Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,560 Location: Paris, France
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #421 on Nov 27, 2011, 7:24pm »
Yesterday, expecting the worst, I went to see Black Gold, starring Tahar Rahim, Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong. I thought the beginning was pretty appalling, but then I was enthralled by the transformation of Tahar Rahim from timid librarian to desert warlord.
It was also kind of nice to see a movie that used thousands of real extras rather than the ubiquitous CGI extras -- you really do notice the difference.
One does wonder, however, with this Qatar-financed film, if the whole movie industry might change in the future when Hollywood loses control.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,441 Location: England
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #422 on Dec 1, 2011, 10:48pm »
Tonight I saw THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
I had not realized that this was originally by Terence Rattigan (Irish) who was much given to writing ultra-depressing stories mostly featuring true love that is doomed to fail with characters attempting suicide, singing wartime songs in bars, sheltering from bombs in the London tube stations, shouting abuse at each other in public places as well as in private, all shot in depressing sepia colours and slightly out of focus. Thank goodness the camera was not hand-held as well! So I could just about bring myself to sit through the film until the end.
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #423 on Dec 3, 2011, 5:55am »
Time for drunken HorsesThis one is a truly great film by first time Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi. The story concerns a family of Kurds on the Iran/Iraq border who is coping with the illness of its youngest member, the deformed Madi. Madi needs an operation or he will die within a month. Off course fact is that even with the operation, Madi is doomed & to me, this is the key to the movie's deeper truths. Madi's siblings try to find the money for his operation by any means necessary, including smuggling, marriage, and extremely hard physical labour. All the actors are amateurs and did a wonderful job. It's the most emotionally engaging film I've seen all year, highly recommended.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,271 Location: USA
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #424 on Dec 3, 2011, 8:46pm »
I'll look for that tjoe. Thanks.
We saw Hugo in 3D the other day. My first 3D attempt, and after I got used to it the effect was fun. Loved the sets. I most liked the scene where the drawings fly through the air. The old movie clips were wonderful, too.
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #425 on Dec 6, 2011, 5:31am »
If you like comedy and not that slapstick version of it watch films made by Jacques Tati. I recommend Mr. Hulot's Holiday, My Uncle, PlayTime. The last one is considered his best. In his short span of film making he gave us these masterpieces.
In Paris Match, Philippe Labro reported the death of Jacques Tati under the heading, “Adieu Monsieur Hulot. On le pleure mort, il aurait fallu l'aider vivant !”, “Goodbye Monsieur Hulot. In death we cry, in life we did not help!”
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,560 Location: Paris, France
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #426 on Dec 7, 2011, 3:14pm »
I saw Steve McQueen's Shame today. It stars Michael Fassbender as did his previous Hunger. The movie is about sex addiction and it certainly hides nothing. It won't play in many cinemas in the United States due to its NC17 rating, but here it is only forbidden under age 12.
How was it? It's playing here and I thought about seeing it. Sounds a bit grueling, though.
It is grueling. It is one of those movies that you will never say that you enjoyed seeing, but it seems to contain important information about humanity and it stays with you.
Carey Mulligan was quite disappointing in her role, however.
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #431 on Dec 12, 2011, 5:34am »
After ages I watched this film by one of our great masters Mrinal Sen. It is callled Khandahar(Ruins) The film is based on a novel called “Telenipota abiskar” (Discovery of Telinipota) by one of our greatest writers of our time Premendra Mitra. Three friends, one of them a professional photographer, take a couple of days off and run away from the mad hurry of city life to enjoy themselves in the silence of the ruins, which once was a huge mansion of a feudal estate. In the midst of desolation lives a family of two, a mother and her daughter, heirs to a portion of the derelict mansion. The mother is sick, paralysed, and blind, surviving on a hope that a distant nephew of hers will one day come and, as promised, marry the daughter. But the fact is otherwise: the young man is now with his wife and a child living, perhaps, a settled life in the city. The daughter knows the truth but keeps it to herself. Two days and a half are enough to build a cruel story when, having been thrown into a peculiar situation, the visitors and the daughter are forced to go through a nerve breaking exercise, acting a dreadful play and giving an impression to the ailing and blind mother that the photographer among the visitors is the one who once promised to come and marry the daughter.
After two days and a half, the three friends prepare to leave the ruins and go back to the city. Just before they leave, the photographer and the girl have a short meeting which excites a brief dialog and a mute understanding. Soon after the photographer is back at his post in his studio and the girl is left to terrifying loneliness and to her mother who now will know the whole truth. And life goes on ...
The plot is as simple as that of any Mrinal Sen’s film. Simplicity has always been Sen’s strength, but Khandahar diverges from its predecessors in that mundane and commonplace realism has moved behind a veneer of fantasy. This is not to say, though, that Khandahar does not deal with human relations in a realistic manner, for while the fantasy element is important to the film’s unfolding, it is but a means to an understanding and not an end in itself.
I must say that the suggestion of fantasy is particularly effective in making the narrative transition early in the film from the workaday world to the weekend retreat in the ruins. But this general transition embraces at least three other transitions: there is the simple spatial transition, from an urban to a rural setting; there is an implied temporal transition, from modernity to tradition; and there is, as a result, a transition or progression in the quality of life, involving a growth in self-knowledge. Within the sparseness of dialogue and the cinematographic beauty the film’s narrative dimension draws the audience gently and inevitably to a disquieting emotional conclusion.
Lighting by Tapas Sen & brilliant photography by K.K. Mahajan have added real visual splendour & set the mood. The shot where the camera takes in the face of Shabana, youth departing with wrinkles on her face and in the background a nearly dilapidated wall with intricate cracks & fissures is unforgettable. Both Shabana & Geeta Sen(Mrinal Sen’s wife) acted their parts superbly.
John.W.Hood in his 'Chasing the Truth - The Films of Mrinal Sen' notes: “ .. Khandahar, then, is in many formal ways uncharacteristic of Mrinal Sen’s work upto 1983. Visually it is high most spectacular piece, and it is enhanced by an element of fantasy that would dissolve the social realism of his prior films. Yet it is unmistakably a Mrinal Sen opus in its concern for the mingling of the past with the present, its interest in barriers to time, space and human values, and above all in its sensitive exploration of complex human relationships on a very simple, uncomplicated plane. In all, it is a very rich film….”
Awards: National Award - Best Direction (Mrinal Sen) National Award - Best Actress (Shabana Azmi) National Award - Best Editor (Mrinmoy Chakraborty) Chicago Film Festival - Best Film (Golden Hugo) Montreal Film Festival - Silver Award International Film Guide selection - Top 5 films of the year
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 4,441 Location: England
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #432 on Dec 12, 2011, 7:24pm »
Khandahar - I have heard of this movie. Indeed it came to Harbour Lights Cinema, near to where I live, but for some reason or another I missed seeing it. I shall order if from Amazon. It sounds just my cup of tea - emotionally searing.
Khandahar - I have heard of this movie. Indeed it came to Harbour Lights Cinema, near to where I live, but for some reason or another I missed seeing it. I shall order if from Amazon. It sounds just my cup of tea - emotionally searing.
It was premiered at Cannes in 2010.
I saw the Iranian movie Kandahar, which was excellent, clearly not the same thing, around 2001. It indeed premiered at the Cannes festival, but in 2001, not 2010.
As for Khandhar by Mrinal Sen, it played in France in 1989, so I am surprised if it was brought back to the Cannes festival in 2010.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,560 Location: Paris, France
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #440 on Dec 15, 2011, 6:32am »
I saw Scorcese's Hugo yesterday -- a pleasant piece of fluff with an intelligent use of 3D. Of course, as a Parisian, I had to accept extreme liberties taken with the geography of the city.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,344 Location: Mexico
Re: What is the last movie you saw? « Reply #446 on Dec 18, 2011, 12:56am »
Incredible bunch of actors! From the trailer, it seems to have a sort of updated Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf thing going, plus some edgy humor. Kate Winslett does a really good American accent. I'd see it!
![[Home]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920049/button23550481.png "[Home]")
![[New Topics]](http://images.proboards.com/menu/topics.png "[New Topics]")
![[Help]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920083/button28195714.png "[Help]")
![[Search]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920086/button25710789.png "[Search]")
![[Login]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920112/button20487816.png "[Login]")
![[Register]](http://static1.grsites.com/user/folders/nowdocking/r3920117/button97266159.png "[Register]")
![[Search This Thread]](http://images.proboards.com/search2.gif "[Search This Thread]")
![[Reply]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/reply.gif "[Reply]")
![[Share Topic]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/share.png "[Share Topic]")
![[Print]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/print.gif "[Print]")
Author
![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]")
Logged
![[avatar]](http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq228/kerouac2/frog.jpg "[avatar]")
![[avatar]](http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww213/spindrift_09/goddessavatar.jpg "[avatar]"){kind=avatar}
![[avatar]](http://images.proboards.com/avatars/paintingbird.gif "[avatar]")
![[avatar]](http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv320/imec46/New%20Album/IMG01893av.jpg "[avatar]")
![[avatar]](http://i.imgur.com/23lJo.jpg "[avatar]")
![[avatar]](http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/slowhand68/moon2.jpg "[avatar]")
![[homepage]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/www_sm.gif "[homepage]")