at a break neck pace that reminded me of Gibson's Apocalypto. Seamless large scale pieces using extras and special effects.

The post apocalyptic landscapes are quite stunning and disturbing.

It reminded me of tarkovsky "Stalker" at times. The two protagonists go on a journey to the "zone" No Man's Land. Full of traps and surreal encounters in an alien landscape. And "Apocalypse Now". They meet the good and the mad on their journey into the darkness.

What I really liked about the way it was made is that it does not give one a particular message.

I read it as a decent into hell. In that sense it is an anti war film. It also reminded me of the landscapes of hieronymus Bosch via Sci fi. A sci fi novel I read . Set In future where hell is set up in virtual reality where one is uploaded . Its grimly repetitive without escape. This is the reality the two protoganists are thrown into.

Its a quite surreal experience to watch this film.

Definitely a must watch at the cinema.

To add it combines all this with moving personal story of the two main protagonist in the film.


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## Threshers_Flail (Jan 11, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> I see it is on at limited release at cinemas. Is it really good on big screen?



Yep! I've got Mubi so was a free ticket but would've been happy paying for the privilege.


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## Nanker Phelge (Jan 11, 2020)

Jojo Rabbit. Simple fun with at least 2 heartbreaking moments.


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## butchersapron (Jan 11, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> I saw 1917 today at screen one in the Ritzy cinema ( London).
> 
> I have avoided reviews as didn't want to know to much.
> 
> ...


I saw this this morning - technically superb, acting super ropey. Really enjoyed it-  and yes, big screen required.


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## Gramsci (Jan 11, 2020)

I was chatting to friend at work he told me their is a 4D version of 1917. Not sure where.









						Latest Movies - New Films - 3D Movies | Cineworld Cinemas
					

Experience 4DX only at Cineworld




					www.cineworld.co.uk
				




He had seen another film in 4D. 

4D the seats move with the action on screen. If its raining on screen you get mist of water. Gunshots and you feel the air as "bullet" misses you.


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## Plumdaff (Jan 12, 2020)

Little Women. Enjoyed it, dare I say it more than I enjoyed the book as a child. Thought Gerwig did an excellent job making Amy and Beth more rounded, sympathetic characters. The acting is uniformly excellent.


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## Part 2 (Jan 12, 2020)

Uncut Gems. Good Time was one of my favourites in 2018 so ive been looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. Adam Sandler is excellent (not something you get to say much)...though his character is a real sleazeball piece of shit.

It's an exhilarating 135 minutes. Can't remember when I last came out of a film feeling so exhausted.

E2a: Was also great to see it in a full screening with people looking from behind their hands or sat on the edge of their seats, and there's plenty of laughs. Don't get that sort of shared experience that often. It's due on Netflix I think but worth seeing it in the cinema for that alone.


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## Mrs Miggins (Jan 14, 2020)

I saw JoJo Rabbit last night and loved it. Really funny with some genuinely shocking and heart rending moments.

I am biased as I'm a big fan of Taika Waititi but it really didn't disappoint. I love Sam Rockwell as well and thought the 2 child leads were brilliant.

"3, 2, 1 SWASTIKA!"


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## blossie33 (Jan 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Uncut Gems. Good Time was one of my favourites in 2018 so ive been looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. Adam Sandler is excellent (not something you get to say much)...though his character is a real sleazeball piece of shit.
> 
> It's an exhilarating 135 minutes. Can't remember when I last came out of a film feeling so exhausted.
> 
> E2a: Was also great to see it in a full screening with people looking from behind their hands or sat on the edge of their seats, and there's plenty of laughs. Don't get that sort of shared experience that often. It's due on Netflix I think but worth seeing it in the cinema for that alone.



Just seen it at the cinema - whoooo, fast and furious!! Took some acting to keep that pace up!
Thought it was a clever storyline, I had no idea how it was going to finish (there would be a grin here but I can't get the smilies to work for me recently).


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## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Uncut Gems. Good Time was one of my favourites in 2018 so ive been looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. Adam Sandler is excellent (not something you get to say much)...though his character is a real sleazeball piece of shit.
> 
> It's an exhilarating 135 minutes. Can't remember when I last came out of a film feeling so exhausted.
> 
> E2a: Was also great to see it in a full screening with people looking from behind their hands or sat on the edge of their seats, and there's plenty of laughs. Don't get that sort of shared experience that often. It's due on Netflix I think but worth seeing it in the cinema for that alone.


Think I'll see it in a couple of days, but am slightly concerned it will give me palpitations and make me run out in panic!


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## blossie33 (Jan 14, 2020)

No, you'll be ok!


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## agricola (Jan 16, 2020)

Saw Jojo Rabbit today, it wasn't the film I was expecting but I thought it was fantastic.


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## Sue (Jan 17, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Think I'll see it in a couple of days, but am slightly concerned it will give me palpitations and make me run out in panic!


Nah, you'll be fine. Thought it was very good if bloody exhausting and unrelenting. Adam Sandler is excellent.


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## Mrs Miggins (Jan 17, 2020)

agricola said:


> Saw Jojo Rabbit today, it wasn't the film I was expecting but I thought it was fantastic.


What were you expecting?


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## Motown_ben (Jan 17, 2020)

So far this year

Jumanji 2 - took our 8 yr old niece who loved it.
The new Star wars - was Ok, still think Rougue one is the best of the new lot.
Jojo rabbit - I thought it was a bit uneven but enjoyed a lot of it.


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## hash tag (Jan 17, 2020)

We don't get to the pictures often, but when we next go, it will probably be this. Been waiting for a while for this to be released.....
based on a true story. Racism. injustice, death penalty - right up my street.









						Just Mercy (2019) - IMDb
					

Just Mercy: Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. With Jamie Foxx, Charlie Pye Jr., Michael Harding, Christopher Wolfe. World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.




					www.imdb.com


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## agricola (Jan 17, 2020)

Mrs Miggins said:


> What were you expecting?



Just a comedy.


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## Mrs Miggins (Jan 17, 2020)

agricola said:


> Just a comedy.


Ah!


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## Lord Camomile (Jan 17, 2020)

Midnight Traveler - a documentary filmed on phones by an Afghan family fleeing the country.

It's a beautiful and ugly film, and really worth seeking out.

Funnily enough, there's another film about a family with Midnight in the title that's coming out soon and I'm urging everyone to go see.

Midnight Family is about a family that operates a private ambulance in Mexico City (there are only 40 state ambulances for a population of 9 million, so a not entirely sanctioned private industry has popped up). Really well put together, and the family are great subjects.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 18, 2020)

Uncut Gems
One of the most stressful cinematic experiences I've ever had. Don't let the fact that it's an Adam Sandler movie put you off, as he's brilliant in this as a dreadful gambling addict jeweller making a lot of bad decisions that land him in a big heap of trouble. The Safdie brothers, who directed it, are masters of suspense and making repellent characters interesting if not sympathetic - if you like this, their previous film Good Time is great too. Fantastic Akiraesque/Vangelisy synth soundtrack from Oneohtrix Point Never too. 5 nails bitten to the quick out of 5


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## ash (Jan 18, 2020)

1917 - totally represented the horrors and futility of that war and the young men who participated.  Great cinematography and soundtrack.  The 2 main actors were great. I did spend the whole film trying to work out who one of them was as he had a very distinctive face and voice - it was Bromley from Pride! It was very sad, scary and poignant. I saw it at the IMAX which increased the intensity. I definitely recommend.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 19, 2020)

The Rise Of Skywalker
Adequate 'final' Star Wars film. That's quite enough now, lads. 2 misty-eyed nostalgic stans out of 5.


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## Threshers_Flail (Jan 19, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Uncut Gems
> One of the most stressful cinematic experiences I've ever had. Don't let the fact that it's an Adam Sandler movie put you off, as he's brilliant in this as a dreadful gambling addict jeweller making a lot of bad decisions that land him in a big heap of trouble. The Safdie brothers, who directed it, are masters of suspense and making repellent characters interesting if not sympathetic - if you like this, their previous film Good Time is great too. Fantastic Akiraesque/Vangelisy synth soundtrack from Oneohtrix Point Never too. 5 nails bitten to the quick out of 5



I hated it. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood but I just found it incredibly grating. I get that's what they were trying to do but it didn't work for me.


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## LDC (Jan 19, 2020)

agricola said:


> Saw Jojo Rabbit today, it wasn't the film I was expecting but I thought it was fantastic.



Yeah likewise. I rarely go to the cinema now, but have seen The Joker, and then last night Jojo rabbit too which I agree, I thought was excellent.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 20, 2020)

Little Women
Note perfect adaptation of the 19th century novel which, judging by this film, was astonishingly modern in its portrayal of the near impossibility of financial and creative independence for women, which unfortunately still seems to be the case to this day. 
It's disgraceful that Greta Gerwig wasn't nominated for an Oscar for directing this, though she did get a nod for the screenplay. The performances are uniformly excellent, even down to the smallest of roles, and the costumes and set design are splendid.
5 married or dead heroines out of 5


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## agricola (Jan 20, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> Now everyone except a few nuts agree Nazis were bad. Does this film tell anything new to us about racism and how its normalised? I don't think so.
> 
> Its of the liberal if only people got to know each other then everyone would see we are all the same line of argument in the film.
> 
> Still its very well done.



I disagree - in terms of educating people what they were actually like I think its possibly the best film since _Downfall_.     Loads of films can do the sadist / technologically advanced Nazi thing but there arent that many who manage to capture the banality, evil and general uselessness of the ones in charge who managed to spend the war enriching themselves and sending other people off to fight.



Spoiler: a particular scene in the film



The best example of this (though there were others) the bit where the Gestapo come to search Jojo's house, which looked like it happened after they'd executed his mum.  That search was completely pointless (given they'd killed her already), and they basically spent the entire time in the house messing it up and mocking the apparent belief that the son and (they thought) daughter of the woman they'd just hung still had in the Nazi state.  The film also gives the impression that they got away with it as well, as of course so many of them did.


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## Sue (Jan 20, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Little Women
> Note perfect adaptation of the 19th century novel which, judging by this film, was astonishingly modern in its portrayal of the near impossibility of financial and creative independence for women, which unfortunately still seems to be the case to this day.
> It's disgraceful that Greta Gerwig wasn't nominated for an Oscar for directing this, though she did get a nod for the screenplay. The performances are uniformly excellent, even down to the smallest of roles, and the costumes and set design are splendid.
> 5 married or dead heroines out of 5


Have you read the books, Orang Utan?


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## Orang Utan (Jan 20, 2020)

Sue said:


> Have you read the books, Orang Utan?


Nope. When they were pushed at me, I turned my nose up at them in juvenile  surliness as just girls’ books. Thought they’d be something like Little House On The Prairie or The Waltons


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## Gramsci (Jan 20, 2020)

agricola said:


> I disagree - in terms of educating people what they were actually like I think its possibly the best film since _Downfall_.     Loads of films can do the sadist / technologically advanced Nazi thing but there arent that many who manage to capture the banality, evil and general uselessness of the ones in charge who managed to spend the war enriching themselves and sending other people off to fight.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I was chatting to half German friend of mine whose Grandfather was in the German army. In France and then the Eastern front. My friend hasn't seen the film yet. His Grandfather was young when the Nazis came to power but old enough to be called up.

His Grandfather came from poor town. Initially the Nazi government did , in his view, a lot for less well off Germans.

Got the impression that had Hitler not lost the war his Grandfather would have not been complaining.

At end of war the Grandfather was back in Germany. One of the few who survived the Eastern front. A story he told my friend was that they had a load of schoolchildren assigned to them to make a last stand against the Russians. Him and his fellow veterans tried to persuade them to go home or folllow them to surrender to the Americans. They knew the Russians would kill them on the spot. They were not rejecting Hitler but realised that all was lost and there was no point in further fighting.

The school children refused calling the veterans traitors.

His grandfather survived ( surrendered to the Americans) but never knew what happened to the school children.

So I would say the film accurately portrays how young people in Germany were indoctrinated.

My friend did say there is hilarious recent German film about Hitler. Hitler in the film survives the war and wakes up in modern tolerant Germany. He cant cope with it.


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## Sue (Jan 21, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Nope. When they were pushed at me, I turned my nose up at them in juvenile  surliness as just girls’ books. Thought they’d be something like Little House On The Prairie or The Waltons


Well... You should give them a go! Same for the LHOTP books and the Anne of Green Gables ones if you haven't already. 

Interesting though. I loved the books as a kid which is maybe why I didn't find the film 'note perfect'..?


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## gosub (Jan 21, 2020)

just Mercy.  V Good and glad it was made - 1in9 US death sentences in the US are unsafe.


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## Reno (Jan 21, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> My friend did say there is hilarious recent German film about Hitler. Hitler in the film survives the war and wakes up in modern tolerant Germany. He cant cope with it.


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## blossie33 (Jan 21, 2020)

The Ghost of Peter Sellers.
A documentary of an ill-fated 1973 pirate comedy film staring Peter Sellers. The Director Peter Medak revisits his upsetting past in trying to make what turned out to be a disaster.
Moving and also very funny.


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## DJWrongspeed (Jan 21, 2020)

Saw 1917 this weekend.

Recommend it. What I found interesting was how your immediately joined to the characters. I think if I was from Patagonia I wouldn't have but as a Brit it taps into that national pysche. You hardly have time think of right/wrongs of WWI because the couple of men are off to save lives. I think this only works because we are so seeped in the 'going over the top' story and WWI in general. I wonder whether it will be viewed as strongly in 50yrs time.

Plus saw this diamond film at the London Short Film Festival, one for the big screen strangely although doesn't initially appear conducive to it.


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## Gramsci (Jan 21, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Nope. When they were pushed at me, I turned my nose up at them in juvenile  surliness as just girls’ books. Thought they’d be something like Little House On The Prairie or The Waltons



May be it was good you didn't. My partner read it to help learn English. She didnt want to see the film. Put her off.

Im still would be interested as maybe Greta Gerwig has made it a good film out of it.


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## Gramsci (Jan 21, 2020)

Reno said:


>




The trailer is so funny . And I don't understand German. I must see if I can get subtitled version.


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## Part 2 (Jan 22, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> The trailer is so funny . And I don't understand German. I must see if I can get subtitled version.



It's on Netflix. I thought it was pretty good as a Sacha Baron Cohen type film in getting people to expose themselves, although it loses it's way for the last half an hour or so.


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## Part 2 (Jan 22, 2020)

Last night I saw the new Terence Malick...A Hidden Life. About a man who refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler.

It's such a beautiful film to watch despite sitting for 3 hours knowing what the outcome will be. As ever there's lots of scenery to look at and shots that are really dreamlike. It's a hard sell for people who don't like his films though and there's about 20 minutes in prison that might not have been missed. Also a bit confused as to why he mixed up using English for the main characters while using German for a lot if the other stuff.

I cried like a baby when I got in. One of the final scenes brought back such personal memories for me and I'm a sucker for sad classical music. Still on my mind this morning.


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## moonsi til (Jan 22, 2020)

Watched ‘Jumanji’ with 2 ten year olds. There was lots of laughing from all of us. I have never seen the other films so didn’t know back story but it didn’t matter.


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## Sue (Jan 23, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Last night I saw the new Terence Malick...A Hidden Life. About a man who refused to pledge allegiance to Hitler.
> 
> It's such a beautiful film to watch despite sitting for 3 hours knowing what the outcome will be. As ever there's lots of scenery to look at and shots that are really dreamlike. It's a hard sell for people who don't like his films though and there's about 20 minutes in prison that might not have been missed. Also a bit confused as to why he mixed up using English for the main characters while using German for a lot if the other stuff.
> 
> I cried like a baby when I got in. One of the final scenes brought back such personal memories for me and I'm a sucker for sad classical music. Still on my mind this morning.


Saw this this evening. Beautiful film, feel emotionally wiped out. Highly recommended.


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## Sue (Jan 23, 2020)

Reno said:


>



Randomly I've just started reading the book.


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## Lord Camomile (Jan 25, 2020)

Waves.

Fantastic film, full of complexity and humanity, with some audacious directing. Strong ensemble cast, and a cracking and well used soundtrack.

Although it's ostensibly a family drama, really recommend catching it on a big screen if you get the chance.


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## cybershot (Jan 25, 2020)

Bad boys for life.
Weak story, typical action flick saved from being totally awful by the comedy.


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## Badgers (Jan 25, 2020)

None yet  

Really need to make the effort as I love the cinema and have a great local one that I should support more. Have seen some good documentaries and such there.

Also this outdoor cinema event thing just down the road which I still haven't been to yet. 

I am just lazy and have a big telly


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## Detroit City (Jan 25, 2020)

nothing, ive seen nothing


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## metalguru (Jan 26, 2020)

*Weathering with You*

The new Japanese anime blockbuster... The animation is spectacular and indeed even verges into psychedelic during some of the more fantasy style scenes. I've seen some reviews saying that this is slightly soppy in its romantic coverage, but I found it absorbing.


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## moonsi til (Jan 26, 2020)

The Personal History of David Copperfield - absolutely wonderful.


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## Lord Camomile (Jan 26, 2020)

metalguru said:


> *Weathering with You*
> 
> The new Japanese anime blockbuster... The animation is spectacular and indeed even verges into psychedelic during some of the more fantasy style scenes. I've seen some reviews saying that this is slightly soppy in its romantic coverage, but I found it absorbing.


I keep eyeing it up but clearly still have anime-prejudice, despite having enjoyed many in the past. I think I worry it's going to be too twee.


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## gaijingirl (Jan 26, 2020)

Sue said:


> Well... You should give them a go! Same for the LHOTP books and the Anne of Green Gables ones if you haven't already.
> 
> Interesting though. I loved the books as a kid which is maybe why I didn't find the film 'note perfect'..?



Yes - the same.  A few things annoyed me - especially the French "Professor Bauer".


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## A380 (Jan 26, 2020)

Just seen The Gentleman..I think as good as any of Ritchie’s films. Probably need to see it again to be sure. Would recommend.


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## Reno (Jan 26, 2020)

A380 said:


> Just seen The Gentleman*..I think as good as any of Ritchie’s films.* Probably need to see it again to be sure. Would recommend.


So it’s shit ?


----------



## brogdale (Jan 28, 2020)

moonsi til said:


> The Personal History of David Copperfield - absolutely wonderful.


Yep, loved it.


----------



## porp (Jan 30, 2020)

1917

Really surprised by how much I was absorbed by this. A simple story but the characters really drew you in. Also, a film that really makes use of the big screen


----------



## Dr. Furface (Jan 31, 2020)

*The Holy Mountain*. This is a restoration of a 1973 film by Alejandro Jodorowsky and has to be the most bonkers thing I've ever seen. Shot in Mexico, the story is some hokum about an alchemist gathering together a group of followers who have to go through various initiation rites before ascending the mountain of the gods, but the loose narrative is little more than an excuse for some of the most bizarre images ever committed to film. Quite how they did some of the scenes, many of them involving animals, back in 1973 on a relatively small budget, I've no idea, but some are quite astonishing (many of them are not for the squeamish) and some will stay with me as long as I live. You sit there wondering whatever will come next, and thankfully you don't have to wait too long - it certainly never gets dull, veering between gruesome and hilarious, occasionally both at once. So if you fancy something 'a bit different' try to see this while you can, because it's only on a very limited release (4 screens in London next week) and probably won't be on for long.


----------



## blossie33 (Jan 31, 2020)

I went to see his 1970 film El Topo a couple of weeks ago  it's just as mad 
Totally bizzare and very violent and bloody, I noticed it is still rated over 18 which must be quite unusual for a film from that era when they are usually nothing compared to what comes out today.
Like you, I couldn't quite make my mind up whether I liked it or not but I'm glad I saw it.
Not sure I could cope with Holy Mountain on top of it though


----------



## Dr. Furface (Jan 31, 2020)

blossie33 said:


> I went to see his 1970 film El Topo a couple of weeks ago  it's just as mad


I really want to see this now, but it doesn't look like it's on anywhere next week.


----------



## blossie33 (Jan 31, 2020)

Dr. Furface said:


> I really want to see this now, but it doesn't look like it's on anywhere next week.



I saw it at the ICA in London, they were showing it as a preview to Holy Mountain just as a one off.


----------



## Dr. Furface (Jan 31, 2020)

blossie33 said:


> I saw it at the ICA in London, they were showing it as a preview to Holy Mountain just as a one off.


Damn. But you have to go see Holy Mountain now - you know you want to really!


----------



## Sue (Jan 31, 2020)

blossie33 said:


> I went to see his 1970 film El Topo a couple of weeks ago  it's just as mad
> Totally bizzare and very violent and bloody, I noticed it is still rated over 18 which must be quite unusual for a film from that era when they are usually nothing compared to what comes out today.
> Like you, I couldn't quite make my mind up whether I liked it or not but I'm glad I saw it.
> Not sure I could cope with Holy Mountain on top of it though



IMO, El Topo is much better than The Holy Mountain (which starts off interestingly enough but then gets, quite frankly, really long and really boring. I couldn't wait for it to end tbh).


----------



## Motown_ben (Feb 3, 2020)

Saw the Gentleman at the weekend, it was OK I guess but I think its fair to say the Richie gangster film formula is getting very tired now. Came out feeling like a) id seen it all before and b) its been done a whole lot better before as well.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Feb 3, 2020)

Parasite - incredible (saw it on a plane)
Jojo Rabbit - funny, entertaining 
1917 - stunning in its technical achievements
Little Women - found it a tad twee but beautifully shot and great non-linear story telling 
Bombshell - documented an important story well. Made me connect with how angry I first felt when the misogynist barbarian Trump won the presidency.


----------



## Reno (Feb 3, 2020)

Sue said:


> IMO, El Topo is much better than The Holy Mountain (which starts off interestingly enough but then gets, quite frankly, really long and really boring. I couldn't wait for it to end tbh).


I think Santa Sangre is his best film, more accessible than either of those and still as crazy as a box of frogs. In terms of plot it works as a psychological horror film.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 4, 2020)

Parasite. Seems to be a long time since I read about this so it was great anticipated. Lots of 5 star reviews and plenty of awards.

Completely lives up to the hype... a really great film. Performances and pacing are spot on. I'd recommend not reading anything it really does turn into something I didn't expect. Funny, full of suspense and very dark.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 5, 2020)

Overdue but finally caught up with 1917. 

Yeaaaah.  Didn’t really warm to it.  The young supporting actor had off putting weird diction, which distracted me.  The sets - for all their grimness - never felt real... and I didn’t much care if his quest was successful.  Throughout the second half I was just thinking “he’d be dead by now, so would all the 2nd Devon...”

It all felt a bit fairytale.  But without the satisfying campiness.  

Deakins is obviously a god, and the editor is working miracles, but...

I don’t think it’s a BAD film.  I can see why it’s winning.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Feb 5, 2020)

Parasite on Monday. Very good looking film, very nuts, very good.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 7, 2020)

Parasite - really very engaging and great fun.  I always find it surprising (because I have a short memory?) how the archetypal western narrative structures aren’t present in East Asian storytelling.  There’s no race to the horrific climax, nor is there the drip-drip-drip of cliched tension building.  It’s not a genre piece.  

Brilliant performances, absolutely gorgeous visually, and I was completely invested from start to end. 

We took about twenty sixth formers and they adored it too.


----------



## Reno (Feb 7, 2020)

spanglechick said:


> Parasite - really very engaging and great fun.  I always find it surprising (because I have a short memory?) how the archetypal western narrative structures aren’t present in East Asian storytelling.  There’s no race to the horrific climax, nor is there the drip-drip-drip of cliched tension building.  It’s not a genre piece.
> 
> Brilliant performances, absolutely gorgeous visually, and I was completely invested from start to end.
> 
> We took about twenty sixth formers and they adored it too.


Glad you liked it but in terms of structure the film wasn't radically different from western films. I think that’s one reason why it has done incredibly well in the West. It is very accessible. I found the film to be very suspenseful, it’s basically a home invasion thriller, albeit played for satire and where you root for the invaders. The suspense comes from how long till they get found out and the film ups the stakes as it goes along. Then in the end, it all explodes in violence, like so many US films. That’s not a put down of the film, because what it does it does intelligently.

Bong Joon-ho makes nothing but genre films, thrillers, science fiction films, monster movies. The one thing which always was culturally different about his work is how he blends broad comedy with tragedy, but even that is toned down here compared to earlier films like The Host and Mother.


----------



## The39thStep (Feb 7, 2020)

looking foward to seeing what this is like


----------



## blossie33 (Feb 8, 2020)

Went to see The Lighthouse yesterday, tale of two men on a lighthouse in Nova Scotia 1890 shot in black and white - very creepy 
Good acting and tense dialogue between Dafoe and Pattinson.
Coincidentally, later in the evening, a half hour doccumentary about the making of the film popped up in my YouTube feed which was an added bonus.


----------



## gaijingirl (Feb 8, 2020)

The Personal History of David Copperfield - amazing cast and just a really brilliant, engaging and somewhat ridiculous film.  Loved it.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Feb 8, 2020)

Finally saw 1917. Technically impressive and some very engaging moments, but also found it quite patchy and inconsistent.

Still, saw it on a big screen.


----------



## oryx (Feb 8, 2020)

Queen and Slim.

Absolutely fantastic - brilliantly acted and shot, powerful and political (and more but I won't give anything away) and very funny in moments.

A young black (this is significant - it's set against a backdrop of Black Lives Matter) couple go on a rather awkward date and end up on the run. I won't say any more, but I thought it was one of the best films I've seen in the last few years.


----------



## tommers (Feb 8, 2020)

At the pictures I've seen star wars and frozen 2.

But I also have access to my mate's plex server and have watched the lighthouse tonight, and jojo rabbit and parasite last week. Probably out of the three the lighthouse was my favourite. Bit hard to follow at times and not very cheerful but stunning. Jojo Rabbit was shocking in its own way, a lot darker than I expected. I didn't go as crazy about Parasite as everybody else. Liked it but they were all horrible.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Feb 9, 2020)

Reno said:


> Glad you liked it but in terms of structure the film wasn't radically different from western films. I think that’s one reason why it has done inceredibly well in the West. It is very accessible. I found the film to be very suspenseful, it’s basically a home invasion thriller, albeit played for satire and where you root for the invaders. The suspense comes from how long till they get found out and the film ups the stakes as it goes along. Then in the end, it all explodes in violence, like so many US films. That’s not a put down of the film, because what it does it does intelligently.
> 
> Boon Joon-ho makes nothing but genre films, thrillers, science fiction films, monster movies. The one thing which always was culturally different about his work is how he blends broad comedy with tragedy, but even that is toned down here compared to earlier films like The Host and Mother.



I don't know if I'd classify it as 'home invasion', the typical features of those movies involve attempts to break into a home by force or stealth, to physically harm its occupants. Did you watch his last movie Okja? I'd say it's hard to pinpoint exactly what genre that was.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Feb 9, 2020)

David Copperfield - didn't enjoy, too twee.
Uncut Gems - an assault on the senses, in the company of an insufferable protagonist and overwhelmed by continuous, overlapping dialogue, disorientating handheld cam, and the most jarring score of a movie I've ever heard. At the same time, it was undeniably thrilling, an immersive character study and strangely compelling. A film I enjoyed more on reflection than viewing.


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2020)

Jeff Robinson said:


> I don't know if I'd classify it as 'home invasion', the typical features of those movies involve attempts to break into a home by force or stealth, to physically harm its occupants. Did you watch his last movie Okja? I'd say it's hard to pinpoint exactly what genre that was.



Most of Bong Joon-ho's films are black comedies which concern themselves with class, but besides that they are genre films, even if he frequently subverts genre expectations.

_Parasite_ is not the only home invasion thriller from the POV of the intruders or where the intruders con their way into the home, not necessarily planning violence from the start. _Don't Breathe, Bad Samaritan_ and_ The Collector_ (the 2009 one), _Pacific Heights, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, _and_ mother_! all are atypical in those regards. The Kim's in _Parasite_ don't intent to murder anybody but they are there to commit fraud and by the last act 



Spoiler



people end up killing each other as a result of their actions.



_Okja_ is a science fiction film on the future possibilities of a current technology (genetic manipulation of animals for food) even if it feels more like a fable, part Studio Ghibli, part _Animal Farm_. I enjoyed it but I thought it was Bong Joon-ho's weakest film.

Of rest of his films, _Snowpiercer_ is science fiction, _Mother_ (possibly my favourite of his) is a thriller/murder mystery, _The Host_ is a monster movie and his break-out film, _Memories of Murder_ is a serial killer thriller. I haven't seen his first film, _Barking Dogs Never Bite, _which gets described as a black comedy


----------



## Reno (Feb 9, 2020)

Anybody who enjoyed _Parasite _should also check out _Shoplifters_, the most critically acclaimed Asian (this time Japanese) movie of the previous year. It's more of a straightforward drama, but a far more subtle film, it too deals with a poor family who get by on low wage jobs and petty crime. Till they commit a major crime, though they may be doing so for altruistic reasons. It's a wonderful film and I think it's even a little better than _Parasite._ A bit of a heartbreaker and also has a few surprises up its sleeve.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Feb 9, 2020)

Been meaning to watch Shoplifters for a while, and have heard the same comparison made elsewhere too.

So many bloody films...


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 9, 2020)

Lord Camomile said:


> Been meaning to watch Shoplifters for a while, and have heard the same comparison made elsewhere too.
> 
> So many bloody films...


Yup....films, netflix, prime, youtube...the backlog generation


----------



## Sue (Feb 9, 2020)

Parasite. I thought it was great.


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 9, 2020)

Just back from seeing The Lighthouse. I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to. The performances are excellent and the weather being as it was outside today I was looking at the clothing and wishing to have a big jumper and oilskins to wear when I came out. It probably deserves a second watch...there were some great bits I just got lost in the weirdness of it when all the drinking started. That said it's really a film to be seen at the cinema and I'm unlikely to return to watch it again.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Feb 10, 2020)

Not like I put much stock in the Oscars these days, but still nice to see Parasite win over 1917; certainly more deserved, to my mind.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 10, 2020)

Long Day's Journey into Night

Really did not enjoy this one. I saw it in 2D, which might explain why: lots of scenes felt like they were meant to be enjoyed _only _in 3D.

Reminded me of Mandy a bit, but without the drugs. Replaced instead with tedious shots of people walking up stairs, or down roads.

Jojo Rabbit

Good fun, enjoyed.

Parasite

Really great this, as everyone has said. I was expecting it to be way more scary or violent for some reason, which meant I got a way different film to what I expected. A pleasant surprise!


----------



## Reno (Feb 10, 2020)

Fez909 said:


> Long Day's Journey into Night
> 
> Really did not enjoy this one. I saw it in 2D, which might explain why: lots of scenes felt like they were meant to be enjoyed _only _in 3D.
> 
> ...


I watched _Long Days Journey Into Night_ on a couple of nights ago and even in 3D it bored me to tears. Just don't get the acclaim for it.


----------



## Mrs Miggins (Feb 10, 2020)

The David Copperfield film is just lovely. Really funny. Cracking frock. Just wonderful all round and I really enjoyed the casting as well. Dr Who's accent was a bit all over the place but I adore him as an actor so I'll let him off.


----------



## Gramsci (Feb 16, 2020)

I saw "Parasite" at Ritzy today. Cinema was packed so this is a popular film. Winning the Oscar of course helps. It was this or Emma. As this was on at right time we saw this. I was a bit concerned it wouldnt be my partners cup of tea. I like Korean film but know they go into dark territory. And can be violent.

Glad to say my partner gave it the thumbs up. Reason being this was a working class family who all stick together and support each other in a society which is divided between rich and poor. This over rode the dark side of the film and the violence. They stick together right to the end which my partner ( and myself) found moving.

I do like films that give the wealthy middle classes a hard time. Middle class get what they deserved in this film.

I havent read the reviews yet. Only know the house is a real house. Its a great part of the film. I saw it in screen one at Ritzy and it deserves a big screen.

This is a film about class. Looked up Bong Joon Ho. On this film he said:



> In today's capitalistic society there are ranks and castes that are invisible to the eye. We keep them disguised and out of sight and superficially look down on class hierarchies as a relic of the past, but the reality is that there are class lines that cannot be crossed. I think that this film (Parasite, 2019) depicts the inevitable cracks that appear when two classes brush up against each other in today's increasingly polarized society.











						Bong Joon Ho - IMDb
					

Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, ...




					www.imdb.com
				




( I saw Snowpiercer last week on internet . Its a sci fi post apocalyptic film of class war on a train. Worth a look and quite a different kind of film. )

A note on Asian culture. People I have known from Korea and China get a bit upset about viewing them as the Asian other with a particular way to tell stories. Both Korea and China have gone through Modernisation project of the right and left. In case of Korea in a divided country. The south was modernised in breakneck speed under authoritarian governements. Korean friend parent were poor peasants. She lives in city like any "Westerner".  They feel themselves to be as Western as Europeans. The difference being that their industrial revolution took place in a very short period of time post WW2. They find it condescending to be viewed as not on a par with the rest of the "West". Or seen as "different".

This films popularity is also that it is about class in a capitalist society which a lot of us ( ie me) can identify with.

Im trying not to give plot spoilers here but the quote from director is spot on about what this film is about.

Smell is a theme that runs through the film as a cultural class signifier of class hierarchy for example. Plays an important role in the film.

The little put downs and feeling of inferiority that punctuate this film are spot on from my experience.

There is a great scene in the middle of the film where the poor family are living it up whilst the rich middle class are away. A discussion on wealth.One says the rich mother is nice. As the mother of the poor family says if I  was rich I would be nice.

I liked this film from start to finish.

I liked the ending. It was great to see the nauseating middle class garden party disrupted by the working class.

Ten out fuck the rich ten from me.

This is an angry film that portrays the simmering class resentments of capitalist society. Made in Korea but just as relevant here.

Fuck the rich

Also who are the "Parasites"? The poor family who latch themelves onto this wealthy family or the wealthy middle class family? It the wealthy imo.


----------



## Pickman's model (Feb 16, 2020)

I saw parasite too


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> I saw "Parasite" at Ritzy today. Cinema was packed so this is a popular film. Winning the Oscar of course helps. It was this or Emma. As this was on at right time we saw this. I was a bit concerned it wouldnt be my partners cup of tea. I like Korean film but know they go into dark territory. And can be violent.
> 
> Glad to say my partner gave it the thumbs up. Reason being this was a working class family who all stick together and support each other in a society which is divided between rich and poor. This over rode the dark side of the film and the violence. They stick together right to the end which my partner ( and myself) found moving.
> 
> ...


Spoilers here.

The scene in the living room is exactly half-way through the film.

Although certainly about class in the way many say you can see a look deeper, with a critical eye directed at the Kims....they steal wi-fi from (same class) neighbours, fuck over the (same class) house-keeper and when they find someone in a _worse_ position they don't hesitate to fuck him over as well.

Apparently there's lots more in the original language, as well.  This Korean Reddit poster gives some great insight.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2020)

oh...I only posted a link to the page, must be one of our new features.


----------



## Gramsci (Feb 16, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> Spoilers here.
> 
> The scene in the living room is exactly half-way through the film.
> 
> ...




I thnk you missed the point of the scene in the middle.

Yes they do steal wi fi and ( avoiding plot spoilers) they do "fuck over" others. 

The difference is they live on the edge. There are several scenes in film where I could see they arent happy about that. The father of the poor family for example.

Whilst the wealthy middle class have choices. 

That is the point of the middle of the film.

A close look at the film will show this is not an even playing field.

Its a point of the film to show this.


----------



## DexterTCN (Feb 16, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> I thnk you missed the point of the scene in the middle.
> 
> Yes they do steal wi fi and ( avoiding plot spoilers) they do "fuck over" others.
> 
> ...


No, I meant that the point of the middle is when everything starts to go bad, that's their high-point.

They're not morally better than the Parks and have no problem doing worse and worse things.   Obviously everything is worse for them (literally living in shit) ...and...blah blah.

Fact is I don't speak Korean, I'll miss most of the subtleties in this  but it's a wonderful film and great for discussion.  😉


----------



## Gramsci (Feb 16, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> Spoilers here.
> 
> The scene in the living room is exactly half-way through the film.
> 
> ...




As my Korean friend told me South Korea , under military dictatorship, modernised so fast that traditional views of hierarchy, deference and social norms collide with turbo capiitalist development.


----------



## 8115 (Feb 17, 2020)

Parasite, very busy, enjoyed it. It didn't 100% blow me away though.


----------



## gosub (Feb 18, 2020)

8115 said:


> Parasite, very busy, enjoyed it. It didn't 100% blow me away though.


It was good to see a full cinema for a film built a tight story line rather than special effects. Some nice Checkov"s guns and just the right side of farce


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 18, 2020)

gosub said:


> It was good to see a full cinema for a film built a tight story line rather than special effects. Some nice Checkov"s guns and just the right side of farce


I nearly said to my friend “that’ll be Chekhov’s “prosperity rock”, then?” As soon as it turned up.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Feb 18, 2020)

Just Mercy - Pretty cheesy, some poor dialogue and fairly boring music and cinematography but also quite an inspiring story and fantastic performances, particularly from Jamie Foxx


----------



## blossie33 (Feb 21, 2020)

First Love, Japanese romance / thriller film.
Enjoyed it - the storyline was one I could imagine in a Manga comic, a young couple, a bent policeman, Japanese Yakuza and some mad Chinese baddies too.

Little Joe, creepy film about genetic engineering of plants which also made me smile - reminded me of something from Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected series from the 70's


----------



## Part 2 (Feb 21, 2020)

blossie33 said:


> First Love, Japanese romance / thriller film.
> Enjoyed it - the storyline was one I could imagine in a Manga comic, a young couple, a bent policeman, Japanese Yakuza and some mad Chinese baddies too.
> 
> Little Joe, creepy film about genetic engineering of plants which also made me smile - reminded me of something from Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected series from the 70's



I saw First Love on Tuesday. Was entertaining but Takashi Miike's best...although there's gonna be some slippage in 103 feature films I suppose. 

Also fancied seeing Little Joe, may give it a look this weekend.


----------



## hash tag (Feb 21, 2020)

Have just seen and really enjoyed Parasite. Great, engaging film. Some twists and turns left no idea where it would end up. Some interesting metaphors of life between the Two families. Solid film. Have been told there are many better Korean films around.


----------



## Reno (Feb 21, 2020)

hash tag said:


> Have just seen and really enjoyed Parasite. Great, engaging film. Some twists and turns left no idea where it would end up. Some interesting metaphors of life between the Two families. Solid film. Have been told there are many better Korean films around.


I wouldn't say there are many better Korean movies around, anything by director Bong Joon-ho is in the top tier of Korean cinema. A lot of good movies have come out of Korea over the last couple of decades, it's just that most of them aren't nearly as well known as Parasite, which must now be the most famous Korean movie of all time.


----------



## belboid (Feb 22, 2020)

I too caught up with Parasite last night. Damn, that was good. I thoroughly enjoyed Snowpiercer and Mother and this manages to exceed them.  Hilarious, bitingly sharp, and plenty of opportunities to cheer inappropriately.   Marvellous.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Feb 22, 2020)

blossie33 said:


> First Love, Japanese romance / thriller film.
> Enjoyed it - the storyline was one I could imagine in a Manga comic, a young couple, a bent policeman, Japanese Yakuza and some mad Chinese baddies too.





Part 2 said:


> I saw First Love on Tuesday. Was entertaining but Takashi Miike's best...although there's gonna be some slippage in 103 feature films I suppose.


Managed to squeeze in catching a screening of First Love yesterday. Enjoyed it, but it's one of those films where I'd have to watch it again to see if my confusion was due to the narrative being complex or a fault in the filmmaking. Certainly felt kind of messy towards the end. Still, as I say, didn't stop me enjoying it overall.

Got to fill out my Takashi Miike knowledge, only seen 2 or 3 of his films, I think.


----------



## gaijingirl (Feb 22, 2020)

Half Term and shit weather so it's been a film fest.  Parasite, Doolittle, Sonic the Hedgehog, Emma (actually got the kids to sit through this), David Copperfield and hopefully today Jojo Rabbit.  I feel like I've forgotten one.

Parasite is very thought-provoking - I really enjoyed DexterTCN's post - in particular about the differences in formal/informal speech.  As I speak Japanese it was a bit frustrating for me to not be able to fully appreciate this in the film for myself - obviously language and class are so intertwined that we miss out on all that as a Western audience.  I did enjoy it but now having read a bit more about it, I kind of want to see it again.

Doolitte was better than I thought it would be, Sonic was ok.  

Emma was not as good as I had hoped.  It was very pretty, beautiful clothes etc etc and the actress who played "Harriet" stole the show for me.  She was fab.  Somehow it all felt a little bit flat - I'm not entirely sure why.  I was on edge throughout waiting for my 7 year old to throw in the towel and demand something more entertaining.

David Copperfield I really enjoyed - it is a bit of a crowd-pleaser "take your mum" film.  Very easy going, very funny.  I wish I had taken the kids to that one.

Hoping for Jojo Rabbit today and really looking forward to it.

Then no more films for another 6-7 weeks for me.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 22, 2020)

I saw Emma (slighly less sedate than previous version) and Greed yesterday. 

Greed is good. (Sorry). 

Winterbottom splices farce with some necessarily heavy-hitting truths and some shooting-fish-in-a-barrel satire.  The ensuing morality salad isn’t quite note perfect (Isla Fischer’s character gets a bizarrely easy ride), but it’s better than 90% of British comedies.


----------



## gaijingirl (Feb 22, 2020)

So instead of going to see Jojo Rabbit (I have spent a lot of time in the cinema this week) I watched Shoplifters after Reno's post reminded me of it.

I liked it more than Parasite, but then that might be because I love all things Japanese and it was a chance for me to hear the language too.  I thought it was a fabulous film but heartbreaking in so many ways.  I definitely felt more sympathy towards the family in Shoplifters than in Parasite but I think that's probably because their crimes were far more altruistic than in Parasite and they seemed to be far more obviously being fucked over in so many ways.  Again it has made me want to see Parasite again - especially after reading a bit more about it from a Korean language/culture point of view.

Anyway - I'd definitely recommend Shoplifters.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 22, 2020)

Love Shoplifters, beautiful depiction of   how true loving families don’t have to be related by blood. The director has a new one, The Truth, out very soon - made in Europe with Catherine Deneuve


----------



## blossie33 (Feb 23, 2020)

gaijingirl said:


> So instead of going to see Jojo Rabbit (I have spent a lot of time in the cinema this week) I watched Shoplifters after Reno's post reminded me of it.
> 
> I liked it more than Parasite, but then that might be because I love all things Japanese and it was a chance for me to hear the language too.  I thought it was a fabulous film but heartbreaking in so many ways.  I definitely felt more sympathy towards the family in Shoplifters than in Parasite but I think that's probably because their crimes were far more altruistic than in Parasite and they seemed to be far more obviously being fucked over in so many ways.  Again it has made me want to see Parasite again - especially after reading a bit more about it from a Korean language/culture point of view.
> 
> Anyway - I'd definitely recommend Shoplifters.



I had seen Shoplifters a while ago and I went to see Parasite last week - on reflection I totally agree with you, I do prefer Shoplifters for exactly the reasons you describe.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 23, 2020)

Anyone seen 3 Iron? Another Korean film that has quite a few parallels with Parasite and Shoplifters


----------



## Reno (Feb 23, 2020)

3 Iron has been on my “to watch“ list for nearly a couple of decades now. 

I’m currently working my way though Hirokazu Kore-eda’s (Shoplifters) filmography, though not at the cinema obviously. I‘ve enjoyed each of the four films I’ve watched so far (Maborosi, After Life, Nobody Knows, Still Walking) with Nobody Knows being the stand out. It’s based on a real case of an mother abandoning her four children with the oldest one who is 12, being left to raise his siblings. The performances of the children are amazing and it’s another heartbreaker of a film, which is never manipulative or sensationalistic.


----------



## DJWrongspeed (Feb 23, 2020)

spanglechick said:


> Greed is good. (Sorry).
> 
> Winterbottom splices farce with some necessarily heavy-hitting truths and some shooting-fish-in-a-barrel satire.  The ensuing morality salad isn’t quite note perfect (Isla Fischer’s character gets a bizarrely easy ride), but it’s better than 90% of British comedies.



I was pleasantly suprised by Greed as I'd read a few iffy reviews. It will win no awards but that's not the point. It's incoherent as a whole but who cares when you've got lines like "i'm not a Gynaecologist but i know a cunt when I see one." There was a hastily added "in memory of Caroline Flack" who appears at the beginning but it lampoons the show(s) she was involved in. I wonder if she would've found it funny ?


----------



## hash tag (Feb 26, 2020)

Liking this Parasite film posters from around the world – in pictures


----------



## belboid (Mar 2, 2020)

The Personal History of David Copperfield.


One of those films that lets you know why the phrase 'an absolute delight' was invented.   It's funny, I know every character involved, and a few of the lines (although it omitted probably the most famous after the opening paragraph!), but didn't really have a clue as to the plot. That Uriah Heep chap is really rather unpleasant! Dev Patel is magnificent, the energy and wide eyed joy he brings to the relevant bits.  I even liked Hugh Laurie!   Steerforth could maybe have been a bit more of a knob earlier on, but otherwise it's just marvellous.


----------



## Sue (Mar 5, 2020)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire.  A beautifully-shot love story from Celine Sciamma.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 5, 2020)

Silent Running
1971 sci-fi, starring Bruce Dern, and directed by Douglas Trumbull, the sfx boffin who supervised visual effects on 2001, Close Encounters, Blade Runner and many other classic sci-fi movies.
Dern is great as a botanist in charge of the world's flora which has been put on 3 Ark spaceships, after Earth's environment has been degraded by human activity. To his consternation, Dern is ordered by his bosses to nuke the Ark he's on and return to Earth. 
It's kind of silly in places, esp the scenes with Dern's robot assistants (I felt sorry for the little actors playing the drones as it did not look like a comfortable experience for them), but Dern plays his role superbly with a sincerity that strays into a kind of fanaticism, but you're with him all the way, despite the extremity of some of his actions..


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 5, 2020)

The Invisible Man.  Really well made but partly stupid interpretation of the classic.  there's no descent to madness here, he starts mad.  It's all about Elizabeth Moss.

David McCallum is no place to be seen.  But then, he wouldn't be.


----------



## Part 2 (Mar 5, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Silent Running
> 1971 sci-fi, starring Bruce Dern, and directed by Douglas Trumbull, the sfx boffin who supervised visual effects on 2001, Close Encounters, Blade Runner and many other classic sci-fi movies.
> Dern is great as a botanist in charge of the world's flora which has been put on 3 Ark spaceships, after Earth's environment has been degraded by human activity. To his consternation, Dern is ordered by his bosses to nuke the Ark he's on and return to Earth.
> It's kind of silly in places, esp the scenes with Dern's robot assistants (I felt sorry for the little actors playing the drones as it did not look like a comfortable experience for them), but Dern plays his role superbly with a sincerity that strays into a kind of fanaticism, but you're with him all the way, despite the extremity of some of his actions..



One of Kermode's favourites I think?


----------



## Detroit City (Mar 5, 2020)

i'd like to see 1917 but it's no longer at my theatre


----------



## belboid (Mar 8, 2020)

*Portrait of a Lady on Fire.  *

At first glance it seems to have almost nothing in common with Celine Sciamma's most notable film (here anyway) Girlhood. Working class young women of colour are swapped for quite posh not quite so young white women in colourful settings, but the themes of sisterhood and patriarchal bullshit are still there in abundance (despite the near total absence of men).  It's very slow, we can see what is coming a mile off, but that doesn't matter in the slightest. Superb use of music, with a couple of scenes reminiscent of the Diamonds scene in Girlhood for how music can just be transcendent and give us moments of absolute joy. Wonderfully acted and shot, and without any of the lingering perviness of the 'male gaze' getting in the way (a la Blue is the Warmest Colour) of the more explicit scenes (which aren't that explicit, interestingly (or not) the classification certificate describes it as 'sexualised nudity' which I dont think I've ever seen before.).

Go and see it (while I try and find a copy of Water Lilies with English subs)


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2020)

belboid said:


> *Portrait of a Lady on Fire.  *
> 
> At first glance it seems to have almost nothing in common with Celine Sciamma's most notable film (here anyway) Girlhood. Working class young women of colour are swapped for quite posh not quite so young white women in colourful settings, but the themes of sisterhood and patriarchal bullshit are still there in abundance (despite the near total absence of men).  It's very slow, we can see what is coming a mile off, but that doesn't matter in the slightest. Superb use of music, with a couple of scenes reminiscent of the Diamonds scene in Girlhood for how music can just be transcendent and give us moments of absolute joy. Wonderfully acted and shot, and without any of the lingering perviness of the 'male gaze' getting in the way of the more explicit scenes (which aren't that explicit, interestingly (or not) the classification certificate describes it as 'sexualised nudity' which I dont think I've ever seen before.).
> 
> Go and see it (while I try and find a copy of Water Lilies with English subs)


Tomboy is great too.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2020)

I have tickets for Misbehaviour and The Perfect Candidate this Wednesday but it’s been suddenly announced that my local cinema, the Hyde Park Picture House is showing Roma as one of their final films before they shut for a year for refurbishment. Thinking of sacking off the two films for Roma as I didn’t get a chance to see it at the cinema. Torn


----------



## oryx (Mar 8, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> I have tickets for Misbehaviour and The Perfect Candidate this Wednesday but it’s been suddenly announced that my local cinema, the Hyde Park Picture House is showing Roma as one of their final films before they shut for a year for refurbishment. Thinking of sacking off the two films for Roma as I didn’t get a chance to see it at the cinema. Torn


Roma is magnificent - beautifully shot, well-acted and moving. I seem to remember it got loads of awards, which IMHO were well-deserved.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2020)

oryx said:


> Roma is magnificent - beautifully shot, well-acted and moving. I seem to remember it got loads of awards, which IMHO were well-deserved.


Yeah, it is. I've seen it on Netflix but want to see (and hear) it on a big screen.


----------



## oryx (Mar 8, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Yeah, it is. I've seen it on Netflix but want to see (and hear) it on a big screen.


I've only seen it on the small screen too, and also slightly regretted we hadn't seen it at the cinema. Missed it when it first came out.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2020)

oryx said:


> I've only seen it on the small screen too, and also slightly regretted we hadn't seen it at the cinema. Missed it when it first came out.


it had a very limited release. Netflix have been better since with a proper theatrical run for the likes of The Irishman and Uncut Gems


----------



## May Kasahara (Mar 8, 2020)

Color Out of Space. Fabulously wild and horribly effective Lovecraft adaptation that makes you care about a well drawn family and their dynamic before subjecting everyone to a series of unpleasant events. Also features Nicolas Cage milking an alpaca. I really, really enjoyed this film.


----------



## magneze (Mar 8, 2020)

Parasite. Superb. See it 👍


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 8, 2020)

Little Joe
Weird little curate's egg of a film about the effects of a genetically engineered plant (that's supposed to secrete hormones to make people happier) on the scientists who've developed it, esp when the lead boffin brings one home. I found it quite baffling - from the direction of the actors delivering their dialogue in a stilted flat manner, to the weird framing or tracking of some shots, to the overly designed sets and costumes. The idea of plant pollen/spores controlling humans isn't exactly a new one - Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and The Happening immediately spring to mind, and the plot is nowhere near as dynamic as either of those films. The music choices are strange too - taken from a Japanese composer from the 70s rather than commissioned specially - lots of percussion and flutes that sound like a kettle going off. I wanted to hate it but I was never bored, just confused as to what the hell they were thinking.


----------



## blossie33 (Mar 9, 2020)

to Little Joe, it was quite weird and a bit like something from the 70's but I enjoyed it


----------



## Reno (Mar 9, 2020)

I didn’t get Little Joe at all. It struck me as muddled and pointless with the (admittedly nice) art direction plastering over the lack of substance. Starts out intriguingly and then doesn’t really go anywhere. I really liked Jessica Hausner‘s previous film Lourdes, so this was a disappointment.

When this was announced I thought it would be a biopic of Warhol “superstar” Joe Dallesandro, who’s nickname was Little Joe.


----------



## DexterTCN (Mar 10, 2020)

I'm not  saying that that picture has a subliminal thing, I'll assume it's just me.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 10, 2020)

System Crasher
German drama about a 9 year old girl in care who is so disturbed that she has frequent violent meltdowns and has been expelled from every institution she's sent to. Well-meaning and loving adults try to intervene, but from her point of view, every adult she meets lets her down. With an extraordinary performance from Helena Zengel as Benni, it's bleak and disturbing as fuck with some striking imagery but told with such compassion that it never strays into miseryporn.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 10, 2020)

And Then We Danced
Georgian drama about Merab, a young dancer who becomes infatuated with a rival dancer and embarks upon an extremely risky relationship with him. Georgia is an ultraconservative country - apparently the third most homophobic country in the world (the actors required bodyguards while shooting), and the competitive dance 'scene within it is even more conservative, being focused on unyielding stiffness and hidebound tradition - the dance teacher yells at Merab for showing weakness and for being too soft. The performances are excellent but the characters are barely fleshed out - I wanted to know more about Merab's family and friends. It all comes to a head of course, but the plot works itself out in an unexpected but deeply satisfying way. It doesn't all work, but it's an important film all the same, if just to challenge Georgia's orthodoxy and intolerance.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 12, 2020)

Saw Roma at the flicks last night and was so glad I did. Absolutely incredible film. How the fuck did they film that scene at the beach? 
the most striking thing about seeing it on the big screen, however, was the sound design. You hear the dialogue all around you, as if you’re there in the middle of all the scenes. At first I thought there were some noisy Spanish people behind me!


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Mar 12, 2020)

Has anyone seen Portrait of a Lady on Fire? 

It's so so good, phenomenal.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 12, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Has anyone seen Portrait of a Lady on Fire?
> 
> It's so so good, phenomenal.


On Monday, plague-willing


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Mar 12, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> On Monday, plague-willing



It's worth the risk!


----------



## belboid (Mar 12, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Has anyone seen Portrait of a Lady on Fire?
> 
> It's so so good, phenomenal.


at least two of us have said so on this very thread!

You are quite right, tho


----------



## redsquirrel (Mar 12, 2020)

belboid said:


> Go and see it (while I try and find a copy of Water Lilies with English subs)


I quite liked _Water Lilles_ but couldn't help feeling it was a not so good version of _Fucking Amal_ (which is of course immense).


----------



## Reno (Mar 13, 2020)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Has anyone seen Portrait of a Lady on Fire?
> 
> It's so so good, phenomenal.


I probably admired it more than outright loved it. It's literary, thoughtful and beautiful to look at but somehow it didn't emotionally engage me. I've spoken to people who felt very differently about it though, so it may just be me. I'd certainly still recommend it. 

Of Sciamma's films I liked _Tomboy_ the best. _Water Lillies_ was a good first film, what I liked most about it was Para One's score.


----------



## Reno (Mar 13, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> Saw Roma at the flicks last night and was so glad I did. Absolutely incredible film. How the fuck did they film that scene at the beach?
> the most striking thing about seeing it on the big screen, however, was the sound design. You hear the dialogue all around you, as if you’re there in the middle of all the scenes. At first I thought there were some noisy Spanish people behind me!


Would love to see this in a big cinema, I read that the sound design is amazing.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Mar 13, 2020)

Queen and Slim - pretty cool. Themla and Louise meets Get Out vibe. 

Portrait of a Lady on Fire - lovely.

Invisible Man - a great psychological horror-thriller. I imagine it could be very triggering for some people who have been in abusive relationships though.


----------



## DJWrongspeed (Mar 31, 2020)

This is a bad time for cinema but Curzon are doing a Q&A with Mark Jenkin director of the film *Bait* this evening.

 Not quite sure what it will entail since I doubt they'll be in the same room together!


----------



## A380 (Apr 6, 2020)

Fuck all recently...


----------



## DexterTCN (Apr 7, 2020)

A380 said:


> Fuck all recently...


Online counts....although those will dry up soon as well because nothing's getting made.

FFS


----------



## belboid (Jul 23, 2020)

Piano to Zanskar 

A documentary about this bloke and two hippies taking... guess what? Yes! A piano to Zanskar - which is in the Himalayas thus making it the highest piano in the world apparently. The village was actually called Lingshed, but the film goes for Zanskar because (we decided) otherwise people would assume it was a place in the Lake District and be thoroughly unimpressed by a bloke driving up the M6. 

The bloke is quite boring and the hippies a bit annoying but it was still a fascinating film. Not least because they had hoped to carry the piano (carefully separated into umpteen bits) up the mountain by yak.   But then they actually met the yams and discovered that they weren’t far away, they were tiny.  So ten blokes had to spend three days carrying this delicate instrument over a rough path in the blazing sun. Fun.  

And then the bloke had to put it back together again. Will he manage it?  You’ll have to watch to find out.  While he’s trying, one of the hippies leads the youth in a group singing of Moving On Up, and that is just fantastic.  

It was at a drive in, was meant to be on the festival circuit this year, but that obviously didn’t happen.


----------



## hash tag (Jul 23, 2020)

Sounds like something Tony Hawks might have done


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 23, 2020)

DexterTCN said:


> Online counts....although those will dry up soon as well because nothing's getting made.
> 
> FFS


Not in this thread. Sgonna be a couple of months before cinemas reopen ‘properly’ if that


----------



## T & P (Jul 23, 2020)

I said in another thread I’m surprised some studios haven’t decided to release some of their films directly on PPV and charge a bit more. Last week I noticed one such film.

Unfortunately it is Scoob, a feature length animation Scooby Doo film. Virgin wanted £17.99 to watch it. And it is a 48h rental as well. You don’t even get to keep it.

This week is down to £15.99. Bargain


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2020)

T & P said:


> I said in another thread I’m surprised some studios haven’t decided to release some of their films directly on PPV and charge a bit more. Last week I noticed one such film.
> 
> Unfortunately it is Scoob, a feature length animation Scooby Doo film. Virgin wanted £17.99. And for just a 48h rental as well. You don’t even get to keep it.
> 
> This week is down to £15.99. Bargain


Been watching a few films recently which were scheduled to get a theatrical release and which instead went to streaming (not going to pay £16 though  )At a certain budget it's not worth releasing blockbuster for studios. They are better off waiting for theatres to reopen for those. When the cinemas reopen, they also will need films which draw a large audience.


----------



## T & P (Jul 23, 2020)

Reno said:


> Been watching a few films recently which were scheduled to get a theatrical release and which instead went to streaming (not going to pay £16 though  )At a certain budget it's not worth releasing blockbuster for studios. They are better off waiting for theatres to reopen for those. When the cinemas reopen, they also will need films which draw a large audience.


Yeah, agreed. Which makes the Scoob price even more puzzling. I’d pay £17.99 for a small selection of ‘premium’ upcoming films I was really looking forward to, such as Tenet. But Scoob? I doubt it was even planned to have a theatrical release in the first place!


----------



## Reno (Jul 23, 2020)

T & P said:


> Yeah, agreed. Which makes the Scoob price even more puzzling. I’d pay £17.99 for a small selection of ‘premium’ upcoming films I was really looking forward to, such as Tenet. But Scoob? I doubt it was even planned to have a theatrical release in the first place!


Scoop! was supposed to get a theatrical release but its one of those films where it was clear that this was never going to be a huge hit, so they released it to streaming where it probably did as well as it would have in theatres. The biggest budgeted film to go to PPV so far was Disney's Artemis Fowl. It was supposed to be a mid-range blockbuster but they realised that they had a piece of crap on their hands so they cut their losses and online it went.


----------



## Maltin (Jul 23, 2020)

T & P said:


> I said in another thread I’m surprised some studios haven’t decided to release some of their films directly on PPV and charge a bit more. Last week I noticed one such film.
> 
> Unfortunately it is Scoob, a feature length animation Scooby Doo film. Virgin wanted £17.99 to watch it. And it is a 48h rental as well. You don’t even get to keep it.
> 
> This week is down to £15.99. Bargain


Some films have been released direct to VOD but when you’ve invested $300 million on a film and the performance at the cinema impacts other revenue streams, it’s understandable that studios will delay the release. I imagine that the main cost of delaying for the studio is the interest on the financing of the movie which, given interest rates, is not prohibitive but will add over time. I expect them to start releasing their cheaper product soon but given many seem to be reliant on higher budgeted movies, maybe the studios have less films in this category. I expect one “benefit” of the current situation is that the studios might have to rethink their recent strategies and go back to films that play in theaters for longer rather than focusing on opening weekends; avoid repetitive content and expensive franchises and focus on lower budgeted films with good stories. It probably won’t happen but I live in hope to see a change to the model they have been reliant on for the last 15 years.


----------



## cybershot (Jul 26, 2020)

Erm. Aliens. 

Yes. I know. It was released in 1986. But still. It was a trip to the cinema.


----------



## belboid (Aug 18, 2020)

So the group that put on the last drive in are doing another. This time it’s The Runaways. That fine, feisty, female punk group put together by a paed... uhh, svengali. 

or so we thought when getting tickets.  It’s actually about donkeys.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 27, 2020)

Tenet: A four pack of Tennent's Super a better alternative tbh. You'll end up just as bleary and confused but at least you'll have enjoyed it. 1 eh?s out of 5 what?'s


(the cinema experience was fine - not much different than from pre-lockdown - I went to a Vue and there were about a dozen customers at the screening, all on those new reclining seats which give you loads of space anyway, but this wasn't an issue as there were just a few of us in a 200+ seat cinema. The staff wear face shields and scan your phone for the ticket but that was the only difference I noticed. Avoided the lav though and didn't drink or eat anything)


----------



## Sue (Sep 10, 2020)

Les Miserables (this week's Mubi Go film). Cop starts a new job in the Parisian banlieue and discovers he's not in Kansas anymore. First feature from  Ladj Ly who doesn't pull any punches in terms of who's in charge/wants to be in charge -- the police, the dodgy local politicians, religious groups, dealers -- and the consequences for the youngsters living there. Ultimately, the story arc was a little bit too tidy for my tastes but thought this was pretty good. Next week's Mubi Go film is La Haine (which I haven't seen since it came out 25 years ago  ) so be interesting to see how that holds up, both on its own and as a companion piece to this.

First time I've been to the cinema since March. Afternoon showing in a very quiet cinema. Felt okayish but not sure I'd go to a busy evening showing.


----------



## Jay Park (Sep 13, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> As my Korean friend told me South Korea , under military dictatorship, modernised so fast that traditional views of hierarchy, deference and social norms collide with turbo capiitalist development.



you mean like how most people there will only be friends with folks from the same school year and to a lesser extent those whom they might work with etc. And why they are so whimsical about dropping the previous fad for the newest one. Taiwanese cakes, claw machine thingies for prizes and hey ho, tattoos now.


----------



## Sue (Sep 14, 2020)

La Haine. Holds up very well I thought, you could easily mistake it for a contemporary film (well apart from Vincent Cassel looking so young). 

About five years after this came out, I lived in Paris for a few years -- not in the banlieue but in an area with a large N African origin population. The police, especially the CRS (the riot police), really were absolute bastards -- constantly, aggressively hassling young guys on the street. Those bits of the film I thought were exaggerated really weren't (and I obviously didn't see/experience the half of it). Sadly, suspect the film is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago.


----------



## Sue (Sep 19, 2020)

Rocks. Follows a teenage girl who's left to look after her younger brother when their mother leaves. Absolutely excellent performances from the teenage cast. Filmed in my local area too so fun trying to spot the locations. Highly recommended


----------



## blossie33 (Sep 20, 2020)

I went to see Memories of Murder last week, an earlier film from the Korean director who made Parasite - thought it was very good. Apparently the story was based on an actual series of murders back in the 80's.

Was nice to be back in a cinema and watching a film on the big screen after so many months


----------



## Sue (Sep 20, 2020)

blossie33, you might enjoy Rocks. It's on at the Rio and was filmed in Hackney -- bits in Ridley Rd, Dalston Lane, Kingsland Rd, Old St (still trying to work out where the flats are though.)


----------



## belboid (Oct 4, 2020)

*The Trial of the Chicago Seven*

God, Sorkin is annoying. How could anyone screw up such a sensational and clearly contemporary movie about the trial of the century (part 272). Okay, he doesn't entirely screw it up, it has all the Sorkin trademarks of rapid fire dialogue, everyone (well, every white one) spitting out brilliantly phrased political nuggets and people having to grow extra arms in order to fit the necessary amount of liberalism on their sleeves. Being a courtroom drama means they can't do the walk and talk thing half as much as he'd like, but he still manages some fast cutting and some neat lil shots.

Where it fails is in giving us a decent view of the utter chaos and madness that was not just the trial, but all the events around the democratic convention and the whole damned counterculture. It is all far far too polite.  The Richard Schultz character is a completely fictionalised account of a man described (by his friends) as an attack dog, he wasn't the nice guy with obvious doubts he is shown as (and lets not even mention his absurd final moment on screen). Bobby Seale is woefully underwritten, and the Panthers are the only ones whose case we don't really get to hear.  What happens to him (and Fred Hampton) are shown and are shocking, but not half as shocking as they should have been, the full depth of vileness with which they were treated was barely scratched. Abbie Hoffman is made into a wet liberal joker, a mere prankster.

"I think the institutions of our democracy are wonderful things that right now are populated by some terrible people" is, supposedly, a line from Hoffman at the culmination of the trial, and Sorkin must be glad he's dead because otherwise he'd probably be suing for defamation of character. It's not as if he didn't have a transcript to work from! Of course, it isn't really Hoffman speaking at the end, its Sorkin, as it always bloody well is. 

I'm off to watch Medium Cool to make up for it.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 4, 2020)

The Painted Bird. A boy searches for his parents in the second world war somewhere in Eastern Europe, stumbling across the worst people and situations  imagineable. It looks very nice despite being thoroughly depressing. Based on a book and I suspect it follows the chapters as we see names appear on screen and they're the next shitty person he meets. I don't think I'll bother reading it. It was alright but just not as good as I'd hoped. 

A lot of comparisons with Come and See which I might have to rewatch because I wasn't paying attention when I saw it.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 5, 2020)

On The Rocks

It's a Lost in Translation remake, but not nearly as good. And I'm aware that 50% of people thought LiT was shite anyway. Luckily we were 2 of the 5 people who had booked tickets, so the 'rona risk was hopefully low, as I would hate to die due to this _nothingness_


----------



## Mrs Miggins (Oct 10, 2020)

Went to see Saint Maud last night - cracker of a film IMO. It's being sold as horror but it's not really. The trailers appear to be selling an entirely different film to the one that actually exists.

Go while you still can!!


----------



## Sue (Oct 10, 2020)

Mrs Miggins said:


> Went to see Saint Maud last night - cracker of a film IMO. It's being sold as horror but it's not really. The trailers appear to be selling an entirely different film to the one that actually exists.
> 
> Go while you still can!!


Saw this randomly at the LFF* last year -- thought it was excellent. I was a bit surprised to see it was being advertised as a horror too  -- more a psychological drama imo. 

*it was in the main competition which is unusual for a first feature.


----------



## belboid (Oct 11, 2020)

Saint Maud

Fucking marvellous. Completely unpredictable, almost completely mystifying. Took about twenty minutes until I realised it wasn't set in the seventies, but that's Scarborough for you. Brilliant score that really helps ratchet up the tension. Quite brilliant. 

And it is really, really, obviously a horror movie. When your testes start retracting into your body in a cinema, you are watching a horror movie.  I appreciate this test may not be wholly appropriate for all viewers.


----------



## A380 (Oct 11, 2020)

Went to see Tenet on Wednesday as I suspect our Ciniworld will never reopen and wanted to go one last time on my unlimited card. Which they haven’t charged us for. In honour I even brought stuff from the concession stand rather than smuggling in my own. Five people in total in the audience.

It’s either an ok film or a great one. I gave up trying to track the different time streams at the start of the final set piece. I suspect all the bits line up and with an internet browse and a bit of paper to draw the story line on  it could be a great very intelligent film.

If it’s not, it’s still a good eye candy action film. You could just ignore the plot and watch it like a Fast and Furious style actioner.


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 16, 2020)

Saint Maud. Wow! 

Just brilliant. Best horror I've seen for some time. 

I want to go to Scarborough to see if it really is worse than my childhood holidays.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 16, 2020)

Will soon be loads as I've just bought a fuckton of Leeds Film Festival 2020 which starts next month. Loads of it online but loads will be shown in actual venues, albeit socially distanced - it's been quite difficult buying single tickets in the places I prefer to sit - they're reserved for bubbles of two and three. Discrimination!


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 16, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> Saint Maud. Wow!
> 
> Just brilliant. Best horror I've seen for some time.
> 
> I want to go to Scarborough to see if it really is worse than my childhood holidays.


Shit, another unused free Mubigo ticket that I've probably missed again


----------



## Mation (Oct 17, 2020)

Was wondering how come there are so many posts on this thread, but then spotted that it's still March on page 6.

Don't think I could face a cinema this year.


----------



## bharatsharma (Oct 20, 2020)

I m a Halloween fan, i saw Hubie Halloween


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 26, 2020)

Pleased to find Saint Maud was still on at our local Everyman.  
I note the genre debate above, and see both sides.  It’s not horror in the traditional sense, but there are many viscerally horrific moments (including some of the best filmic representation of what it’s like to be miserably, unpleasantly drunk I think I’ve ever seen).  

I thought the final moment somewhat silly - not that the shot was included at all, just that the split-second edit seemed to belong to a lesser film.


----------



## purves grundy (Oct 28, 2020)

Part 2 said:


> I want to go to Scarborough to see if it really is worse than my childhood holidays.


What you on about Part 2 , Scarbs is glorious!


----------



## Part 2 (Oct 28, 2020)

purves grundy said:


> What you on about Part 2 , Scarbs is glorious!


 I'm sure it is actually. I found a picture of me on the beach in 1995, probably the last time I was there...looks grim in Saint Maud though.


----------



## T & P (Nov 2, 2020)

Not worth starting a thread on this, but unless it’s just us, our Virgin Media menu home page for the On Demand movies appears to be showing the brand new and super-premium rental (£15.99 for 48 hours) The Witches on the preview screen they usually show film trailers on as you browse the on demand films available.


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## Sue (Dec 5, 2020)

Knight Without Armour, part of the BFI's (short) Dietrich season. Set just before/during the Russian Revolution, Dietrich plays an aristo who's helped to escape by Robert Donat (a British spy pretending to be a Red then a White, then neither). A rollicking adventure all round. (Reds! Whites! Siberia! Firing squads!) It was made in 1937 and Dietrich apparently gave her salary to Jewish refugees. Definitely worth catching if you get the chance.


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## Sue (Dec 6, 2020)

Mank. How Herman Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay of Citizen Kane. (Still disputed as that is.) So I really wanted to like this but it just didn't quite do it for me. Too itty bitty and flashbacky and no real cohesive narrative. Felt like there was a much, much better film in there trying to get out as it's an interesting story about an interesting man. 

I also suspect that if you aren't reasonably familiar with 1930s/early 40s Hollywood and American politics, you'd be pretty lost. And if you haven't seen Citizen Kane... 🤷‍♀️. The performances are good and it looks great it's just...the rest of it that really should be better.


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## Reno (Dec 10, 2020)

Sue said:


> Mank. How Herman Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay of Citizen Kane. (Still disputed as that is.) So I really wanted to like this but it just didn't quite do it for me. Too itty bitty and flashbacky and no real cohesive narrative. Felt like there was a much, much better film in there trying to get out as it's an interesting story about an interesting man.
> 
> I also suspect that if you aren't reasonably familiar with 1930s/early 40s Hollywood and American politics, you'd be pretty lost. And if you haven't seen Citizen Kane... 🤷‍♀️. The performances are good and it looks great it's just...the rest of it that really should be better.


That's just how I felt. This should have been up my street but apart from looking gorgeous, it was disappointing. Herman Mankiewicz doesn't emerge as fascinating enough character to follow for over 2 hours and the episodic flashback structure, which works so well in Citizen Kane, was a drag. The only times this perked up was whenever Amanda Seyfried's Marion Davis was on screen, I ended up wishing the film was about her.


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## Sue (Dec 10, 2020)

Reno said:


> That's just how I felt. This should have been up my street but apart from looking gorgeous, it was disappointing. Herman Mankiewicz doesn't emerge as fascinating enough character to follow for over 2 hours and the episodic flashback structure, which works so well in Citizen Kane, was a drag. The only times this perked up was whenever Amanda Seyfried's Marion Davis was on screen, I ended up wishing the film was about her.


I read some reviews afterwards (I don't tend to before) and the ones I've seen are all excellent. Maybe down to that critics loving films about film making thing...

And yes, agreed about Marion Davis. That was interesting.


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## Reno (Dec 10, 2020)

Sue said:


> I read some reviews afterwards (I don't tend to before) and the ones I've seen are all excellent. Maybe down to that critics loving films about film making thing...
> 
> And yes, agreed about Marion Davis. That was interesting.


I read reviews by critics I follow (Stephanie Zacharek, Glenn Kenny, The AV Club) which were positive, but not enthusiastic which is about right. Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian adores it, which often is a bad sign in my book.

In _Citizen Kane_-lore Marion Davies has long been considered the character betrayed by the film, as her fictionalised version is the talentless singer Susan Alexander Kane, while Davies was a talented and popular actress. So _Mank_ restores her reputation and I'd be surprised if Amanda Seyfried doesn't get nominated for every supporting actress award going.


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## Kaka Tim (Mar 4, 2021)

belboid said:


> *The Trial of the Chicago Seven*
> 
> God, Sorkin is annoying. How could anyone screw up such a sensational and clearly contemporary movie about the trial of the century (part 272). Okay, he doesn't entirely screw it up, it has all the Sorkin trademarks of rapid fire dialogue, everyone (well, every white one) spitting out brilliantly phrased political nuggets and people having to grow extra arms in order to fit the necessary amount of liberalism on their sleeves. Being a courtroom drama means they can't do the walk and talk thing half as much as he'd like, but he still manages some fast cutting and some neat lil shots.
> 
> ...




TBH - i though it was really powerful. I didn't know loads about the story - so im only going on what was on screen - but the trial as an outrageous act of political revenge by a corrupt and vicious government came across very strongly - as did the shockingly racist treatment of bobby seale. Agree it should have shown more the actual events of the DNC itself. Im not sure it was putting a overwhelmingly wet liberal line - was kind of left unresolved - and that a violent response to state violence was at the very least understandable, probably unavoidable and - in the case of the panthers - arguably a  political necessity. Agree that the state prosecutor as "decent man" really jarred. 
Baron Cohen was fantastic as Abie Hoffman.


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