The Last Film You Saw in the Cinema?

Yes good to see you posting Frank !

Thanks Ennioo it’s nice to be back

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (Abrams/15)

“Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” (2015), directed by J.J. Abrams, is the latest, much anticipated entry in a series that spans 38 years and counting. Every decade since the seventies has had its “Star Wars” and this, the first in a decade, is the start of a new trilogy. George Lucas, the original creator and director of perhaps the most iconic (and financially successful) franchise of all time, sold the rights to the series to Disney in 2012 and it is intriguing to see what “Star Wars” without Lucas is like.

On the whole, it must be said, very good. Abrams, director of the recent “Star Trek” (2009) reboot, working with Lawrence Kasdan (a noted director in his own right) and Michael Arndt, creates a host of memorable new characters: Finn and Rey are standouts, as well as fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and alien Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o). They’re brought to life by a fine cast, with newcomers Ridley and Boyega comparing well to the returning cast, which includes a suitably gruff and laconic Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Carrie Fishers as Leia Organa. In many respects, these performances are the best part of the film. However, not all is so bright.

Adam Driver, as the film’s main villain, the masked, petulant Kylo Ren, lacks a distinctive presence and, in a first for the series, the nefarious evil force fighting the Resistance, seem a little colourless. Perhaps this is due in part to Abrams devotion to recreating the original films to such an extent that “The Force Awakens” in much of its plotting operates as a recreation of “A New Hope” (1977), not so much a sequel as a remake by stealth. Consequently, it lacks the wonder, awe and mystery that defined the first film and is more of an affectionate homage, with action scenes directly echoing previous ones. Even two shocking plot twists which it would be churlish to reveal, are not so very distant from previous films.

It’s exciting, it’s funny and ends on a cliffhanger which will leave you waiting for the next instalment; however, it will also leave you hoping for a more original, creative film next time we visit a galaxy, a long time ago and far, far away


The Hatefull Eight. Long on time short on story. Not a bad movie. Shot well. The 70 mm film gives it a rich depth. All shadow and light contrasts are sharp and the colors pop. But again not a whole lot gos on in the 3 hour running time. Great cast. Think they could have been used better

The Revenant

Enjoyed this one and was surprised by the high level and effectiveness of the special effects. The bear attack in particular was very convincing. We were sat in the second row in a decent size screening room so I was certainly immersed which may have helped. Anyway, visually engaging, sometimes even verging on the hypnotic, and some very good performances.

The Green Inferno
-Long waited return of the cannibal movies. :smiley: Eli Roth’s film follows closely to the tradition of the italian films of the 70’s and 80’s. Updating the genre to this day makes the difference between the cannibals and the civilized even more striking as the young people are always depended on their cell phones. Too bad that the film just ain’t that good. There’s some good scenes and some brutality but it’s lacking the really disturbing atmosphere of Cannibal Holocaust and other “classics”. Worst thing in the film is that it’s plagued by some really bad comedy scenes. Also, Roth couldn’t make a decent ending to the film and there’s something like 3-4 scenes in the end that could have been cut out, one of them even appears during the closing titles.

5/10

Over the past couple of months, I’ve seen the following films:

The Revenant - incredible, hypnotically good with some of the finest cinematography outside of a Malick film you’re likely to see. Film of the year without a doubt.
The Hateful Eight - perhaps Tarantino’s most serious film; it’s filled with references of course, but it never aims for the movie-movie knowingness which underpins so many of his other films. It’s relatively sober compared to his other works and Morricone’s score is excellent.
Youth - Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel are both very fine in this laid-back, occasionally overly sentimental film. Some nice moments, Paul Dano is memorable, but it’s too mawkish and the transcendence it aims for is never quite pulled off.
Hail, Caesar! - frequently funny, with some dead-on recreations of Old Hollywood cinema, it nevertheless feels like a decidedly minor Coen Brothers’ film, being a rather throwaway shaggy-dog story, even if we have a lot of enjoyment along the way.

Stefano Sollima: Suburra (2015)
-Excellent political mafia film from Sergios son. Intense film, very beautiful looking, violent and sexy. My only complaint would be some choice of music. Go and see it if you have the chance.

Hail, Caesar! (Joel & Ethen Coen, 2016

“Hail, Caesar!” (2016), directed by the Academy-award winning Coen Brothers, is a light-hearted portrayal of nineteen-fifties Hollywood, where large film studios are all powerful. In amongst the barbs and repartee, the Coens’ clearly feel an affinity with the era, and along with their cinematographer Roger Deakins, recreate the visual look of the decade with an uncanny precision. It’s the first film in years to recall the Technicolor brightness of American pictures of that time; it reveals a real affection, while still maintaining a clear-eyed sense of the iniquities of the then-studio system. Studio executives control their stars’ lives to the smallest degree, while waspish gossip columnists try to discover any scandal.

The Coens add into this mix a number of pastiches, not just of Roman and Biblical epics, but of Westerns and musicals, with a spot-on musical number featuring Channing Tatum as a sailor (in clear reference to “On the Town”, 1949), one of the film’s highlights. Being at heart a screwball comedy means the Coens’ darker impulses are kept in check so that even the malevolent group the Future, who abduct George Clooney, are seen as charmingly misguided.

Josh Brolin displays fine comic skill and brings a layer of nuance to his serially perturbed studio boss character, while the ensemble cast match the all-star extravaganzas so popular in the nineteen-fifties: everyone seems to appear, from Tilda Swinton to Scarlet Johansson, Jonah Hill to a very memorable Aldren Ehrenreich as a singing cowboy.

Perhaps one criticism that could be made is that it never becomes more than the sum of its parts: the script, by the Coens, offers a wonderful whirlwind of episodes, jumping from Ralph Fiennes’ refined director offering Ehrenreich elocution lessons to a distraught Brolin trying to hide the fact his biggest star is missing. Yet it never quite coheres into an organic whole and by the time it concludes, you’re left feeling that it is a rather slight, shaggy-dog story: a lot of fun and frequently amusing, but not one of the Coens’ masterworks, a minor work by major auteurs.

However, it would be churlish to deny the film’s many pleasures, from Carter Burwell’s score to the production design by Jess Gonchor, with costumes from Mary Zophres. It’s authentically nineteen-fifties and that alone is reason enough to see it; combined with witty performances and deft direction, it almost doesn’t matter that the film is about very little. Enjoy the ride and forget about the destination.

Hail Caesar - Los Coens

A lesser Coen, no doubt, maybe their weakest film so far, but les Coens are always worth a watch. The episodic structure doesn’t add to a fitting whole, but as always some nice scenes here and there. Positively said it is more than one might expect from the new Dolph Lundgren film. 6/10

Café Society (2016, Woody Allen)

Just got home from the avant premiĂšre of Woody’s latest, CafĂ© Society (I’m slacking, haven’t seen his previous two movies); it was well-received in Cannes and did some good business at the box-office at home during its opening weekend. It’s a period romance (largely set in 30’s Hollywood) as well as an ensemble movie (partly set in New York) about a Jewish family.

CafĂ© Society is not Top Woody, but in some scenes it comes close. It reminded me a little of Radio Days, but it’s more stern and bitter in tone (one of the characters says: “Life is a comedy, but it’s one written by a sadistic comedy writer.” - Hell yeah).

As usual performances are superior and to me the only real problem was that the two angles (romance/ensemble) don’t really match: the romantic storyline of a young Jewish boy from the Bronx (Jesse Eisenberg) who travels to Hollywood and falls for a young woman (Kristen Stewart) who’s already engaged, is so incredibly strong that what happens to his family back home often feels like un unwelcome distraction. Lots of twists and turns, so you might not want to read too many revealing articles about it before watching the movie.

1 Like

REMEMBER (2015)

The latest movie by Canadian director Atom Egoyan. It tells the story of two old men, Zev (played by 86-year old Christopher Plummer) and Max (played by 87-years old Martin Landau), who are the last survivors of Auschwitz. Max is living in a wheelchair but his memories are still intact, Zev has dementia, but is still steady on his legs. Max has discovered that the man who has killed their families, a Nazi called Otto Wallisch, has escaped justice in the last days of the war by adopting the identity of one of his Jewish victims, Rudy Kurlander. Max has located four Kurlanders, but hasn’t been able to find out which one is Wallisch: he therefore asks Zev to use his notes and track down the murderer.

A geriatic revenge movie, you don’t see that very often, and watching Remember is an often unsettling affair that has - predictably - generated some conflicting comments. Critics unanimously praised Plummer’s performance, but Egoyan was criticized for using the Holocaust background and a MEMENTO-like plot (like the protagonist in that movie, Plummer must continually consult his notes to know who he is and what he’s doing) to tell a rather straightforward suspense story about a subject that needed a more subtle approach. The thriller genre doesn’t leave much room for contemplation and Egoyam’s trademark reflections on the fallibility of memory and perception are largely absent here. Remember is tremendously suspenseful and offers unexpected plot twists until the very last minutes, but in the end it may feel a little mechanical and superficial.

Toni Erdmann - Maren Ade

Film about a father named Winfried Conradi who wants to improve the life of his corporate consultant daughter by meeting her and her private and business relations as an ugly alter ego named Toni Erdmann. After a while Ines begins to accept him in his Toni role disturbing her cold world.
Complex film about a complex relation in a more puzzling than complex world. Ade’s very serious film is pretty funny. 9/10

The trailer was shown in the cinema where I watched REMEMBER. Film will be screened within two weeks, on tuesday night (non-blockbuster night in Turnhout). My first reaction was 
 No, not for me. I might reconsider.

Victoria (2015)

Shot in one, almost 140 minutes long shot (succeeded in third attempt), Victoria was on of the talked-about movies of the last year. Actors do very fine job in this real-time environment and character of Victoria is interesting (her illogical actions can be attributed to her troubled personality which is nicely established by few key scenes in the movie). But in the end, everything in this movie seems to serve that main gimmick.

For the first time on the big screen, this one:

It was this new remastered version at one of Zagreb’s last non-multiplex theaters. It seats around 1000. It was packed.

1 Like

Saw it on the big screen last week at my neighborhood theater. Excellent, highly recommend. 4/5

1 Like

Don’t know yet if I’m going to watch it in the theatre or wait for the DVD release.

I never really was a beatles fan (like them though), but they’re of course a cultural phenomenon of the first order. Don’t think a rock ensemble will ever create a hype of the same order.

They were before my time actually. I haven’t been a fan at any point but I do enjoy the historical and cultural significance. The restored 30 min.footage from Shea Stadium in NY was entertaining and I don’t mean musically. I saw it with a friend who attended their performance in Portland in '65 and she had a great time and is seeing it again this weekend.

Last movie I saw at the theater was Dr. Strangelove, courtesy of TCM.