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Film/moving picture show you most recently watched


Jimbo
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New York, New York

 

Scorsese's 'musical' flopped at the box office and is probably most famous for the song. I guess in a decade of gritty realism like Taxi Driver and Chinatown, when escapism came from the likes of Alien and Star Wars, harking back two decades to fake looking singalongs with little in terms of modern specatcle was never going to go down very well. It's by no means Scorsese and De Niro's best pairing, but I thought it nipped along nicely (even the extended version). There's an odd moment of excellence that really makes it worthwhile, like the moment De Niro fights being thrown out of a club through a corridor of bright bulbs being smashed as he goes.

 

Chinatown ain't gritty realism sweetie. :)

 

Well it ain't Singin In The Rain.

 

It's more film noir updated.

 

Yes, and what was it about the updating that made it fit in the 70's so well?

 

Don't get your knickers in a twist now. :)

 

"Chinatown’s dark theme is one of the elements that places it in the category of neo-noir, the second generation of the genre known as film noir. Though the precise history of film noir is difficult to define (the term was coined in the journal Cahiers du Cinéma by Nino Frank in 1946), this genre evolved through a combination of German expressionistic drama (such as F. W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu), American gangster film (Mervyn LeRoy’s 1931 Little Caesar), and popular British mystery novels (by Dorothy Sayers, H. C. Bailey, Agatha Christie, and the like). Several common features characterized film noir pictures, which were popular in the United States during the 1940s and early 1950s: the presence of a beautiful but dangerous woman (known as the femme fatale), gritty and generally urban settings, compositional tension (highly contrasting light and dark colors or oblique camera angles, for example), and themes of moral ambiguity and alienation. To prepare for the making of Chinatown, Polanski studied John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), which is accepted as the first full embodiment of film noir. (Huston himself plays Noah Cross, Chinatown’s most despicable villain). Polanski also read Raymond Chandler’s mystery novels, several of which had been made into film noir classics, such as Murder, My Sweet (1944; originally titled Farewell, My Lovely) and The Big Sleep (1946)."

 

 

We're both kinda right. I generally see Chinatown primarily reinforcing the claustrophobic elements of noir and using reality altering (unbalancing) camerawork and high color as a distancing device. I would say 'gritty' is an element, but the city is kind of nightmarish and labyrinthian rather than realist.

 

Never saw this edit.

 

If we're both right there was no need for the sarky condescension in the first place then was there? :blink:

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now i'm truly lost. :)

 

anyway.

 

what was the deal with this parker guy and how did you suss out he was bluffing his taste?

 

 

He said Blood Simple was the Coen's best film with gorgeous black and white cinematography so we pulled him up on it actually being in colour. He's a good lad really and his film (and other) chat is informed. He's just never going to (be allowed to) get over that. I presumed you were an alter ego so he could actually post in the film thread again without being pulled up on it....and I'm still not fully convinced you aren't. :)

 

For a man who hasn't even watched Blade Runner that's a massive glasshouse you've built. :blink:

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New York, New York

 

Scorsese's 'musical' flopped at the box office and is probably most famous for the song. I guess in a decade of gritty realism like Taxi Driver and Chinatown, when escapism came from the likes of Alien and Star Wars, harking back two decades to fake looking singalongs with little in terms of modern specatcle was never going to go down very well. It's by no means Scorsese and De Niro's best pairing, but I thought it nipped along nicely (even the extended version). There's an odd moment of excellence that really makes it worthwhile, like the moment De Niro fights being thrown out of a club through a corridor of bright bulbs being smashed as he goes.

 

Chinatown ain't gritty realism sweetie. :)

 

Well it ain't Singin In The Rain.

 

It's more film noir updated.

 

Yes, and what was it about the updating that made it fit in the 70's so well?

 

Don't get your knickers in a twist now. :)

 

"Chinatown’s dark theme is one of the elements that places it in the category of neo-noir, the second generation of the genre known as film noir. Though the precise history of film noir is difficult to define (the term was coined in the journal Cahiers du Cinéma by Nino Frank in 1946), this genre evolved through a combination of German expressionistic drama (such as F. W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu), American gangster film (Mervyn LeRoy’s 1931 Little Caesar), and popular British mystery novels (by Dorothy Sayers, H. C. Bailey, Agatha Christie, and the like). Several common features characterized film noir pictures, which were popular in the United States during the 1940s and early 1950s: the presence of a beautiful but dangerous woman (known as the femme fatale), gritty and generally urban settings, compositional tension (highly contrasting light and dark colors or oblique camera angles, for example), and themes of moral ambiguity and alienation. To prepare for the making of Chinatown, Polanski studied John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), which is accepted as the first full embodiment of film noir. (Huston himself plays Noah Cross, Chinatown’s most despicable villain). Polanski also read Raymond Chandler’s mystery novels, several of which had been made into film noir classics, such as Murder, My Sweet (1944; originally titled Farewell, My Lovely) and The Big Sleep (1946)."

 

 

We're both kinda right. I generally see Chinatown primarily reinforcing the claustrophobic elements of noir and using reality altering (unbalancing) camerawork and high color as a distancing device. I would say 'gritty' is an element, but the city is kind of nightmarish and labyrinthian rather than realist.

 

Never saw this edit.

 

If we're both right there was no need for the sarky condescension in the first place then was there? :blink:

 

As long as you know your place. :)

 

You're a tiny tiny tiny bit right no more.

Edited by Park Life
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now i'm truly lost. :)

 

anyway.

 

what was the deal with this parker guy and how did you suss out he was bluffing his taste?

 

 

He said Blood Simple was the Coen's best film with gorgeous black and white cinematography so we pulled him up on it actually being in colour. He's a good lad really and his film (and other) chat is informed. He's just never going to (be allowed to) get over that. I presumed you were an alter ego so he could actually post in the film thread again without being pulled up on it....and I'm still not fully convinced you aren't. :)

 

For a man who hasn't even watched Blade Runner that's a massive glasshouse you've built. :)

 

Who said I haven't seen Blade Runner?

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...st&p=260896

 

You need to try being wrong less often, or stick to winding up the N-O simpletons.

 

:blink:

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now i'm truly lost. :)

 

anyway.

 

what was the deal with this parker guy and how did you suss out he was bluffing his taste?

 

 

He said Blood Simple was the Coen's best film with gorgeous black and white cinematography so we pulled him up on it actually being in colour. He's a good lad really and his film (and other) chat is informed. He's just never going to (be allowed to) get over that. I presumed you were an alter ego so he could actually post in the film thread again without being pulled up on it....and I'm still not fully convinced you aren't. :blink:

 

For a man who hasn't even watched Blade Runner that's a massive glasshouse you've built. :)

 

Who said I haven't seen Blade Runner?

 

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...st&p=260896

 

You need to try being wrong less often, or stick to winding up the N-O simpletons.

 

:)

:)

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yeah but which cut of Blade Runner have you seen?

 

it's amazing that such an average movie is available in five different versions. god I hate Ridley Scott.

 

 

The extended one before the most recent one, that's the first one to feature the paper unicorn, without the voiceover.

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yeah but which cut of Blade Runner have you seen?

 

it's amazing that such an average movie is available in five different versions. god I hate Ridley Scott.

 

 

The extended one before the most recent one, that's the first one to feature the paper unicorn, without the voiceover.

The Director's Cut. As it was called when it came out, I think. As opposed to the final, ever director's cut or whatever the latest one is called. That said, I've just bought the 5 disc latest one. Only a £10 like.

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that's a good deal.

 

at the moment there is Warner Herzog boxset for 14 pounds. 5 films! that's like 2.50 a film.

 

and utter classics.

 

i'm on it.

Play.com if you're interested. 2J put me on to it. Free delivery too. I've been hanging on for ages to get it as I only had it on VHS previously and I was waiting for the supposedly definitive edition that this is meant to be. Because I'm a dweeb. Ridley Scott is a funny one like; unlike you I quite like some of his films but he's made some dross too.

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that's a good deal.

 

at the moment there is Warner Herzog boxset for 14 pounds. 5 films! that's like 2.50 a film.

 

and utter classics.

 

i'm on it.

Play.com if you're interested. 2J put me on to it. Free delivery too. I've been hanging on for ages to get it as I only had it on VHS previously and I was waiting for the supposedly definitive edition that this is meant to be. Because I'm a dweeb. Ridley Scott is a funny one like; unlike you I quite like some of his films but he's made some dross too.

 

 

Just Alien.

 

Oh, and if you can live without 3 discs of extras, or you already have the older versions, you can get the 2 disc version for £6.93...

 

http://www.thehut.com/hut/8636550.product

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Has anyone seen The Mist? It's Frank Darabont's latest Steven King adaption. I hadn't realised it had been out yet and I've just got a downloaded copy.

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...&pid=409445

 

 

Usually a hard one to please as well my mate. Sounds shite like

I fail to see how Darabont doing King (in an adaptational (possibly a made up word) sense) can be bad but I'll find out shortly.

 

And I just noticed your coments about Millers Crossing Wacky. You want shot with shit for that mate, it's an absolute classic.

 

 

Seriously I had to turn it off, as wooden as a set of russian dolls imo

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Has anyone seen The Mist? It's Frank Darabont's latest Steven King adaption. I hadn't realised it had been out yet and I've just got a downloaded copy.

http://www.toontastic.net/board/index.php?...&pid=409445

 

 

Usually a hard one to please as well my mate. Sounds shite like

I fail to see how Darabont doing King (in an adaptational (possibly a made up word) sense) can be bad but I'll find out shortly.

 

And I just noticed your coments about Millers Crossing Wacky. You want shot with shit for that mate, it's an absolute classic.

 

 

Seriously I had to turn it off, as wooden as a set of russian dolls imo

So wrong.

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The Mist. Like a more tense but less cool (in a John Carpenter way) The Fog. Thomas Jane in the lead role was wooden and some of the special effects are really lacking by todays standards (I thought it was going to end up looking like Tremors at the start) but all in all I quite enjoyed it. Quite a nice ending too.

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The Eye (2008) - Meh. Im sure I enjoyed the original, but this one just failed to get me going.

 

Jumpers - Story had some potential but it went little way to explaining anything about what they do or why. Watchable, but nowt special.

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Spaced duo savour sweet taste of success

 

After Shaun of the Dead (zombies) and Hot Fuzz (cops), comes The World's End: the final installment in what Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have called their three-flavour Cornetto trilogy. The working title can be revealed today, but what the genre might be is another question. Asked by the Guardian if it suggested a sci-fi/doomsday theme, Wright said: "It's kind of going in that direction."

Wright was speaking yesterday as a two-film deal with the UK's leading production company, Working Title Films, was announced in London. The deal will involve him making the comedy with Pegg, as well as a separate action thriller, currently called Baby Driver.

 

Pegg and Wright, who first teamed up on the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, said the Cornetto theme was a tribute to Krzysztof Kieslowski and his Three Colours (blue, white and red) series of films. A strawberry Cornetto appeared in the pair's 2004 breakthrough film Shaun of the Dead, an original flavour in Hot Fuzz and for the final film it will, somehow, be mint choc chip. "We're still waiting for the box of Cornettos to be sent to us," said Wright.

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were phenomenal successes and laid a path to Hollywood for the pair. Wright, 33, is working on two films in the US: Scott Pilgrim vs The World and an adaptation of the Marvel comic book character Ant-Man. Pegg, meanwhile, has been playing Scotty in the forthcoming Star Trek film.

 

:)

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