We've had a couple of threads like this, but none seem to be currently running, so if it's okay with all the mods I'll start a new one...

... with two films we've recently seen that couldn't be much more different: Four Lions and Never Let Me Go. I liked both tremendously: the former did a great job of making me laugh, cry and think. It doesn't provide much of an answer to the question why people become suicide bombers, nor does it try to - instead it both ridicules and humanises people who decide to blow themselves and others up, in a way that I found tremendously effective. Sympathy and ridicule aren't often combined - Four Lions shows how it can be done. And it's got a great scene about whether a Wookiee is a bear or not.

I didn't like Never Let Me Go as much as the novel it's based on; the book can take more time establishing its characters and how they tick. It's still a very good interpretation, thought-provoking, moving and excellently acted. I'm not usually a big fan of La Knightley, but I thought she worked really well in this one - and I *am* a big fan of Andrew Garfield since Red Riding and especially Boy A. If you decide to watch this film, just don't expect it to be a British The Island in spite of the seemingly similar premise (clones are used to grow organs for others).

Apart from that, we rewatched the Lord of the Rings films in the extended versions. I've seen all of them about half a dozen times; with a few years since I last saw them I greatly enjoyed all three, although I still think that Return of the King is the weakest and cheesiest one. (In spite of having read the book about a dozen times, I like The Two Towers best - I think the changes really work on film.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Thirith & His Enormous Tibia,

Don't bother blu raying the first LOTR movie. Very short depth of field and even some grainy images. Two looks better, but not amazing images or sound. Three is truly blu ray/surround sound worthy. Extended versions of course.

Contagion was good. No car chases or explosions. I am not sure it's realism will appeal to a broad audience.

American Horror Story was great. Very David Lynch-esque. But I suppose that is a series and not for this thread. There is so little character development in movies I mostly prefer series. TV is not the wasteland it was when I was young.

Do many people still bother to go out to the movies? With our system you couldn't drag me to the local cinema.

quote:

Originally posted by Nemo888:
Don't bother blu raying the first LOTR movie. Very short depth of field and even some grainy images. Two looks better, but not amazing images or sound. Three is truly blu ray/surround sound worthy. Extended versions of course.

I liked all of them on Blu-ray - and grain isn't automatically bad. Just look at some of the classics on Criterion Blu-ray. As far as I could see (with no direct comparison, mind you) all three benefited a lot from the higher res and better sound. The only criticism I've heard of Fellowship on Blu-ray is that the colour timing is off, and I definitely didn't think that was a major issue.

quote:

American Horror Story was great. Very David Lynch-esque. But I suppose that is a series and not for this thread. There is so little character development in movies I mostly prefer series. TV is not the wasteland it was when I was young.

I've changed the title so the thread can accommodate TV and films.

I watched them all in one weekend marathon. So the quality difference was quite pronounced. ROTK's picture quality and sound engineering was the best you can get. It is just so good the others pale in comparison from a strictly picture and sound basis.

Return of the King freaked me out at the end when Aragorn flung himself at Arwen, tongue flapping out, then he grabs her face and sucks himself onto her and proceeds to slobber all over her like a lost puppy. And she just stands there!

At least, that's all I remember. I suppose to up my geek credentials I should re-watch the flicks, but honestly, that trilogy was never my favourite - The Hobbit was. I am impatiently waiting to see that.

Recent telly: Haven't gotten into American Horror Story or the zombie thing. I just really don't like being scared.

Loved Sherlock ep1 season2.

Movies: The Muppets was adorkable. It wasn't perfect, but it was great nostalgia and totally worth the matinee price. Tintin was also awesome (matinee price for 1 adult, 1 kid) but I never read the books, so I can't compare.

Recent rewatches 'cos I needed something to knit by: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Both are still just as much fun as they were originally.

I saw Downton Abbey last night. It was awesome. I also recently redboxed Midnight in Paris to watch with my mother (we watched it on Christmas Eve). It was excellent.

Over the holidays, I saw both Hugo and Tintin in the theatre and ejoyed them.

TwiMin and I are watching the show "breaking Bad". Yeah, the one with the chemistry teacher who starts cooking meth. It's gripping, interesting, darkly funny... We're enjoying it.

I recently finished the first 5 seasons of New Dr. Who - but I'm sure I don't have to sing their praises here

Movies - we saw "Tintin" and coming from a kid who read the books over and over it was awesome. Totally recommended. (Come on - Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thomson!!)
We also saw "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" - I read that Gary Oldman said it was "the opposite of a James Bond movie". That is very true. It was slow but interesting and thought-provoking. I liked it. Plus there was Benedict Cumberbatch...

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
Return of the King freaked me out at the end when Aragorn flung himself at Arwen, tongue flapping out, then he grabs her face and sucks himself onto her and proceeds to slobber all over her like a lost puppy. And she just stands there!

Bwah! That should win an award for "how to make a famous cinematic kiss really, really unsexy". To be fair, they have both waited quite a long time for a little tongue action.

Also, I could care less about the kiss, when there's a scene just a few minutes away where Aragorn kneels to the hobbits and I bawl my eyes out. Again.

quote:

Originally posted by champagneeyes:
I saw Downton Abbey last night. It was awesome. I also recently redboxed Midnight in Paris to watch with my mother (we watched it on Christmas Eve). It was excellent.

Over the holidays, I saw both Hugo and Tintin in the theatre and ejoyed them.

I really want to see "Tinker Tailor" and I love Breaking Bad but am limited to what is availbe on Netflix Instant, so I haven't seen the most recent season yet.

Hugo! I forgot about Hugo! It was delightful and sweet and likely to get lost in the shuffle.

I saw Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Fincher's) this weekend.

I wasn't a fan of the book. Despite having a nice little mystery setup (disgraced journalist in a remote location solving a decades old family mystery), the book had some terrible prose and 1-dimensional characters and a pointless subplot that took forever to wrap up. And, despite its themes and conceits, there were elements of the plot and tone that struck me as rather sexist. I was always sort of baffled by what seemed to be a worldwide conspiracy to make this book a "thing".

But I was sucked in (shame on me) by Fincher, and the good reviews, and the good reviews of the Swedish film, into thinking maybe a better film could be made from the flawed raw material.

And Fincher did improve on things -- he did a nice job humanizing the main character, and the movie made the girl with the aforementioned tattoo into more than just a stock character. They trimmed down some of the subplots and eliminated one gratuitous sexual fling involving the main character. Fincher almost seems to be making a niche for himself making even the most boring subjects watchable.

That said, the film wasn't able to finesse the fairly weak story into something more interesting. The conclusion is about as unsatisfying as it was in the book. And the film is extremely, and I think unnecessarily, graphic. If rape scenes bother you, do NOT see this movie.

I will note that the title sequence was incredibly awesome. Maybe due to the participation of Craig, it almost felt like Fincher's bid at directing a Bond flick (which I think would be amazing, though it will never happen.)

I have started watching that "Once Upon a Time" it's a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I'm really enjoying it so far. Also it's on Hulu, so that's a plus for me.

I watched the first ep or two of Once Upon a Time and it didn't jazz me - did it get better?

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
I watched the first ep or two of Once Upon a Time and it didn't jazz me - did it get better?

I do think so, yeah. It starts going into more of the relationships between everyone and I think it seems to be getting more character driven as it keeps going. It starts going a lot more into the backstory with the flashbacks, and I personally like the twists and different versions of fairy tales in the show.

I saw Contagion the other day.

It's a zombie survival story without the zombies, but none the worse for that. It gave a chilling and understated image of society crumbling yet staying the same.

i thought it was haunting, and made me not want to touch anything ever again!

I want to see Contagion.

By coincident I watched some of the TCM channel's movie marathon on TV last night titled 'Contagions'. I caught the about half of The Andromeda Strain (1971) and The Last Man On Earth, (1964)<(Based on I am Legend)

I enjoyed them both. There was a subtle uneasiness to them that I really liked. I was a bit surprised that The Andromeda Strain was originally rated G, considering it's subject matter and somewhat graphic scenes.

I did not stay up to watch The Satan Bug (1965)

Edited to make more sense

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Lan Martak,

Contagion is definitely on my list. Unfortunately it was only on for 2-3 weeks here, so we missed it at the cinema, but it should work well enough on TV.

We've also started watching I, Claudius; it took me a while to get into it, but now I'm enjoying it. The series does feel quite dated in some ways, though - it's got that '70s BBC production look, it's obvious they didn't have all that much of a budget so the production looks a bit threadbare and cheap, and the acting style is definitely old-fashioned in ways that take some getting used to. However, I'm quite surprised how open they are about sexual issues. (Nevertheless, it's difficult to watch this without missing Rome's Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo.)

My only complaint about Contagioun was that it seemed to have too many story lines that went no where, or ended abruptly with little to real resolution.

That was pretty minor though, and didn't really distract until after the movie was finished.

We saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night. Bring a notepad and take notes, because there's a lot going on that makes it hard to follow in places. It was also a little slow going... neither of us had a grasp of what was happening until about 30 minutes in.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was how we spent New Year's Eve. It's nauseatingly graphic in places (I can not repeat Royko's warning about rape scenes loudly enough) but the story keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire two hours. There was more then one occasion where I didn't even realize I was tense until a scene ended and I relaxed. No idea how it compares with the Swedish film or the book, but they're both on my to-do list.

Finally saw Scarlet Street and I liked it. I was actually surprised my brother liked it too. Noir hasn't been his genre yet, but he made a lot of comments about the directing being ahead of it's time. I told him it was Fritz Lang, the director of little movie I gave him that he hasn't watched...Metropolis.

TV-wise, I'm currently watching Shameless and season two of Downton Abbey. Mad men, The Borgias, and Game of Thrones should be starting up again in a few months.

I haven't been able to hit the theatres in awhile. Partly because it's harder for me to justify the cost. I've added Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Pariah, Hugo, and The Arist to my Netflix Queue. As a big fan of the silent film era, I'm especially excited for Hugo and The Artist.