[michael blunty]

Tsotsi

Very Very good, if a bit short.
The main kid put in a terrific perfomance...

Well recommended

I don't agree with the city of god comparisons though

[james-bocco]

Originally Posted by michael blunty

Tsotsi

Very Very good, if a bit short.
The main kid put in a terrific perfomance...

Well recommended

I don't agree with the city of god comparisons though

I knew there was a film I meant to buy recently...I think I'll pick this one up in the next few weeks.

[michael blunty]

Yeah it's well worth it.

Nothing we haven't seen before...but the film has a beating heart...and I don't reckon i'd seen a south african film before.

[michael blunty]

The Dish

Charming lil aussie gem featuring (stangely) dani and david from neighbours.

[michael blunty]

Army of Darkness

Good Fun

[james-bocco]

The Break Up. :?

Thought it had the potential to be better than it was. A good idea, just not executed correctly and it tried too hard to have an esoteric, "French" cinema - non-Hollywood type ending...NOT GOOD.

2.5/5

The Shield S1 & 2 - I have been watching these recently and really enjoy this show. It is very addictive. When will they get their finger out and release S3 and 4 in the UK? :x

4/5

[grambax]

The Break Up. Confused

Thought it had the potential to be better than it was. A good idea, just not executed correctly and it tried too hard to have an esoteric, "French" cinema - non-Hollywood type ending...NOT GOOD. Laughing

Just caught up with it tonight - I rather enjoyed it, perhaps a little more than I expected. Looks at an aspect of relationships seldom addressed in films. I do think some people were disappointed, expecting a more taditional romantic comedy, but I'm not really sure how else it could have ended - more commital either way would have offended the sensibilities of each side of the audience. Although perhaps the sort of compromise managed to alienate everyone. Its been doing huge business though; I think partly due to the lack of similar alternatives.[/quote]

[moes_girl]

It definatley looked promosing from the trailers but I was slightly disappointed.

[grambax]

It definatley looked promosing from the trailers but I was slightly disappointed.

Did the trailer have you expecting something different, or did you just not care for it? A fair number of people seem to have felt mislead. In fact there are a lot of shocked people on the IMDb that a film called The Break-up is actually about a couple breaking up! I think the tone of the trailer may have contributed to this.

There has been a tendancy (not just recenly, but particularly apparent at the mo) to portray films as out and out comedies when they aren't. Prime also suffered from this, although I thought The Break-up a far better and more honest film.

[grambax]

At the cinema - Miami Vice. I really didn't like this at all. I was never a fan of the show, but, while not a huge Michael Mann fan, I appreciate some of his work, but I felt this a mess. I've read several defences of it, claiming its an anti-hollywood mood piece, estewing narative for hyper-realism and Atmosphere, and that some people "just don't get it". Perhaps this is true.

Personally I found it too over the top to be realistic, too humourlous and grim to be fun, and with a plot we don't care about as the film tries to mask its telling as much as possible. Some old, or even new, style star quality might have helped, but Farrell and Foxx just don't make us care about the characters, even as little as the script does. There is a central sort of romance which I didn't buy for a second and which seems to involve hugely questionable ethics. This isn't explored at all but seems to be presented for very quick fixes of emotion.

Finally, I've never seen a film where the limitations of HD are shown up so glaringly. High grain was acceptable in Collatarel as it was set almost totally at night, and we accepted the look. Here, shots within a scene don't even come close to matching.

If it wanted to be a summer action blockbuster, it needed to be more fun. If it wanted to be a gritty thriller it needed to involve us in its story and characters. As a mood piece, it seems to be saying that the world of crime and drugs is complex, dull, grim and cruel; but damn, guns, fast cars and boats are sooo cool; and who the bad guys are depends on who our heroes happen to randomly have the hots for (ability to actually deliver lines in english not really required).

(I know that last comment seems terribly cruel, but feels jusified as we seem to be presented with cyphers rather than charcters).

And finally, why on earth would cover In The Air Tonight and remove the only really cool and distinctive part of the song - the drumming!