What was the last film you watched?

[citoyen]

Amy

What an experience, watching that film.  I remember the first time I saw Amy Winehouse perform on TV, and she really did make you stop what you were doing.  She had a mesmerising, stand-out talent.

Saw this last night. Not exactly enjoyable viewing but a fine celebration of her extraordinary talent. Probably the most gifted British singer-songwriter, male or female, since Kate Bush.

When she died, I was shocked to discover she was only 27 - I'd assumed she had to be somewhat older. Her lyrics, music and vocals always seemed far too 'lived in' for her age.

Always got the feeling her dad was a bit of a plonker but the film is really scathing of his role in her downfall - while remaining balanced and fair about the positive contributions he made to her life.

Blake comes out of it worst - he seems to be an even bigger scumbag than I realised, and yet quite tragic in his own way too.

The complexities of the story, the lack of simple black and white truths, make it all the more harrowing.

[Ruthie]

Amy

What an experience, watching that film.  I remember the first time I saw Amy Winehouse perform on TV, and she really did make you stop what you were doing.  She had a mesmerising, stand-out talent.

Saw this last night. Not exactly enjoyable viewing but a fine celebration of her extraordinary talent...

The complexities of the story, the lack of simple black and white truths, make it all the more harrowing.

Yeah, that.  When you can just demonise someone and dismiss them as weak or bad it's much easier isn't it? 

[Andrew]

Predestination.

I don't know where to start with this, other than that I think everyone should watch it as it's going to be a cult classic. It's a time travel film with Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snooke and well it's just amazing.

Check it out.

Very enjoyable indeed, thanks for the recommendation 

I love the mind warp that comes with watching time travel films!

[Ruthie]

Tracks. A woman walks from Alice Springs to the Indian  Ocean with four camels, and doesn't need a man. Quirky, beautiful and enthralling.

Yes.  It was strange.  But she's a a strange woman. Not all neatly tried up at the end like 'Wild' but none the worse for that.

It doesn't make me want to go to the deserts of Australia.  Nope.

[LEE]

When she died, I was shocked to discover she was only 27

Re. Amy Winehouse.

27 is the age Rock/Pop stars die.  She's part of the infamous "27 Club".

[hillbilly]

Grand Budapest Hotel

Cookie cutter Wes Anderson.  I like his style but it just hasn't evolved a great deal; the names change but the tone and the pace is uniform.  Slightly disappointed, even if the story had the usual whimsical charm.  I say this with a heavy heart as I'm a fan

[Andrew]

27 is the age Rock/Pop stars die.  She's part of the infamous "27 Club".

meh... as I believe is said.

There's probably a 52 club as well.

[IanDG]

I watched 'American Werewolf in London' (again) inspired by the recent blue moon.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

The Angel's Share.

Liked it.

[Andrew]

No, Amy is not a comfortable watch. At times, almost reality TV voyeuristic. In fairness though what else could it be? As a documentary, it's very well made. Splicing together available footage and testimony to chronicle a story sensitively. And, as mentioned upstream, it steers clear of simplistic narrative. That said, both dad and Blake are cast as villains. I felt it was perhaps 20 to 30 minutes too long but that could be because I felt it was such a harrowing watch.

Two things struck me; how could it be that someone can so blatantly scream 'help me' (just listen to the lyrics and do the math) be ignored and, what a fabulous jazz singer she was. I knew little of her (except from the headlines) at the time and it genuinely surprised me to discover what a natural talent she had. She would have been so much more at home in small, intimate jazz venues than stadiums. She really with would have been a jazz great, as Tony Bennett said.

[ian]

In the big list of Stuff Ian Doesn't Get But Everyone Else Does, Amy Winehouse features highly. A couple of semi-decent pop songs and albums that middle-class people put on during dinner parties. Unless they're me, in which case they're asked 'not to put on any more of the miserable goth shit'. Just because it has yet to feature in a Waitrose magazine. Probably.

[redshift]

In the big list of Stuff Ian Doesn't Get But Everyone Else Does, Amy Winehouse features highly.

I'm so glad it's not just me.

[mattc]

...
 what a fabulous jazz singer she was. I knew little of her (except from the headlines) at the time and it genuinely surprised me to discover what a natural talent she had. She would have been so much more at home in small, intimate jazz venues than stadiums. She really with would have been a jazz great, as Tony Bennett said.

<ponders>
If her dad had owned a jazz club [just as a random example] she might have done better in the long-term, and had a long - if less explosive - happy life and career.

But would you she have written/recorded such cracking tunes without that more modern/urban/wotever culture she came up through?

[Andrew]

In the big list of Stuff Ian Doesn't Get But Everyone Else Does, Amy Winehouse features highly.

I'm so glad it's not just me.

Must admit, I pretty much thought the same. Mainly because I'd only heard a couple of tracks on the radio; like 'Rehab' which is, imho, pretty much standard radio fodder. I think the 'Back To Black' album was a turning point, in more ways than one (see the film for further explanation).

When you see footage of Amy performing as a jazz singer, which was where her heart and soul were, she was one helluva talent. When I say she's up there with the greats, I'm really not exaggerating.

I had problems with her image, even with the diction (note, not addiction, diction). I thought she was a lazy singer. As soon as I put all those ideas aside then I saw someone else entirely. No, I stand by revised opinion, she had a huge talent.     

<ponders>
If her dad had owned a jazz club [just as a random example] she might have done better in the long-term, and had a long - if less explosive - happy life and career.

We'll never know but I certainly share your ponder.

[Pickled Onion]

Kingsman

A lot of fun. Totally silly but an enjoyable watch, despite the OTT violence.

If I Stay

This had potential to be quite good, but it turned out to be fairly poor and dragged on interminably. With the out-of-body scenes, there are two possibilities: (a) keep it realistic, i.e. this is what she is imagining while in a coma and piecing together from what she might hear; or (b) go the full paranormal thing, explore different futures, etc. This film did neither, just had her wandering around the hospital without being able to open doors.

[hillbilly]

Big Lebowski

Ha haha ha ha ha.  Brilliant, man.

Not watched this for an age.  It is a classic

[tiermat]

Big Lebowski

Ha haha ha ha ha.  Brilliant, man.

Not watched this for an age.  It is a classic

One of a very small number of films I can watch again and again. John Goodman's character is brilliant.

[Andrew]

I think I'm one of the few people that didn't like The Big Lebowski. Odd, because I otherwise like the Cohen brothers' films.

I tonight watched Crash, motivated by director Paul Haggis's recent confession. It is a well made movie, moving from simplistic to less so. One of the most stridently singled themed (racism) movie I've seen, I'm still undecided about it's message. Despite some good work during the film, a final scene does risk trivialising it.

[citoyen]

I could watch The Big Lebowski any time. I could probably recite large chunks of the script. But I think it's a long way from being the Coens' best film. It's just very easy to watch. And perennially funny.

[Jakob]

She would have been so much more at home in small, intimate jazz venues than stadiums. She really with would have been a jazz great, as Tony Bennett said.

As much as I love jazz, it's also very conservative. I think she would have had a very hard time fitting and expressing her self to the same extent that pop allowed her to do.

[Dibdib]

Kristian House's stem cap. It just really ties the bike together. I need to get myself one of these someday.

The last few days I've been getting into Studio Ghibli movies - in the last week or so I've watched My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. I'm a little bit in love with all of them, but especially Totoro.

[Kim]

I want to re-watch Kiki's Delivery Service now.  For the cats^[1].


_{[1] The English dub^[2] is a particularly fine work of Stan on this one, where they give Jiji inappropriate dialogue for scenes that were originally communicated entirely in cat body language.
[2] I think I was watching it with a dyslexic friend or something.  Normally I'd stick to subs.}

[Jaded]

The Sting.

Simple fun.

[redshift]

In no particular order over the last few weeks:
Yojimbo
The Hidden Fortress
Seven Samurai
Sanjuro

Toshiro Mifune had a physical presence which is a joy to watch.  And it's unbelievable that Seiji Miyaguchi had never used a sword before Seven Samurai.

[sg37409]

The Sting.

Simple fun.

Long time favourite.  1st time I saw it I thought it was very complex