What DVD have you just watched?

A very well acted and directed film, real fun to watch.

Despite best intentions, ended up seeing The Bourne Legacy yesterday. Not as bad as I feared, but worse than it could afford to be. You can see the money thrown at it and the camera work is half decent, but the story and the characters are dumb.

Cheers,

EJ

...yep, all style and little content!

The Pursuit of Happiness

There is no doubt that: Mr Smith can act; there is a lot of poverty in the world, and in the USA; a lack of funds puts any family under massive strain.

This film is based upon a true story of one man's struggle to pull himself up by his boot-straps and change his lot in life.

Based in the early 1980's the film is not sugar coated and the trials and tribulations are presented in an un-alloyed fashion. Was the film entertaining? Was it meant to be?

Two things struck me: 1. I felt somewhat akin to watching the Christians get slaughtered in the arena, it was not comfortable viewing; and, 2. Was what was possible in the 1980's so achievable in the U.S. of the 2010's?

Watching a film that portrays pain can be worthy, it can be enlightening, it can be a journey that makes you see the world in a new light. This film did none of these things for me.

Over the last two years I have been watching reports on BBC America and PBS about the state of the poor in the USA. This film has VERY strong parallels with the conditions today, but, my feeling is that, as in Europe, we are seeing a true reduction in the ability of people to improve their lot; and a gulf emerging as the wealth of the middle classes are sucked up by the top 0.5%.

I did not find this film enlightening, I did not find it entertaining, it did make me ponder on events in the world today, but then so does the news.

Worthy I suppose, but not something I will watch again.

M

The Ninth Gate

A Roman Polanski film staring Johnny Depp as a book specialist who is hired by Frank Langella's book collector, a man who specialises in gathering books on the Devil.

Langella has just acquired a medieval book that can summon the Devil, and he informs Depp that it is a forgery, from which Depp surmises that the Devil failed to appear. Langella pays Depp to hunt out and compare his copy with the remaining two extant books, and so the fun begins.

Got to say that I didn't expect too much of this, but thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

M

Looper: what if time travel hasn't been invented yet, but will be in the future. Doesn't this mean that time travel has been of all times? Looper's law says no. In this film's world, time travel is not real time travel, it's simply people going back in relative time to redo/change part of the world, while absolute time continues. When the past is redone, it means the past is simply done differently the second time around. It's a cool idea and worked out reasonably well without (too much) cheating, with good acting and several knockout emotional moments. Recommended.

Cheers,

EJ

I thought it was pretty good movie. You still have to stop thinking about time-travel paradoxes to enjoy it, though. Same with "12 Monkeys" (An excellent movie, also with Bruce Willis as a time traveller).

Looper

Thought it was a good emotional ride - but the time travel part just doesn't work, and just having Bruce Willis say 'this is difficult' doesn't cut it.

Didn't you love/hate the part where .....but I can't rip it apart without spoiling the story, and the film is worth the ride; just don't think about is afterwards!

M

And I notice it's got the majestic Rashida J in it. That's gonna be on the next LoveFilm order...

Think I'm going to settle down to watch this just before supper...

Just seeing mr U talking of time travel reminded me of the life on mars TV series i have on dvd. Great o remember the good old 70's and all the "non pc" banter

On Looper, I foresee two possibilities. One, seeing himself thirty years in the future would put Joe into shock and he'd simply pass out. Or two, the encounter could create a time paradox. The results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe!

And indeed, that's how it plays out. So sorry guys, no time paradox in sight!

EJ

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest ’70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late ’60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL5TffdOQ7g

OK EJ,

ONE of the issues:

******SPOILER*****

In the climax 'old' Joe intercepts mother and child.

'Young' Joe kills himself, to protect said child from 'old' Joe.

In this scene a van containing a load of silver is used.

This only exists AT the farm as Joe drove it there.

The intervention causes time to reset.

As time has reset, and young Joe died, old Joe could never have returned. Therefore young Joe would never have gone to the farm, and yet ....the van full of silver still exists - as does the mother & child's knowledge of the now 'non-existent' events.

M

M, that's not how I look at it. Old Joe did not go back in absolute time, he went back to an earlier point of his life in relative time. This particular loop, with both Joes, played until young Joe killed himself and the old ceased to exist at that particular point in absolute time. Everything that happened in absolute time up until that point, stays happened.

EJ

Hi EJ,

I had a similarish conversation with a friend of mine who started talking about different relative dimensions. I suppose my objection to this sort of construct is that, for me, it removes rigour - and makes ANY conclusion possible.

We'll need to discuss this over a couple of pints!

M

There's no better topic for over a beer!

Just saw Ocean's Thirteen the other day. Plotwise as thin as a slice of graphene - give me implausible time travel plots populated with telekinetics any day.

Cheers,

EJ

Dreamgirls Enjoyable film version of the musical. Eddie Murphy and the ladies got the recognition they deserved, but for me Jamie Foxx stole the show as the sleaze bag manager. Foxx presents a rounded character, with a tiny soft core surrounded by a lot of nastiness, and never resorts to caricature. Danny Glover in a smaller role is good, too.

EJ

Dredd - simple, but brilliant.

EJ

Exactly: I watched this last night. No padding it out, just 92 minutes of tautly scripted action, and Karl Urban is excellent as Dredd.

Film Review: “Helvetica” documentary displays new vision

I thought the inclusion of the rookie judge was a clever, and very necessary, step by the script writer.

Real shame it bombed at the box office.

M

Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter

EJ, I REALLY tried to just take this on its own level.

A man who can take down a tree with a single swipe off an axe is clearly a super-hero and so, on this level, did it work?

I enjoyed the first two acts. Abe as a child and a young man. It then took a step into Abe the president, civil war leader and father, and here it lost me. I just felt that it was trying to tie too strong an emotional message on too flimsy a structure.

If they had stuck with Abe's younger days I would have enjoyed the movie as entertainment, as it was I am glad I didn't waste money at the cinema,

M