What's the Latest Thing You Saw at the Cinema?

M, maybe I was in touch with my inner adult, something that doesn't happen too often fortunately.

EJ

Frances Ha

Quirky indy film shot in black and white. I actually enjoyed it. Hard to put my finger on why exactly, but I did.

Star Trek - Into Darkness, 3D IMAX enjoyable apart from the 3D headache, I really don't think it adds anything, the out of focus things and all the floating bits were quite annoying.

A couple of errors WRT to ST-OS. 8.5/10

Star Trek into darkness, in glorious 2D on a smallish screen in the Tottenham Court Rd. Odeon.

Roddenberry's vision of an enlightened universe with humankind as a shining beacon of morality is far away and a long time ago (I remember the discussions when it appeared that Voyager was going to feature an officer's mess. What?!), but in its place, J.J. Abrams is making the films that Star Wars I and II should have been. The numerous references to Wrath of Khan are a fan service rather than integral to the main plot and don't all come of well (This is what you would have done. And this is what you would have done.) but there's is plenty of fun here for us trekkies. Thought the  cast was great, even Pine who is normally a straight write-off in my book was encouraged to work hard and manages to do some character development. Cumberbatch is an effective villain. Like in the last film, the long range transporter tech comes off as cheating but at least it's explained why not everybody uses it all the time. All in all, highly enjoyable.

Cheers,

EJ

The Audience  - live from London a National Theatre Live presentation.

Brilliant, only two more performances ad it closes. It has been sold out every night for it's run.

Superman

I think this is the best version I have seen.

I like my superheroes to be dealt with seriously, any mugging to the camera I find distracting whether this is Bond or Superman. I enjoyed Gene Hackman in the Donner originals, and hated Otis.

This film has great leads, special effects and technical designs, you really do feel that you are looking at an advanced civilisation and its technologies.

I enjoyed Zod, and much prefer it when each protagonist has a viewpoint that is understandable, rather than just rely on them being evil for evil's sake.

Any downsides? I would have preferred the final resolution to have been more about brain than brawn.

M

Pompeii Live from the British Museum.

Too many airheads wittering on, questioning why a specific item might have fallen into a drain or sewer rather than examining the artifacts. Sound was rubbish, extreme and painful high frequency  (might suit the heads down Naim fanatic though)

We saw this and really enjoyed it, there was a bit of echo around the BM exhibition, not enough to spoil anything.

Derek who exactly would you want to present it?

A random person off the street or the people actually working on the projects?

Not the woman who was walking round talking to the experts, she asked non relevant questions eg why did the pot end up on the sewer rather than what was the origin, use etc of the item. Also why did they spend so much time looking and handlng the items that are in the BM collection any way.

The iPad/iPhone ap is good and essentially sums up the messages from the show.

Looking up the info sheet that we were given it seems that Bettany Hughes (the air head) is an award winning historian. Well she did a good job of hiding it on the show. I think that Snow has lost the ability to present in depth rather than in length.

Mary Beard was OK - however with a penis obsession (as was Bettany)  - why Locatelli was brought in to talk about a carbonised loaf of bread I do not know and why he brought along a loaf he had made earlier I do not know (apart from duming down the program into a show).

Standout persons were the curator - Roberts, and the sewer prof from Cambridge who had actually done real work on site.

Obviously they did not have enough items to make a 90 minute program so they filled it up with a lot of trivia. - A 45 minute program would have been good.

Man Of Steel - (is this what you meant Mr. U?) I'd been really looking forward to this, but I feel rather conflicted about this. I enjoyed it a fair bit but the wife did not.

Firstly - SH-SH-SH-SH-AAAAAKKKKYYY CAMERA EVERYWHERE! Even quiet scenes of dialogue were treated to shaky camera. What the hell is that about?! My wife feels ill with this effect so she had to look away for 70-75% of the movie. If you suffer from nausea with shaky camera do not go to see this movie. This may have had an effect on her judgement of course, but the fact is she thought the storylines didn't hold together well and the movie felt vaguely disjointed - though she did concede that looking away constantly would have disrupted her experience.

I'm affected only slightly by shaky camera, but this version seemed a higher frequency of shake than usual and the fact that Mr. Znyder in his infinite wisdom decided to use it even in the quiet scenes meant that I found it highly distracting and eventually just positively irritating. He should just stick to telling the story.

Having been a fan of Smallville, it was rather odd to find 8 whole series condensed into one movie. That said, I thought the story held together quite well, and the backstory approach was effective and well treated (apart from shaky cam).

The sets were lovely and I agree that the explanation behind Zod's (and his kind's) zeal made an awful lot of sense, as well as what's special about Kal-El. They made a lot more sense than the typically rogue general stories of the past.

Overall, I think we won't even be adding it to the collection, sadly. I say sadly because there were many things I liked about this movie. The sets were fantastic, the Kryptonian technologies genuinely interesting and different and some superb performances by most of the characters (Kal-El's being probably the least convincing, though still good).

Why is it so difficult for Hollywood to produce a decent Superman movie? They struggle with it at every turn. I had such great hopes...

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Hi Frank,

Yes - indeed.

M

Pacific Rim

I really enjoyed this, good fun mindless cartoon violence. Stand out for me was Idras Elba, and his St. Crispins Day speech. There was enough plot and development to keep me engaged, and it generally avoided the pratfalls that can pull you out of the film. The best aspect of the movie was undoubtedly the direction and general framing, which sold the size and power of the protagonists.

M

I'm really looking forward to seeing that one Mr Underhill. Did you watch in 3D?

Hi Tony,

No. I do my best to avoid 3D.

M

Pacific Rim, in 3D. As M said, mindless cartoon fun and yet clever enough not to take its audience for stupid. Chock full inconsistencies which are part of the charm, no doubt due to some impressive visuals and an over the top but entertaining story. Not a 'good' film, but definitely mission accomplished for Mr. Del Toro and his henchmen. This was a guys+beer night out, and the perfect movie for such an evening. 

EJ

The Wolverine in 3D. After a promising opening, the rest of the film falls disappointingly flat. Logan seems happy to slice through walls and trains and defeats scores of anonymous mobsters but we don't see any of the carnage he is famous for. The film promises us a vulnerable Wolverine in a showdown against Viper, but the first is a gimmick that wears off, and the second never happens. What we do get is too much romance with an admittedly gorgeous woman. What a wasted opportunity after the excellent X-Men Origins: Wolverine! Oh yes, the 3D is completely wasted on this movie.

Cheers,

EJ

I went to see Now You see Me two nights ago.  All I can say is, it had great potential but what you got was ultimately, disappointment.  Huge holes in the plot, and you felt that the film had been poorly edited so the final big twist lacked any credibility.  The Prestige did it so much better....

This, last night.

If you're a Partridge fan, you'll love it. It is very funny:

The Lone Ranger - not sure where all the money went but was better than sitting at home twiddling my thumbs waiting for the rain / thunderstorm to pass

True Lies (summer 1994)

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

Earlier today - the David Bowie is Happening Now film at Clapham Picturehouse. Excellent stuff!

Glad you enjoyed it. I learned a bit more about him.

Monster University

I enjoyed this. Not in my mind as good as Monsters Inc., but certainly not a 'straight to DVD' rip off. The first film hit emotional highs that this didn't approach, and had an imaginative flair that this just didn't.

Worth the entry fee.

Percy Jackson - Sea of Monsters

A few years ago whilst on holiday I ran out of reading material and so read a couple of these books, my younger daughter was off skiing and left these to hand. I thought they were quiet good juvenile reading.

I watched the first film, and whilst I didn't think it fired on all cylinders it showed some promise. The second film is, unfortunately, a turkey. Dialled in performances with no emotional resonance at all. I almost just got up and left.

M

Elysium

Not as good as I had hoped.

I had wanted this to be a home run, but it is a curate's egg.

Matt Damon, and the acting in general, is very good. The production values are excellent, the special effects are first rate. What lets the film down for me is the script. It relies on the confluence of timed events, that I found unconvincing. The politics felt as though it was written by a fifth former. The emotional denouement felt forced and unsatisfying.

Worth seeing, but not the summer high point I was hoping for.

M