What was the last film you watched?

[tonycollinet]

Just been out to see 127 Hours.

IMO Brilliantly executed film. One of the best I've seen in ages.

And the sight of a whole cinema curling up in their seats in agony (including me) and watching through fingers at "the" moment was sort of amusing.

[Flying_Monkey]

The Green Mile. Sublime.

I presume you are joking... aren't you?

[Ray 6701]

Lonesome Jim on bbc 2 & quite good it was too 

[Clandy]

The Green Mile. Sublime.

I presume you are joking... aren't you?

No, I'm not. In my opinion The Green Mile is an absolutely superb film.

[itsbruce]

Spirited Away.  I've seen it half a dozen times by now, but somebody else had never seen it.  Never going to object to watching it, though; if you've ever seen it, you'll know why.

[pcolbeck]

I prefer My Fiend Totoro.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I'm watching Grease just now.

[her_welshness]

I'm watching Grease just now.

The husband won't let me watch it 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Tell him the days of husbands owing wives are over and you can watch it if you like, and while you're watching it, he should make you a cup of tea. 

They've just done Beauty School Drop-out and now it's an ad break.

[Clandy]

I'm watching Grease just now.

That reminds me, think I'll watch Saturday Night Fever tonight.

[Bledlow]

The King's Speech.

Mrs B wanted to watch from professional interest. I liked it. Colin Firth was good. I'm not sure about the casting of Timothy Spall, though.

[Chris S]

The Green Mile. Sublime.

I presume you are joking... aren't you?

No, I'm not. In my opinion The Green Mile is an absolutely superb film.

I agree. Cracking movie. Makes me cry when I'm drunk.

[itsbruce]

I prefer My Fiend Totoro.

Does he take you to see good films, then?

The Green Mile. Sublime.

I presume you are joking... aren't you?

No, I'm not. In my opinion The Green Mile is an absolutely superb film.

I agree. Cracking movie. Makes me cry when I'm drunk.

I'm with Flying Monkey on this one; Green Mile is simplistic, sentimental mush.  It's not just that it is as emotionally manipulative as any of Spielberg or Capra's drippiest output; it's the kind of film which pretends to address serious issues (racism, capital punishment) but which is actually so synthetic and dishonestly comforting (e.g. only one of the prison guards is racist and violent, while the rest are all noble and kind) that it reassures the uncritical viewer into feeling that the problems aren't really that hard and are already being tackled by reasonable people.

[Chris S]

I prefer My Fiend Totoro.

Does he take you to see good films, then?

The Green Mile. Sublime.

I presume you are joking... aren't you?

No, I'm not. In my opinion The Green Mile is an absolutely superb film.

I agree. Cracking movie. Makes me cry when I'm drunk.

I'm with Flying Monkey on this one; Green Mile is simplistic, sentimental mush.  It's not just that it is as emotionally manipulative as any of Spielberg or Capra's drippiest output; it's the kind of film which pretends to address serious issues (racism, capital punishment) but which is actually so synthetic and dishonestly comforting (e.g. only one of the prison guards is racist and violent, while the rest are all noble and kind) that it reassures the uncritical viewer into feeling that the problems aren't really that hard and are already being tackled by reasonable people.

Goodness me - I never got any of that. I thought it was a film about how we (people) sometimes miss the obvious and throw away something that's fundamentally good. Ah well... 

[noisycrank]

Kick Ass - what it says on the tin.

[her_welshness]

Kick Ass - what it says on the tin.

Indeed 

The husband and I are watching 'The Hunt for Red October'. The husband is claiming that its the extended version. I think he is making it up.

[Clandy]

I prefer My Fiend Totoro.

Does he take you to see good films, then?

The Green Mile. Sublime.

I presume you are joking... aren't you?

No, I'm not. In my opinion The Green Mile is an absolutely superb film.

I agree. Cracking movie. Makes me cry when I'm drunk.

I'm with Flying Monkey on this one; Green Mile is simplistic, sentimental mush.  It's not just that it is as emotionally manipulative as any of Spielberg or Capra's drippiest output; it's the kind of film which pretends to address serious issues (racism, capital punishment) but which is actually so synthetic and dishonestly comforting (e.g. only one of the prison guards is racist and violent, while the rest are all noble and kind) that it reassures the uncritical viewer into feeling that the problems aren't really that hard and are already being tackled by reasonable people.

If the film was about those problems I would agree, but it isn't, it's a fantasy based in a fictional thirties death row. If you wanted a hard hitting anti-racism/capital punishment film perhaps you should have found a documentary to watch. I maintain it is a superb film which achieves perfectly what it sets out to do: entertain.

[itsbruce]

If the film was about those problems I would agree, but it isn't, it's a fantasy based in a fictional thirties death row. If you wanted a hard hitting anti-racism/capital punishment film perhaps you should have found a documentary to watch. I maintain it is a superb film which achieves perfectly what it sets out to do: entertain.

I disagree with you about the first part; I don't think it's so easy to disassociate the trivial purpose of the film from from it's subject matter.  But even if I agreed with you on that, I wouldn't bother with you because of my first criticism of the film; that it is emotionally manipulative rather than creating worthwhile characters or plot which can genuinely engage your real emotions.  This is something a fantasy can do - something that Spirited Away, mentioned earlier, certainly does.  Green Mile is schlock.

[Clandy]

If the film was about those problems I would agree, but it isn't, it's a fantasy based in a fictional thirties death row. If you wanted a hard hitting anti-racism/capital punishment film perhaps you should have found a documentary to watch. I maintain it is a superb film which achieves perfectly what it sets out to do: entertain.

I disagree with you about the first part; I don't think it's so easy to disassociate the trivial purpose of the film from from it's subject matter.  But even if I agreed with you on that, I wouldn't bother with you because of my first criticism of the film; that it is emotionally manipulative rather than creating worthwhile characters or plot which can genuinely engage your real emotions.  This is something a fantasy can do - something that Spirited Away, mentioned earlier, certainly does.  Green Mile is schlock.

In your opinion. In my opinion it is an extremely good film that accomplishes its purpose: to entertain. The mark of a good film is it is over too soon. The Green Mile is over three hours long, but it feels much shorter.

As for Spirited Away, a cartoon? Be serious.

[Flying_Monkey]

As for Spirited Away, a cartoon? Be serious.

And with that you lost all credibility as a film critic... 

Seriously though, do you really think that animation can't produce films that are beautiful and worthwhile? Have you seen Waltz with Bashir, Persepolis, or Grave of the Fireflies? And those are just three examples. The latter, by the way, was also produced by Japanese outfit, Studio Ghibli, who did Spirited Away. It is one of the best war films ever made. The Japanese don't have the same cultural prejudice against 'cartoons'...

[Clandy]

Well I find the unrequited friendship between Squidward and Patrick and Spongebob quite moving...

[Mr Larrington]

Hot Fuzz.  It helps to watch while relatively sober so you can get the references and notice that there are two sergeants played by Bill Bailey.

[mrcharly-YHT]

'Immortal' by Enki Bilal

Visually and conceptually stunning. Amazing mix of live action and animation. Every single frame of the film is a work of art.

[itsbruce]

As for Spirited Away, a cartoon? Be serious.

You called Green Mile a fantasy, so I compared it to another one.  Green Mile doesn't show a fraction of the imagination, narrative skill, emotional honesty or respect for the intelligence of its audience.  What it does do, in spades, is ttreat its audience as emotional simpletons.

[Chris S]

As for Spirited Away, a cartoon? Be serious.

You called Green Mile a fantasy, so I compared it to another one.  Green Mile doesn't show a fraction of the imagination, narrative skill, emotional honesty or respect for the intelligence of its audience.  What it does do, in spades, is ttreat its audience as emotional simpletons.

Ah well... I like it.

Yours
An emotional simpleton