What was the last film you watched?

[spindrift]

Enigma was broken by Poles:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8158782.stm

Marian Rejewski, a talented Polish mathematician, had guessed correctly that the wiring connections between the machine's keyboard and encoding mechanism were simply in alphabetical order.
Of course, there were numerous other problems to solve, but Rejewski had made a major breakthrough, by devising equations to match permutations in the machine's settings.

I thought Monuments Men was turgid and awful, a waste of an amazing cast apart from Hugh Super-Injunction, who is always rubbish.

[Kim]

Indeed.  Turing's work on Engima lead to industrial-scale cracking, but the Poles did the groundwork.

The really cool stuff was cracking the later Lorenz cypher.  That was all British.

[Andrew]

Very Coen-y - you could tell it was one of theirs even if you didn't know (violence, humour, and bad men brought down by hubris). This is no bad thing in my book.

I saw Burn After Reading during the week. Well, actually, I didn't. Not all of it anyway. I turned it off after maybe 30 minutes. It was just didn't work for me at all and I cared not how it ended.

[spindrift]

I felt like that about Frances Ha, someone I trust recommended it and it was quirky and funny but not as good as some claim.

OT, sorry, but I thought Lily Allen's dress at the BAFTAs was amazing:



Shouldn't work but it does. Westwood.

[mattc]

Indeed.  Turing's work on Engima lead to industrial-scale cracking, but the Poles did the groundwork.

The really cool stuff was cracking the later Lorenz cypher.  That was all British.

So where did the Americans come into this?

[Andrij]

Indeed.  Turing's work on Engima lead to industrial-scale cracking, but the Poles did the groundwork.

The really cool stuff was cracking the later Lorenz cypher.  That was all British.

So where did the Americans come into this?

Hollywood is more powerful than Pinewood.

[Kim]

Indeed.  Turing's work on Engima lead to industrial-scale cracking, but the Poles did the groundwork.

The really cool stuff was cracking the later Lorenz cypher.  That was all British.

So where did the Americans come into this?

They were off doing their own thing with ENIAC, on the basis that blowing things up is far more interesting than mucking about with codes.   

[BrianI]

At The Earth's Core (1976)

<Peter Cushing>
You can't mesmerise me, I'm British
</ Peter Cushing>

[spindrift]

Katyn. Harrowing. I knew about how the Russians hid their guilt, I didn't know they also smashed up headstones that proclaimed the truth and imprisoned widows who refused to sign false confessions.

[Kim]

Source Code

An extremely watchable film with a misleading name.  This isn't a MovieOS-centric comedy as the name suggests, but rather a more cerebral (pun intended) version of the TV series Seven Days.  Don't try to make too much sense of the plot device, and it's all good.

[Martin]

The Monuments Men;

didn't really read up about it before I saw it (I generally never do preferring to take the film at face value)

was expecting a sort of Dirty Dozen / Kelly's Heroes but it was more a selection of set pieces by each of the cast connected by a pretty flimsy plot

interesting piece of history though and beautifully shot

The Book Thief next methinks while we are doing things WW2

[citoyen]

Very Coen-y - you could tell it was one of theirs even if you didn't know (violence, humour, and bad men brought down by hubris). This is no bad thing in my book.

I saw Burn After Reading during the week. Well, actually, I didn't. Not all of it anyway. I turned it off after maybe 30 minutes. It was just didn't work for me at all and I cared not how it ended.

Are you not a fan of the Coens or was it just that one you didn't like?

That and A Serious Man are the only two of theirs I haven't seen yet (unless you count Inside Llewyn Davies but that's coming to the local cinema soon so I shall see it then). I love pretty much everything they do. I even liked Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers.

[Dibdib]

After hearing that it was on Netflix, I tried Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the other evening.

I lasted about twenty minutes. It was dreadful. Depp was an embarassment to himself and Del Toro not much better.

[Morrisette]

The Monuments Men;

didn't really read up about it before I saw it (I generally never do preferring to take the film at face value)

was expecting a sort of Dirty Dozen / Kelly's Heroes but it was more a selection of set pieces by each of the cast connected by a pretty flimsy plot

interesting piece of history though and beautifully shot

The Book Thief next methinks while we are doing things WW2

I went to see Monuments Men only knowing that it is a bit of a George Clooney vanity project (writes, stars and produces). While I liked it, I think the story would work better as a TV series, something like Band of Brothers. There was a lot more you could do with the story, like going into the back-stories of the characters, the German side/viewpoint could be included, a bit of tension over whether Cate Blanchett's character is a collaborator or not, that sort of thing. In a film it looked a bit easy, they said, 'ooh look there's a place the art could be,' and five minutes later there it was. I want to know things like, how did they actually get behind the lines, was moving around in occupied/just liberated France and Belgium really that straightforward? Saying that I did enjoy it. Clooney only mugs the camera a little bit, he could have been a lot worse!!

[spindrift]

i watched both of the White House attacked by terrorists films. I'm not sure why. They're both jingo-tastic.

[mrcharly-YHT]

After hearing that it was on Netflix, I tried Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the other evening.

I lasted about twenty minutes. It was dreadful. Depp was an embarassment to himself and Del Toro not much better.

I didn't really like it, but then I don't like Hunter S Thompson

However; that film has the best depiction of being on acid I've seen. Brilliant. You'd almost think the director got the actors, camera crew together and said "Right, We are going to drop a load of acid to help us design this movie".

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Indeed.  Turing's work on Engima lead to industrial-scale cracking, but the Poles did the groundwork.

The really cool stuff was cracking the later Lorenz cypher.  That was all British.

As I understand it, the work of Bletchley Park was initially under funded and under prioritised.  It was also the case that good old Winston Churchill alerted the Germans to the fact their codes were broken in WW1 by writing some memoirs shortly after!  Hence the efforts made by the enemy to make the encryption bombe proof.

I'm trying to discover what role my mother had.  She joined the WRNS in late 1943, working in 'Y' stations at Dover, then HMS Flowerdown (Winchester) and lastly Portsmouth before being demobbed in spring 1945.  She never mentioned her war service (I discovered her naval record after both my parents had died) but I do have a bundle of letters she wrote at the time to my father (serving in NW Europe) that I will read in due course.  She obviously wouldn't have revealed what she did in them but as with my father's censored letters there may be clues.  She spoke French and German well.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

I thought Monuments Men was turgid and awful, a waste of an amazing cast apart from Hugh Super-Injunction, who is always rubbish.

I'm afraid I did too!  So much US propaganda..  I have to re-watch Catch-22 asap.

[Vince]

The Monuments Men;

didn't really read up about it before I saw it (I generally never do preferring to take the film at face value)

was expecting a sort of Dirty Dozen / Kelly's Heroes but it was more a selection of set pieces by each of the cast connected by a pretty flimsy plot

interesting piece of history though and beautifully shot

The Book Thief next methinks while we are doing things WW2

I went to see Monuments Men only knowing that it is a bit of a George Clooney vanity project (writes, stars and produces). While I liked it, I think the story would work better as a TV series, something like Band of Brothers. There was a lot more you could do with the story, like going into the back-stories of the characters, the German side/viewpoint could be included, a bit of tension over whether Cate Blanchett's character is a collaborator or not, that sort of thing. In a film it looked a bit easy, they said, 'ooh look there's a place the art could be,' and five minutes later there it was. I want to know things like, how did they actually get behind the lines, was moving around in occupied/just liberated France and Belgium really that straightforward? Saying that I did enjoy it. Clooney only mugs the camera a little bit, he could have been a lot worse!!

From the following article it seems most things in the film did occur, though they played fast and loose with time scales.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-monuments-men-180949569/

Not sure why they changed all the names though (protecting the innocent?)

[citoyen]

Only me who saw the title Monuments Men and thought, "Great, a film about the rivalry between Van Looy and Merckx"?

[Andrew]

Are you not a fan of the Coens or was it just that one you didn't like?

I think it's a case of when they're good , they're very very good etc.  I've not enjoyed some of their bigger successes (Big Lebowski, No Country) so maybe I'm on my own just a wee bit, but would rate Fargo and ILD as faves, and O Brother is a hoot.  I guess my default position is that they're always worth watching even at the risk of disappointment.

I enjoyed 'A Serious Man'.  Low key,  easy to watch, it's appeal is perhaps less obvious but it's thoughtful and funny in a bleak, Jewish humour kind of a way.

[citoyen]

I think it's a case of when they're good , they're very very good etc.

Fair enough. I guess I'm just more forgiving of the weaker points in their oeuvre than you.

Fargo is still my favourite. Quite underrated - compared to Lebowski and O Brother especially.

[mattc]

They're certainly variable, but I'd rather watch any of them than be hit with a wet fish.
(Haven't seen them all. Certainly not Lllllewwyn - from the reviews I expect I won't love it, but I'll probably watch it on telly some day.)

If you're criticising their inconsistency, you have to give them points for variety. Just look at the films listed in the last couple of posts. There are few writer/producers who've made such varied great films.

[Deano]

I like the Coen Brothers, though there are still a few of their films I haven't seen (O Brother and True Grit in particular).

I enjoyed Burn After Reading, though I didn't realise it was one of theirs until the second time I saw it. Lots of good actors (and Brad Pitt) looking as though they were enjoying themselves, centred around an old-fashioned farce.

[Jakob]

I thought Burn After Reading was quite good. A lot more sarcastic and less heartwarming than most of their films, but still quite funny.