Be Excellent To Each Other

My fav Nic Cage film is probably Bringing Out The Dead

The Rock

Also:
Leaving Las Vegas, Con Air, Face/Off, Snake Eyes, Adaptation, Lord of War, Kick-Ass and Joe.

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Don't forget 8mm.

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Wait, there was a sequel to 8mm?

Uzi 9mm!

I watched GATTACA on Netflix last night, I've never seen it before.

It was pretty good, and even though it hails from 1997 hasn't really dated because they've done one of those 'the future looks a bit like the past' things, rather than tried to imagine a proper future, if that makes sense.

Anyway, it was alright I thought, although a bit of its time with the genetic engineering angle and suchlike.

7/10 - Young Ethan Hawke, hot Uma Thurman even though they could have basically removed her from the film completely. I don't much care for Uma these days, but don't tell her that in case it upsets her. Jude Law is always good too.

I love Gattaca. I think it's absolutely wonderful. Andrew Niccol (writer director) has done quite a lot of films I like actually (S1m0ne, Lord of War, In Time). Full of great performances and a top notch story.

It's a real shame that Good Kill was only OK rather than Very Good like Gattaca.

Edit: In Time was bobbins, too.

Looks like there's a mini Miyazaki season on film4 this coming week, lots of good stuff to record in the morning.

WHAT DATE, WHAT TIME, WHAT FILMS? I needs to know in my prize winning ears.

Mainly weekdays at 11am it looks like. Couple in the afternoon too.

Best film of that year, if you ask me. I bloody well love that film. So swampy, so atmospheric, and a perfect mix of darkness, comedy and hope. Why can't there be more directors that put in as much effort as Herzog?

I'd also like to add the 70's remake of Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, which is even better than the original.

Really? Really?

Who are the actors? From left to right it looks like:

- don't know
- Ian McKellen?
- Blake Harrison (think that's his name? Neil from the Inbetweeners)
- Toby Jones
- Bill Nighy
- ?
- ? - although it looks frighteningly like the guy that played Godfrey in the TV series, who cannot possibly still be alive.

That's Gambon, Not McKellen

I reckon, L-R:

- Daniel Mays (also seen in the utterly amazing Funland that everyone should watch)
- Gambon
- Jason Biggs
- Toby Jones
- Nighy
- Dont know his name, but he played the very amusing boyfriend of the grandmother in Friday Night Dinner
- No idea

I did not ask for this.

Imdb for it : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4104054/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Ian Lavender will play a bit part and the guy at the end your struggling with is Bill Paterson (Comfort & Joy - "are you dicky bird from the radio")

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0665473/?ref_=tt_cl_t12

Been through the TiVo guide and recorded as many as I could find. That'll keep me busy.

I saw The Man From UNCLE. It was pretty good - helped somewhat by the incredibly attractive lady playing Victoria called Elizabeth Debicki (poster!) and by the extended off-road chase sequence near the end (with a Defender and an Offroad Armory Eurofighter, 4x4 fans). Also Huge Grant!

Yes. It was all right. I shall watch the sequel.

After watching Fargo (the TV series) I thought today i would watch Fargo the movie as I had never seen it before.

Except I had seen it, and was now distracted because one of the baddies was John Abruzzi from Prison Break.

I wonder if that is an authentic-sounding accent for Minnesota? Oh yaa, you betcha.

It is, yes. Minnesota shares a lot of border with Canada which is responsible for it.

Canada is a caring neighbour

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We watched Saving Mr Banks last night.

The film itself was quite good: good performances from Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, but I almost found the character of Travers too unbelievable; that somebody could be quite so prickly.

There were a few corroborating photographs at the end, I think to suggest authenticity, as well as a short playback of some of the audio capture of the meetings and read through, which did to some degree reflect the iciness of Travers, but though it was presented as single piece of running dialogue the bits referenced were so far apart in the story that they had been cut together from various (3 or 4) parts of the discussion, and if these were the most brittle exchanges then the film, I think, must have depicted her character quite beyond her actual level of English venom.

I haven't read too much about the reception to the film from her estate and family, but at times it felt as if it were verging on the cruel, and I also had the feeling that Tom Hanks was perhaps a bit more cute and cuddly in nature than her adversary in the actual wrangling to get the film made, which I know was indeed a battleground for the two for many years.

It was strange, really, as the result of the years of wrangling is one of my favourite films of all times, so that's always going to shape how you perceive the characters, whether realistic portrayals of the actual individuals or not, but the film was entertaining, enough.

Thing is the real P L Travers refused to actually watch the film as I recall, rather than going and being won over by Disney magic. So perhaps even more prickly than portrayed...

She did watch the film: there were photos of her at the premier at the end of the film.

She hated parts of it, however, especially the animated sequence at the park.

I do know that she WAS very prickly, I don't think that's contended by many people... I just think the film somehow overblows it. To an unbelievable point... I mean, In one scene she refuses to allow any sight of the colour red in the whole film. I did actually have a look to see if there was any record of this actually happening but couldn't turn anything up. When asked why, she says 'I've just gone off it of late', which sounds a bit more stupid than snippy and precious.

Watched Big Hero 6 last night.

Funny, charming, exciting and utterly beautiful to look at. I may even rank it above The Lego Movie.

Agreed; it didn't do anything particularly original but it was entertaining and stylish. And yes, Ms Debicki's gleefully evil villainess was incredibly hot.

She was quite possibly the most attractive lady I've ever seen in a movie.

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Watched Kick Ass 2 last night which has turned up on Netflix. It was alright I thought, better than most of the reviews would suggest, although nowhere near as good as the first one.

Jim Carry was very much underused IMO, and there was a large Nicolas Cage sized gap in there too. Too many characters going on, the silly school stuff with Hit Girl at school didn't really work.

Action sequences were good though, decent soundtrack, but there was a bit of a mean streak about it that the first one didn't have, whilst it lost the darker elements from the first at the same time somehow.

6/10 - Still worth a watch.

I've decided to bin Netflix off though, there just aren't enough decent films on there. I realise they specialise more in Seasons but how much fucking telly is it possible to watch? Mrs Hearthly has kicked off an Amazon Prime trial and the selection of films on there is much better, so I'm going to cancel Netflix and Amazon can just have £79 for the next year when the trial finishes.

Mind you, even there I think I prefer 'acquiring' films on the whole. I've noticed a lot of stuff disappear off Netflix over time (including films that were on my watch list!), and Amazon Prime has an entire category called 'ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME' which doesn't inspire confidence either. I'd rather have these things safely on the NAS.

Went to see a showing of Melancholia today. Big screen, big sound, HOLY CRAP that start/that ending!

It's chiefly a (long) film about depression though, so if you're not up for that, don't waste your time. But if you are, it's a treat.

I WATCH FILMS TOO:

Nausicaa and the valley of the wind: I've never seen this early Studio Ghibli film but it was terrific. Gorgeously animated, great story about um global warming (sort of) waaaay before its time (I might be wrong but this was done either in the 70/80's), and a sumptuous world of loveable and villainous characters.

Spirited Away: was what I watched next and despite it being absolutely fantastic (as any fool knows) as ever (since I've seen it twice before) yet I now I found myself bewitched by Nausicaa's blend of futuristic crazy.

Spirited Away is beautiful.

What's that new one that's come out recently (or is coming soon) that looks like Spirited Away?

Can't be "When Marnie Was There" which was 2014. I've got it downloaded but haven't watched it yet.

ADD THIS AN' ALL:

Ponyo: I watched it and, um, it was interesting right up until it moves to the climax which was thoroughly rubbish.

"Do you love her even though she was a fish?"
"Yes."
"Really, you're five years old?"
"I LIKE BLUE THINGS"
"Sure you do, tiger"
"BLOOOOOOOOO."
"Right. I'm going home. Eat the fish for all I care."

Would you look at this terrible trailer for Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind. Jesus. The film is much, much better than that shit. Watch it scumbags.

I watched about 30 minutes of a film called 'Stretch' last night. It's about a guy who drives a stretch limo and has a pretty rubbish life. He's got a massive debt with some nasty gangster types which needs paying off in about 24 hours or something. The story I believe gets going when he picks up a crazy millionaire played by Nu Captain Kirk (who is oddly uncredited in the film). The millionaire has crazy long hair and beard and is decidedly wacky and does lots of drugs. The film is trying desperately to be edgy/quirky/witty/clever (scene introducing the millionaire features him landing on the car windscreen and you see some of his scrotum and buttocks pressed agains the windscreen) but it just struck me as decidedly unpleasant so I turned it off and went to bed.

Dawg Fight - documentary about bate knuckle boxing in a man's backyard and the lives him and his fighters. It is oddly touching at times, brutal at others.

That's a very odd sounding film. And it's not just Chris Pine who appears uncredited, Jessica Alba is in there as well. Plus Ray Liotta, David Hasselhoff, Norman Reedus, and Shaun White appearing 'as themselves'.

I'm about 1/2 way through the book and have had a terrible realization

(speculation but I'm putting it in spoilers anyway)

Alba is indeed in there as the despatch girl. The other slebs are there being themselves as it's his job to pick them up from airports and such.

We watched Stretch as well this week, we did finish it but it didn't get any better, I thought it was utter rubbish, husband thought it was weird and funny rubbish

We saw Ant-man in the cinema on Sunday, I'm sorry I just can't get excited about ants
yes it looked great, yes well done everyone, but they are still ants and meh
there is more of a human relationship thing going on then usual Marvel films, which I wasn't expecting but was well done
saving grace was the bouts of very funny dialogue and comic relief sidekicks
all in all I would say about 7/10

I watched What We Do In The Shadows, a comedy mockumentary thing about four vampire housemates, written by (and starring) half of Flight of the Conchords (Jermaine and Murray). It was fairly pleasant, much like FotC is, so if you like that, etc. etc.