[Closed] Recent Viewing Part III

I see. I actually saw Fincher's remake first and it'd be interesting to compare it with the original one although i suspect i had to watch that one first and then the US remake. As for the latter, i thought it was brilliant and the score was completely, 100% fitting and elevating the dark mood cinematic piece.

Caught up with some new recent flicks; the new Judge Dredd movie "Dredd" with Karl Urban I dreaded (pardun the pun) to be mediocre judged (again pardon the pun) by the trailer which I disliked weeks ago; having seen the movie today, it blew me away not only in visual look which looks to me as close as a comic book as any adaptation I've seen, but also the performances and the 80/90s futuristic vision of slumber cities with drug attics and gangs ruling the day. Easily one of the best movies I've seen this year. Score is a great fit for the movie, however I dredd hearing it on disc (sorry last time).

I also saw Cloud Atlas which was ok, but hardly the masterpiece as hailed by some critics; the movie bounces between six storylines which on their own are not that original nor compelling but shown here in a clever montage between the six time periods, it somehow ends up being compelling. The themes (some rehashed by the directors' earlier works) that are hinted at through these constant jumps make the movie interesting but I'm still torn on the performances and the look of it, which to my surprise looked rather dated and bland considering the talent involved. The score is good but I wonder if adding more composers onto the project wouldn't have been better.

Watched Source Code tonight. Fun movie with a highly debatable (as far as quality goes) ending. Score has a kickass main titles piece but the rest was merely serviceable (and sounded a bit like Powell meets Newton Howard).

Source Code's score is exceptional; far more interesting and with lots of fresh ideas that whatever JNH delivered lately; here's hoping he'll do a grand return with the latest Shyamalan movie.

How's the score?

It works well in the film. Like Source Code, I was pleasantly surprised to hear decent orchestral music from a composer I haven't heard of before. The album is ok too, but a little on the long side.

CURSE OF THE FLY. This was the last of the trilogy of Fly films. Brian Donlevy was quite wooden in his performance (I've heard drinking was an issue) and the film seemed to be going in too many different selections. The music however was a strong point. I liked the piano work.
Tom

My goodness, I had no idea there was a TV remake of....

THE TIME MACHINE

This is seriously bad, check out the Morlocks, someone in the dressing department has been raiding old Star trek/Twilight Zone costumes.

Anyone remember this 1978 series ( 1978....a year after Star Wars and someone made this shit ), I don't think it was shown in the UK, you'd think that was a small mercy but there was just as much crap on TV then as there is now but with less channels.

Russel Crowe sings ? I am so not seeing this

Shut up! You've bought a season ticket for this movie and you're in the queue right now!

Oh :freeze:

Crowe has sung (badly) for years, he was in The Rocky Horror Show during the 80's.

Just saw: GANGSTER SQUAD (Ruben Fleischer) **

The first contender for Worst Film of the Year. Which is not to say that it really is overtly bad, it's just that the whole film is just one big mess of 'blah'. It's mainly the enormous cliche's and consistent lack of logic in the character's actions that make it hard to take seriously in the first place, which is okay if you're making a pastiche gangster film that winks at the genre and its classics in a fun way. But Fleischer never completely goes into that direction, even though Penn's take on Mickey is more caricature than character.

Instead it walks that annoying line in between, where you can't really care for what happens on screen because you don't really buy it, but at the same time isn't funny, intense or just loud in its action enough to be a roller coaster of entertainment. Meanwhile Jablonsky's score should be one big homage to film noir / gangster scores of yore to match the flamboyant and colorful art direction, but is instead the moodless, murky, bassy drone we've come to expect from lowerclass RC where you once in a while hear a motive that-you've-heard-before-but-can't-quite-remember-where and doesn't even have a hint of the time and place the story is situated reflected in the music.

All this should've been carried by its cast, but even though they try, they're too much held back by its preposterously cliche'd dialogue. Even Ryan Gosling, who has at least a few 'way to go' moments, seems uninterested with a baffling lack of chemistry with Stone (while they were so great together in Crazy Stupid Love). Ultimately, what the whole film lacks is an enthusiasm, energy and spirit to give you a good time and make up for the enormous flaws in the script, but it lacks this on all accounts making the whole film instantly forgettable.

If it did, it's not in the film. Or not intelligibly present. The only thing I noticed was a very stylish and old-fashioned song in the end credits, but by then, it was too late.

Better to read the book. And sing the text if you want to!