What was the last film you watched?

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Because the Eagle in charge would have suddenly come over all nasty and started crapping on my car (and suchlike) instead of ditching said Ring.

It's a fairly intrinsic part of the story that it's a difficult thing to get rid of.

I've not seen the films for a while now but I may dig out Part 1 and re-watch the death of Boromir chapter.  I think it's a simply stunning piece of cinema (although it does start to cross into Monty Python's "Black Knight" ("tis but a scratch") territory)

I went to see the first two films with my then bloke. He hadn't read the books and even though the first film starts with all the back story about Isildur and all that and how the Ring is really bad, and then they get to Rivendell and decide to destroy the Ring and Frodo says he'll go and the others say they'll go with him, at the end of the first film he wasn't really clear about what was happening so I talked him right through it. A year later we went to see the second film. A couple of weeks before we were going to see the third one, he asked me "Kirst, you know in Lord of the Rings? Where's Frodo going with the Ring?"

 

[LEE]

Because the Eagle in charge would have suddenly come over all nasty and started crapping on my car (and suchlike) instead of ditching said Ring.

It's a fairly intrinsic part of the story that it's a difficult thing to get rid of.

I've not seen the films for a while now but I may dig out Part 1 and re-watch the death of Boromir chapter.  I think it's a simply stunning piece of cinema (although it does start to cross into Monty Python's "Black Knight" ("tis but a scratch") territory)

I went to see the first two films with my then bloke. He hadn't read the books and even though the first film starts with all the back story about Isildur and all that and how the Ring is really bad, and then they get to Rivendell and decide to destroy the Ring and Frodo says he'll go and the others say they'll go with him, at the end of the first film he wasn't really clear about what was happening so I talked him right through it. A year later we went to see the second film. A couple of weeks before we were going to see the third one, he asked me "Kirst, you know in Lord of the Rings? Where's Frodo going with the Ring?"

 

Cash Converters

[Manotea]

I went to see the first two films with my then bloke. He hadn't read the books and even though the first film starts with all the back story about Isildur and all that and how the Ring is really bad, and then they get to Rivendell and decide to destroy the Ring and Frodo says he'll go and the others say they'll go with him, at the end of the first film he wasn't really clear about what was happening so I talked him right through it. A year later we went to see the second film. A couple of weeks before we were going to see the third one, he asked me "Kirst, you know in Lord of the Rings? Where's Frodo going with the Ring?"

 

Many years ago, I went to the to a propah operah house somewhere in london to see Rigoletto with the Mrs Manotea. Whilst perambulating home we discussed the performance. "I thought the guy with the limp was very good", I said, sagely. "You mean, Rigoletto?", said Mrs Manotea.

I may not know much about art but I know what I like.

[mattc]

The other problem with the Eagle plan is that the ending would be too much like the end of Star Wars, with Frodo in the R2D2 role, strapped to the back of the Eagle/X-Wing.

If you think the business with the crack of doom is silly, listen to the BBC Radio version of it - it's not really a scene that works well purely with sound!

[tiermat]

Over the last couple of days I have had chance to catch up on a few films, in preparation for the festive season (which is all about eating too much then falling asleep in front of a good film, tinny in you hand ), thus:

Salt : OK
Smokin Aces : didn't get to see much of it, must re-visit...
Invictus : Morgan Freeman plays a fantastic Nelson, but no way is Matt Damon a rugby player
RED: Stupid funny trash, I loved it....

[citoyen]

Good film.  mini citoyen can't be too sensitive to use of the f-word then, from what I remember... 

I didn't think the language was that bad, tbh - just a light smattering of anglo-saxon, which feels quite "natural" in the context.

Besides, I generally have more of a problem with sex and violence in films. I caught a bit of X-Men on telly the other night and found it quite unpleasant. I don't think I would let him watch that.

d.

[andrewc]

I've just got in from watching   Of Gods and Men , the story of a group of French Cistercian monks who choose not to leave their Algerian monastery when violence erupts around them

A beautiful, brilliant film.

Good review here

[tiermat]

Have started, and failed to finish, twice to watch Smoking Aces...

Which is strange for me as it is slap bang in the middle of my favourite gendre of films....

Oh well, to balance out the universe I think I will watch "Once Upon A time In America" at the weekend, all 4 hours of it!

[LindaG]

Crazy Heart.

It was OK.

[BrianI]

Event Horizon on Blu-ray!     Forgot how good a film this is since I last watched it years ago on ye olde worlde dvd.
Still jumped at the frighty bits though!      

[citoyen]

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which was on telly last night and I've never seen it before so...

What a load of tosh.

The Mad Max films seem to get progressively more silly as the budget gets bigger. I still love the first one though - it's a bona fide classic revenge movie. With car chases.

d.

[Jaded]

Severance, on last night.

Loopy plot and good knifework.

[Psychler]

just watched "Flame and Citron", just about to do "Guns of Navarone".  I've got "Das Boot" and "Downfall" for afterwards [thanks Sky Plus] if insomnia really kicks in.

Strangely, having been an avid war film fan for ever, I've never watched "Guns..."

ps  No work tonight....  snowed in.....  well enough not to work anyway.....  and the wine rack is over stocked

[Psychler]

....... and "The Colditz Story" is on tomorrow morning [11 am, Film 4]

[citoyen]

It's A Wonderful Life.

I was going to go to bed but I started watching and couldn't tear myself away. Doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, it always gets me.

d.

[Dinamo]

HeartBreaker

A choice of Mrs Dinamo, after she'd seen a preview on BBC Breakfast.
I wasn't that optimistic but was pleasantly surprised.
A very funny film, starring Vanessa Paradis.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Tron legacy

The 3d doesn't add anything to the film, but is decent.

Some good performances. Story is right - it follows on well from the first film. Nothing special, tho'

[Clandy]

Tron legacy

The 3d doesn't add anything to the film, but is decent.

Some good performances. Story is right - it follows on well from the first film. Nothing special, tho'

Also saw this Friday night. For me it was well worth the 28 year wait. I thought it added to the original story filling out the 'what Flynn did next' question, and also created a setting for sequels and possibly a TV series with the isomorph plotline.

I found the much vaunted 3D a major disappointment. If this is what 3D is like then why bother? Mostly it felt like looking at a pop-up book with layers of 2D one behind the other. Very poor.

As for the cinema itself, what an appalling experience. Our showing (Southend Odeon) was on the second floor, not a problem until you discover you have to go all the way back to the ground floor for any refreshments etc. because the kiosk on the 2nd floor is closed. We booked 'Premier' seats. 'Premier'? The only difference from standard seating was they were a couple of inches wider than normal with a higher back. They were still rock bloody hard, too upright and uncomfortable as hell.

 I am no longer surprised that cinema is losing its audience.

[mrcharly-YHT]

You should try a cinema with THX certification. This guarantees decent seating (as well as sound and vision) - the Picturehouse in York is brill. A 2year old can see clearly over a 6footer in front of them.

[Jaded]

I am no longer surprised that cinema is losing its audience.

Except it isn't.

"In the nine years from 2000, cinema admissions have averaged 162.3m a year, up from 119.2m in the 1990s and just 77.5m in the 1980s.Despite the upward trend there are signs that growth is stagnating, with 2002 still the best year in modern times."

Report from last year.

[Clandy]

I am no longer surprised that cinema is losing its audience.

Except it isn't.

"In the nine years from 2000, cinema admissions have averaged 162.3m a year, up from 119.2m in the 1990s and just 77.5m in the 1980s.Despite the upward trend there are signs that growth is stagnating, with 2002 still the best year in modern times."

Report from last year.

I'm just going by what I saw, maybe twenty people in our auditorium, and no more than that emerging from others while we were in the lobby.

Rip-off refreshment prices, seats that left me with backache, overhyped 3D. That was the biggest disappointment, the 3D was piss poor, not just in the main feature, but through the entire evening. It has made my mind up that buying a 3D television would be a complete waste of money.

Going by my experience on Friday it will take something seriously special to get me in a cinema again anytime soon. Especially when I can wait for the DVD/Blu-ray, sit in a comfortable chair at home, and eat and drink without being bled dry.

[Jaded]

In my very limited access of cinemas over the last few years I think I've noticed that old, uncomfortable. badly equipped cinemas fare worse than more modern ones.

This could just be because in a crappy cinema the lack of proper bass, the wobbly seats and poor viewing angles etc. make it look less used.

[Clandy]

In my very limited access of cinemas over the last few years I think I've noticed that old, uncomfortable. badly equipped cinemas fare worse than more modern ones.

This could just be because in a crappy cinema the lack of proper bass, the wobbly seats and poor viewing angles etc. make it look less used.

The Southend Odeon is a relatively new multiplex.

[Jaded]

Southend (like all coastal locations) only has half a catchment area, a fact quite often overlooked by the people planning these things, who may fail by only looking at populations.

[Flying_Monkey]

My last experience of a UK multiplex cinema was pretty much the same as Clandy's.

On the other hand, my favourite city centre art cinema in Newcastle, the Tyneside (which I really miss now I have moved away), reopened last year after expanding its number of screens. It runs an excellent and massively varied program which still manages to be popular, it's comfortable and has two proper bars as well as possibly the best cinema cafe in Britain.

The difference between the two experiences couldn't be greater. On the one hand you have overhyped, overloud, overpriced forced entertainment, and on the other, something actually worthwhile.