|
Post by unfortunately on May 7, 2018 12:05:19 GMT
it was a strange thing in the avengers movie seeing the heroes getting virtually annihilated in the story. i was with a grandson and his two sons. the great grandsons were too stunned for the rest of the day to even be upset by the outcome. I haven't seen it, but does anybody ever really die in these comic book movies? There are so many parallel worlds, so much time travelling, etc. that nothing seems final. Indeed, this takes away a great deal of the suspense and drama for me. I agree, I really dislike this current fad for superhero films. Whatever you can say about the small percentage of good ones the rest is just dross but they make a lot of money for the film industry due to being series with dedicated fans, and the merchandise, and they can lift script ideas from a back catalouge. I think they had the same problem with Superman in the original comics - there is no peril if he's invincible so they had to invent krytonite!
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on May 7, 2018 15:47:24 GMT
I haven't seen it, but does anybody ever really die in these comic book movies? There are so many parallel worlds, so much time travelling, etc. that nothing seems final. Indeed, this takes away a great deal of the suspense and drama for me. I agree, I really dislike this current fad for superhero films. Whatever you can say about the small percentage of good ones the rest is just dross but they make a lot of money for the film industry due to being series with dedicated fans, and the merchandise, and they can lift script ideas from a back catalouge. I think they had the same problem with Superman in the original comics - there is no peril if he's invincible so they had to invent krytonite! To be fair, I don't think it's just dedicated fans they appeal to. I watched Captain America: the Winter Soldier on TV yesterday. The things about superhero films is they usually don't disappoint in terms of delivering the expected goods; they look good, they have solid story-telling, and they usually have an uplifting moral. However, they are so samey. Whenever I watch a superhero movie, I feel a sense of defeat. Yes, I'll watch this, but I wish there was something better, more grown-up.
|
|
|
Post by tomás laserian on May 13, 2018 7:49:20 GMT
at least marvel superheroes are not as pernicious as mr men. the Lincoln university sociologists seem to think that Mr men and little misses are sexist and Mr tickle a groper
|
|
|
Post by cato on May 13, 2018 9:43:59 GMT
And lets not even think of the abusive relationship of Enid Blyton's Noddy and his more mature companion Big Ears!
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Jun 23, 2018 11:19:23 GMT
I would have liked to see that film "Tonya" in the cinema, about Tonya Harding, the controversial ice skater. Did anyone see it?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2018 14:43:55 GMT
I would have liked to see that film "Tonya" in the cinema, about Tonya Harding, the controversial ice skater. Did anyone see it? Haven’t but can’t help chuckling over how peculiarly the theatrical expression “break a leg” would go down in this context. f’Man
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 2, 2018 21:06:10 GMT
This evening I went to see a TAG, a comedy based on a true story, about a group of friends who have played a game of "tag" every May for thirty years. It starred Ed Helms (The Office), John Hamm (Mad Men) and Jeremy Renner. One member of the group has never been tagged, and the others are trying to finally break his record, while attending his wedding.
I really enjoyed it, although I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it was funny, sometimes very funny, and quite sweet. There was one extended joke involving a miscarriage, which drew some negative comment in reviews, but it's much less offensive in context. (At least, I think so.)
I liked the theme of enduring friendship-- that was quite traditional. Some of it was quite vulgar, and in all honesty, some of the most vulgar moments were the funniest. I couldn't help laughing.
It was a very original premise. I'd recommend it, in the cinema or on DVD.
|
|
|
Post by Séamus on Jul 13, 2018 1:56:19 GMT
The trailer for the upcoming MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, with Saoirse Ronan taking the part, is reportedly released this week. It will be very interesting to see how Catholicism and the Reformation in Scotland would be dealt with in this. As well as Queen Mary's own faith. Many consider her a martyr and, for those of us who dislike extraordinary ministers ( and I am admittedly one) it's worth noting that she is said to have received permission from His Holiness to administer Holy Communion to herself during incarceration.
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 13, 2018 8:52:46 GMT
The trailer for the upcoming MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, with Saoirse Ronan taking the part, is reportedly released this week. It will be very interesting to see how Catholicism and the Reformation in Scotland would be dealt with in this. As well as Queen Mary's own faith. Many consider her a martyr and, for those of us who dislike extraordinary ministers ( and I am admittedly one) it's worth noting that she is said to have received permission from His Holiness to administer Holy Communion to herself during incarceration. I'm prejudiced against the Scottish.
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 30, 2018 21:20:59 GMT
I went to see Mission Impossible: Fallout at the weekend. It was really excellent, a feast of a film. Action films are not by favourite genre by any means, but of its kind, this was masterful-- no-holds-barred, all-out, top of the range action. The twists were often ingenious, and the visuals were wonderful to look at. I also appreciated that there was no political correctness or preaching. The three central characters are two white guys and a black guy but race is totally irrelevant. And one of the villains is fanatically anti-religious. I definitely recommend it.
|
|
|
Post by Séamus on Aug 24, 2018 11:55:42 GMT
At a festival of low-budget films this week an unusual portrait(by someone named Tessa McOnie) of David Wenham, painted as though reflected in a café window, was unveiled. The portrait very much highlights something that I've never noticed in actual photos- the nose that he claims won him the role of Faramir in the LORD OF The RINGS films- he always stated that Sean Bean (Boromir) and he looked like brothers because of their large noses, probably a bit of exaggerated self-depreciation really. Additional fact:Catholic-raised, Christian Brothers-educated, Wenham also took the role of St Damian in MOLOKAI in the early 2000s
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 2, 2018 16:51:59 GMT
I've just been to see The Meg-- a film about a giant shark, starring Jason Statham and Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) amongst others. I really liked it.
It has a TERRIBLE title-- "Meg" is short for megaladon, a massive prehistoric shark. But I didn't realize that's what the title meant, going in to see it-- it doesn't exactly sound menacing or exciting. I'm more likely to associate it with nutmeg or Mystic Meg.
The film is set in a deep-sea underwater research station in the Pacific ocean, the deepest part of the world's oceans, called the Mariana Trench. It is being funded by Rainn Wilson's character, who is a tycoon of some kind. The staff of the station have a theory that there is a deeper level of ocean underneath the Mariana trench, and it turns out that there is. It also turns out to sustain megaladons, who have survived there two million years after they've gone extinct everywhere else. An exploration vessel has become trapped at the bottom of the ocean and is in danger from this creature.
The staff of the station have to turn to Jason Statham, a retired rescue diver, the only person who has ever rescued anyone at such depths. We saw him in an opening sequence of the film, set years before, in which he allowed several crewmembers of a submarine to die because he believed he saw a giant creature about to attack their submarine. The giant creature was destroyed in the blast so he has no proof and everyone thinks he is crazy. (Of course, it was a megaladon.) However, he is the best in the business so they have to seek him out.
Basically the film is one long set of encounters between human beings and the megaladon, in various different situations.
I liked it. The thing I go to the cinema for is to see a spectacle, and it was a spectacle-- there are some great shots. Oceans and water are always a great source of stunning cinematography, and the high-tech research station is also great-- I love anything where people are only separated by glass from either space or the ocean.
It wasn't a claustrophobic film, and I liked that-- it didn't really dwell on the physical confines of the various underwater vessels they use, and a lot of it is set on the surface of the water, anyway. Later it moves to a beach, and that also added variety.
I liked the lack of PC-- not that it was politically incorrect, but it wasn't politically correct, either. The cast was multi-ethnic, but this makes perfect sense in the context.
I didn't like that it repeated the cliché, and the falsehood, that a child of a separated or divorced parent is always enthusiastic for the parent to enter into a new romantic relationship.
It had just enough dramatic tension to stop me from getting bored. Some of the dialogue was corny, like: "A war between man and megaladon is not a war, it's a slaughter", and "Try to stay out of its mouth." (Quoting from memory, I'm sure not accurately, but that's the gist.)
I recommend it, unless the whole premise sounds boring to you. Four out of five, I'd say-- although the professional critics were much less complimentary.
|
|
|
Post by cato on Sept 12, 2018 20:06:49 GMT
I saw Black 47 today and was disapointed. The famine is used as a backdrop to what is really a violent revenge fantasy against police soldiers and ultimately the local heartless landlord played here by the normally genial Jim Broadbent.
Much of the dialogue is in Irish which is good. There are scenes were a fanatical priest tells his flock they will go to hell if they take the soup. The English soupers are also presented in a very unflattering light. The main character is a soldier who deserts the Crown after fightening in Afghanistan among other places and who comes across as a bit of a psycho to be frank.
It is hard to depict a catastrophe like the famine without becoming a gore fest. It can't be an easy topic for a film director to take on.This is very much a 2018 take where the bad guys get punished by our action hero. There are Irish historical films thay have flaws like Michael Collins that are still good movies. This just didn't get off the ground for me. Wait for RTE to show it on St Patrick's day if you want to see it.
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 16, 2018 14:14:01 GMT
There are Irish historical films thay have flaws like Michael Collins that are still good movies. This just didn't get off the ground for me.. For all its flaws, I think Michael Collins is the best Irish movie ever made. My parents, myself and my brother all went together. I remember the taxi driver, when we asked for the cinema, said: "All off to see Michael Collins?" I love that kind of national event. My father, a lifelong republican, spent the whole film grumbling about historical inaccuracies. I think he was just short of standing up in front of the screen and launching on a historical lecture.
|
|
|
Post by Maolsheachlann on Sept 16, 2018 14:18:22 GMT
I'm very interested in the psychology of cinema audiences, so this is how I came across this academic article, "Laughter and collective awareness: the cinema auditorium as pubic space". I thought my fellow deplorables might be amused by the abstract:
This article looks at how the collective experience of laughter in the movie theater is related to the idea of the cinema as a public space. Through the non-verbal expression of laughter the audience ‘constructs’ a public space the viewers may not have been aware of to the same degree prior to the collective public expression. Moreover, the public space created through laughter allows for an expedient type of monitoring: inappropriate laughter may be exposed in front of others. With viewers who laugh approvingly about racist violence or misogynist jokes, we can easily lay bare the ethical implications.
Of all the things to which an audience might react inappropriately, those are the ones which immediately come to her mind.
|
|