Went to see Salem’s Lot last night.
Wish I hadn’t.
Nightmares?
No. It was shite.
Yeah, it’s shit. It’s main problem is how quickly it rushes through everything.
I added Princess Mononoke to my run of Ghibli films last night. I really cannot believe I ignored this stuff for this long. The 3 I have watched now (Spirited Away, Heron, and this)are all absolutely marvelous
4 Likes
Howls castle and my neighbour Totero are my personal favourites. I also like Kiki’s delivery service.
4 Likes
Book of Clarence - one of the worst supposedly proper films (Cumberbach and James McAvoy both appear) I have ever seen. It doesnt know if it is supposed to be bloxploitation, satire, or spoof and so commits to none of them and does nothing of interest.
Trap - the new Shyamalan one with Josh Hartnet. It shows a conversation about 10 minutes in that is there to explain the premise of the film and the conversation and the premise is so absurd that it becomes clear that he was not even trying. It is one thing to lean on a plot contrivance to get over a hump in the script, but the entire plot is based on one that is so stupid you give up immediately.
2 Likes
Hasn’t done a good film since The Village, in my opinion.
1 Like
I really liked the Glass films. I thought the first one was really clever and well executed, and the second one was good by itself but then delivered a really impactful twist to connect to that series.
2 Likes
Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Arrietty and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind are my favourite Ghibli works.
4 Likes
Just watched Midas Man - Film about Brian Epstein
An interesting viewing that produces a certain vibe, of Liverpool back in the 60’s.
Not overly indulgent of the Beatles, or the other bands he managed at the same time, the storyline did a good job of keeping BE front, side and centre
It is also to be remembered… without this guy, there would be NO Gerry & the Pacemakers, NO releasing of YNWA into the charts… and certainly, NO singing of our favourite song on the Kop, as Shankly sends the boys onto the pitch to feel ten feet tall
BE is the guy who has impacted all LFC fans across Europe and beyond, whether we know it, or not.
From my Grandad, my Dad, me and my Sons, Thank you Mr B Epstein
5 Likes
Not much out there that grabs my interest and goldfish like attention span at the moment so i’ve veen going back to old favourites again.
Serenity last night. I’ve always enjoyed it.
I’ll back that up with the Firefly series after which i’ve managed to find.
1 Like
Land of Bad.
A rescue mission which then turns into a shootout which then becomes an escape plan/route. A sequence which makes for entertaining viewing, and it does just that although midway through you do forget the reason why they’re there in the first place as the story is only briefly touched on.
1 Like
That mention of Goldfish there…
Anyone else notice, they always call each other Bob…!
1 Like
There is a relatively well known case over here of a guy in LA who beat murder charges against him by proving his alibi that he was at the Dodgers game when the murder hapened, and proved that with film footage of him at the game. I watched a documentary about the case last night and what I hadnt known is that the film footage that found him was not regular game footage, or even stadium security can footage, but from HBO filming the Curb episode where Larry picks up a hooker and takes her to the came so he can drive in the car pool lane. Without that lucky coincidence of Larry not just filming there that day, but doing so in this guy’s section, he loses the case and goes on death row.
3 Likes
I hope he came as well.
1 Like
When my Blu-ray player went “phut” last Christmas I bought a 4K-UHD player as a replacement. The main reason for this was that it was only 10€ more than the standard Blu-ray player but with 4K upscaling by default. However, I didn’t have any 4K discs.
Yesterday, I actually gave this a go with a 4K-UHD copy of Blade Runner. The question I am asking is whether it was worth it.
The film, of course, is exceptional and this was the first time I have seen it in English for around 15 years. In terms of the picture quality, the opening is breathtaking. I have a big OLED TV and a reasonably top end Dolby surround sound system, so this was a good comparison to having seen the film at the cinema in 1993.
It was interesting having seen Metropolis on Saturday night, because it was very obvious where the inspiration for many of the opening framing shots came from. The initial impression is that it almost looks 3D. The shots of smoke filled rooms have obvious film grain, which is quite atmospheric.
However, after a while, I find that the story is far too involving to be worried about the enhanced picture quality. I’m not sure that the marginal improvement in image is worth the 3 times cost of the disc compared to a standard Blu-ray. And this is for a film which is noted for its cinematography.
I’m wondering which films might justify the extra cost. We saw Ghandi a while ago on a 4K stream and that looks beautiful. I’m sure epics like Lawrence of Arabia would do it justice. But would digitally produced films would have such an improvement. Th amount of CGI on modern film would probably smooth out any potential upgrade that it might offer.
No doubt 8K would be even better, but I can’t help but think that if you notice the difference then the film can’t be grabbing your attention.
2 Likes
Went to see Heretic last night. Hugh Grant makes for a wonderful villainous character.
2 Likes
Hugh Grant is a brilliant villain. It’s a pity he spent so many years as a soppy romantic lead.
2 Likes
Yes, his range is far broader than what films he made earlier in his career, its good to see him in these roles.
I think he could be a fun Q in new Bond movies.
2 Likes