Film you recently watched: part 3

I was considering a rewatch of the original.. didnt like the recent ones they seemed to lose there charm... or I'm too old for them now

 

Saltburn.

3 out of 5.

Follows the fortunes of a Scouse billy no mates Oxford university fresher. He befriends a posh wealthy student who invites him into his circle and then to his estate for the summer. They have numerous staff and throw lavish parties just because they can. But things go a little skewed as the blindingly obvious twists occur one by one.

It's intriguing enough for a while, but the ending isn't the marvellous shock it wants to be, because it's the only possible turn left, full of holes and you guess what's going on an hour earlier, because otherwise it's just a film about in-bred vapid rich people taking drugs and living outside reality.

Well filmed with good acting and a nice portrait of an out of touch high society being unable see what's true " I can see why Felix likes you, you're so real". But overall a bit duller than it thinks it is.

 

Belfast is an interesting and heartwarming portrayal of Northern Irish culture as the troubles were starting to tear communities apart. It’s on Netflix and was showing on the BBC just before Christmas. Some good performances, and lots of choice Van Morrison tracks make up the majority of the soundtrack.

My mother in law grew up in Northern Ireland and she says that the street communities really were like that.

 

I quite enjoyed Saltburn. The plot's a complete mess and I could have done without the drinking jizzed-in bathwater scene, but it was entertaining and Richard E Grant is good value playing the same role he always plays

 

It’s the great paradox of NI for anyone who has visited. It’s hard to square the friendliness of people from both sides that you encounter with the viciousness of the conflict.

 

I used to visit Belfast frequently (not through choice) and always found the local people - the proddy dogs and the papes - f***ing appalling

 

What did they do?

My visits were post Good Friday agreement, so less tense, though often scorched tarmac and big murals to be seen. Usually work colleagues were mixed groups, so I suppose already self-selected as people who could get on with each other.

 

I'm probably being a bit unfair but they always seemed to be seething about something. Because the chap I used to visit was a prominent Catholic business man some parts of the city were very much off limits or we had to travel in the back of an old van. I used to think it was quite exciting but looking back imust have been crazy to go. I'm sure it's much better now

 

GTFI

 

Good films, but I’m a bit down on zombies and the whole running around going wooaaarrrgh all the time.

If you’re a zombie and you have something to say, just come out with it FFS.

 

The Peterloo Massacre - by Mike Leigh. Watched 20 mins before turning off. The soldiers did the right thing. After that first 20 mins of riveting northern dialogue between men in waistcoats and women in bonnets about t' injustice of t'corn laws, I wanted to shoot thee. Aye! Pile o' shyte lad. 2/10.

Do The Right Thing - A Spike Jones film. I don't often like his films much, but this one was OK. Showed a lot of the stupidity of racism. The pizza owner, Sal, was a bit of a caricature. More than a bit dated now also. 6/10.

Black Dynamite - Enjoyed this comedy a lot. Pretty funny. It's a satire on the superfly shaftastic blaxploitation films of the 60s and 70s. Plenty of big fros, Kung Fu and layyyyy-deez. 8/10.

 

I liked Do The Right Thing when I saw it, though that was more than 30 years ago. I imagine it has dated, though I expect the nuance is still there.

More nuance than people can take nowadays. Lee is often accused of being a polemicist, but while his sympathies are evident in the film, he shows his characters flaws. It’s balanced.

I suspect that this would be too much for the contemporary US and I was not disappointed seeing the IMDB user reviews. One contributor bemoans that there is no justification for smashing up a restaurant. You don’t say.

 

I watched Moneyball again today which must now be my 4th time. Every time I watch it I just find more reasons to love it. It's just 10/10 for me.

 

Have you read the book? Also excellent!

 

Plus if it’s an apocalypse , get your self a big boat and live out at see, when you need to come back on shore for food, get a suit of armour , job done

 

Wasn’t that Sid James in every single Carry On film?

 

Carry on Zombies would have been great. I enjoyed Carry on Screaming tremendously. Do you mind if I smoke?

 

Society in the Snow on Netflix about the Uruguay rugby team plane crash in the Andes in '72 is a decent retelling of something Hollywood has done before. It's a Spanish language job but dubbed well enough to make it watchable if you're not a subtitles person or hablas Espanol.

 

Don’t mind these sorts of films, but they do make me terribly peckish.

 

im not normally squeamish but the crash scene made me turn over.

 

The Kitchen (Netflix). Don't bother, it's sh1te.

 

Was looking forward to the return of True Detective but the latest series, on first sight, appears to have abandoned good storytelling in favour of hocus pocus. Jodie Foster also seems to be channelling Kate Winslett’s deeply annoying turn from Mare of Eastown.

 

Thank the (Innuit) gods that it's a TV series not a film.

 

Saw Poor Things on the weekend. Thought it was fantastic with the first half hilarious before it became a little darker in the second half.

 

A Haunting in Venice. One of the few films I have watched in the last 12 months that I would tell everyone to avoid.

Bearing in mind Kenneth Branner has Directed some good films in the past, this is an absolute stinker and some of filming of it was reminiscent of a school film project.

 

I'm enjoying the two episodes at the moment... but annoyed no one in it is discussing a major shock that happens at the start of Ep2... Jodie Fosters character is hard to love... but think thats the point

 

Cuban film fest! On YouTube I found there are several classic Cuban films complete and without adverts. Recently I have enjoyed:

Un Rey en La Habana (a King in Havana) -

A very funny comedy with some classic lines. An elderly Spanish man, Arturo, comes to marry a beautiful young cuban girl and take her back to Spain and his millions. Her mother, 'the crocodile', has arranged the matrimony. But after arriving in Cuba, the old boy has a heart attack and dies. So they decide to hide the fact and get a young actor to disguise himself as Arturo and have the wedding continue as planned. It all goes ahead and at the reception there's a suspiciously large amount of meat available for the guests, which the crocodile insists is 'pork', but is unidentified.

They leave the country for Spain along with the actor's black dwarf friend (played by José Téllez - el chico bombón. A famous figure on Cuban TV comedy). It turns out Arturo was already married to an old Spanish bat and she pulls a pistol on him when he arrives for going missing for so long and worse when he says he was in Cuba. But fortunately Arturo's best friend arrives and it turns out while he's been away, he's been having an affair with Arturo's wife. Very, very funny as the pretend Arturo is really, really understanding about it. No, no, no, these things happen. We're all friends here. Let's have a hug.

Well more hijinks around Madrid getting chased by gangsters etc. They suggest taking back a shipload of Spanish maracas to scare the Americans. They'd post people all around the coast and when the yanks arrive they'd think we'd got thousands of machine guns...

In the end they get deported from Spain and he stays with the girl married anyway and they have a baby right at the end in the titles. So everyone lived happily ever after.

A very funny film throughout and some of the characters were really strong. A little bit slapstick in the Madrid bits at times, but made me laugh out loud several times.

8/10

 

El Brigadista (The Brigadier) -

A film from 1977, so a bit dated but still very good and very inspiring and memorable.

It is set in 1961 - the year of education, when the youth formed the literacy brigades and travelled out all over the island to teach everyone to read and write.

The story is about a student lad who goes out to the Zapata mangrove swamplands to teach a town of charcoal cutters. He is only 15. Of course at first they don't accept him, especially because of his age. But eventually he wins them round but by bit. He is scared himself and agrees with one of the older men that he will teach him to read if he will teach him how not to be scared.

The bay of pigs invasion happens close by, but the local army won't arm the brigadistas and they have to hide frustrated while the invaders are defeated. But also in the area are a group of counterrevolutionary bandits. This is true from that time. The brigadista kids were targets of those US-armed and financed worms. The local group are led by Marco the Loco, who used to be the cruel bosses' foreman in the bad old days.

Marco and his goons kidnap and lynch a Brigadista and a local woodcutter man that was his student. As happened in reality.

The brigadista's parents come and beg him to go back to Havana, but he refuses. What would happen if everyone gave up? No he is firm and decided. He stays.

Marco and his loco degenerate thugs attack! There's a big shootout and this time the army captain lets the brigadistas have weapons. Marco et al rapidly bite the dust, or in Marco's case the water as he's cowardly fleeing across some shallows when he gets his.

The brigadistas go back to the tree where they did the lynching and climb right to the top to haul up a flag that flies high over the treetops and that can be seen in every direction 'THIS LAND IS FREE OF ILLITERACY!".

The brigadistas go back to Havana to a rapturous welcome from the parents and crowds. They march to the plaza carrying giant pencils and a sign saying 'Order us what to do next'.


Fidel made a speech about the glorious youth being the future of the revolution. National anthem played and I cried like a baby as the credits rolled.

A bit dated and the film quality isn't great but a wonderful film nonetheless. I like true stories

9/10

 

One Life (BBC Films), focusses on Nicholas Winton, the organiser of Kindertransport that saved over 600 Jewish children from Nazi occupied Prague.

His story is well-known, particularly through the That’s Life moment, truly one of television’s finest moments. Less understood is the method and the tenacity required to win the trust of doomed parents to let their children leave and to overcome bureaucracy at the British end. In addition, it portrays how Winton remained deeply troubled by the children he failed to save.

It’s a touching film, that recreates sensitively the That’s Life moment and tells its story efficiently. Samantha Spiro channels Esther Rantzen’s legendary ability to switch from frivolous to serious beautifully. All you are left wondering is how many other stories there are to tell, the fostered children, how they did in life and the very many more who along with their families did not survive the Holocaust.

 

*Chance*

An excellent Panamanian/Colombian comedy film.

It's a theme that's been done before, but it works well and very funny. It's a slave revolt.

Toña and Paquita are two maids working for a rich politician and his family. They treat their servants horribly. Humiliate them, insult them and don't pay them. To the point where they revolt and hold the whole family hostage while they empty their bank accounts and sell off their expensive mansion stuff and cars etc. They also smash the two daughters' expensively plastic surgeried noses with a meat tenderiser (smiley).

It's in Spanish of course, so you would need to speak it to understand. But here is the link for you to enjoy one part.

From 1:03:50, the appallingly treated maid Toña has dressed up in the mistresses fine clothes and is going to take a dip in the Richies' swimming pool. Apparently this is the one and only film appearance by this excellent actress, but she steals the show with this...

 

Just got round to watching CODA. Thought it was an excellent film. Simple, good length, moving, uplifting and transportational into a different world.

The journey is so enjoyable (and the acting so great) it does matter that you can guess the destination. Very close to 5* from me.

 

Adam Sandler:


Yes that Adam Sandler has starred in a very interesting film (along with about half his close family) "Spaceman". My Czech friends described the original book as "...an impenetrable Kundara knock-off of a 21st century meditation upon Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in space..." which, for me, is a ringing endorsement. The film is, essentially, a double act between a cosmonaut Sandler and, a very good bit of CGI called, Hanu* (the real star) exploring his isolation and relationship with his earth-bound wife (Carey Mulligan).

I do like comics (although I find Sandler about as funny as the current slaughter in Gaza) playing 'straight' - they bring a real depth to portraying negative emotions and Sandler 'doing' despair is riveting.

It's not an action-packed blockbuster but well worth spending a rainy night in with.