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

Really enjoyed it H. Thanks for the heads up!

Just seen it, and agree I don't think it's a very good film. I have a high tolerance for dodgy plots and situations, but this film never achieves emotional lift off. Additionally I found some of the violence really over the top, veering into splatter horror territory.

EJ

Planes

Cheap knock-off of Cars. But as my sons' first cinematic experience, it did pretty OK, both of them sat through the 90 minutes without a hiccup. I think Disney argued that as Cars 2 pretty much did away with any artistic credits the first film had (hadn't been much to begin with), there was nothing to lose by giving this half-finished cartoon a theatrical run. I'm not sure - Pixar is still considered as the standard bearer for high quality CGI, and although this wasn't made by Pixar, plenty of Pixar was involved and I do think it reflects badly on them

EJ

Can Trains be far behind?

Pixar is releasing "Toy Story of Terror" their first made for TV special on Wednesday, October 16 at 8 pm on ABC (US). Sure, Charlie Brown got a boring old rock for Halloween, but will this Pixar show compete with the Simpson's Treehouse of Terror for the latest and greatest Halloween classic?

Tragically, Pixar have become too Disney-fied (as many feared would happen). Brave looked great, but just didn't have the patient character and back-story development of say, The Incredibles or Up. The should have spent much more time on the Merida's growing up and development up to the point where she rebels and the main story really picks up. Get the audience more invested in the outcome. But Disney movies are rarely patient (Mulan being a bit of an exception).

The queen/momma-bear graphical look was way to Disney for my taste as well. Needed to be more bear-like. More visually threatening, more lifelike, and less able to convey emotion through unrealistic facial expressions. The cartoon bear faces were a cheap cop-out to save them really working too hard on the idea of the queen/momma-bear being able to communicate to Merida. Save the really cartoony stuff for the side gags like the deerhounds, who were just great.

Mulan's great, and I loved Brave as well. Flawed, but it got through. Planes is on a different plane...

EJ

Boats: the story of a young dinghy who wants to participate in a sailing contest around the world, and enlists the help of a rusty old oil tanker. Who, it turns out, has some of life's lessons to learn himself. Along the way, the dinghy teams up with a feisty lifeboat - but can they win from the evil catamaran and his submarine goons?

Escape Plan

Stallone and Schwarzenegger, both in lead roles, teaming up to break out of a maximum security prison.  The very starry supporting cast has nothing to do (seemed to have a good time, though) and the plot has the density and texture of swiss cheese, but it's all very entertaining. Bring extra beers.

EJ

Beers in the theatre. ....hmmm.... I have not tried that since I attended the midnight showing of Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps"..... about 35 years ago. 

Captain Phillips

Forget the usual reports that Hollywood bastardized the truth (although this is not usually directed at Paul Greengrass). Fiction or not, this is a really good movie with a star turn for Hanks and an inexperienced but persuasive supporting cast.

EJ

Gravity - very good.

We have just got back from a free (courtesy of the BBC) pre release screening of Philomena. Another great performance from Dame Judy and surprisingly for me Steve Coogan.

A story of another disgraceful episode in the great history of the Roman Catholic church. Take tissues if you go to see it.

Thor 2 - one of the good things of the Marvel films is how they continue to develop their lead characters - even Avengers did this well - but Thor 2 is the first film that doesn't. There's still plenty of comedy, but this time it comes from the supporting cast. Thor himself is a simple hero: he longs for his girl, smashes everything on the battlefield, chats with a family member, repeat. With the huge legacy/burden of all the films that come before, it does however deftly handle all the ingredients and as such, this is a fun continuation of the story arc. Just not the best in the series.

EJ

Thor 2

Hi EJS,

I thought that (1) was better, but enjoyed (2). I think that Chris Hemsworth has the hard job of being the 'HERO' in this film. In Thor 1 he was bought to earth having been stripped of his powers, and so this gave room for comedy and character growth; this was always going to be hard to achieve second time around.

Tom H. as Loki has most the fun here, and does it very well - with some good support from the leading man, amongst others. The awkwardness of this stream of Marvel films appears to be the ongoing supply of indestructible inexhaustible and improbable McGuffins that they invent to support the narrative plots: Aether; Tesselecta; Red box for Mr Bardem ('one down, five to go').

Hope you stayed on for the TWO film extras during the final title sequence.

M

M, it appears that the tesseract and the aether are both infinity stones; there are five of them (explaining The Collector's comment, BTW who looked ridiculous, a first for Marvel), and all fit a gauntlet. The gauntlet itself is briefly seen in Odin's vault, in Thor, but more importantly it is the glove wielded by Thanos (in Marvel's The Infinity Gauntlet story line) - the villain we see briefly at the end of Avengers.  

Cheers,

EJ

EJS,

You really need to get out more!

M

 Says the guy who calls himself Mr Underhill . I also remember your Threepio avatar...

EJ

Gravity

Simple narrative well told - breathtaking special effects.

See it, and see it in 3D.

M

Just got back from taking my daughter to see Gravity in 3D.  For once this one lived up to the hype and also this really is a film that might well be visually diminished by not being seen in 3D (rarely if ever the case).  For an hour and a half you feel you are right there with them in space.  My heart rate still hasn't quite settled. 

To echo Mr Underhill, go and see it, but make sure you see it in 3D.

We all went to see Gravity last Sat, in 3D....very watchable...you were in space with them...

without 3D it didn't look as good....occasionally took off the glasses and checked...

A simple story, but worked well......worth going to see

And we have now got 4 pairs of 3D glasses.....ready for the new Hobbit film....

This, tonight at the BFI, in a sparkling new print:

Hadn't seen it in about 25 years.

Four hours long, gorgeous Technicolor photography and still the Hollywood epic against which all others must be judged. The film revolves around the mesmeric performance of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, and her journey from spoiled pampered Southern brat to a whirlwind of energy and wilfulness, who, while not always likeable, you can't help gunning for.

Almost as memorable is Clark Gable's twinkly-eyed rogue Rhett Butler, a man who gambles, whores and works only for money, but who is essentially decent and honourable, and Hattie McDaniel's loyal Mammy.

Sure, some of the attitudes expressed seem positively antediluvian by today's standards (well the film is 74 years old), but the storytelling, characterisation (Lesley Howard's utterly wet Ashley Wilkes notwithstanding) art direction, costuming and photography are all masterful, and there's a real sense of sweep and scale. The burning of Atlanta is superbly handled and the evocation of a lost (if it ever existed) world of gentility is wonderfully done.

But in the end it comes back to the brilliant Leigh.

Best of all, not a poxy superhero or bit of CGI in sight.

Agree with all of that after seeing it a few days ago - in 3D. This film showed what can be done with 3D when done properly , easily the best use of it that i've seen and that includes Cameron's Blue Smurf 'epic'. Saying that, the 3D trailers before, showed exactly how not to do it. Forced perspectives that looked like the background and foreground images were placed on slides of glass and set 4 metres or more apart. They looked terrible.