h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>> Held out for about half of There Will Be Blood then switched it off.
Can anyone tell me:

1) is it actually about anything?

2) when does it happen? <<

1) No.

2) See 1).

Possibly the most overrated film of 2008, IMHO.

Last night I watched Disturbia on DVD. This is a remake, and modernisation of, Rear Window (so I'm told - I've never actually seen Rear Window, but I know the basic premise).

Scary custard!!! Yes, this deserved its 18 rating! It's a really good psychological thriller, some messy moments, but well worth it.

After a series of so-so films from my rental list, this has popped up as something worth watching.

RF

-Held out for about half of There Will Be Blood then switched it off.
Can anyone tell me:

1) is it actually about anything?

2) when does it happen?-

Spoiler alert

1) It's about an unusual sociopath. Most are charming fellows who make the effort to pretend to care about others as part of their method of self gratification. Very successful in business and politics.
This man cannot abide the bullshit that passes for social discourse. He won't willingly take part in it and despises those who do. He can't understand why people can't just go directly for what they want without the deceitful manipulation. The scene where he is forced under the control of the fake preacher....I don't know how to describe it.

2) Since it's not a story so much as a portrait, it pretty much happens all through the film.
Too bad you switched it off, the last scene is the best in the film and sums it up.

Daniel Day Lewis, I think, does his best work here. He's actually able to make you feel sympathy for a monster. Sometimes you almost believe that he cares about the boy who he passes off as his son and the part where, for a while, he thinks he has a brother, there's almost a glimmer of humanity there.

Maybe I'll get it again and watch the last scene. The rest of it was just... well, boring, frankly.

I thought it was pretty good. But I can see why it could get boring. Though IMO, the fake preacher was at least as sociopathic, if not worse.

I'm waiting and waiting for Netlfix to ship us "Saló", which was recently re-released by Criterion. There's such a long wait!

Eastern Promises
a bit gory for me (I had to be told when the gory bits were over) but otherwise quite fab

Just watched - I'm not there, got completlt lost, have to watch it again sometime just to work it out! Good music though..anyone else seen it??

I haven't yet but I'm going to, soon.

We also thought Eastern Promises was quite good.

Thursday night, we watched "The Fall" ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/ ).

Loved it! It was beautifully done. It's been at least a decade since a movie made me cry, but this one did.

We went to see "Wanted" last night. Mindless entertainment, but somehow I left the cinema feeling as though I'd got my money's worth. Hubby said it was far to gory, but it was so over the top you couldn't take that seriously.

And you could tell James McAvoy was reeeelly pleased with himself when he got to snog Angelina.

"far too gory" of course.

Watched Last King Of Scotland yesterday. Exceptional, Forrest Whittaker was excellent.

Something I've always wanted to ask. How come people can shoot guns that have just come out of the water? (Wesley (=James McAvoy) had a gun hidden in the cistern of his girlfriend's loo) Aren't they based on some sort of explosion or spark, or is it entirely mechanical? Even then, surely getting wet harms them.

Excuse my ignorance, I really have absolutely no idea about firearms, as you can probably tell from the question.

With Wanted it really is best to leave your brain at the popcorn stand. There's so much in there that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. But it's still a very, very darkly fun film.

I think that while most guns can cope with getting a bit wet, fully immersing one for several hours would render it useless until it dried out.

<>

if you quickly shake the water out the gun will operate alright,it might need a wipe and a bit of oil later, if the ammunition has been compromised by the water then the gun will not fire

a gun is just a lump of metal, the ammo is the bang part

Thanks. No end of films now make a bit more sense.

Isn't Wamted based on a Graphic Novel though? Guns always work in that case.

Continuing our Great Comic Films season for our daughters ...

Blazing Saddles.



Mol

candygram for mongo

Billy Elliot, on DVD. It reminded me of why I took up Ballet in the first place.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the new one). Weird, and suffers with comparison with my childhood original, but still a good film.

"Du rififi chez les hommes" or Rififi directed by Jules Dassin (the original 1955 version).

Stunning film a superb film noir about a jewel heist with a whole 30minutes of dialogue free 'action'.

It seem Pacino to star in a remake of it next year.

Dassin went onto make another brilliant jewel heist film called 'Topkapi' with Peter Ustinov (hence a bit more light-hearted). The method of the hiest was used in the first Mission Impossible film.

Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Steve Coogan.

Quite funny with a few laugh out loud moments. It had attracted attention and protests from disabled rights groups in the US over the word "retards" and the race lobby objected to Robert Downey Jr "blacking up" to play a black man. The "retard" line is laboured, but part of a gag in which retarded people (differently abled ) in general are not mocked, imo. Robert Downey Jr's "blacking up" is thoroughly in context as an over-zealous character actor going too far. He is mercilessly lampooned by another black actor throughout.

Star of the film though is Tom Cruise as a paunchy, middle-aged, foul-mouthed movie producer. I just loved every scene he was in. Stick with the credits as he "dances" throughout