What was the last film you watched?

[Andrew]

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.

I'd agree with that whole heartedly.

One reviewer I read suggested that the Coens liked to keep everyone on their toes. They'd make a box office hit and then, with almost a perverse wantonness, do something more quirky or off-beat.  I'd prefer not to think it's that contrived, and that they work in fashion that keeps them fresh, interested and motivated.

I don't feel they want to proof anything to anyone. I find their movies, generally speaking, to be ego free (unlike some directors). Honest, self-contained units that are well crafted and stay with the limits they set themselves. That, for mei, is a 'good' movie.

It's just that sometimes they don't work for me. Particularly when it comes to gore or violence, but also when things get just a bit too silly (I've never really got farce - it's too obvious, which I know it's meant to be!)

[mattc]

Their films are quite hard to pigeon-hole even individually! I really like gore+violence in the right places (e.g. Reservoir Dogs ... but not Kill Bill. IMO!). I don't even think of Country For Old Men as a violent film, but the brief violent moments are critical to the feel of the thing.

Is 'O Brother ... ' a musical? Surely not, I really hate musicals 

For me the most overlooked one is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Wasn%27t_There_(2001_film)
A real quiet, not much happens movie - very difficult to do well. (Has Billy Bowb ever been in a bad film? Perhaps I shouldn't ask ... )

Looking at wiki, it's mainly the early ones that didn't really work for me, like Barton Fink. Until Fargo in 1996. Would it be fair to say that they played a bit too safe/conventional early on?

Burn After Reading was patchy, but you have to like anyone getting Brad Pitt to play such a massive dork!

[Jakob]

"Space Dive". Documentary about Red Bulls/Felx Baumgartners record breaking dive.

It's makes it very clear why Baumgartner has no intentions to do it again, as he was scared shitless!. Really amazed that Red Bull didn't pull the plug on this or at least got someone else to do the jump, as he was quite clearly not the right person for it.

Also some nice insights in how upper management can completely screw over a project .
It's on Netflix here in Canuckistan and is well worth watching.

[fuzzy]

Lost Boys. Proper 1980's frommage with vampires

" Look at your reflection in the mirror. You're a creature of the night Michael, just like out of a comic book! You're a vampire Michael! My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy! "   

[Jakob]

Lost Boys. Proper 1980's frommage with vampires

" Look at your reflection in the mirror. You're a creature of the night Michael, just like out of a comic book! You're a vampire Michael! My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy! "   

Soo many good quotes:

    [Sam shoots an arrow at Dwayne, and misses.]
    Dwayne: You missed, sucker.
    Sam: Only once, pal.
    [Sam shoots again, pinning Dwayne against the stereo making parts of him explode while being electrocuted]
    Sam: Death by stereo!

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Lost_Boys

[spindrift]

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

How to take a not-bad book and balls it up, the romance element was probably unfilmable but this was really awful, the arab character conforms to one of two ways arabs are portrayed in Hollywood films, they are either shooty and explodey or mystical and wise (Morgan Freeman in Robin Hood). This character's given to staring into the middle distance and muttering "We must have faith". There's a lot of that. Not even Emily Blunt could save this, there's a scene where she totters around on absurd high heels at the office like Gwyneth in Iron Man 2, she looks like two dwarfs trying to bunk the cinema in a long rain coat, total rubbish.

[interzen]

Ghostbusters

Seemed like the thing to do¹ and even *mumble* years on I still love it.

¹ - For those who didn't know, Harold Ramis died yesterday.

[geoff]

Bunch 'o films in forrin:

Even the Rain - this was lovely, striking, strongly political...and to my utter astonishment pretty closely based on real recent events.

Nostalgia for the Light - a stunning conceit, really: beautiful photography put to a bleak purpose. One of our party walked midway muttering "I don't know what this is about at all!". Which was odd, given that the interviewees kept on explaining the central idea, albeit from a number of angles.

A Separation - much said about this here already ISTR, but I was really surprised at how funny I found the film, especially given how dour I had expected it to be. As mostly, the women had the power, even in such a patriarchal society. I loved the depictions of bureaucracy and the great playing by everyone in view plus the insights into how normal and humane the lives depicted are.

[Jakob]

"42", the story of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in MLB.
Decent enough, but maybe tries too hard not to offend anyone.

[fuzzy]

Gravity.

Now, I am a Child of Apollo, growing up with the space race and the moon landings. As a scruffy, sticky, mud spattered worm eating sprog, I dreamed of being Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Harrison Scmidt and the like. Oh to be an astronaut. Space films are my bag.

Gravity? Fantastic visual effects and I wish I had seen it at a 3D IMAX but, storyline and credibility? Nah.

[Woofage]

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.

I saw this a few months back. Recommended.

[Woofage]

Kings of Summer

An American coming of age type film but apart from the inevitable cheese it's hilarious.

[L CC]

Frozen.

See also 'earworm' thread.

[spindrift]

Remembrance.

Slow-paced, well acted WW2 drama, Polish POW dresses up as a German soldier and smuggles his Jewish girlfriend out of a prison camp. Very moving, but the whole time I was thinking "This is so far-fetched, it's just not credible".

Turns out it was a true story:

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/20100724-poland.ece

(click to show/hide)

That breaks your heart, they both assumed the other was dead, then thirty years later she sees him being interviewed on US tv. She has a life, a husband (Sledge Hammer!) and children, and she nearly goes back to him.

[fuzzy]

I finished Sunday evening watching the last 3/4 of Erin Brokovich on TV.

I love this film but don't really know why.

Some of it is to do with the David v Goliath element of the story.

Another is that it is full of absolutely cracking quotes-

Theresa Dallavale: Okay, look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here...
Erin Brockovich: That's all you got, lady. Two wrong feet in fucking ugly shoes.

Kurt Potter: Wha... how did you do this?
Erin Brockovich: Well, um, seeing as how I have no brains or legal expertise, and Ed here was losing all faith in the system, am I right?
Ed Masry: Oh, yeah, completely. No faith, no faith...
Erin Brockovich: I just went out there and performed sexual favors. Six hundred and thirty-four blow jobs in five days... I'm really quite tired.


Also, Julia Roberts is absoulutley fantastic as Erin and the Brokovich/ Masry (Albert Finney) interaction is sooooooo good.

[BrianI]

Gravity (on blu-ray)    

[tiermat]

Gravity (on blu-ray)   

I liked it.  I am normal a real film pedant, but the story in Gravity got me so much I could overlook the stupid bits Like: <Spoiler alert>

(click to show/hide)

(one that springs to mind is her opening the side hatch when the capsule lands in the lake, rather than the one at the back, which was above water!)

[woollypigs]

Well that was a nice little spoiler Now I don't need to go and see the master work my mate did to the movie, sadly he wasn't invited to the Oscars but he is on the list of people who made it.

[tiermat]

You are right, Wooly, I have now modified my post.

[spindrift]

Sandra Bullock got $20m for Gravity, and a share of the box office, so far she's made $70m, the Oscars will be a pretty good boost too. She got $20 for Miss Congeniality 2 and that was 9 years ago when $20m was a lot of money. I heart her:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/BcLeid8g3MU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/BcLeid8g3MU&rel=1</a>

[L CC]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The Daniel Craig version. I only listened, mind, as I was a) still a bit blind and b) playing onna tablet at the same time.

I've read listened to the book. That was better, but takes (much) longer.

[Dibdib]

Re-watched Source Code last night. Meh. It's not as good the second time around.

[Kim]

Airline Disaster

Surprisingly watchable for an Asylum film whose most outlandish plot device, rather than the usual implausible monsters or comedy plate tectonics, was that they'd let an ex-con who'd changed his name to Carl Hitler on a plane without any security checks.  Just the right mix of silly writing, wobbly sets and ham acting - and they got the pace right with this one.

Bonus points for having a female president with a same-sex partner and not making a plot point of it.  I suspect they put that line in entirely to hang a lampshade on the actor's lesbian hair.

[Wascally Weasel]

Re-watched Source Code last night. Meh. It's not as good the second time around.

It was for me!

[Pickled Onion]

Filth

And it was, in many senses of the word.