BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Recently watched movies.

SolarSystem · December 16, 2015 11:44 am

besleybean · December 16, 2015 5:36 pm

I still haven't seen the Truman show!

Russell · December 17, 2015 6:33 pm

Wow... you always write the most detailed reviews! Seen some great stuff myself lately, but not always as many loftier/arty films or thoughts about. As my friend and I go through a phase of catching up on neat/newer futuristic/dystopian films we missed, we loved how 'deep' Mad Max got (for an action/car chase movie) with issues of human rights, women, and survival. Not to mention being a gorgeous film.

Similar was true for 'The Giver', which was a book I loved as a teen for really striking me with the whole idea of a controlled utopia, when most of the time people play with a dystopia, or another world entirely. Finally made into a movie, with Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep! Really good, with making you wonder if we'd want a perfect world, free from pain, choice, even feelings.

The film I want to recommend though, is our latest, 'Ex Machina'. Starring only Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, and Domnhall Gleeson, I was intrigued ever since I read a synopsis and heard some buzz about it when it first came out. An A.I. film that goes deeper than the typical 'robots take over' action flick, a young man is invited to his computer-genius CEO's reclusive estate to be the human counterpart in a week-long Turing Test with Ava, a beautiful humanoid robot who blurs the A.I. line and makes him question what is human. Thoughtful, suspenseful, and a bit creepy as things start to get a bit twisted between all the characters. Led to some interesting discussion about who was being more human and deserved our sympathy, and how we decide.

Wondering if I'd like the one you were talking about, though... and to add to above comments, funny how some of those 'twisty' movies can grab you, and some not! Enjoyed Inception, Truman Show, and Being John Malkovich, myself... still need to see the others.

besleybean · December 17, 2015 6:49 pm

I also want to see Being John Malkovich!

SolarSystem · December 17, 2015 7:43 pm

I would consider "Being John Malkovich" a definite must-see, even if you afterwards come to the conclusion that it's not your cup of tea. But all those crazy ideas and, well... John Malkovich not taking himself serious at all in this film... it's amazing.
Same goes for "The Truman Show", it's probably Jim Carrey's best performance (together with his performance in "The Majestic") ever. And Ed Harris is also great in TTS.

ukaunz · December 17, 2015 8:28 pm

Oh yes, another one we agree on Solar It's been ages since I watched Being John Malkovich, I must see it again some time...

ukaunz · December 17, 2015 9:10 pm

Oh, and I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Yitzock · December 17, 2015 10:39 pm

Have wanted to see The Truman Show for a while, but still haven't got around to it.

Have to say that I saw Ex Machina a couple months ago after wanting to see it for some time since when it came out I heard it was good. I guess some parts of it were OK, but I was very disappointed by it. A lot of it annoyed me.

SolarSystem · December 17, 2015 11:12 pm

ukaunz wrote:
Oh, and I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Oh yes, completely forgot about this one - despite the fact that the DVD is right here in my living room.
Another one that comes to mind right now is "Punch-Drunk Love".

Last edited by SolarSystem (December 17, 2015 11:12 pm)

Russell · December 18, 2015 7:25 pm

Yitzock wrote:
Have to say that I saw Ex Machina a couple months ago after wanting to see it for some time since when it came out I heard it was good. I guess some parts of it were OK, but I was very disappointed by it. A lot of it annoyed me.

Yes! I mean, I enjoyed it for the twist on that kind of film and making me think about nature of A.I. and human, but we were still going 'what the heck?' at it, too and left with a mixed feeling. Without spoiling anything here, just wondered if you were the same with being bothered specifically by the ending, and the CEO's asinine personality. (or maybe that was the point. so arrogant and dismissive of the amazing thing he's created, it's just a 'tool' he can play god with)

Yitzock · December 23, 2015 3:42 pm

Those were part of what I didn't like Russell, but there was other stuff that I didn't like (specifically the stuff related to sex, the way it was handled badly).

Anyway, yesterday I FINALLY got to see SPECTRE. It was a lot funnier than I was expecting, in a good way. I liked the humour even though it could also be quite dark and had good tense moments and exciting chase sequences. The opening was quite amazing. I like that we got more scenes with Q and M, (especially Q) because I like those characters. For anybody else who has seen it, did you think M's teeth looked weird in the first scene we saw him, in the office with Bond? It might have been the lighting, but it looked like he had fake teeth, though in the rest of the film I didn't notice his teeth or find them odd-looking.

kgreen20 · December 25, 2015 12:06 am

For the last month, I've been watching Christmas movies and specials. The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, Nutcracker: A Motion Picture, The Littlest Angel, the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott, Santa Claus: The Movie, The Polar Express, and The Nativity Story are the movies I've watched as of late. Hey, 'tis the season for Christmas fare, you know! =)

besleybean · December 28, 2015 1:08 pm

Okay I saw Star Wars last night....do we have a thread for it?
Anyhow, as some may know, I don't tend to spoil in my comments.
I did enjoy it.
But my main feeling was one of being struck that it was nearly 40 years since I last sat at the cinema to watch a SW film.
The other thing, which is ore of relevance to this forum:
My daughter is a total Star Wars geek.
So it was interesting to see her react to this, as we would to Sherlock!
She really reminded me of my own response to seeing TEH for the first time.
She didn't know what to think and wasn't sure if she liked it...because it was different!
I explained to her that I'd had to watch TEH at least 3x, before I could get my head around it.
Also, she's not sure if she likes the new lead(sound familiar?!)...though I like her.
Oh and as some may also know: I had the man spoiler from Twitter, on the day of the premiere.

Last edited by besleybean (December 28, 2015 1:10 pm)

Yitzock · December 30, 2015 1:41 am

I saw two great movies at the cinema today.

First up was Room, based on the Canadian novel of the same title. It's pretty famous here, but I don't know about in other countries. It's about a young woman and her five-year-old son. The two of them are locked inside a garden shed, which they call "Room," by a man only ever referred to as "Old Nick," who makes occasional appearances. It's a sad scenario, but there is hope amidst that and the ending is not a sad one. The story is not sugar-coated in any way, and it's smart and realistic. Would definitely recommend it, but it was a bit hard to find a theatre showing it at this time. The actors who play the young woman and her son are both excellent, they feel real and completely believable. This film is very emotional and I cried several times over the course of it, but it was a very good film so that is fine.

Next up was The Danish Girl. Eddie Redmayne was getting Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Lili Elbe before the film even came out, and boy did he deliver, not to discount in the slightest Alicia Vikander's performance. She was also fantastic and we all thought, after seeing the movie, that she deserves the Best Actress Oscar for that. She was great. The two of them really were, and they had chemistry. The only character/performance I wasn't all that crazy about was Amber Heard as Ulla. She felt a little too much a number of times, but she was not in a ton of scenes so that was not a big deal. I was still very emotionally invested in the story and while I did not cry as much as I thought I would, I did cry at the end. I couldn't help but recognize myself in Lili at times, though I'm non-binary, not a transgender woman. Beautiful score also, and the cinematography and framing of many of the shots were beautiful as well. I recommend this film also, whether you are cis or trans, whether you were aware of Lili before the film or not. My mum said that even if she hadn't been interested in the topic, she would have enjoyed it because it's such a good film.
A bit of a spoiler here, but this was important to me:

While The Danish Girl takes place many years ago, there are still things that ring true despite our world where more people are aware of and have more of an understanding of transgender people. While we don't have such diagnoses as Lili receives from some doctors in the film, there are still people who see trans people as being insane/mentally ill instead of seeing their gender identities as legitimate. I hope this film can help with that.
In another scene, Lily is harassed and then attacked by a couple of men as she is out walking. Trans people, certainly trans women, are still the victims of violence far too often, in some cases murdered. This was something in the film that is very real, despite the movie being set in a past time period.

And overall, I felt the film was very respectful and true to many things about trans experience, which I commend it for. We may not have a trans woman being played by a woman or by a trans woman, but I still think it is respectful and works not to perpetuate misconceptions about trans women, and for that I commend it. It truly was beautiful and moving on top of that. Anyone who boycotts this film is missing out.

SolarSystem · December 30, 2015 8:12 am

So Yitzock, I read a review about "The Danish Girl" written by an author I usually tend to agree with almost a hundred percent, and he calls the film 'pretentious kitsch' (in German that would be "Edelkitsch"). He also writes that the film 'dies in and of beauty' (in Schönheit sterben). You definitely don't agree?

Yitzock · December 30, 2015 2:09 pm

I wouldn't say it is kitsch or pretentious. Artistic, yes (it's a film about artists where many shots look like they could be paintings), but not pretentious.
And I don't understand what could be meant by "dying in beauty," but it doesn't sound like anything I would ever think of to describe the film.

Last edited by Yitzock (December 30, 2015 2:09 pm)

SolarSystem · December 31, 2015 11:24 am

Yitzock wrote:
And I don't understand what could be meant by "dying in beauty," but it doesn't sound like anything I would ever think of to describe the film.

It's kind of hard to explain. It means that visually the film is beautifully shot, but the story itself doesn't make you feel anything - so in the end the film dies while looking beautiful.

Anyway, yesterday we saw "Star Wars" and the film didn't really convince me. I probably expected too much because I really like what Abrams did with Star Trek. Star Wars relied a bit too much on the emotional impact Han Solo, Leia and Skywalker definitely have on audiences who know the classic films - and yes, I loved all of those scenes with Han and Leia very, very much. But take that away and the rest looks a bit pale for my taste. I like the new characters, but the story... well, it's basically the Death Star reloaded.
So for me it was nice entertainment, but not much more.

Last edited by SolarSystem (December 31, 2015 11:29 am)

This Is The Phantom Lady · January 15, 2016 8:10 pm

I am not really watching it, but it's on in the background...

It's one of Mads Mikkelsen's old Danish films... 'De Grønne Slagtere' (The Green Butchers) which is a bit of a messed up film about two brothers who end up selling human meat in their butchery.

His character though, 'Sweaty' Svend is a lot less attractive than Hannibal...

I mean...

Yitzock · January 15, 2016 9:26 pm

It does sound like a creepy premise. Was it any good? (Or perhaps a better way to phrase my question, did you enjoy it at all?)
Also, I have a feeling that that photo is one of the least attractive examples you could have provided, lol, but I'm not about to disagree with you about him not being attractive there.

This Is The Phantom Lady · January 15, 2016 9:40 pm

I never understood the humour in it to be honest... I've watched it a few times...

And I think this was one of the first times I saw Mads Mikkelsen... I never imagined he'd make it big in Hollywood. His co-actor in the film looked a lot hotter, Nikolaj Lie Kaas.

maybe this film is part of why I prefer the other Mikkelsen brother... (plus the fact that I've seen him live and he was so sweet with us ladies)