Impatient... moi?!
Oct. 22nd, 2006 08:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beckymonsterTrivia tidbit - In my last review post, I sang the praises of 'Little Miss Sunshine'. Especially raving about the little actress who played 'Olive'.... Well, imagine my surprise when watching the NCIS Season 2 opener 'Hear No Evil' and the little blind girl is played by the same actress!
Okay - so I got a little bouncy over that little tidbit. Deal. Will prove useful if I ever have to do the 'Six Degrees' thingee...;) (I'm thinking that David McCallum would come into his own with that;))
So - reviews for films I have seen recently!
Children of Men
According to those nice people at IMDB this won't be released in the US until Christmas. By which time, nearly half the world would have seen it before the U.S.
Which is both a) strange and b) a shame as this is a great, intelligent, thoughtful film that needs to be seen. Especially by anyone who enjoys excellent dramas that make you think.
Please don't be put off by the 'sci-fi' angle (not that most of my flist would be but... just sayin') or by the darkness (of which there is a lot). Go see and take an open mind with you.
The film is set about 20 years in the future. In all honesty, humanity has no future as women have stopped having children. The story opens with the shocking news that the last baby to be born (who's about 18 years old at the time) has been killed in a brawl. There are adverts for euthanasia drugs on the tv. The rest of the world is either in chaos or just about on the edge of it. Pretty it ain't.
The sense of despair hanging over this film is something you can physically touch. So it's not recommended if you need a good laugh.
Our hero, Theo, is a man without purpose until his ex-wife comes up to him and asks a favour. Can he please get her some papers so someone in her care can make it to the coast.
The person is a refugee (who are kept in cages on street corners). The ex-wife is the leader of a terrorist unit and said refugee is pregnant.
Think about that - think about the political sh*t storm that such a thing could cause... and you have the rest of the film pretty much mapped out.
Also of note - is a technically brilliant scene where there is a five minute tracking shot through a war zone. As well as a scene that might squick some out; but for me, it made me realise what a wonderful job is done and privelege is accorded to the midwives I teach.
Recommended.
Marie Antionette
It's been said everytime this film is mentioned, that it was greeted with boos at Cannes this year.
I think I can understand why. Not that I am condoning such behaviour at all, what with me being of the 'if you can't say anything nice...' school of thought. But if you look at the cast list... there is nearly no one of french origin in the cast. Of all the folks I could put names to faces, were either American, British or Austrailian.
No wonder the French got their knickers in a knot about it!
After all, there was a similar todo over the film U-571 a couple of years ago, here in the UK.
Though, I think there might be more to it that just that. Marie Antionette was hated over 200 years ago and I doubt that the depth of that hatred has abated that much since then. She never said 'let them eat cake', in fact, when the March of the Women took place she was all sympathy to their cause but... what could she really do?
It was just syptomatic of a power system that she had as much say in as I have in the U.S. political system!
Err... does it show that I studied (and loved) French Revolution in history class?
As for the film itself. Do not expect a authentic period setting! It looks lovely and Versailles looks gorgeous but unless you're prepared for them, there are certain things that will dump you right out of the film.
Such as the use of music.
Lets simply say that the music is about 200 hundred years out of time. Some of it is stuff that I listened to as a very young monster. Bowowow, Sousie and the Banshees and a wonderful (but oh so brief!) use of the magnificent 'Kings of the Wild Frontier' by Adam and the Ants (which I disctintly remember watching with shock on Top of the Pops as Adam bared his chest! - I was about 7 years old and a lot more innocent than I am now - my excuse and I'm sticking with it!)
It's a whole different beastie to Sofia Coppola's previous film (the magnificent 'Lost in Translation') but still very worthy all the same. But I could be just saying that because I am a 18th Century history ho and because I liked all the pretty!
I'd recommend it - but it's a bit like cake in general. Lovely to look at but not much in the way of substance.
Quickies:
- 40 minutes before Torchwood starts!!
- Matt Dawson dancing the tango on Strictly Come Dancing - sexy as hell!
That is all;)
Okay - so I got a little bouncy over that little tidbit. Deal. Will prove useful if I ever have to do the 'Six Degrees' thingee...;) (I'm thinking that David McCallum would come into his own with that;))
So - reviews for films I have seen recently!
Children of Men
According to those nice people at IMDB this won't be released in the US until Christmas. By which time, nearly half the world would have seen it before the U.S.
Which is both a) strange and b) a shame as this is a great, intelligent, thoughtful film that needs to be seen. Especially by anyone who enjoys excellent dramas that make you think.
Please don't be put off by the 'sci-fi' angle (not that most of my flist would be but... just sayin') or by the darkness (of which there is a lot). Go see and take an open mind with you.
The film is set about 20 years in the future. In all honesty, humanity has no future as women have stopped having children. The story opens with the shocking news that the last baby to be born (who's about 18 years old at the time) has been killed in a brawl. There are adverts for euthanasia drugs on the tv. The rest of the world is either in chaos or just about on the edge of it. Pretty it ain't.
The sense of despair hanging over this film is something you can physically touch. So it's not recommended if you need a good laugh.
Our hero, Theo, is a man without purpose until his ex-wife comes up to him and asks a favour. Can he please get her some papers so someone in her care can make it to the coast.
The person is a refugee (who are kept in cages on street corners). The ex-wife is the leader of a terrorist unit and said refugee is pregnant.
Think about that - think about the political sh*t storm that such a thing could cause... and you have the rest of the film pretty much mapped out.
Also of note - is a technically brilliant scene where there is a five minute tracking shot through a war zone. As well as a scene that might squick some out; but for me, it made me realise what a wonderful job is done and privelege is accorded to the midwives I teach.
Recommended.
Marie Antionette
It's been said everytime this film is mentioned, that it was greeted with boos at Cannes this year.
I think I can understand why. Not that I am condoning such behaviour at all, what with me being of the 'if you can't say anything nice...' school of thought. But if you look at the cast list... there is nearly no one of french origin in the cast. Of all the folks I could put names to faces, were either American, British or Austrailian.
No wonder the French got their knickers in a knot about it!
After all, there was a similar todo over the film U-571 a couple of years ago, here in the UK.
Though, I think there might be more to it that just that. Marie Antionette was hated over 200 years ago and I doubt that the depth of that hatred has abated that much since then. She never said 'let them eat cake', in fact, when the March of the Women took place she was all sympathy to their cause but... what could she really do?
It was just syptomatic of a power system that she had as much say in as I have in the U.S. political system!
Err... does it show that I studied (and loved) French Revolution in history class?
As for the film itself. Do not expect a authentic period setting! It looks lovely and Versailles looks gorgeous but unless you're prepared for them, there are certain things that will dump you right out of the film.
Such as the use of music.
Lets simply say that the music is about 200 hundred years out of time. Some of it is stuff that I listened to as a very young monster. Bowowow, Sousie and the Banshees and a wonderful (but oh so brief!) use of the magnificent 'Kings of the Wild Frontier' by Adam and the Ants (which I disctintly remember watching with shock on Top of the Pops as Adam bared his chest! - I was about 7 years old and a lot more innocent than I am now - my excuse and I'm sticking with it!)
It's a whole different beastie to Sofia Coppola's previous film (the magnificent 'Lost in Translation') but still very worthy all the same. But I could be just saying that because I am a 18th Century history ho and because I liked all the pretty!
I'd recommend it - but it's a bit like cake in general. Lovely to look at but not much in the way of substance.
Quickies:
- 40 minutes before Torchwood starts!!
- Matt Dawson dancing the tango on Strictly Come Dancing - sexy as hell!
That is all;)
