What movies have you seen recently?

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"The Long Goodbye" by Robert Altman - well it sure as hell wasn't "The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler. If Altman wanted to make a film that wasn't "The Long Goodbye" why the hell didn't he just make a different film? The story has been radically changed and the style is pretty damned different from the original. And the thing that annoys me about Robert Altman is he is one of these directors who has a reputation as a great director and yet most of the films he has made are practically unwatchable. Maybe it's just an Aspie thing, but his style of mixing the audio so everybody's voice is overlapping everybody else's makes it really difficult to understand what anyone is saying. Where is the value in that?

So I finished reading "The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler yesterday. It's an entertaining book and it recommend it highly. But the film that Robert Altman made by the same title is boring and has a hard time following any particular story line. And all the women look like cut rate Linda Evans... And comparing anyone to Linda Evans is no compliment in my book.

I mean, there is this whole stupid subplot about his cat. In the book, there is a moment where someone comments on how Marlowe doesn't even have a cat or a dog, much less a girlfriend. This is just an example of how Altman just had contempt for the story and had no interest in making a film that even half way resembled Chandler's book. It's about as stupid and contemptuous as Kubrick's idiotic version of "The Shining"

The only positive thing I can say about this film is that it might have inspired the Coen Brothers in "Raising Arizona" to cut between the score music and the in store musack on the soundtrack.

Vilmos Zigmond's photography is generally good although you kind of have to choke down the 1970s art direction like vomit rising in your throat. The repeated use of the cheesy theme song is annoying and in surprisingly bad taste even for Altman. Unfortunately this film isn't even honest enough to dredge up the kind of 1970s slimy corruption that works, albeit unpleasantly, in the Dirty Harry films.

Apart from that, I highly recommend it.

Precious

A 2009 adaptation of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire (Ramona Lofton). A grisly but compelling drama based in 1987 Harlem, New York, following the difficult circumstances of abused obese illiterate black 16-year-old Clarice Precious Jones. I can't say more than that without giving the plot away, but I personally think it's a wonderful coming of age story with a very brave protagonist learning that the world can be a better place beyond the confines of familial circumstances.

I watched Schindlers List on Sunday and Datenight last night. which is a ridiculous contrast but made me laugh so what the hey.

Much Ado About Nothing

2012 modern-day version of the Shakespeare play about two couples that for some reason is in black-and-white.

Rush
Biography about racing car rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda and their dramatic 1976 racing season directed by Ron Howard

Coming in I though it would be just a pure popcorn flick bunch of cars running around. While it certainly was that there are might be elements that appeal to those on the spectrum. Hunt is portrayed as the playboy type. Lauda is portrayed as not good looking and a logical black and white thinker. The film shows how they became fremies.

Ron Howard on the Lauda's character
"I wouldn't call the humor a complete accident, but it was not something you would necessarily identify in the first draft of the script,” he said. “The more we did our research, the more the script got funnier. Lauda reads almost like a guy with Asperger's, but when you meet him, that's not the case at all — there's a dry Austrian wit there, this no-bullshit clarity, which he wears like a badge and can use like a weapon. He doesn't care about your pushback, and that's funny, to hear someone who expresses himself that way.”
http://www.vulture.com/2013/09/toronto- ... movie.html

The Witches of Eastwick

Three single women wish for a ideal man and Jack Nicholson arrives in town.

The latter portion of The Devil's Own, starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt. I was on the phone with my mother throughout most of the first act, so that's why I didn't catch it completely.

It stars Ford as a cop and Pitt as a member of the IRA who, after having been involved in the shooting of British soldiers, gets an arrangement to stay at Ford's house, and a bond develops between the two.

It features strong performances throughout by Ford and Pitt, and has IMO a good emotional payoff. I sould probably re-watch it in its entirety at some point in the future.

Emperor

Set during the occupation of Japan after World War II. General Fellers is tasked by General MacArthur with determining if Japanese Emperor Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal.

I just came home from seeing Rush and I really enjoyed it.

As a kid, I knew Lauda as the guy giving his commentary on the Formula 1 Grand Prix, while the men inside cars were a new generation including Damon Hill, Berger, Schumacher, and Alesi.
It was pretty cool to be taken back 2 decades to when Lauda was behind the steering wheel himself, even though I'm sure much of it was dramatized, and some artistic license was taken with the authenticity.

Having said that, I do feel as though the real star of the movie is not Daniel Brühl portraying Lauda, but Chris Hemsworth portraying Hunt. I do not know if either actor is getting close to the drivers' mannerisms and personalities, but for this particular story, it's Hemsworth who puts the most fire into his performance.

I didn't get that much of an Aspie vibe off Lauda in this movie, I'd rather view him as a guy who's logical and calculating. There were of course a couple of comments he made that were rude and inconsiderate, but I don't think that that came from not knowing it would come out wrong, but rather knowing full well how it would be received and just saying it anyway.

Much Ado About Nothing.

Joss Wheadon's take on the Shakespearean comedy in a modern day setting. Very enjoyable.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Solaris (1968 version)

I was not aware of this version until it came up on a youtube search. Below is a link to the entire film. This was apparently made for Russian television and it certainly lacks the cinematic quality in Tarkovsky's version. But my understanding is that this version (of the three films made from the book) follows the original novel the closest. Watching this helps explain some of the less comprehensible aspects of Tarkovsy's film and makes me want to read the novel.

This film lacks the mysticism of Tarkovsky's version and takes a much more pro-science stance. I think it is a better "science fiction" presentation of the story.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSEGTBBHqgw[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSEGTBBHqgw

Machete Kills

I was disappointed after like the first 10 minutes...but, the rest of the movie was ok. Oh and make sure you stay until AFTER the credits!

I watched mannequin today. and some other film about going away, I think it was Away we go.
Got pointless on now. £11, 750 quid up for grabs.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed

British movie about two men who kidnap a rich man's daughter and hold her to get money from her father, but not all is what it seems.

Captain Phillips

Docudrama about the 2009 pirating of the Maersk Alabama and the kidnapping of its captain, Richard Phillips.

Very well-made movie with an amazing performance by Tom Hanks.

Control - based upon Joy Division. I had the film for a while before deciding to watch it last night.

The Corbijn black and white cinematography were beautiful, and lent to the dark atmosphere.

I felt upset at the end. The crematorium shot, with the black clouds belching out above - I don't think you can get a starker image than that.

Throughout, the Ian Curtis character (acted by Sam Riley, who I felt played his role to perfection) is talking about things 'falling apart'. Right from the start, the film seems like a unraveling, and the success of Joy Division actually accelerating this unraveling.

I like the fact that it doesn't place Curtis on a pedestal; it shows the damage that he causes in his own relationship from being so emotionally unavailable. It could be argued that he is undeserving of the love that his wife gives him.

Would I watch it again? No, for me it's the sort of film you watch once - then put the music on and realise what an amazing band Joy Division actually were.