Watched Donnie Brasco last night and I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not. Too many plot holes (for a true story) and one of the most incongruous soundtracks I've ever heard.
Plus I found Anne Heche attractive. All in all an uncomfortable experience.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Watched the 1997 Italian movie 'Life is Beautiful' yesterday and really enjoyed it. It's slapstick-heavy and a lot of fun. There's a perception of slapstick comedy as archaic, juvenile and unsophisticated, and it's perhaps a genre I've neglected, but this was very clever and well put together. In basing the narrative around the Holocaust, the subject matter turned somewhat darker in the second half of the film but, ultimately, the humour shines through to provide an uplifting, heart-warming and endearing tale of human hope and spirit against the odds. That's not to suggest that light work was made of an issue as serious as the Holocaust either. Some critics found fault in the film for this, but I fear they missed the point.
Made a change from 'Come and See'; a 1985 Belarusian war classic I also watched recently. It was devastatingly a brutal and utterly heart-wrenching story about the treatment of Belarusian villages at the hands of Nazi troops during World War II. Well worth a watch though.
The Watch - I like Ben Stiller, he's never above taking the p out of himself and with a father who can act him off the screen he has to be good. I liked him more after Extras and in this movie he just makes fun of his character while also being funny. Vince Vaughan is good, funny and you like him just because he's kind of a party guy who works hard. Richard Ayoade is like he is always, but funny with the rest of the cast. Especially his very last scene in the movie which is as far removed from the IT Crowd than anything else. Noah Hill redeems himself (though he was good in Moneyball) and breaks a little from his normal jewish typecast of overweight loser. Actually some of his lines in this are just downright killer. Good movie, some nice twists and good lines. Worth a look and 2nd one too. 7/10
To stave off divorce I suggested skipping going to any sports (active or working) this Sunday to treat herself to a movie. I asked her what she wanted to see, and she came up with The Expendables 2. I mean, how unlucky can a guy be, she's cool enough to want to watch the movie, but I lasted half an hour of the first one before switching it off (even after enjoying parts of it) but a new one, with Chuck "Mahogany" Norris, oh god. I'm looking to see if there's a chick flick on.
I like Jonah Hill. Great comic actor and can pull off serious acting too. Have you seen 21 Jump Street? He's hilarious in that, as is Channing Tatum.
Saw "Bernie" last night. Funny! True! Story about a popular funeral director (jack Black) in a small town who gets involved deeply with a wealthy widow hated by the rest of the community in Texas... I won't say too much more so as not to spoil it but it's worth a watch. 7/10...
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Agree with you SKStu, he's a funny guy, in Moneyball he was solid, playing the straight guy to Pitt's kooky funny one, but he can do big roles. I'd kind of like to see him in a WWII movie, after watching him in this one I'd say (with his new decent fitness) he'd be good.
Expendables 2 - what can you say about a movie where within the first 5 minutes you want to get up and leave. It is beyond me why many movies (I really noticed it with the last Rambo effort) seem to have blood spurting from shots, bodies mangles and parts flying all over the place. Now I do understand that for many of the younger generation who would think a C-64 to be some type of airplane on a simulator, but if the best part of a movie is soaked in blood just to make it exciting, I don't know, but you have to think again. There are some very good moments in the movie, Chuck Norris makes a great entry, Arnie is funny as ever, Bruce Willis is the only one of the Willis-Arnie-Sly-Norris quartet (and throw in Jean Claude) who hasn't had substantial plastic surgery and looks the best of all. Jason Statham is better than this but he picks up a cheque. Charisma Carpenter (she used to be hot) looks beat down in this, for the minute she's in it. It's all a bit far fetched, though it's well set for 3rd and 4th episodes. The lads are having the craic in it and making fun of themselves and of the movie business. Jet Li is good, for the brief time he's in it, and there are some mad scenes. Worth a look if you've had a few pints or just to waste an evening.
Dark Days - documentary about homeless people living in underground tunnels in New York. Interesting to see how people survive living in such conditions and how they got there. One man had a particularly harrowing story about his child. 8/10
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead - Surprisingly enjoyable B movie about a fried chicken restaurant that is built on an ancient Indian burial ground which results in gory madness!! 7/10
Jackpot written by Jo Nesbo.
Never read any of his books (comparisons with Stig Larsson, had enough grim recently), but if they're anything like this I might have to look for one. Thriller/farce of an incredibly - laugh out loud - black comedy.
Watch it.
Seemed to star Marlon form Emmerdale, though that could have been just me.
Watched the recent (2011) remake of The Firm - hard to match the original classic with the excellent and vicious Gary Oldman, but it did a very good job, and the young fella in it was one to follow for the future. Good 80's soundtrack.
In prep for Sam Rami's new horror (about possession) -Watched The Rite - "based on the true story" of an American priest who goes to Rome to study the secrets of excorisms. Absolute rubbish, silly and gave up on the movie with 20 minutes to go. Acting was good though - Cirian Hind, Anthony Hopkins and a young irish actor C O Donoghue
Rented "Kill list" last night decent show about two hitmen first job after a badly botched one. Decent shoe but the ending is a bit odd
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Nesbo is a far better writer than Larsson (the Milennium trilogy could have had 300-400 pages edited out of it to make it a far tighter read) and he builds suspense without Larsson's levels of sometimes OTT violence. His Harry Hole character is like a Norwegian John Rebus: enough violence to make it a thriller (much of it understated), and with enough humour and decent characterisation to work as a good read.Originally Posted by A N Mouse
I must watch out for that film - the Harry Hole novels would work well on screen too.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Have read "The Redbreast"(which I really enjoyed) and have "Nemises" on my next to read list. Which is the 1st Harry Hole book?
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I really like Jo Nesbo, the first few books in the Harry Hole series haven't been translated into English, I think the first one chronologically is the Redbreast.
If you get the chance, read the Headhunters. I've nothing against the "Gritty Cop with personal problems held together by a need to Do The Job" genre, but I found the main character in Headhunters much more interesting and fresh.
And I saw the Expendables 2 last night. It was absolute poop, and yet just ridiculous and self-aware enough (I think) to be enjoyable. They knew they were making something utterly stupid, there's not way it's not supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek bit of fun, right?!
Watched The Possession and Total Recall over the weekend. Both enjoyable enough without being particularly memorable.
The Possession is a bit of a slow burning horror, some of the editing in the early part of the film irritated me, one scene was completely out of sequence and it really jarred the whole suspended disbelief. It was a grower though, more of a chiller than a slasher with little in the way of blood and guts, much more about setting a tone and atmosphere and it works for the most part. A solid enough 6/10.
Total Recall was good fun. I can't remember much about the original so couldn't really compare, but this one held my interest for the two hours without offering any real wow factor (maybe Bekinsale in her pants). Another 6/10 popcorn cruncher.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Tallaght Stadium Regular
On the basis of what's been said here I did some looking and it seems the first one should be available in October.
Redbreast is the third, and the second one, cockroaches, remains untranslated.
Are the Doctor Procter books for kids? sound much more like my reading level.
Yeah was wondering as I read redbreast & it refereed a few times to previous cases. Thanks for the info
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The Bourne Legacy - I went in figuring that this would be (from reading the reports and build up) a parallel Bourne story and explanation of what was going on around the whole experiment. The action was good (but not as interesting as under the last Director), the plot was a little jumpy and Jeremy Renner was okay, if even more facially lifeless than Matt Damon. Rachel Weisz is no Franka Potente, but she's still hot. Edward Norton was underused in it, Stacy Keach was okay and the movie seemed over long at 2 hours. I don't rate Jeremy Renner too highly as an actor after this, I'd only seen him as Dahmer and in 28 Days later, but while they want to make a bigger series as they've done with the original Ludlum book, it just doesn't work. 2/10
Watched 3 films in the last week (new) as the weather here has closed in around us so the cinema is better than having to face sky league football on tv.
The Expatriate - With Aaron Eckhardt and a young lassy I'd seen before but whose name escapes me, Liana something. Good moving, good action, decent story if a little bit formulaic. Eckhardt is hard to take serious after his excellent turn in Frasier, but he's an good actor, looks the part and can play tough and kind at once. It's set in Belgium and involves a security expert who was once a CIA assassin who is now looking after his daughter (ex-wife has died). The conspiracy part is actually quite good, the action interesting and you kind of know what'll happen at the end. The massive downer was the awful Olga Kurylenko, there must be a casting couch with her name on it as I do not know why or how she gets roles on talent. Her accent is hilarious in it, just think Sean Connery in Red October (except he didn't give a damn and was funny) or Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson, or Colin Farrell when they just give up on accents. 5/10 (worth a look the one time)
The Campaign - Will Ferrell, Zach Galifakanis (spelled that wrong but how and ever) and Dylan McDermott. Opens well, some really funny set pieces (truth telling at the table is just shockingly funny). I heard a review on Newstalk and it was rubbished, but it's just normal Will and Zach, with Dan Akroyd and John Lithgow thrown in. It's funny at times and very funny at other times. I think the only thing missing was continuity. There are some real swipes at elections (so-called democratic ones) and the sex tape was brilliantly horrible. 6/10 (will make you laugh)
Orda (The Horde) - A new movie and supposedly factual about the patriarch of Russia, Alexius, cured the mother of the Horde's leader from blindness. I had the misfortune to have a trip to where they were filming and find my flight back home "overbooked" which cost me a day and a headache with her indoors. But since she wanted to see this movie I think I'm back in the good books, a year on. It's sweeping, strong colours, lots of magic and mystery, brutality and conniving - kind of like Russia today really. It should get a release and with subtitles (or dubbing) it's worth a look. Some good acting in it and the budget meant that there is nothing left to chance. 3/10 (to see how good christianity wins out over bad paganism)
Indie Game: The Movie
a documentary on the development of three independently produced (as in outside of the major game studios) games for Xbox Live Arcade - Fez, Super Meat Boy and Braid. It's not very technical, more about the impact of working under these conditions has on the personal lives of the devlopers. I'd definitely recommend watching it, even if you're not a fan of gaming.
Available to download , DRM free, for $10 at the website - http://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/
Argo - Caught it in a "sneak preview" showing and really enjoyed it. Very well made movie, the hand of George Clooney all over it and Ben Affleck did a very good job. He played a damaged individual who is looking to do the good deed to get home. Based on a true story (hostage rescue in Iran) it didn't show the USA in a very good light and yet showed that there was genuinely decent people trying their best. Canada comes off well (as it should) and there was a real thread of humanity running through it. Funny in parts, some cracking one liners, Alan Arkin was funny, John Goodman cracked a few nice lines while the father from Malcolm in the Middle was very solid, not great but solid.
Affleck won't win an oscar for this, nor get nominated (probably) but deserves a nod for the work he and Clooney did off camera. Didn't feel the time pass and the ending was gently thrilling. 7/10
"Headhunters"-Norwegian film about recruitment guy (hence film title) who has an interesting sideline of stealing paintings from prospective clients and employees after finding out they're not going to be at home who takes on a job which ends up with his life turned upside down as the person he plans to rob is no mug.
Really good acting and highly recommended 8.5/10.
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