It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Brutal urban drama starring Christian Bale and Freddy Rodrigez. Solid performances from the two leads but I didn't feel the emotion that I believe the film-makers wanted us to feel at the end.
7/10
Raiders of the Los Ark
I've never watched it before, I've only seen Last Crusade years ago. It was fun but I believe the last one is the best. The score by Maestro Williams was superb because there's not only the recurrent march played over and over (like many other composers do) but other themes gave it a real classical Hollywood mood.
just an okay ride. I would give it two stars out of four. Its just a run of the mill adventure thriller with more than a few plotholes.
I prefer "Taken" and "Unknown" to this one.
Dark Knight Rises gets better and better with each viewing. I do like Nolan's film touch.
Nolan does like working with the same cast of actors, doesn't he?
He continues at least 4 actors from Inception to Dark Knight Rises, most notably Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Michael Caine is almost automatic.
I see Nolan is returing to Ann Hathaway in his next blockbuster due later this year, which of course also has a role for Caine.
Also watched the Special edition of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) complete with all the extras featurettes.
Engaging, groundbreaking filmwork here from George Roy Hill.
Newman, Redford, Katherine Ross, and all concerned look back very fondly.
We also learn much about the real legend of Butch and Sundance. Sundance was indeed a deadly gunslinger in real life. Redford brought that out well.
What really does distinguish this film is the modern sensibility that the filmmakers deftly applied without taking away from the movie's period piece appeal.
Very interesting discussion as to what ultimately befell our anti-heroes. It's not terribly clear as to what actually became of Butch and Sundance. The various historians presented do have their theories, but there is no real consensus.
I've been a fan of Tintin since I first saw the cartoon back in the early 90's, though never read the comics. When I saw the credits of who wrote, produced and directed the film, you think to yourself this film is going to be awesome, there is no way with all that talent they can't possible mess this up (and they didn't). You have Spielberg directing, Peter Jackson as a producer. Also the writing team great with Steven Moffat, I have known for Sherlock & Dr Who. Finally you have Edgar Wright, who wrote and directed Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
On to the film story, Tintin (voice by Billy Elliott's Jamie Bell) buys a handmade ship in market. As soon as he buys it he gets a number of offers of people willing to buy it from him, which Tintin rejects. When he gets home Snowy, Tintin dog, breaks the ship and a hidden clue rolls out, which begins Tintin trying to work out what it means. Tintin then gets kidnapped by the evil Ivanovich Sakharine (our very own Mr. Daniel Craig), who is after the clue. This where Tintin mets up with Captain Haddock as they set of trying to work out the meaning of Tintin clue.
The film is a really mixture of action and adventure. We see the heroes on board ships, rowing boats, fly airplanes, riding camels, having car\bike chases and crane fights. The time flew past for me and not once did i feel bored, this was probably down to the amount going with the film, the quick pace of the action and the different locations of the characters were always in. It reminded me of the Indiana Jones films a lot, where he is on the hunt for treasure, and he only has half of the clues, and the bad guys have the others half and both sides are trying to get the other half for the themselves. He then needs to go around the globe via different transportation to get the info he needs to find the treasure.
The characters the film makers can't chance much from the original Hergé comics, but Tintin I did find too goody goody, the captain is a great character, who is a drunk loser, but has a kind heart and wants to do the right thing. The bad guy, Sakharine, is perfect (possibly because of Craig), scary enough to make you believe that he is a ruthless killer who is greedy and after revenge, but on the other had not going over board to make the relatives feel scared or afraid of him when he was on screen. There is also the two comic relief characters of inspector Thomson, who are on screen just enough to make you smile at the pratfalls and their stupidness, but not too long for the jokes to wear thin so you're sick of seeing them.
8/10
I haven't been around the forum much, and I'm trying to catch up a bit here...
I agree with the 5/5, and that McConaughey was fabulous. I just have to comment on what you said about Leto's character Rayon. She was NOT a "crossing dressing gay" - I cringed when I read that, and no, the character was not quite what we've seen before... at least I haven't as far as I can remember. She was a pre-op transgender woman, so neither actually cross dressing, and definitely not gay. Not even remotely the same thing. I've seen Jared Leto gently correct an interviewer who referred to Rayon as "he" (most of them thankfully use "she"), and he himself always refers Rayon as "she", and so do the filmmakers from make-up artists onward.
I was thrilled to bits for both Matthew and Jared for their Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG awards, Critics' choice awards, Independent Spirit Awards, Satellite Awards etc, etc. They both deserved them. Fabulous work.
Since then I've taken it upon myself to see whatever else those guys have done. McConaughey - I know it's not a movie and I didn't notice if anyone mentioned it here already, but I just have to recommend True Detective. Just listening to how he delivered some of those brilliantly written lines was absolute pleasure. I only just saw it recently (obviously since it's so new), but I already want to see the whole series again.
As for Jared Leto, well... As cruel fate would have it I had been sorta unaware of his existence before DBC. It happens. Shit happens. Anyway, I checked what else he had been in, and... what? Angel Face?! Geez! Duh! Ok, I've seen Fight Club several times, but not in some years. Clearly I need to see it again ASAP. Haven't gotten there yet, with everything else... Need to watch Panic Room again as well. My local library has been of some help, and Amazon even more so - the latter haul has just arrived and is, as of yet, unexplored. Some of the library stuff tho...
Mr. Nobody - I really liked this one. Quite an unusual movie. It requires your attention and an open mind. I thought it was fascinating and interesting and I want to watch it again sooner rather than later. Recommended.
American Psycho - now that I finally watched that one I don't quite see what the fuss about the movie was about... or maybe I don't remember the fuss correctly? The movie was ok. Not bad, but not great either. I was under the impression that some people found this disturbing or something? I sure didn't. It felt ultimately distant and emotionless like the main character. It was the completely opposite case with:
Requiem For A Dream. Whoa. I had heard good things about it, it had been recommended to me years ago, but like often happens, something always slips by. I even missed it when it was on tv. What a movie. Apparently people either really don't like it, or they are deeply impressed, horrified, touched and in awe - I'm in the latter group. How the heck did Julia Roberts win an Oscar for Erin Brokovich over Ellen Burstyn in this one? I really liked Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly in it, too. Fabulous score, loved the music, bought the soundtrack. Felt quite physically sick by the end of the movie. Brilliant. I don't recommend it to anyone suffering from depression, or anyone weak of heart or easily upset or offended, but to everyone else, yes. lt still isn't for everyone else, either, of course, nothing is, but I loved it. As a result of this one I now want to see everything by Darren Aronofsky, too. Of his work I've only seen Black Swan before, and liked that a lot, too, but not as much as this.
I can already say I wish Mr Leto had more time to act. Then again, he puts himself into it so totally that it might not be good for him to be a full-time actor. But I'd like a bit more, hopefully...
And time to direct, for that matter. I really like his music videos -and I rarely like music videos, btw... of the top of my head I can only think of Anton Corbijn (I haven't seen The American, or his other movies... gotta do something about that, too), and now this guy. Not sure if either of them actually directs "music videos" like the term is usually used. Also, I really liked Leto's Artifact documentary, fascinating stuff (geez, the music industry is even more screwed up and full of jerks and indefensible business practices than I've previously been aware of).
Looking forward to that Leto feature film some day. I know he wants to...
I saw DBC four and a half weeks ago. Since then I've seen plenty of stuff by both of those two guys, and have either liked or loved what I've seen. I've also bought a couple of cds by one of them, been to a concert, been to an Artifact screening with the director present (he's very articulate and also funny as hell... one of the rare people I could listen to all day)... It's been great. I'm planning to go and watch DBC again next week. Having seen their other work, and (since I didn't really know him before) having seen how Jared Leto normally looks like, and of course sounds, speaks, and moves, it should be interesting to watch it again.
I hope no-one minds the slightly off-topic video, but this is related to what I said above. One of my favourite "music videos" aka a mini movie (actually featuring two full songs and half a minute of third in the middle, too) written and directed by Bartholomew Cubbins (= Jared Leto), quotes from Marquis de Sade and Edgar Alan Poe thrown in for good measure. NB: This is the censored version, but anyone with a moralistic/puritan/conservative views regarding sexuality stay well clear, anyway, thanks. There was early promise with, for instance, The Shining tribute, The Kill (Bury Me), years before, but this (2010), IMO, is so much better. And for anyone interested, there's an informative Making Of on yt as well. :)
Umm... I hope you won't be disappointed with Infamous then. I really liked it (heartbreaking...) and I still haven't gotten around to watching Capote. I want to and I love Philip Seymour Hoffman's work, but... later... I'll get there eventually. I've never seen him be anything less than fab in anything. Sorely missed.
It's unfortunate that the two movies were made nearly the same tame.
Philip's performance was without a doubt the best thing in the film, for sure. As you said: he was top class in his profession. I definitely do want to see Infamous, and I hope it focuses more on the investigation of the murder case and how Capote was effected by it during his writing process. There's elements of that in Capote, but too often than not the film skips huge chunks of time into the future where it feels like we miss a lot of the content and what happened during those months. The main focus of the film is in Capote's reaction to Perry Smith and how they sort of connect in a human way. Other things like the murder case fall by the wayside to service that. Anyway, it's worth checking out for Philip's performance alone.
Oh, anything would be worth checking out for Philip's work alone, I'm sure. And I will. I just haven't gotten over Infamous, yet.
Infamous is a very personal story, too, so you may not get what you want from it, but I hope you like it anyway, and I'd like to hear what you think of it when you see it. Not sure if watching the two close to each other would work for you. I decided it wouldn't for me, hence still waiting to watch Capote.
That is what I will do as well, otherwise they will blend too close together and become harder to criticize as two separate entities.
I tried to see most Oscar-nominated films this year because for a change there were so many that I wanted to see. I missed a couple, unfortunately, gotta see them later. And I've wanted to see Nebraska since I first saw the trailer, but it still hasn't arrived here.
Surprisingly (or not?) almost all of these are more or less based in real life stories. Life, eh?
Of the Oscar movies Dallas Buyers Club was definitely my favourite. It's amazing the film got made at all, after about 20 years of trying, and eventually made with barely no money (under 5 m. $), in 25 days, with no lights etc. Blimey. I can only assume that the script got rejected 137 times and they didn't get money because it was assumed the story was not something anyone would want to see, and the main protagonist was too much of a SOB (and remained as such) that people couldn't stomach him or care about him. Thank goodness it got made and it's not a depressing story IMO, but a very positive and interesting one.
American Hustle had a great cast, and it was fun, but I felt it was also too self-conscious somehow. I enjoyed it, bt would have wanted to enjoy it more. If I hadn't known the film lengths and someone had asked me to guess which was the longer of American Hustle and Wolf Of Wall Street, I'd have guessed - wrongly - that it was American Hustle that was the 3 hour one. I don't think it's the story or the cast, but probably just that Scorsese is the better director/story teller, and despite its length the movie didn't feel long. It was crazy and fun. I didn't exactly love Wolf, either, but I did find it entertaining, and the 3 hours pretty much flew by. Btw, I also loved McConaughey's brief but brilliant role in this one. And fabulous improvising the chest-beating thingy into it, and Leo "carrying the torch" like he mailed Matthew later on, and incorporating it into a later scene. I love it when actors have ideas like that and directors have enough sense and not too much ego to actually listen.
Philomena was also an interesting and entertaining real life based story like the above. I like Judi anyway, and she was lovely in this. The movie was touching, but also not depressing or as sad as one might have feared going in. (Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, it's just that it's rarely done well - so that it doesn't feel emotionally manipulative, pushing tear buttons sort of way... I bawled my eyes out at Biutiful, but loved the movie. One of the best things Javier Bardem has ever done, and that's saying a lot.)
12 Years A Slave - I saw this a couple of months ago, and for me it was definitely a disappointment, probably partly due to all the hype I had heard and read. It was well made, well acted and all, but - to me - it was trying too hard to make a point. I know it has touched a lot of people and considering the subject matter I'm sure that's a good thing. I found it irritating. The friend I went with was not impressed, either. I suppose we both expected something extraordinary and expected to be deeply moved - and were not. Oh well. Nothing is for everybody.
Her and Gravity were obviously fictional. On the whole I enjoyed Her more. It was actually better than I expected, the story didn't sound anywhere near as interesting and engaging as it turned out to be. Joaquin Phoenix was excellent as were all the ladies - Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde and of course Scarlett Johansson who was never seen, only heard, but she was great.
Gravity looked fabulous and sounded fabulous and was deservedly awarded for those achievements. I enjoyed it, but... Well, worth seeing anyway - preferably on the big screen. As already noted above, I also think it may shrink considerably on the small screen.
Others films with some nominations...
The Grandmaster - I've mentioned before that it was a gorgeous film to watch, beautiful cinematography. An interesting story, too.
August: Osage County - kinda depressing in many ways. Families can sure be dysfunctional and cruel. Good acting all around.
Other stuff...
I don't remember now if it was in this thread or some other where typecasting was mentioned. Actors should obviously try to avoid that, but I'm sure it's often easier said than done.
I saw Failure To Launch earlier today. A romantic comedy (though not fun at all) with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. I have nothing against romantic comedies as a genre, but they are very rarely actually any good, and so I was prepared not to like this one (but I'm dedicated to the task of checking out the DBC duo's work, so...), but it was even worse than I thought it might be. It's kinda awful that talented people waste their time and talents in crap like that. Kathy Bates was in it as well, and she also deserves better.
Then I was thinking about looks and type-casting, thinking about the aforementioned DBC duo as an example. They're both good-looking guys, and those looks easily lead to certain types of roles. Leto kinda started with that kind of a role with tv teen series My So Called Life (which I haven't seen tho, but I have some idea...), and could have continued into further heart throb roles in weepies or comedies or some such things, I'm sure, had he chosen to. Instead he seems to have chosen roles that get him mutilated or killed in most movies, and where his looks are not used in the most obvious way, or are not used at all (Chapter 27 for instance, bloody hell, the things actors do to themselves for a role...). I'm very happy McConaughey has now chosen such great roles (DBC, Wolf Of Wall Street, True Detective etc.) that are actually worthy of his talents. He was not looking good in those, and didn't need to be, but it's not like good looks are a bad thing, either. He was by far the most interesting thing happening in Magic Mike (overall not a great movie, but I liked his supporting role character), and he needed to be in great shape for that. But again, it was not a typical role (male stripper). Or another example of the latter type of case would be Leto in Alexander. I had to laugh at Colin Farrell's comment on that particular co-star in the movie being so cute... (I need to get the final cut version of that one, really hate it when movies are forcibly cut so much they suffer.)
I suppose in general looks (whatever they're like) can determine a lot what type of roles actors are given most easily. And one role - the first or the first big one - can determine what kind of roles are subsequently offered, and I imagine it can be a struggle to get different stuff. Those two guys must be just fine in that regard by now, also McConaughey - they can be offered almost anything considering what they've done already. But typecasting can't be fun for any serious actor, and I hate to see it, too. Actors may take it if nothing better is on offer, and even more so if they can't afford not to work, so I sort of understand how it can happen. (McConaughey eventually could afford not to work, so kept waiting for something different to come along.)
For the audience, what's the point in seeing the same actors in similar roles over and over? Even if they were good in whatever the type is it just gets uninteresting for people watching, too.
Sorta rambling here, sorry about that. Not sure if anyone had the patience to read.
A haunting Drama, with Malone and Sevigny perfectly cast as two sisters dealing with the grief of their recently deceased mother in different ways. Angela (Malone) was to prepare the body to be taken to the funeral parlour, while Emma (Sevigny), spurred on by a cryptic phone call, believes that their mother will come back to life.
Jena Malone ranking: 7/24
Watched Charlie Wilson's War yesterday. Not great, but not bad either. An interesting true life based story, worth watching for that. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts ok, Philip Seymour Hoffman great as always.
I'm still upset that rumored four-hour blu-ray edition never came to fruition. I would've loved seeing that.
This was an interesting sit. I was fully invested in the film...but I didn't really understand the film. I didn't dislike the movie, in fact I enjoyed it's special effects the most. I dunno. Just didn't do it for me. On a technical level it's very well made.
I find myself wanting to watch my Original Series Star Trek DVD's now. :))
Brilliantly filmed by Scorsese, some great performances (particularly from Hill) and some genuinely hilarious scenes. The problem for me is that the characters are so immoral and incredibly repellent that I couldn't identify with them, especially Belfort.
Overall it's a decent film which is half hour too long - even for Scorsese, but left me feeling quite cold. Enjoyed it more than American Hustle though.
This is maybe the best Marvel film yet. They are on top of their game now. Undoubtedly the first really satisfying film of the year for me. I hope you do not miss out, and I really wish Bond films were as good.
Brilliant brilliant movie. A real tense and suspenseful thriller that delivers on all fronts and is by and large the best of Marvel's offering.