#761

Recently watched:

Caché/Hidden - Saw it in the mid-00s but didn’t really enjoy it. Decided to watch again as reviews have always been strong. Did like it this time around. The allegories made sense and I guess I wasn’t paying attention to it first time around. Juliette Binoche is always great as was Daniel Auteuil who was brilliant in La Belle Époque recently. 7.5/10.

Charlie Wilson’s War - Hadn’t seen it before. Thought it was great. Mike Nichols directed and the screenplay by Aaron Sorkin which showed in the scenes with Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman bouncing off each other. 8.5/10.

The Midnight Swim - Three sisters who are sort of spiritual/new age types go back to their family lake side home after their mum drowns in the lake. They summon a spirit of a lake. It’s filmed as a first person view as one of the sisters is making a documentary. It’s very dull. Don’t waste your time on this one. 3/10.

Clan Of The White Lotus - Another Shaw Brothers film. Great choreography as always. 7.5/10.

#762

Last night I watched surely-it-has-to-be-rubbish Spike Island about some manc lads trying to be a part of ‘istery by going to the titular Stone Roses gig.

Should’ve been dreadful, was okay. And had a surprising turn from Emilia Clarke as the love interest. Her career has improved since.

#763

I totally missed this news, about time
Also Palm Springs is out here 9th April

1 Like
#764

Yep same, enjoyed it. Gentle but pleasant, thought the ending worked.

Did you watch the intro? Alan S. Kim :sob:

#765
#766

I’ve just got their email for priority booking. Always enjoyed Flare Festival. It coincided always with me using up annual leave before the end of March and I’ve ended up spending whole days there on several occasions.

Is limited tickets on sale usual for virtual film festivals? I’ve never booked tickets for any before. I was half looking forward to seeing if I was free on a specific evening at home and buying a ticket on a whim rather than a pre-booking.

#767

It is as the distributors want to limit the number of people who see it, however for Flare you can watch the films any time from Wednesday 17 to Sunday 28 March 2021. When you start watching a film you have 4 hours to finish viewing it.

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#768

Blue Velvet :ear:t2: Mark Kermode hated this on his first watch…and grew to love it, so hopefully I follow that same path. This treads on similar ground to other works from Lynch with an uneasy and twisted life frothing away in the suburbs of the American Dream, but also falls foul of the usual bugbears I find with his work. I obviously know some of the quirks are intended, but the fawning for some of it still leaves me a little dumbfounded. I can still appreciate moments of his work, but seemingly not for me the majority of the time. 3/5 (Film 4)

What If :pencil2: Some nice fresh ground for a rom com with everyone feeling engaging, charming and believable. The animations and on screen graphics don’t feel out of place and add a rather unique touch. It all fits together logically, ticks along nicely and felt like a warm hug to end the day. 3.5/5 (Netflix)

The 39 Steps :fish: High tension, great reveals and moments of absurdity to lighten it up. Really kept me guessing and anchored by two amazing bookends. 4/5 (BBC 2)

Rio Bravo :bomb: Rather surprising change of pace from the previous works i’ve seen from Hawks, showing great versatility. Played fairly straight and the inevitable is teased and teased and when it comes all the characters have had more than enough time to mature. The musical section has a delightful ‘calm before the storm’ feel and sets the table nicely for the finale. The costumes, textures and colour palette are all gorgeous with the dusty oranges, golden yellows, fiery reds, moody blues and vibrant greens all looking amazing. 4/5 (BBC 2)

Booksmart :books: Was expecting something a smidgen more revolutionary due the heaps of praise and adulation, but it was just an extremely fun and fairly straightforward, loud and bawdy modern comedy. Can’t think of many better portrayals of genuine, supportive and endearing friendship since Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Constantly found my warmth cooling with the more fanciful and out of reality flourishes kinda dragging me out of it as the people / world felt so real. Found it ‘fun’ not ‘funny’ and would love to revisit in a decade. 3.5/5 (Netflix)

The Graduate :swimming_man: The claustrophobia, naivety, anxiety, expectation and timid meekness weighing on Hoffman’s shoulders was brilliantly expressed through not only great performance but sound, perspective, framing, lighting and montages. Lots to admire with the second half feeling a decisive step down from the first. 4/5 (Sony Movies)

Saint Maud :smoking: Heard murmurings of something special, but felt it was a rather conventional psychological horror albeit with some interesting sound design and imagery. Shook my head (not in a good way) a fair few times in the last 15 mins which isn’t a great impression to end with. 2.5/5

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#769
#770

Can we get HBO Max in the UK? Also I didn’t know Soderbergh was rockin the J Mascis look these days. Cool

Excited for a new Sean Baker. Will be tough to follow The Florida Project but he’s clearly very talented

2 Likes
#771

No, but the majority of the stuff appears on Sky Atlantic as they’ve got an exclusivity deal.

#772

Oh yes right. That’s NowTV as well isn’t it, essentially. My mate had it but she sacked it off as it got too expensive.
Much rather just pay £6-8 for HBO and have their back catalogue too

#773

Often think about the bit where Radcliffe sends Rafe Spall out the window. One of my favourite physical comedy bits of recent years.

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#774

Rafe Spall is the most under-rated actor going, I’ve enjoyed him in everything I’ve seen. I Give It A Year is a blast

#775

Soderbergh’s last film was also on HBO Max, so we’re still waiting for that to show up here on Sky Altantic (or whoever picks it up) :frowning:

#776

I liked Saint Maud but it certainly wasn’t anything special.

Have you seen Relic? I really did like that one and thought that was the horror of last year that was deserving of the praise that Saint Maud got.

#777

Hoffman is absolute top drawer in charlie wilson’s war.

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#778

Relic would have been better if it didn’t try to be House of Leaves for some reason

2 Likes
#779

Yeah, probably the best I’ve seen Hoffman in. He was just effortlessly brilliant.

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#780

Nope, not even heard of it. Added to the watchlist. :call_me_hand:

1 Like