Bullets 'n' Babes

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon / The Diving Bell and Butterfly (2007 - France - by Julian Schnabel): 3 / 5
Not bad, but once again I was fooled by the trailer.
It made me expect something like Anthony Hopkins' Slipstream.

But it's just an average drama that doesn't really achieve anything.
The director doesn't seem to have any imagination.

You didn't find the camera work impressive?

I didn't find it outstanding but found the camera work to be excellent, the way it was shot from the perspective of the person in the bed was very well handled. Not to mention the sheer fact he managed to (with assistance) write a book is extraordinary.

I seem to recall there being some surreal imagery too. I think it achieved what it set out to achieve. There's no big explosions or people dyeing left right and centre but it's a good drama.

I thought the first-person perspective was fun for about 5 minutes, but then it quickly gets tiresome.
It's the lack of surreal imagery that really bothered me. The trailer led me to believe that the whole film was going to look like that.

Of course the source material is amazing. I just wished they had done more with it.

tom2681 wrote:I thought the first-person perspective was fun for about 5 minutes, but then it quickly gets tiresome.

It did me a "little" but it sounds like it became tiresome more for you than me.

tom2681 wrote:Of course the source material is amazing. I just wished they had done more with it.

Fair enough. I don't think it was a masterpiece but I came out with no real complaints.

The Science of Sleep (France/Italy, 206) - 4/5
Weak opening and some unfortunate clashes with realism near the end, but quite charming as a whole (and better than Eternal Sunshine). Bernal and Gainsbourg are excellent. This was the second time I saw the film. The first time was on a festival some years ago, where they managed to get an unsubtitled print a few hours before the screening. They quickly translated the french parts and used overhead projector to display the subs, usually a few seconds late, sometimes during the wrong scene etc. It was a bit confusing back then and made the film harder to follow, but thinking of it now it was actually a perfect match for the film.

Gael García Bernal is a brilliant actor IMO. I've seen him in:

Amores Perros, Y tu mamá también, The Motorcycle Diaries, Bad Education and Babel.

He's been excellent in all of them and reminds me of a young Robert Deniro.

Raw Deal - 3/5

Not one of Arnie's best but has some good action, and the lines:

"You should not drink and bake!"
"What do you think I look like, Dirty Harry?"

War of the Worlds (USA, 2005) – 3,5/5
Unexpectedly good modern sci-fi. The GCI is not too bad, and never given too much attention. Excellent tripod design. Cruise playing an asshole is a nice idea, although doesn’t work quite as well as you’d expect. But I still like the guy. Tim Robbins’ character is a walking cliche, but the political references are fun. Surprisingly dark film for pg-13.

I presume you realise the tripod design came from H.G. Wells's novel or Jeff Wayne's opera? I forget which but Steven Spielberg certainly didn't create them.

I thought WOTW (2005) was bland, void of all excitement and almost all of it was dull as dishwater. The only good aspect was seeing the Tripods in a cinematic form and they've been illustrated significantly better in the LP artwork for the Jeff Wayne "The War of the Worlds" opera.

It also just stopped, there wasn't any ending and I seem to recall (correct me if I'm wrong) they never bothered to show what killed the aliens, which is crucial to the original story.

Check out Jeff Wayne's "The War of the Worlds" opera, if you really want to experience it. That is quite simply a masterpiece. Steven Spielberg's Hollywood tosh certainly is not.

grim_tales wrote:Raw Deal - 3/5 Not one of Arnie's best but has some good action, and the lines:

Still, it's more competantly made than Commando. It's not great, but I liked it alright. For once the characterization is more successful than the action.

HungFist wrote:War of the Worlds (USA, 2005) – 3,5/5 Tim Robbins’ character is a walking cliche, but the political references are fun. Surprisingly dark film for pg-13.

I found Cruise's murder of Robbins' rather cold-blooded for a "hero". And the happy ending is laughable. Just how does the boy get back home BEFORE Cruise in one piece after walking INTO the Alien attack?

bradavon wrote:I presume you realise the tripod design came from H.G. Wells's novel or Jeff Wayne's opera? I forget which but Steven Spielberg certainly didn't create them.

Yes, I mean how they were done in the film.

bradavon wrote: It also just stopped, there wasn't any ending and I seem to recall (correct me if I'm wrong) they never bothered to show what killed the aliens, which is crucial to the original story.

I liked the ending. I was expecting some big dull cgi fight but it never came. Great.

The lack of immunity killed the aliens

HungFist wrote:Yes, I mean how they were done in the film.

Fair enough. That is the only aspect I liked, so I basically agree.

HungFist wrote:I liked the ending. I was expecting some big dull cgi fight but it never came. Great.

I'd have preferred that, not because I like the idea of a big fight but what we got was so dull, nothing happened, it just literally stop dead.

HungFist wrote:The lack of immunity killed the aliens

Maybe I missed something because that's correct but I already knew that from my knowledge of the story. I don't remember for example the film saying:

The common cold killed them, did it?

bradavon wrote:

HungFist wrote:The lack of immunity killed the aliens

Maybe I missed something because that's correct but I already knew that from my knowledge of the story. I don't remember for example the film saying:

The common cold killed them, did it?

Did you watch the film even listen to the voice over from Morgan once again.

The voice over at the start? Oh that's great too. I don't recall him mentioning how they die though.

Yes I watched the film, yes it's boring, yes maybe I dulled off and yes I already know the story.

Ultimately I don't really care it's a rubbish film and Spielberg should know better . Setting War of the Worlds in modern day America, yep great idea, not! The Jeff Wayne opera and artwork is a billion times more powerful. Back in the Victorian age people believed in Aliens, won't don't know so lots of it's power is lost.

At the end, he only says something like "Over the years, mankind had earned its immunity".
Implying that the aliens hadn't.

I forgot/missed that. In the musical Richard Burton's character says how they died, if memory serves me correctly.

Spielberg had an amazing chance to create something really special, instead he royally fuck it right up. Spielberg didn't even bother to mention the end of the story at all. TWOTW has never been shown properly on film .

Check this Live Musical out, for how it should've been done.

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... -live.html



And the iconic LP artwork:

I seem to recall Spielberg's film showing the Aliens dying, anyway the narration at the end of the film says:

From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed.
They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this Earth.
By the toll of a billion deaths, man had earned his immunity, his right to survive among this planet's infinite organisms.
And that right is ours against all challenges. For neither do men live nor die in vain.

Thanks Shingster.

All the guys in business suits in Raw Deal handing uzis/guns etc seemed odd Fun though. I liked the part when Arnie goes out tooled up for revenge, with the Stones playing in the car
Agree about the characterisation, I thought Monique was just using Arnie but she seems to love him

Mishima: a life in 4 chapters (USA - 1985 - By Paul Schrader): 4,5 / 5


Wow. Almost a masterpiece.
Will buy the Criterion disc when it comes out.

Wow! What a review you've written there Tom, so much detail, it's extraordinary.

Yeah, I'm improving all the time.
3 sentences is a bit much, though.
I'm sure I could get it down to 1 with a bit of effort.

Hard to Kill (USA, 1990) – 3,5/5
Seagal in top form. Action, charisma and the ponytail. Kelly Le Brock’s acting is horrible, though. She makes everyone else in the film seem like a competent actor. Another minor weakness is that the storyline is very predictable, so perhaps they should have cut it down a little bit.

You know what I'm going to say - Kelly Le Brock is HOT! or should that be was HOT!

I have fond memories of "Weird Science"

You know what I'm going to say, too