The Last Film You Saw in the Cinema?

Tonight I saw Bad Grandpa

Fucking hilarious!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ((Jackson/13)

ā€œThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugā€ (2013), directed by Peter Jackson, is the middle part of the trilogy adapting J.R.R. Tolkeinā€™s novel ā€œThe Hobbitā€, first published in 1937. Surprisingly, it manages to avoid most problems associated with a second film of three, such as a sense of redundancy, maintaining interest throughout and actually surpassing ā€œThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeyā€ (2012). The prolonged introductions and establishment of the main plot threads of the first film, while embraced by some, where criticised by others, and here, with the clarity of a straightforward aim for the multiple characters, there is a new sense of direction and lucidity in Jacksonā€™s storytelling, abetted by the script written by him, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro.
While the acting throughout is never less than fine, and Martin Freeman continues to impress as Bilbo, the true star is Middle Earth, a world that Jackson has managed to transform into a living, breathing environment that thanks to the wonders of modern special effects, never looks less than real. From the dark Mirkwood forest to the seemingly 15th century Northern European inspired architecture of Lake-town, this is an incredibly rich and diverse setting for any tale that like all the great fantasy films, transports you into another world, another time. The production design, by Dan Hennah, and the costume design, by Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey and Richard Taylor, is extraordinary in realising and texturing Jacksonā€™s world (which is filmed on location in New Zealand).
The screenplay however, isnā€™t quite as perfect as one would wish, superior though it is, continuing the introduction of elements not present in the novel, a divisive move that dose tend to reinforce more conventional action elements along with an underplayed romantic triangle concerning Orlando Bloom (reprising his role as Legolas from ā€œThe Lord of the Ringsā€ trilogy [2001 ā€“ 2003]), Evangeline Lily (as the Wood Elf Tauriel) and Aidan Turner (as Kili the dwarf) reveal perhaps a lack of confidence in the source material stretching across three films.
These doubts donā€™t dispel Jacksonā€™s major directorial achievement on display here and it is his grasp of Middle Earth, taking it from J.R.R. Tolkeinā€™s imagination to the silver screen that leaves this one of the best films of 2013.

The wife wants to go see this. She likes these films. Me? Not so much, but Iā€™ll probably drag my tired butt with her.

The Counselor - Ridley Scott

Is Scott a filmmaker or a director? At least I can easily imagine nearly every film directed Scott to be better if done by another director. Scott is far from being a bad director, in fact The Counselor is well directed, but it still feels wrong for me too often.
The philosophical dialogues sound pretentious at first, but after a while, when everybody talks that way, itā€™s maybe a quality. Which I will decide when I watch it again. 7/10 with improvement prospects

(the too obvious question for this one would the Coens ā€¦ yes, they would ā€¦ )

Inside Llewyn Davis - Les Coens

I liked the time warp at the end which gave the otherwise realistic looking film a slight surrealistic touch. 8/10

Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch!
Very, very goood!!! I love this director!
Has anybody of you seen it yet???

Iā€™m dying to see it! :slight_smile:

The Suspect (2013), in a limited release here in the States. This South Korean film is very good, though it is very derivative of the Bourne series.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

3 hours flew by, but I could probably watch Scorseseā€™s movie based on the phone bookā€¦
Similarities with Goodfellas are obvious, especially with Liottaā€™s and Di Caprioā€™s roles, but Wolf is much, much less serious movie. It is more like a mixture of Goodfellas and Clooneyā€™s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It probably works best seen as a parody of the stockbrokerā€™s world and how it works. Movie is in complete excess 100% of the time, everything is overblown, exaggerated, overracted and overdone, which works great at comedic level. After 2 hours you get the feeling okay, youā€™ve seen enough, now itā€™s time to wrap it up, but Scorsese doesnā€™t hit no brakes, and is willing in the last hour to indulge in completely ridiculous tarantinoesque dialogues that last for couple of minutes. Biggest complaint the movie receives is that it doesnā€™t condemn enough the main character and his actions, which is probably true. You do see him doing drugs and screwing everything that moves every minute of the movie, but that can all be swiped under live-and-let-live rule as long as nobody is hurt, right? And movie doesnā€™t show the victims, or at least that one big victim that was hurt by these kind of people. You know, the World Economy. We only get two short scenes at the end, when we are transferred from this crazy place that these stockbrokers live back to planet Earth where nation turns its lonely eyes trying to find a hero, and then at the very end sheep with innocent looks look at the Wolf. With that last scene the question is asked: Do you think you got (or lack) what it takes to be the wolf?

As you can guess, Di Caprio is allowed to fire on all cylinders and he is great fun to watch, while Jonah Hill is giving him run for his money in every scene. Kyle Chandler is also excellent doing little impersonation of Peter Falkā€™s inspector Columbo.

BALL OF FIRE (Howard Hawks, 1941)

Nice but a bit too sentimental for me. And I wanted much more Barbara Stanwyck. Now I wish Hawks would have used Stanwyck in Bringing up Baby and Hepburn in Ball of Fire.

Kechiche: Blue is the Warmest Colour / La vie dā€™AdĆØle - Chapitres 1 et 2

Adele is a teenager who is unsecure abut her sexuality. Then she meets few years older lesbian called Emma and they start a relationship. But afterwards they break up leaving Adele alone and miserable. This is basically the story of the film and it takes 3 hours to tell the story but the film never feels overlong and thereā€™s not any unnecessary scenes. Itā€™s one of the most realistic films Iā€™ve seen regarding the acting, sometimes I almost forgot I was watching a film. Similar reality Iā€™ve seen in the films of Eric Rohmer. Film has some notorious fame because itā€™s graphic sex scenes. Honestly, as a deviant pervert, these scenes were the main reason I went to see the film in the first place and Iā€™m glad i did, otherwise I would have missed this wonderful film.

This is maybe the best film made since Mulholland Drive and In the Mood for Love. I think Iā€™ll be going to see it for the second time next week.

I watched it also yesterday. It feels indeed realistic. The landscape Kechiche explores is the human face, so the film is filled with lots of close-ups. But I wasnā€™t fascinated by the style. The actresses create the emotions, while in other films (which I prefer) the director does this with the actors. 8/10

The sex scenes are not erotic ā€¦

But other films go much further than In the Realm of Senses. Like 9 Songs. In which the sex scenes are erotic.

And there are a few explicit moments in Blue is the Warmest Colour

Yes, Breillat and von Trier included some stuff which other wise only porn shows. And so does Winterbottom in 9 Songs. Including a ā€œcum shotā€. Still 9 songs is rated in the uncut version FSK 16 in Germany. We are not that puritan, arenā€™t we? :wink:

Of course which film erotic is and which not lies in the eyes of the viewer.
Blue is the Warmest Colour creates a high erotic tension just before the fucking starts. But then Ketiche cuts to the sex part, and that shows the lust, but does not make it feel for me. The sex looks more like work, but still makes clear that the 2 girls enjoy it very much. I think thatā€™s made on purpose to keep the viewer on distance.
9 Songs has also a different look at the sexual act than a sex film or a porn film, but it contains a sensual feeling. There is also distance, but it is closer.

I watched the film some weeks ago. Itā€™s amazing! Ok, I remember myself finding some sex scenes way to long, but the acting is astonishing! WOW!

Robocop. All I have to say is just watch the original.

Do not think I will bother with this remake.

American Hustle

It is actually very similar to Wolf of the Wall Street. It seems that the 2013 was the year of humorous crime movies loosely based on real events, in which greatest emphasis is put on (over-the-top) actor performances and (equally over-the-top) dialogue. Iā€™ve enjoyed watching the Hustle in cinema. On the downside, one leaves theater somewhat empty afterwards, confused what the movies suppose to represent. In comparison, you leave cinema outraged after seeing Wolf (if equally confused), and that is probably better thing.

Thatā€™s what I plan to do.

Robocop was ā€¦ disappointing.

Spoilers in case anyone cares:

I didnā€™t find it well constructed compared to the original. In the original, the hoods have some kind of personality, and moments and quotes that people remember. Thereā€™s nothing memorable in this movie. Whether itā€™s Boddicker doing a kind of ā€˜detectorā€™ sound while torturing Murphy, or the one guy saying, ā€œOh, a new toy! Can I playā€ or ā€œI LIKE IT!ā€ or so many, many, other lines and actions that give these cardboard cartoon henchmen some life, that stuff complements the satire of the original so it works for people who just want action.

In the new Robocop? Nothing. Nada. No one has any personality as written, nobody has anything to do. Itā€™s just boring. Itā€™s not some kind of meta thing or a statement on what action movies are, itā€™s just empty, like the reaction to the burden of a remake of a classic was to not even try. And while the original had a classic set up of, Robocop is unstoppable, is betrayed by the compnay, then criminals get new weapons = new threat to Robocop = tension for the now vulnerable Robocop against the opponents youā€™re familiar with ā€¦ the new one has nothing.

The big final shootout equivalent to the original empty steelmill with craneloads and toxic waste and super guns and dataspikes and aim assist is now turned into ā€¦ a linear FPS-similar shootout in a poorly designed video game. One long narrow corridor, faceless bad guys behind cover, with Robocop just moving forward and shooting. The bad drug dealer man has nothing to do, does nothing, just waits at the end of a corridor and is killed by gunfire. No personality either. Oh, but heā€™s a redhead with gray sideburns, so ā€¦ thereā€™s that.