[Closed] Recent Viewing Part III

To witness the usefulness of 3D go and watch IMAX Hubble 3D or Space Station 3D. I have these at home, they both blow my mind and if by the end of the (way too short) films YOU are not convinced that 3D is an awesome technology that really puts you in the image and helps the overall presentation I'll eat my discs with some fava beans and a nice chianti. But that simply won't happen as there's no way you will not be convinced.

Another great use of 3D nowadays is found in video gaming, where it makes a lot more sense to move in completely 3D rendered worlds. I've played a few games (Uncharted 3, Killzone 3, Shadow of the Colossus) already this way and I love it. It doesn't improve the game but it sure as makes it a lot more immersive and cool to play.

I may not have the best 3DTV out there because mine is a LED but I have no problems whatsoever with mute colours or unsharp picture.

Somehow I think the atmosphere of Jane Eyre would disappear in 3D. I don't think Welles and Herrmann would have approved.
Tom

A tool that has been misused for the most part but I understand where you're coming from.
Tom

You're probably right. Admittedly I've only seen four 3D films myself (all of them had good use of 3D).

Well, as Steven said, it's a tool that can be used in a very good way, or just shouldn't be used. Not every film warrants a 3D approach. The problem is just, because it's such a new tool, all studios are forcing their directors to use it in their films to boost ticket sales, hence a lot of films that use it in an improper way. I've seen many films in 3D, and only 3 of them used it well: Avatar, Tron: Legacy and Tintin. They were all developed in 3D from the start. All the rest should've been left in 2D as they give the medium a bad name and generate overkill. I hope studios will come to realize this soon.

I thought THOR was great fun, really REALLY enjoyed it. I didn't think much of the score, very RC/MV'ish, a shame because Thor could have done with a touch of Henry V rather than the muck it got.

All I can say is -- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

And if I had to elaborate: The most well-made genre film in years, surely, and a great deal more accomplished than a great many recent art films to boot. I liked Let the Right One In from the same director, but this is something else again.

It's not the best score Iglesias has ever done, but it's ok. As always, reserved and unsentimental from that composer, but admittedly not a lot of a fun to listen to.

What I particularly liked about the film: (i) consistency of concerns from start to finish, and perfect style choices to reflect; (ii) the more willing embrace of the emotional side of the men at the heart of the tale, done without sentimentally; (iii) the amount of storytelling done purely by editing and mise-en-scene (there is actually so little verbal exposition in the film compared to the visual exposition... the opening titles being quite bold in the amount of information and relationships it sets up). The latter point is a big one for me -- this is no Syriana where verbosity and desire to make a point frustrate a promising canvas. It's dense, but if you're alert you'll catch it all, and the feeling is in the form anyway. Or that's what I saw.

Speaking of seeing, the film introduces itself as a film about looking very well. That dance of eyes in Budapest at the start. The final exchange of looks between two key male characters is another. And then there's that scene of Rear Window-esque watching in the middle. (And Smiley's vision at the window of the old office party. And his endless staring down at the train tracks.) Other characters don't need to look at each other, and there are scenes about that too.

Another thing I really like is the way (SPOILER) the film is structured around the absence of two of the most important characters. A good choice, that makes it feel like there's more to the world of the film than what ended up on screen. (END SPOILER)

Of course to some extent Let the Right One In has these virtues too, but less of (i). That's more a film of sequences for me. They're all great sequences, inventively directed, but it adds up to be a bit too self conscious. And perhaps I also respect him more that he brought 1970s England so arrestingly to life with a very clear consistent sense of the filmmaker at work, than his own native Sweden. The power of the filmmaker as an outsider.

RV: The Terminal

Fantastic film! Loved Tom Hanks' accent in this one. Williams' score was quite a nice listen, too.

I agree. I'm afraid Carpenter has already said what he had to say (which is a lot by the way). Don't think he'll ever be able to come back to his best days.

The English Patient

A lovely, old-fashioned film. Really like it. I think I've only seen it bit-by-bit before.

I saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last night. Excellent film.

Now can someone give me a really good reason as to why Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are getting so much flack for their score? While I'm no fan of their overrated score to The Social Network and their score to Dragon Tattoo is quite a chore to get through on CD but IN THE FILM I think the music works wonders. It's far from being the best score written in 2011 but it was quite effective, got a great mix, and fit the tone of the film like a glove!

-Erik-

Because it is a difficult listen and few people have seen the film?

Great film indeed, although the scenography seems a little "tame" to me? Knightly is absolutely wonderful!