movie recommendations

[fragger]

Agree, great movie, must watch again soon :-X Funny to see Tom Hanks as a mobster. That was a bit of a departure for him, he usually plays Mr. Nice Guy.

[Art Blade]

Indeed.. been a while. However, all I need to do is to walk over to my film collection, grab it and slap it into my player to watch it  :-()

Yesterday I watched a film on BR that I found in the bargain bin (only 5.--€ for a BR  ??? :) ) which is called [imdb]Valhalla Rising[/imdb], a Danish/UK production with Mads Mikkelsen (you may have seen him as a bad guy in Bond "Casino Royale" but he was MUCH better in Adams Äpplen).

The film Valhalla Rising is different from most films. It is basically a Viking tale told by showing six chapters that all have their own headline (Part I Wrath, Part II Silent Warrior, Part III Men of God, Part IV The Holy Land, Part V Hell, Part VI The Sacrifice) yet the entire film has no more than probably 100 lines of spoken text. Most of the time you follow silent men and watch what they do. The music score is very unique, mostly some sort of heartbeat with very low massive drums, or uncomfortably arranged and threatening synth layers -- more a sound than actual music).

Basically the suspension comes from within a mixture of something you don't have words for, you keep thinking and are on your tiptoes in expectancy of something bad or horrible to happen. Fights, slaughter, exploration.. all without words or pop music.

If you're up for a "silent" film that narrates through images, you're in for something that is not bad at all.

Jim, you recommended "Moon" and I was thinking this here is in a way similar, even less words in it, maybe you in particular should give this one a try :)

[Jim di Griz]

Oh, I will  :) that does sound very interesting indeed  :-X

[Jim di Griz]

Finally got to see Tintin. It was far better than I'd expected, so prompted by the various reviews here I saw it and it was a great romp.

For those who have played the Uncharted games, especially the last, there was a definite feel of that about, whilst keeping a strong feel for the original comic about it. That chase sequence from the palace was just breathtaking.

[PZ]

I love the Uncharted games - have v2 and v3, and enjoyed both quite a bit.  In fact, may need to play them again.  ;)

[Jim di Griz]

Oh dear, you're the second person I've started back on those games this weekend  :) Have fun...and do try the first also. I'm still stuck on the crushing difficulty playthrough for that one.

[fragger]

Warhorse. Formulaic and typically Spielbergian at times, it's nonetheless a beautifully photographed period piece shot against some striking locations. Once you get past the first schmaltzy and somewhat Disneyesque half-hour or so it becomes quite watchable. What I found surprising was how it kept - well, surprising me. Just when I thought I knew where things were going, or I'd be thinking that the whole affair was like watching a barely-more-than-cutesy My Friend Flicka, something unexpected would happen, especially during the second half.

It's obvious that CG was employed to depict the horse of the title in some scenes only because horses aren't that good at acting - in addition to which the film makers would have been hauled over the coals by the SPCA if a real horse had been subjected to some of the action, especially a sequence involving it getting entangled in rather a lot of barbed wire. But a surprising amount of the horse action is in fact real (actually, in the aforementioned sequence the horse and it's movements were real while the barbed wire was CGed onto it). I've read elsewhere about how much trouble was gone to in order to use real horses as much as possible while the CGing was kept to the barest minimum. Even so, it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to tell where the real horse ends and the CG horse begins - it's a brilliant job. The only real giveaway is in what the horse is doing and how well he acts :-()

The cast consists of unknowns - at least they're unknown to me. I'd never seen any of them before, but they all turn in very competent performances.

Some of the WWI action is superb - not that there's a huge amount of it - especially a quite arresting sequence involving the battle of the Somme. Ostensibly this is a family film so the action isn't as graphic and gory as in something like Saving Private Ryan, but it's very informed, convincing and well executed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show and I wouldn't mind seeing it again sometime in the future, even though I'm not really a horse guy :-X

[Art Blade]

nice review :) Oh I like horses. In fact, anything you can eat with a lot of mustard.  :-()

[fragger]

 :-D

Apparently Billy Connolly once went into one of Roy Rogers' restaurants in the US and asked for a Triggerburger. The staff weren't amused... :-()

[Art Blade]

Hehe, I'd have loved to watch someone ask for a Montecore Burger at The Mirage, Las Vegas.

Spoiler

The Hotel hosted Siegfried & Roy's show starring white tigers, Montecore being the tiger that ended their career with a bite on Roy's neck.

[Jim di Griz]

Thanks for the review fragger - I probably wouldn't have bothered even looking at it...but now I just might.

Spaceboy just watched a film I recommended a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, which led me to realise that I haven't mentioned it here.

Dale & Tucker vs Evil is a curious title and an even more curious film. It's all about prejudice, or at least judging a book by it's cover and nothing else.

I'm sure a few of you will have seen the trailer - if not, here it is: Tucker And Dale Vs Evil - Official Trailer [HD]

The freak accidents combined with the kids preconceptions make this into a truly fun film. Of course with Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine in the mix, it's going to be good.

Have fun - there may even be a sequel yet  :)

[Art Blade]

Reminds me of Severance  :)

Severance - trailer

Severance - "You FOUND a PIE!?"

Severance US Trailer

[Jim di Griz]

Yes indeed, very much like Severance except a bit more comedy and it's sunnier  :) That was a great film.

[Jim di Griz]

Shock horror...I actually went to the cinema last night!  :o

Been a bit wrapped up with the move and as I've been super efficient, I've packed all of the DvDs...

Anyway, we had wanted to watch Looper since the trailers started coming out on FirstShowing.net and as it came out on Friday, it was mooted to go out and see that. We actually aimed for Friday but the cinema server had a wobbly and couldn't play the film. Which in itself was educational, as I didn't know they were all digital these days - makes sense I suppose.

So, if you like time paradox films, Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Bruce Willis then Looper will fit the bill sweetly. For those wonder what the hell I'm whittering on about, here's the trailer.

Looper - Official Teaser Trailer (HD)

In short, loopers are hitmen who take care of targets sent back from the future where hits can't be carried out due to body part tagging...so they're sent back to be executed, already bound and hooded. Then one day a hit comes through without a bag over his head and not cuffed - it's JG-L's future self, BW.

There's plenty in there to keep you wondering afterwards, once the main story has been resolved; which is I suppose the purpose of a film with time paradoxes in it. There are definitely a few subtle clues in there to tug at your memory and help slot things into place later. I'm usually fairly sceptical about time paradox themes in film and books; but this one seems to have it pretty much covered.

There is plenty of action, paced evenly by storyline and character development. A good job in making JG-L look different enough to be a believeable younger Mr Willis.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LtWfuf5pctU/UGYEi4oH1TI/AAAAAAABfRM/53_WrqUVpBw/s1600/jgl+willis.jpg

Just a bit harder in the face, as his background in the film was grimmer than Bruce's own youth. Definitely a fine young actor there and he even had a few Di Niroesque moments in there too  :)

For those interested, I hope you enjoy.

[Art Blade]

Thanks a lot :-X  going to get it on BR once it's available.  :)

[Jim di Griz]

Back to the normality of films already out on DvD.

The Raid: Redemption is about a police SWAT unit during a raid on a drug overlord's HQ which happens to be a derelict tenement block in Jakarta. As you can imagine, things get a little hectic when half-way up, things go wrong :)

The Raid: Redemption - Official Trailer HD (2012)

I've started watchting more Indonesian films since seeing Chocolate a few years ago and there aren't many that get distributed. They tend to be action heavy and have their own flavour. This one is no exception - lots of action with plenty of martial arts and some wonderfully shot moments too. Aparently the fighting style they're using is pencak silat, and it's bloody frantic.

The thing that sets this film apart from any other is that the writer/director is Welsh - Gareth Huw Evans who lives in Jakarta - oh, and he's written and directed another film before this Merantau using quite a few of the same cast.

Anyway, all of that aside, it's a tense, tight film and if you like martial arts films or SWAT situations, then give this one a look.

[Art Blade]

Heh, nice one  :) :-X Going to check it out if possible  :)

The hammer scene reminded me of Oldboy by  Korean director Chan-wook Park. Looks like there are more similarities.

Old Boy Trailer

[Jim di Griz]

Absolutely - there is a lot of the same feeling from Oldboy and there is also one definite corridor scene that nods to Mr Park's w@&k...though no hammer...umm...hammer.

Forgot to say when I mentioned the writer/director being Welsh: he does a damn fine job of nailing the genre feel. I doubt anyone could tell that someone not Indonesian had created the film otherwise.

[Fiach]

I liked The Raid alot, I watched it dubbed, then watched it subbed which thought was better, not a dialogue heavy movie, so it was no effort.

Sling Blade is an old film, but a great one all the same, superb acting all around, especially Billy Bob

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117666/

[Art Blade]

Jim: nice choice of words there, "nailed"  :-D

Fiach, thanks. Just checked the slingblade trailer on IMdB. I didn't recognise Billy Bob Thornton (quality acting, hehe) but the boy who played the lead in The Fast And The Furious, Tokyo Drift. The trailer reminded me a lot of a scene in Forrest Gump.

[Fiach]

I never saw F/Gump, or Tokyo Drift, but, as regards Fast/Furious movies, check out 5, its really quite good. :)

[Jim di Griz]

Jim: nice choice of words there, "nailed"  :-D

:-() well, it was the day after Punday, so I had no other choice...

[Art Blade]

Jim:  :-()

Fiach, cheers mate -- I've got all five of 'em  :-D And agree, 5 is not bad at all.
Forrest Gump, despite being a hype back in the day actually wasn't bad. Kind of a parody of all sorts of characters. Tokyo Drift: Best drift scenes in a film, ever.  :)

[PZ]

I too enjoyed all of the Fast and Furious versions.  My sons introduced me to them; they were quite fond of the small Japanese cars.

[Fiach]

Jim:  :-()

Fiach, cheers mate -- I've got all five of 'em  :-D And agree, 5 is not bad at all.
Forrest Gump, despite being a hype back in the day actually wasn't bad. Kind of a parody of all sorts of characters. Tokyo Drift: Best drift scenes in a film, ever.  :)

Should try Need for Speed Carbon if you havent already then mate, it's drift heaven :)