Carl Sagan

Swallows and Amazons 8/10

Took my mum as it seemed the best bet for someone 70+ at the cinema. Absolutely superb film structure and writing .Back to a different time. Don't think I read the books. Thought I might be bored, but in fact it was excellent and compelling from start to finish.

And an example that parents should let their kids go off and play so they can actually grow up, rather than not letting them out of their sight for the first 18 years.

6 hours ago, Paul71 said:

Or those taps that are supposed to come on when you put your hands near them, but you just end up waving your hands about whilst nothing happens.

People who still use the word "whilst", as though we're all still living in the eighteenth century. There is no instance in the English language where "while" isn't perfectly fine.

Independence Day: Resurgence. 7/10

Somehow loved it despite the gaping plot holes and predictability. Great B Movie stuff. Basically a couple of hours of pure escapist fun. We will not go quietly into the night...

3 hours ago, Gypsy Ram said:

At the risk of looking like a complete knooob,  I'm going for a Nissan GTR if this job comes through in Qatar. No tax, low interest loan of 2.5 per cent over five years puts the car at 800 quid a month or 26 pounds a day... Or I could just buy a house. 

I'd get the Tesla Model S or X and still have money left over to buy the house, as well as the smoke machine for the back so no one realizes you're an environmental hero.

All the best for Qatar!

2 hours ago, Animal is a Ram said:

Manage to stay up for the launch, @Carl Sagan?  

Can't say I did, caught up with it this morning. Me likey. Don't think I'll be able to afford $35k, though, and knowing me I'd forget to charge it and not get to work in the morning!

 

Confess I nodded off, but loved watching this morning:

Great to be part of something that's been created to save the future. And Elon Musk did tweet there's a special (small) extra for those of us who waited in line and ordered before the big unveil. And they all come with autopilot (ie are self-driving), Supercharger-enabled (which effectively means no fuel bills ever!) and I love the panoramic galss roof as standard.

The car of the future in the present. With something like 150k preorders already and the US being rolled out first, I'm guessing this won't be until 2019. So at least I've got a little time to try to save up.

23 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

Have you seen anything of the Model 3 yet?

I work as IT support in a conferencing centre alongside the IT company I work for (boss owns both) - there was a conference run by NW Leics Council where they were extolling the virtues of electric cars. They had a demo Model S hanging around. Gorgeous inside and out. Drives beautifully too.. 

Now where did I leave that spare £60k...

 

I think the Model S is wonderful, with the added bonus of being created to save the planet.

Model 3 is still totally secret, but I trust the Tesla guys to come up with something great. And the advantage of cars with over-the-air updates is they continue to improve after you take delivery! Things like "ludicrous mode", autopilot and "summon your car" all came after release. And the superchargers mean free fuel for ever.

£50k would get you a very nice reconditioned Model S direct from Tesla with 4 year guarantee (so they were telling me earlier). I'm hoping I'll have enough time to try to save £30k or so by the time the Model 3 is out!

Reserved a Tesla Model 3 in the showroom this morning. Should get me near the front of the queue for UK deliveries, but I shouldn't think before 2019 at the earliest. Sure it'll be worth the wait!

The big unveil by Elon Musk at 20.30 Pacific time tonight which is 4.30 tomorrow morning UK time. I'll watch if I'm awake...

On 15/03/2016 at 23:23, SantosHalper said:

Bone Tomahawk. 8/10.

Interesting spin on the western -- could be described as a horror-western. 

DO NOT WATCH if you're of a delicate disposition. There is a scene towards the end that is perhaps the most shocking thing I have seen in an extremely long time. 

My review from the premiere:

On 12/10/2015 at 15:00, Carl Sagan said:

Bone Tomahawk

Kurt Russell as the town sheriff when a lost tribe kidnap the deputy and Banshee's Lili Simmons. A ragtag posse head off in pursuit. Western meets horror, some might say it's too slow paced, until a lot of action in the finale, but I like the building of the suspense. Probably 7.5 as it's a little unpolished in parts, though on the whole does a good job. It is very, very violent - not for the squeamish. Did I say it was violent? And then some...

That scene at the end you mention was quite extraordinary. Oh my! Meanwhile, onto Charlie Kaufman:

On 07/03/2016 at 12:13, Carl Sagan said:

Anomalisa - 8/10

Charlie Kaufman who wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovitch, and wrote and directed Synecdoche NY, is my favourite writer. He wrote and co-directed this stop-motion animation based on a "play for voices" he'd done a few years ago. It was Oscar-nominated for best animated film.

Kaufman introduced the screening I went to, which obviously makes you even more keen to like it.

One of the review quotes was something like "The most human film you'll see this year, and it doesn't feature a single human".

The animation is superb and innovative. It took a kickstarter campaign to get this off the ground, and the animators had to produce 48 frames (or 2 seconds) a day. If you like Kaufman's earlier ventures you'll like this, in that it's one of those movies you will spend months pondering what it's really about. For clay models, there's quite a lot of sex, exquisitely and painfully done.

Main voices from David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Only 8/10 because I don't think it quite has the extraordinary depth of imagination that the other three films I've mentioned brought to the table. This wasn't written intended to become a feature film. Kaufman said that part of the attraction was for it to only be performed live a couple of times and never heard again, and that was part of the artistic process behind it.

On 15/03/2016 at 23:20, SantosHalper said:

I agree Charlie Kaufman is a great writer, but one who needs a controlling influence on him. For example, Synechdoche, New York, which I think he wrote and directed, is a fascinating film that is at least half an hour too long and over-burdened by the weight of Kaufman's ideas, whereas the Gondry-directed Sunshine is wonderful. 

Anomalisa is much tighter and more focussed on its key themes, and I enjoyed it, but I have a couple of problems with it. I've seen it described as deeply misogynistic, and I can understand that. Michael is a dick, and he sexually exploits Lisa. That wouldn't be an issue if the film commented on that fact and critiqued it, but I don't think it does. 

Otherwise, its very impressive. The animation is amazing, and the attention to detail is mind-blowing. Its interesting to consider it in relation to existentialism, with its themes of alienation and anxiety. 

7.5 for me. 

Anomalisa is the first film anyone's let Kaufman direct since Synechdoche NY because it flopped and (bizarrely marketed as a comedy) I don't think it met audience expectations. For me it's the most brilliant depressing movie about getting old that I've ever seen, and showed Kaufman was a genius like no other. I'm glad it wasn't a moment shorter. But the people I forced to watch it with me did reckon it was a bit bonkers. I can't decide whether my all time favourite film is Eternal Sunshine or SNY.

I'd say Anomalisa is nowhere near as ambitious in terms of ideas - it feels throwaway as though Kaufman was playing around, which I think it was because it was intended to be performed live twice and then consigned to history.

I feel I really need to read the script and then watch it again (and again and again)! Which of course is the brilliance of any film Kaufman's associated with. And again that animation is amazing. We had some of the models at my screening - Duke Johnson was there too and even after doing the film he still seemed every bit as much a fanboi as me!

High-Rise, based on the JG Ballard novel of the same name and starring Tom Hiddlestone, Luke Evans, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Reece Shearsmith. Set in the 1970s, a futurustic new tower block starts out as a beautiful vision of the future but descends into anarchy and chaos, with an awful lot of sex and violence. And then more sex. Any film with a soundtrack that features Abba and The Fall pretty heavily has to get high marks. Ben Wheatley the director tried to be pretty true to the book, but that rules out a traditional narrative arc, so it felt slightly disjointed. But very well done and thought-provoking. Quite Clockwork Orange. I'd say 8/10.

Anomalisa - 8/10

Charlie Kaufman who wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovitch, and wrote and directed Synecdoche NY, is my favourite writer. He wrote and co-directed this stop-motion animation based on a "play for voices" he'd done a few years ago. It was Oscar-nominated for best animated film.

Kaufman introduced the screening I went to, which obviously makes you even more keen to like it.

One of the review quotes was something like "The most human film you'll see this year, and it doesn't feature a single human".

The animation is superb and innovative. It took a kickstarter campaign to get this off the ground, and the animators had to produce 48 frames (or 2 seconds) a day. If you like Kaufman's earlier ventures you'll like this, in that it's one of those movies you will spend months pondering what it's really about. For clay models, there's quite a lot of sex, exquisitely and painfully done.

Main voices from David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Only 8/10 because I don't think it quite has the extraordinary depth of imagination that the other three films I've mentioned brought to the table. This wasn't written intended to become a feature film. Kaufman said that part of the attraction was for it to only be performed live a couple of times and never heard again, and that was part of the artistic process behind it.

On 26/02/2016 at 14:39, Wolfie said:

Oblivion (2013)

Sci-Fi with Tom Cruise as a drone repair man on a post-apocalyptic earth.

Starts off as Wall-E, then turns into Moon, 2001 and Independence Day later on.

Story an average 6/10  - seen it all before really but absolutely stunning to look at in terms of concept design and visual effects, so for me a very good 8/10 over all.

Any film that spends the first 15 minutes as voice over trying to explain what's happened (telling instead of showing) is ultimately a failure. But after the tedious opening, it did pick up and was far better than expected. Without Tom Cruise it would have been way better, but that's the compromise of funding that the conservative studios think he adds a lot of box office. My opinion is that viewers endure him to see the film, rather than enjoy watching him.

Bone Tomahawk

Kurt Russell as the town sheriff when a lost tribe kidnap the deputy and Banshee's Lili Simmons. A ragtag posse head off in pursuit. Western meets horror, some might say it's too slow paced, until a lot of action in the finale, but I like the building of the suspense. Probably 7.5 as it's a little unpolished in parts, though on the whole does a good job. It is very, very violent - not for the squeamish. Did I say it was violent? And then some...

Why not go to the cinema and experience it on the giant screen with big surround sound as intended? Make an event of it!

As someone who works in the creative industries, I despair of internet piracy and those who make use of it. If everyone had the same approach to copyright theft, there wouldn't be any movies. For the amount of work that goes into them, books and films are incredibly good value. Keep the purges coming, I say!

Guess you're talking about The Martian, Ovis? I missed Kermode's review. I felt the lack of drama was a fault with the book too, but exaccerbated by having to cut scenes to fit the film. Also, many of the Mars terrain long shots looked like models. When you think back to Ridley Scott doing Blade Runner and that opening sequence when the cityscape looked vast and real, it was a big contrast for me with the Mars vehicle looking like a little dinky toy.

Saw The Martian on Sunday. Didn't think 3D added much (when I really expected it to). It was also fascinating to see how ruthlessly they cut the book to make the film easy to follow, even though I felt it led to everything being a bit too easy for Mark Watney. It was polished and well rounded but I felt lacked drama, so I'd give it 7.5.

Have the premiere of something called Bone Tomahawk on Saturday - will report back!

A handful of reliability concerns that will all be sorted out by the time I buy one. It's so good, they had to recalibrate the tests!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2015/08/27/is-consumer-reports-crazy-teslas-perfect-score-breaks-the-test/

The future of driving, the Tesla Model S.

Totally electric, so zero emissions. Accelerates way faster than a porsche. No engine so massive storage space as it's front and back. No rubbish like gear levers (just a control on the steering wheel). Giant touchscreen. 300+ miles on a full charge. Gets better after you buy it through over-the-air updates. Can actually drive itself, if only it were legal! Free electricity for ever, via their network of supercharger stations (there's one 10 minutes from me). So unbelievably safe, no one has ever died in an accident driving a Tesla. The Model S is the one on the left. Lovely little details, like you'll see the door handles become flush with the car when you're not using them, to lower air resistance.

PS Actually, I'm still saving up, but it will be mine soon - oh yes...

First time I've ever opened this thread. Better than expected! Unlike this beer which I had in San Diego one time. Never again!

Apparently that only occurred to him partway through filming and led to an early morning call to his agent to berate them for not negotiating the deal properly!

Legend (and a Q&A with director Brian Helgeland): 7/10

For two decades I've lived in Kray territory and it's interesting how their presence still lingers over London's East End. The film's unusual in that Tom Hardy plays both twins, and there's a voiceover that I didn't expect from Reggie's missus Frances. It's very violent (which you would expect). Helgeland has a diverse back catalogue: LA Confidential, Mystic River, A Knight's Tale. This is odd subject matter for an American and I can't see it playing well beyond the UK, but as it's set (and sometimes filmed) around me of course that adds to the fascination.

Seeing as @Inverurie Ram started the thread, I thought I'd imbue it with a musical theme from a top band. "We're all waving flags now, waving flags now, but don't be scared." Once this flag stuff takes off, we could even sing it in the South Stand!