Reply With QuoteDeath of Stalin, a satire, was on telly last night. I thought it was pretty good. Maybe not a major box office success in MOCKBa.
Big names in the cast. Steve Buscemi as Kruschev.
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We’ve been watching Return of the Pink Panther today, Peter Sellers truly was a genius.
Cheers..
Jase
Death of Stalin, a satire, was on telly last night. I thought it was pretty good. Maybe not a major box office success in MOCKBa.
Big names in the cast. Steve Buscemi as Kruschev.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Last edited by BillyCasper; 21st December 2020 at 17:11.
Treated ourselves to Tenet yesterday, hmmmm, not sure, I think I need to watch it again to get my head around it, and yes, the dialogue volume to soundtrack was very frustrating.
Cheers..
Jase
I watched 71 on Saturday. A powerful, visceral, nail biting film. I thought the main act was great, but thought the ending could have been better.
'71 was a very tense film I thought. Very nervy if you know the history or grew up in these times.
The Wee Man - Amazon Prime - yes a gangster type Katy type designer violence thing, but I enjoyed it regardless
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Watched Educating Rita a few nights ago, never seen it before, what a fantastic film and God how attractive is Julie Walters and her character at the start of the film.
1984. very prophetic. Can't give any opinions because Big brother is watching................ and listening.............!
My questions:Originally Posted by JasonM
1. If the movie is this hard to understand, and I hadn't the foggiest what was going on from half way through, is it Entertainment or Art.
2. Why would a talented film-maker spend $200million on a plot very few people can follow
3. Is this just an up to date "Emperor's New Clothes" ?
4. It scored 71% on RottenTomatoes.com, but I think there are so many fatuous reviewers on there, it's back to Emperor's New Clothes and few of them fear to dissent. Or to vote negatively opens you up to "you didn't get it"
We spend £12.99 on the HD Amazon stream.
We watched the whole film with subtitles
We stopped the stream about 5 times to ask each other "what the hell is going on?" Imagine being at the cinema where there is no pause button.
I think this is Christopher Nolan disappearing up his own arse with a vanity project. A film too complicated to follow unless you have read the screenplay 16 times or watched it three times.
It took $350million apparently world wide which makes it a flop, once promotion and distribution are factored in. A big film makes $1 billion.
Shame on you Nolan. You've made a film for yourself, not us
Last edited by The Doc; 22nd December 2020 at 13:07.
I haven't watched it yet (been saving it for my birthday tomorrow). However I think it is a bit harsh to call it a flop based on global takings when it was released during a pandemic with much of the world under severe physical restrictions? Why do you think so many other films had their release dates pushed back? It was brave and incredibly supportive of the industry to release the film under those circumstances.
As for my views on the film itself, will share tomorrow!
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The break even point has been quoted at $400million. EG underneath this the financial backers are in loss, not profit.
If you were a financier and someone asked you to put up $50million of your own dollars for a Nolan film, I think you'd be a bit pissed off right now. You can't blame the reputation of the film and it's non-approachability on COVID. The test audiences would have given you an idea if it was going to make $200mill or $1000 Million.
Sources: www.vulture.com
If you make a film at a loss, intentionally or something that is so risky it might happen, then the Director is playing around with other people's millions.
I desperately wanted it to be good. I love Inception, Memento, Dark Knight etc and his others.
I watched that too and thoroughly enjoyed it, some of the dark humour present lifted it certainly and a great cast to boot. I did occasionally feel that they could have used more of the great Michael Palin in his role as Molotov. But perhaps they were historically accurate in their portrayal of his part in affairs and my own bias towards him is affecting my judgement.
Also, "flop" is just a label, It doesn't make a film bad. The film does this.
Shawshank Redemption "flopped" and lots of others I really enjoyed too.
You make an interesting point, and I suppose that comes down to how the 'talent' is managed. Nolan is a creator and artist - is he making films for others, or himself? If the latter, is that really so bad? It has worked great previously.
I'd suggest if he was asked to make a film that as a business vehicle was guaranteed, or at least have a high degree of probability, to make a lot of money at the box office - would Nolan want to do it? Would he sign up to something that would potentially curb his creative instincts? I highly doubt it. He'd have been told here's $400m, go make what you want, with your track record we are fairly sure it is a safe investment. Like any investment, there is a risk - and in this case that was the product itself and the environment in which it was released. Quite why you appear to be so cross about this, I can't understand. Forgive me if I've misunderstood!Agreed, same here. One of my favourite films, Children of Men, barely made a profit at the box office.
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not cross.....
.......heated !!
It's payday today in my hospital, who could be cross?
Seriously though, the film made me cross. Once you've watched it we can chat about its problems. Or just get on with Christmas. It's only a film :)
It seems quite an American thing to equate a film's goodness with its box office.
Despite this, I think WB will be happy with Tenet so far, having hauled in <consults calculator> $360 million more dollars in 2020 than MGM's expensive James Bond picture for example. Money isn't lent for free, and getting something back ($360 million is hardly peanuts, especially considering how many venues were shut) is so much better than nothing. Indeed, MGM is now rumoured to be up for sale.
Plus, all the streaming and future revenue Tenet will attract, including future theatrical presentations - his films really lend themselves to IMAX especially. Tenet is one of the most cinema-wall-busting films ever. It certainly isn't the same on home viewing.
Nolan's films have grossed more than $5 billion to date, so I suspect the investors must be quite happy overall. Indeed, I believe Nolan has a very rare "whatever subject you like" funding deal with Warner Brothers, reflecting their confidence and his previous delivery of insane truckloads of revenue. There's little chance anyone will lose money on Tenet. The same cannot be said for other films that weren't brave enough to be released in this dismal year.
While I think Tenet is excellent, I also completely understand the "it's indulgent cerebral auteur" type review. It's an art film wrapped in a popcorn movie served with a physics lecture - something to annoy everyone.
Oh good! I have to wait until tomorrow for payday, let's hope the film isn't so bad it ruins my day haha
Stay safe and well, didn't realise The Doc was an actual medical doc! Without knowing what you do specifically, thanks to you and your colleagues! Hopefully you manage to get some form of a break over the festive period.
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I’ve reflected on what I said about Death of Stalin. I said that it was quite good. It was an excellent satire, a really good piss take of despots. Not just Steve Buscemi and Palin, all round excellent casting and performances. Simon Russell Beale as Beriya, Jeffry Tambor as Malenkov and Jason Isaacs as Zhukov was really funny. Still enough in it to depict the worst of tyranny.
Iaanuci and Schneider are great satirists.
The Death of Stalin, The Death of Stalin: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qrrc via @bbciplayer
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Last edited by BillyCasper; 22nd December 2020 at 15:05.
Yes indeed, very well cast and acted. Beale especially so, looked and sounded all chummy and cuddly, whilst simultaneously ordering the carrying out of atrocities in the most casual and offhand manner.
From 1961, quite charming
Quite charming? Quite charming! It's bloody marvellous. Really evocative, childhood memories.
https://youtu.be/JB7po-jCsGI
Love all 60s it's grim up t'north films: Kes, This Sporting Life, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Kind of Loving and along to Rita, Sue and Bob Too.
May i add A Taste of Honey to that wonderful list?
An outstanding addition.
And I'll add 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'. Much more enjoyable in film form that having to read it in O' Level English Lit.
And, of course, 'Billy Liar', with the scrumptious Julie Christie.
Last edited by SimonK; 22nd December 2020 at 19:53.
A mention for Kes also, such a great, great film.
RocknRolla
It's on Netflix, a Guy Ritchie film. Worth a watch if you have a couple of hours to spare.
Kes is a brilliant film. I've only watched it once though as the end was so sad and depressing. The same goes for Ring of Bright water. I can't watch them again.
My daughter badgered me into watching JoJo Rabbit with her this afternoon. As it turns out it’s a really good film. Who knew!
I thought Tenet was OK. The plot summary on wiki explains it quite well. Having read it, I felt a lot less need to re-watch the film.
The voice audibility is appalling.
Robert Pattison was surprisingly watchable.
I was interested to see Elizabeth Debicki playing the mistress of an evil arms dealer, whilst effectively being held hostage over access to her child. They should have called her character 'Jed'.
I hope Nolan's next film is more straight forward (in the vein of Tarrantino's Jackie Brown).
21 Bridges, good film, nice twist
I watched Looper the other night. It's an interesting twist on the time travel sci fri genre. Well worth a watch.
Watched it on catch-up. Excellent film and casting - Michelle Cane is great
I have just watched The Silver Wars (pt1 which covers the rivalry between Rosberg/Hamilton during the 2014 F1 season) and Pt 2 which covers the 2016 season. It’s brilliant and on a par with the Netflix Drive to Survive series.
It’s produced by a guy called VLoz. Well worth a watch, (if you enjoy F1).
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I watched Disneys new movie Soul last night with my daughter. It's really a kids movie but funny at times. (BTW my daughter is 20 lol)
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Watched Bohemian Rhapsody on prime on the £1.99 deal, I’m not a Queen fan by any margin but found it to be an excellent film.
Also re-watched the Matrix last night and forgot that it’s over 20 years old now
The little lad Charlie ( Alan Barnes) is brilliant, his expressions and reactions make him the standout character for me. "Rotten cows " and then a cuff to the back of his head.
Watched Judgement At Nuremberg tonight (Spencer Tracy). Not exactly seasonal but excellent film.
The Cruel Sea.
Snorkers! Good-oh!
The Midnight Sky (on Netflix)..... It’s a George Clooney vehicle,in which he both stars and directs,but it’s very engrossing and well worth a watch.
I just had a second stab at watching La La Land after giving up after about 15 minutes the first time.
It's never going to be in my favourite films list, but it wasn't as awful as I felt the first time around.
We got to the end. So, I don't think I need to watch it again.
M
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Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Mafia Inc - didn't have high hopes but was pleasantly surprised, solid gangster film based in Montreal and I think based on a non-fiction book about the Sicilian Mafia in Canada.
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A few over the Christmas.
Die Hard. Enough said.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Watched it with my son and we both enjoyed it for what it was.
Catch Me If You Can. Great cast, looked amazing, I felt It dragged a little in part , but overall a fantastic film.
About to watch 'The Hills Have Eyes'. Not seen it before. Hope it's not too gory. :)
Just watched Jojo Rabbit
What a great final film of the year.
Really enjoyed it
Two very different ones last night.
Beverly Hills Cop. One of Eddie Murphy's finest.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Kids wanted to stay up until midnight so we ended up watching this, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would. I have probably seen it close to a dozen times, but not in many years. I once attended a fancy dress party costumed as Mr Wonka, but that was another life time ago.
Dredd just came up again on Netflix, good old shoot em up bloodfest....
Cheers..
Jase
Watched that with the wife last night as well closely followed by number 2. Didn't feel in the mood for 3 though.
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This is an awesome action film, such a shame a sequel was never made. If you can handle subtitles, worth watching as a double-bill with The Raid. The Raid and Raid II are amazing action films based in Indonesia, featuring a local martial art called Pencak Silat. The director is a Welshman who was living out there. The fight choreography is some of the best you'll ever see and in The Raid II there is a top-class car-chase/fight scene which lives long in the memory.
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The Gentlemen. Realy enjoyed it.
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Pixar’s Soul.
Although rated for nearly every age, not suited for young kids. (Death, After-life etc). For adults a movie with a message.
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