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Post by onlyMark on Oct 24, 2020 18:48:15 GMT
Ever since I watched half an episode of Ali G and turned it off I decided that Borat would never be seen. And I don't think my life is worse for it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 24, 2020 19:34:32 GMT
"The sequel is not even getting a chance." that's a shame -- I would love to read your view of it and of course any other who call USA their home. *sigh* I just went and watched the trailer & noted that the movie is an hour and 36 minutes long ( eeeeek!) Ordinarily I would do anything you asked, but considering my mild despair and incipient panic about the country of my birth, plus the fact that I find the whole Borat schtick not my cup of tea, it ain't a-happenin.
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Post by lugg on Oct 25, 2020 10:44:04 GMT
I hear you Bixa
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Post by Kimby on Oct 31, 2020 23:35:14 GMT
Is it possible no Any Porter has reported on PARASITE? Search function turned up nothing. Anyway, we watched the Best Picture Winner last night. Pretty amazing. It was like 3 movies in one, or at least a movie in 3 acts. Well done, fantastic sets built entirely from scratch, and one in a giant tank so it could be flooded realistically. Two thumbs up! www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 1, 2020 0:07:56 GMT
Korean director Bong Joon Ho's Parasite is one of the rare film that won the Palme d'Or in Cannes by unanimous vote, and I have to say that it was richly deserved. It takes you to places where few movies have taken you before (although if you saw things like The Host or Snowpiercer, you might have an idea of how the director's mind works). It's about a very poor family living near the luxurious residence of an extremely rich family. The poor people are more or less scammers, which brought the interesting thought to my mind that last year's Palme d'Or was Shoplifters by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda which was about a poor family of thieves. Poverty is a common theme at Cannes, where the filthy rich love to gather. Anyway, this movie is one of those movies where hired assassins will dispose of you if you reveal what happens. But basically the poor family infiltrates the rich family. First, the son is hired as the English teacher with fake diplomas for the teen daughter. Then the daughter becomes an "art therapist" for the younger son. Before long, the whole family is working for the rich people under false pretences. And then everything goes awry but not at all for any reason that you might imagine. Obviously, the trailer reveals absolutely nothing.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 1, 2020 4:28:02 GMT
Tonite viewing ROCKETMAN, a musical about Reggie Dwight becoming Elton John. It spanned from boyhood to 28 years ago when he kicked booze and drugs. Well done. www.imdb.com/title/tt2066051/
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Post by casimira on Nov 1, 2020 15:21:38 GMT
I have seen Rocketman offered but didn't know if I would care for it. I think I will give it a go. Thanks for the heads up Kimby.
Last evening I watched a film that was so beautiful although, a tad somber in parts, it had a positive, uplifting and very moving ending. The Innocents. Set in the Polish countryside/forest in a very remote area post WWII. It tells the tale of a hidden convent of Polish nuns cut off from society. Disaster befalls them when after being invaded twice by Germans and then Russians, several of the nuns after being brutally raped turn up pregnant. They are forced to seek outside medical assistance from a nearby French Red Cross clinic posted there temporarily and a young medical assistant is entrusted (secretly) in caring for them A beautiful plot unfolds and, although as mentioned, it is very somber at different times during the film.
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Post by Kimby on Nov 7, 2020 2:46:46 GMT
Casimira, one caution about ROCKETMAN. The lead doesnt look much like Elton and doesnt sing that much like him either. Elton John collaborated on the film though so presumably he approves of his portrayal.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 10, 2020 22:00:50 GMT
I posted about this in the Series thread right after I watched the first installment. After finishing all of the episodes, I'm quoting myself in order to recommend this again. It's so well done that you get quite caught up in it. A modern English family in 2000 agree to live like a 1940s family lived during WWII. I'm particularly wondering if mossie has seen the series. That's because there are two boys in the family whose ages would approximate Mossie's ages during that time. The children really make the whole premise and how it plays out richer and more interesting. I believe this link will roll over into the three subsequent chapters, plus there is a link to the whole thing in the sidebar ~
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Post by Kimby on Nov 11, 2020 2:58:24 GMT
Korean director Bong Joon Ho's Parasite is one of the rare film that won the Palme d'Or in Cannes by unanimous vote, and I have to say that it was richly deserved. It takes you to places where few movies have taken you before (although if you saw things like The Host or Snowpiercer, you might have an idea of how the director's mind works). It's about a very poor family living near the luxurious residence of an extremely rich family. The poor people are more or less scammers, which brought the interesting thought to my mind that last year's Palme d'Or was Shoplifters by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda which was about a poor family of thieves. Poverty is a common theme at Cannes, where the filthy rich love to gather. Anyway, this movie is one of those movies where hired assassins will dispose of you if you reveal what happens. But basically the poor family infiltrates the rich family. First, the son is hired as the English teacher with fake diplomas for the teen daughter. Then the daughter becomes an "art therapist" for the younger son. Before long, the whole family is working for the rich people under false pretences. And then everything goes awry but not at all for any reason that you might imagine. Obviously, the trailer reveals absolutely nothing. Coincidentally, we picked up Shoplifters in the same batch of DVDS from the library as Parasite. It is what I would call a “little film”, a story about a small group of people in a limited location that might not have needed to be made at all, but for the human condition it portrays.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 21, 2020 20:49:46 GMT
Oh god, here I am tonight watching the French edition of Masked Singer. A has-been panel trying to unmask has-been contestants. Of course, some of the has-beens are people who never-were in my book.
I confess that I click on things like "the spider was unveiled yesterday" after the fact, and I often have no idea who the person was.
I will report later if I know who tonight's loser was.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 22, 2020 21:53:44 GMT
We suddenly get the sky arts channel on our free box TV. The last few nights we've watched concerts and films about musicians...the other day we watched a film about David Crosby. There was a Bee Gees concert (that was embarrassing...we knew all the words) and last night a spiffing Pink Floyd concert...this evening we have the Freddie Mercury tribute concert on...I must admit that I'm only watching it waiting for George Michael singing 'Need Somebody to Love' because I think that his performance was astonishing...
Really enjoying myself ....
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Post by rikita on Nov 23, 2020 22:34:42 GMT
Oh god, here I am tonight watching the French edition of Masked Singer. A has-been panel trying to unmask has-been contestants. Of course, some of the has-beens are people who never-were in my book. I confess that I click on things like "the spider was unveiled yesterday" after the fact, and I often have no idea who the person was. I will report later if I know who tonight's loser was. i watched a whole season of the german edition earlier this year - mainly because in my old job, i occasionally had to write about this type of show, so i thought it is a good idea to get my own idea about it ... but yeah, didn't know half the people either, or had heard their names before, but didn't care much. and the panel kept gushing over people who i either did not know or did not think are particularly important ...
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Post by Kimby on Nov 25, 2020 11:48:31 GMT
We saw a totally unexpected film last night, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, an origin tale of PT Barnum, which I had innocently thought would be a documentary, but was astonished to realize it was a musical, a new modern musical with appealing songs and a stunningly talented cast. Kimby-recommended, though the critics didn’t love it. Hugh Jackman is very appealing in the lead role. Costumes and choreography are amazingly good, and there’s a duet performed as a ropes act that we had to rewind and rewatch, it was so perfect. The pas de deux on the rooftop near the beginning was also fantastic. www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 25, 2020 18:46:08 GMT
I didn't love it either, but there was indeed plenty of talent in it.
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Post by Kimby on Dec 2, 2020 3:54:33 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 7, 2020 18:28:41 GMT
I watched the extremely marginal movie Hesher again today and am still surprised that it was ever made. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Piper Laurie, Natalie Portman -- it's not as though it is full of unknowns. It's about a teenager and his father still coming to grips with the death of the mother in a car accident two months earlier. The father has become a basket case on heavy medication, and the son is left to his own devices even though they are living with the grandmother. One day, Hesher arrives on the scene -- a weird alternative dude who just sort of moves into the house and takes over. Very strange things happen but often they are quite therapeutic... or are they? I was rather put off the first time I saw this movie, but I appreciated it much more this time.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 8, 2020 20:46:58 GMT
"France has got talent" is not the sort of programme that I normally watch, but I have always found it important to tune into shows watched by the majority of viewers from time to time. I don't always want to just watch a DVD or something on replay to avoid popular culture. Tonight there was something rather surprising -- a traditional family from Versailles (a cliché all by itself in France), lots of kids (another cliché for Catholic families in these minority strongholds) and yet they were quite moving.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 10, 2020 13:59:08 GMT
I watched 9 Songs by Michael Winterbottom last night. 66 minutes of unsimulated graphic sex. Apparently it was the firt time that it had been allowed in a British film. I hadn't seen it when it was first released, almost certainly because the reviews from Cannes were so terrible. It was unwarranted.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 12, 2020 21:32:49 GMT
Waetched a Netflix film today Mank Gary Oldman as the screenwriter who wrote the script for Orsan Wells' Citizen Kane
Absolutely loved it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 14, 2020 18:03:24 GMT
I watched Steve McQueen's Shame again starring Michael Fassbender and found it just as incredibly boring as the first time. It's always good to verify one's impressions a few years later because often they change. Not this time.
This year is one of the best times for verification since we have so much time on our hands.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 25, 2020 13:20:15 GMT
Just watched Singin’ in the Rain (again).
Is there a better film?
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 25, 2020 14:01:56 GMT
One proof that a film is an absolute and total classic is when nobody has ever dared to do a remake of it.
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Post by patricklondon on Dec 26, 2020 6:07:18 GMT
Just watched Singin’ in the Rain (again). Is there a better film? It was immediately followed by Some Like It Hot (well, nobody's perfect).
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2020 6:27:19 GMT
Hee hee! Took me a minute.
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Post by lugg on Dec 26, 2020 10:55:39 GMT
Watched the Deep Fake Alternative Christmas message yesterday- it quite amused me but has had some flack. here it is for those that would like to see it
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2020 18:11:39 GMT
Yes, it is amusing, but I think also important. I looked at the video on the making of the Deep Fake Alternative message, & the director gives at quick nod at the end to the dangers of false information. Really, he should have made more of a point of it, in my opinion. A few days ago I saw a report on fake people who are generated ay A-I. My first thought was how easy it would be to use this technology for nefarious purposes, particularly in politics.
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Post by lugg on Dec 26, 2020 18:17:08 GMT
Yes, it is amusing, but I think also important. I agree Bixa and glad you picked up on that ...but some / most of the flack here is not about the content more about the heightening awareness of Deep Fake which some consider scaremongering. I disagree with that view.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2020 18:30:33 GMT
The more heightened awareness there is of it, the more ways there will be to detect what is real & what is faked, I would think. The fact that channel 4 called its production "deep fake" is kind of a clue for the public.
This video is from two years ago:
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 26, 2020 18:31:55 GMT
Yesterday I saw a new French adventure game show which shamelessly plagiarizes the existing popular show Fort Boyard. But while Fort Boyard is pleasant family fun, this new show District Z goes for the adult audience. The "team" is trapped in a walled camp full of zombies. There is an abandoned hotel, a cinema, a warehouse, etc. The team members have to accomplish the tasks before they get killed. (Luckily, getting killed just means having your "life" snatched off your back by a zombie.) Anyway, I thought that some of the tasks were both clever and in extremely bad taste for a lot of people. One of the games last night took place in an abandoned military cemetery. First they had to find the list of names of the dead, and then they had to search the tombs to find the same names, dig into the grave, including messing around with skeletons, and find the person's military medal to steal and pin back on the name board. I don't think that everybody will appreciate this game, but I feel certain that it will soon be adapted in other countries.
One amusing detail is that the show is recorded on land owned by Parc Astérix and apparently a lot of the zombies were recruited among Parc Astérix staff.
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