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| lady wakasa |
 Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:20 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 5911
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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The Illusionist was the one I saw. Excellent! I don't have to spend a lot of time catching up with The Prestige. %^D
I remember there was something off with the twist, but I barely remember what it was... |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 11:41 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| The Youtube Screening room has some Christmas shorts up. The Bloody Olive is a pretty funny film noir parody. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:50 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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Syd wrote: The Youtube Screening room has some Christmas shorts up. The Bloody Olive is a pretty funny film noir parody.
Yes, it's hilarious. See it! |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 5:43 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Seven Days to Noon (1950) is an interesting British thriller with a social message. Professor Willingdon decides that the British nuclear weapons program is immoral. So he kidnaps one of the atom bombs he was working on and threatens to blow up London unless the gov't agrees to give up its nuclear weapons program. Obviously the threat of one man with a suitcase bomb able to destroy a city has a lot of resonance for today.
But this film focuses on a man who wants to do good. In fact he frequently is seen in churches and has discussed these issues abstractly with his vicar. With his wanderings in the night and encounters with lower class characters, while being relentlessly hunted, I was reminded of Odd Man Out. There is also at least a hint of Hitchcockian tension and pursuit. While the gov't and military response is done in a fairly realistic manner, with clear echoes of the Home Front during the recent war.
I'm not sure that such a small bomb was actually possible then, and you have to wonder why the government couldn't agree to his demands, since you can't actually dismantle a nuclear program overnight, and how would he know if it was truly done (you can restart a program after the bomb has been recovered, etc). But them's quibbles, ducks. The course that the film follows is interesting, as is the idea that there is potentially as much danger from someone on our side misusing our technology and openness, as there is a threat from an external enemy. [think the anthrax mailings, or the OKC bombing].
Barry Jones is very well cast as the respectable old professor who feels the need to act on his conscience.
He's very believable as a professor turned fugitive. Joan Hickson is good as the seedy landlady with her house full of cats. And Olive Sloane is fun as a washed-up actress trying to get by with her little spaniel. There's also a few one-dimensional 50's characters -- notably the daughter and the assistant.
A good low-key thriller. |
Last edited by gromit on Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: not far away
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| I enjoyed The Illusionist, but not as much as The Prestige. It's also an excellent book. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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gromit,
I've never heard of that film, but you certainly make it sound interesting. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
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| bocce |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:57 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 2428
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tirebiter wrote: I enjoyed The Illusionist, but not as much as The Prestige. It's also an excellent book.
which book??? |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 4:07 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Watched It's a Wonderful Life. That's quite enough times, though I say that every year. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 5:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Watched In Bruges again; even better the second time around. Knowing what was going to happen freed me to take a closer look at the beautiful performances by all three leads and appreciate the amazing debut directorial work by the writer Martin McDonagh. It's looking more and more like my favorite film of 2008.
And it really is a comedy. The plotting is almost farcical. It's black as pitch, but definitely a black comedy. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 6:47 pm |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 6:49 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 2428
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billyweeds wrote: Watched In Bruges again
And it really is a comedy. The plotting is almost farcical. It's black as pitch, but definitely a black comedy.
so is THE DEPARTED...if you want to look it at that way... |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 6:54 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bocce wrote: billyweeds wrote: Watched In Bruges again
And it really is a comedy. The plotting is almost farcical. It's black as pitch, but definitely a black comedy.
so is THE DEPARTED...if you want to look it at that way...
I can see the plot aspect of it, but The Departed doesn't have many belly laughs, and In Bruges has quite a few of them. |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:12 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: bocce wrote: billyweeds wrote: Watched In Bruges again
And it really is a comedy. The plotting is almost farcical. It's black as pitch, but definitely a black comedy.
so is THE DEPARTED...if you want to look it at that way...
I can see the plot aspect of it, but The Departed doesn't have many belly laughs, and In Bruges has quite a few of them.
it's a comedy of errors, almost shakespearean, if one doesn't see the overplay of almost every character or have a familiarity with scorsese's very unusual sense of humor, you're gonna miss it...
i guarantee that if you watch it again, in this aspect, you'll see not only what i mean, but marty's intent...it's the obverse of GOODFELLAS.. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:36 pm |
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Quote:
And it really is a comedy. The plotting is almost farcical. It's black as pitch, but definitely a black comedy.
I can see that, but I still think it is weird to put it in the Comedy or Musical category. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:14 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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Billy,
I agree with you about it being a comedy. But what the made the movie work so well for me when I saw it (on the big screen, where it should be seen) was that it really didn't fit the formula of any genre, while embracing several.
Glad it still works for you. |
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