196 replies to this topic

[Nicholas Taggart]

Honestly it is the best film adaptation of a Shakespeare play that I've seen. Seriously, it is gripping in a completely unexpected way.

The interesting thing is that the way this movie recast the play as a modern political and military drama/thriller works better than most and it would be an interesting way to approach a modern thriller that wasn't based on Shakespeare or some other classical piece of literature. That short lived series KINGS sorta did something similar with the story of David, but not nearly as well.

The only thing that holds Coriolanus back is that though it is very, very well edited to deliver the most understandable bits, the dialog is still straight out of Shakespeare and though beautiful, it really takes an exhausting amount of concentration to keep up.

Still, for the most part, the directing visually communicates the story. Feinnes did an excellent bit of work all around for this.

My favourite Shakespeare adaptations are probably Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Ran, Branagh's Hamlet, and Orson Welles' The Chimes At Midnight. But Coriolanus was great. I wouldn't have guessed it was by a first time director if I didn't know.


I have never seen any kind of production of Coriolanus before or read the text so I don't know what the character is like in other hands, but in Fiennes' hands he was very compelling. His mix of contempt, aloneness and extreme humility made for a fascinating character. He felt modern and relatable.

Brian Cox and Vanessa Redgrave were fantastic also.

[Chris D]

Posted about it last night, but the thread got closed moments later so I'll mention again that I watched Safety Not Guaranteed. An enjoyable little movie, if not a bit predictable. At least one major question goes unanswered the entire film. In fact I'm not sure a single character even asks the question, but walking out of the theater my friend and I both told each other we had the exact same question on our mind the entire movie. It's pretty odd that it's never brought up during the movie. Still, I really like the cast so I had a good time watching it.

[Johnny Henning]

Posted about it last night, but the thread got closed moments later so I'll mention again that I watched Safety Not Guaranteed. An enjoyable little movie, if not a bit predictable. At least one major question goes unanswered the entire film. In fact I'm not sure a single character even asks the question, but walking out of the theater my friend and I both told each other we had the exact same question on our mind the entire movie. It's pretty odd that it's never brought up during the movie. Still, I really like the cast so I had a good time watching it.

I hope to see it next week.

Obviously, the big question that you get from the trailers and reviews and previews is whether or not he really travels back in time, but my question is

Spoiler

since he says he's only done this once, could it be possible that he's actually already from the future and trying to fix something in the present - his past - the entire movie.

[Steve Sensible]

Lockout.

It's not a very good film, but it's hard to actually dislike it because Guy Pearce is such a lovable asshole. As good as he is though, it's Joseph Gilgun who steals the show, as mental baddie Hydell.

The CGI is completely shocking in places though - there's a chase scene towards the beginning where Guy Pearce is on some kind of mono-cycle, and it's almost as if they ran out of money so they just used the pre-viz CGI. It's actually sub-videogame quality.

[Dave Wallace]

Just watched Real Steel. It was better than I expected: the slightly bizarre central concept of robot boxing is played pretty straight and doesn't come off as ridiculous as it could have been, and Hugh Jackman is as decent as ever. On the negative side, the human drama involving Jackman's relationship with his estranged son is pretty cliché-ridden and entirely predictable, and some of the film's supporting actors are incredibly hammy to the point of being laughable. But the core story is pretty sweet, and aside from one or two unnecessarily violent moments, it makes for a nice enough family film.

[Ben the Obiwomble]

Watched a couple of Shakespera documentaries, Ethan Hawke on Macbeth and Derek Jacobi on Richard II. Good as Hawke's was, he's going to lose out to Jacobi, who could read the phone book and I'd find it interesting.

Also watched Julius Caeser, which was a clever production that sets the play in Africa. Sandie spotted a parallel to Richard II, with Caeser fatally over-reaching himself in his arrogance that he's in charge forever. Antony's marketplace speech is quite the tour de force too, in both theatrical and political terms, as he turns the tables on his adversaries.

[John Brook]

Lockout.

It's not a very good film, but it's hard to actually dislike it because Guy Pearce is such a lovable asshole. As good as he is though, it's Joseph Gilgun who steals the show, as mental baddie Hydell.

The CGI is completely shocking in places though - there's a chase scene towards the beginning where Guy Pearce is on some kind of mono-cycle, and it's almost as if they ran out of money so they just used the pre-viz CGI. It's actually sub-videogame quality.

Outside of that chase scene at the beginning, the visuals are ok. I quite enjoyed for what it was, as it had no pretentions of being more than what it is: a fun B-movie with a strong lead. They could actually launch an entire franchise based on Snow's character methinks.


I am watching Enter the Dragon. It's absolutely awesome. I don't know why I never watched it before... but it's really great. It's a simple story, but I like everything about it. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it just oozes cool. I now understand why Bruce Lee is worshipped like a god among geeks of the world.

Edited by John Brook, 02 July 2012 - 01:48 AM.

[Nicholas Taggart]

Watched a couple of Shakespera documentaries, Ethan Hawke on Macbeth and Derek Jacobi on Richard II. Good as Hawke's was, he's going to lose out to Jacobi, who could read the phone book and I'd find it interesting.

Ethan Hawke didn't start banging on about Shakespeare not really writing Shakespeare's plays though. So I put him ahead.

[Ian Smith]

This Means War - I wanted to like this more because i like Tom Hardy and Chris Pine, but it's a bit of a waste of time. It's not funny and the action scenes are all pretty boring. And while Pine seems at home with this kind of soft comedy role, Tom Hardy is totally wasted.

Young Adult - I liked this. Charlize Theron's character's quest to destroy her ex-boyfriend's perfecty happy marrige was funny and kind of moving to.

Edited by Ian Smith, 02 July 2012 - 06:14 PM.

[Ben the Obiwomble]

Ethan Hawke didn't start banging on about Shakespeare not really writing Shakespeare's plays though. So I put him ahead.

Yeah, have to agree that was odd.

[Miqque Loveland]

Just saw Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia. Terrific film! And I'm not just saying that because De Palma and I share a birthday, it's a great film noir, based on a famous unsolved murder. Many Hitchcockian riffs, and and unfolding ending that is truly complex. I grew up in Hollywood, and they sure fooled me with the sets they actually constructed overseas. A couple of real exterior shots, but L.A. changed radically after 1949. Lack of budget shows up from time to time (not enough period vehicles, for instance), but stunning in others (the fountain - it's real counterpart is inside Paramount Studios and I've sat on it to eat lunch). Well done!

[stephanie familiar]

Just saw Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia. Terrific film! And I'm not just saying that because De Palma and I share a birthday, it's a great film noir, based on a famous unsolved murder. Many Hitchcockian riffs, and and unfolding ending that is truly complex. I grew up in Hollywood, and they sure fooled me with the sets they actually constructed overseas. A couple of real exterior shots, but L.A. changed radically after 1949. Lack of budget shows up from time to time (not enough period vehicles, for instance), but stunning in others (the fountain - it's real counterpart is inside Paramount Studios and I've sat on it to eat lunch). Well done!

wow, we cannot have more opposite views. the black dahlia was hands down one of the worst movies i have EVER seen. it was brutal.

Young Adult - I liked this. Charlize Theron's character's quest to destroy her ex-boyfriend's perfecty happy marrige was funny and kind of moving to.

i didn't care for this, and i knew i wouldn't, but i watched it out of boredom anyway. i lost interest in watching an unfunny movie about some 30-something year old bitch try to ruin other people's lives. also, the sex scene was realllllllly awkward.

[brucegray666]

Turned on the telly halfway through a Mythbusters Xmas special (what an odd thing to be on). They're in the middle of building / testing a Goldberg engine for reasons that are unclear - doesn't matter though, I love those things.

[Johnny Henning]

I really liked the Black Dahlia up to the moment they found her body. The story about the partners and their mutual love interest was very interesting. The story about the murder victim and the completely bizarre and insanely rich (literally insane) family behind it all was preposterous.

[Ogul]

Turned on the telly halfway through a Mythbusters Xmas special (what an odd thing to be on). They're in the middle of building / testing a Goldberg engine for reasons that are unclear - doesn't matter though, I love those things.

They made an entire spin-off should can "Unchained reactions" in which two teams compete to make those machines.

[brucegray666]

They made an entire spin-off should can "Unchained reactions" in which two teams compete to make those machines.

Really? I'll have to try and track that down. Probably worth a watch.

[Dave Wallace]

Just watched the Tintin movie for the first time and found it hugely enjoyable. It probably helps that I have existing affection for the character (having devoured most of his books as a kid), but I just thought the movie did everything right: the swashbuckling tone, the exotic locales, the character relationships, and the perfectly-precision-engineered action scenes that rival Wallace & Gromit for the sheer joy of seeing so many moving parts working together so smoothly. It really did give me the same feeling I had watching the Indiana Jones movies as a kid: pure, straightforward fun, coupled with a compelling yarn and some amazing visuals.

Talking of which, my one big worry about the movie - the uncanny-valleyness of the almost-photo-real characters - was unfounded, as the animators made the character models just stylised enough and just exaggerated enough that it never felt like they were trying to be real. They just felt like very detailed cartoon characters.

[John Brook]

Just watched the Tintin movie for the first time and found it hugely enjoyable. It probably helps that I have existing affection for the character (having devoured most of his books as a kid), but I just thought the movie did everything right: the swashbuckling tone, the exotic locales, the character relationships, and the perfectly-precision-engineered action scenes that rival Wallace & Gromit for the sheer joy of seeing so many moving parts working together so smoothly. It really did give me the same feeling I had watching the Indiana Jones movies as a kid: pure, straightforward fun, coupled with a compelling yarn and some amazing visuals.

Talking of which, my one big worry about the movie - the uncanny-valleyness of the almost-photo-real characters - was unfounded, as the animators made the character models just stylised enough and just exaggerated enough that it never felt like they were trying to be real. They just felt like very detailed cartoon characters.

I really enjoyed Tintin too. As a born francophone, I pretty much had to read those comics growing up, even if I always found the dialogues very dated. The movie fixes a lot of issues from the original comics for me(mostly the dialogues, as I can actually listen to them without wanting to destroy my ears) and the action scenes were incredible.

Funnily enough, all of my francophone friends dislike the film because they find it's not their Tintin, but rather an americanized version of it... While the tone might be a bit more Hollywood, I found the transition to the screen well done personally. Tintin was a cypher, but he didn't feel americanized to me, in the sense he wasn't making quips about his world and the other characters and Spielberg didn't put him in the tropes of the hero, with a personal quest to eventually show some growth in the character. The only thing that I disliked in Tintin was how Captain Haddock's alcoolism was ridiculed, whereas it is a laughing matter in the comics. It's obvious this specific part was modernized, although I am pretty sure a comedic portrayal of Haddock's booze addiction would have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.


And it really brings up a very interesting point: the tone. Tintin was always the work of one artist, so there is definitely one vision. A lot of people I know who disliked the film were really familiar with Hergé's work, and they didn't like the changes onscreen because it wasn't the Tintin they knew. Ultimately adapting someone else's work is always problematic, as it might leave the original fans of the property cold sometimes.

Edited by John Brook, 02 July 2012 - 11:24 PM.

[Miqque Loveland]

Oh, NO! Stephanie - our first bad movie date!

I guess you'll have to pick the next one!
(No chick flicks!)

[Johnny Henning]

I really enjoyed Tintin too. As a born francophone, I pretty much had to read those comics growing up, even if I always found the dialogues very dated. The movie fixes a lot of issues from the original comics for me(mostly the dialogues, as I can actually listen to them without wanting to destroy my ears) and the action scenes were incredible...

FYI, I think you mean Francophile... unless you were born speaking French, which would be très impressionnant.