films you've seen recently and would NOT recommend

[Mr. Tea]

The Terminator films aren't really about the acting though - is it fair to criticize an actor playing a robot for being "mechanical", anyway? - they're about the SFX, the cinematography and the super-ominous soundtrack (du-NER-uh, du-NER-uh...).

And the one-liners ("I need a vacation"...). And Linda Hamilton's tits.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

that is actually the best role arnie ever did, cos he barely has to say/do anything. its the role he was made for. i cant fault t1. its just brilliant low budget 80s sci fi on every count. i like t2 too, actually i like almost all of them, just cos i love the terminator, even the one with claire danes in it. still not seen the one with christian bale, though i want to, even though he always takes himself far too seriously.

 

[bruno]

I watched the Director's Cut of The Exorcist when I was about 15 and, like Baboon, laughed all the way through.

this happened to me this weekend with the omen. gregory peck was terrific, though. and lee remick, goodness.

 

[bandshell]

Can't agree with you on Terminator, Babs. The first two are ace.

 

[baboon2004]

The Terminator films aren't really about the acting though - is it fair to criticize an actor playing a robot for being "mechanical", anyway? - they're about the SFX, the cinematography and the super-ominous soundtrack (du-NER-uh, du-NER-uh...).

And the one-liners ("I need a vacation"...). And Linda Hamilton's tits.

but i couldn't take it seriously cos of the acting. all it would've needed to be was passable, or good in the Alien mould. which is why i liked predator 1000x more, cos i could believe in the tension.

wasn't really arnie's acting I took issue with, more everyone else. he was the most realistic, iirc.

 

[IdleRich]

Yep, first two Terminator films are fantastic. Though maybe I wouldn't want to watch them again and find out that they're not.
The Omen is good as well, I love the idea of the photos altering to predict the deaths of the victims, an idea that was recycled for Ring of course.

 

[bruno]

i feel nothing but respect for the omen, and i take it for what it is, but i was led to expect it was something else than what it was, and i found the antichrist theme unexpectedly humorous. maybe i won't when i go to hell.

 

[Mr. Tea]

wasn't really arnie's acting I took issue with, more everyone else. he was the most realistic, iirc.

Haha, now that is a verbal smackdown!

I don't remember the acting in that film being all that bad but I'm not into films in the same way a lot of people here are, so maybe I missed something.

 

[e/y]

still not seen the one with christian bale, though i want to, even though he always takes himself far too seriously.

it's horrible. I wanted all the 'good guys' to die after the first 40 minutes and for it to be over.

T1+T2 are great.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

michelle williams is another actor/tress who i find takes herself a bit too seriously now (though she didnt used to). but then i thought blue valentine was a bit self consciously maudlin anyway.

 

[bandshell]

The Omen is wicked. Mrs. Baylock is terrifying. Always loved the scene where they drive to the church. It's got its silly bits too, of course (the sheet of glass springs to mind).

 

[baboon2004]

michelle williams is another actor/tress who i find takes herself a bit too seriously now (though she didnt used to). but then i thought blue valentine was a bit self consciously maudlin anyway.

i thought she looked pretty amazing in the trailer i saw of that marilyn film, and i was all set to hate on it. not heard of blue valentine though....

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

i saw that tacita dean installation at the tate. was looking forward to it as i love the concept and her love for film. but the actual thing itself was pretty underwhelming. first of all it has this tacky 'reel' effect on both sides of the image, which makes it look a bit gimmicky. and the actual images are nice, but arent really that evocative or affecting. the black and white ones which look like old hollywood glamour are pretty great, and the ones with the lurid 80s style lighting are good too, but most of all, its just a tribute to celluloid itself (she splices and cuts up her prints herself - wahey!), not the magical qualities of the content, or how the medium can really enhance the content, which i thought made it seem like a missed opportunity. but then i would probably have just had the prints scuffed to give it the effect of extra battered old prints lol.

 

[yyaldrin]

Some warnings, don't see Cowboys & Aliens (sounded like a cool concept to me) or Final Destination 5 (I don't know why I put this on to be honest).

 

[Tentative Andy]

^ Yeah add me to the list of those who love The Omen. As silly as some bits of it undoubtedly are, the overall atmosphere of it is just great I reckon. Bandshell is spot on that the bits involving the nanny are among the scariest.

 

[zhao]

seems like a very common way for films to fail in recent years is the squandering and wasting of a good premise and maybe even quality characters.

so many turds i've seen held so much promise in the first 30 minutes or so, with an interesting setup and so much potential for the story to develop into something truly extraordinary... yet they don't. whether lack of imagination on the script writer's part, directorial idiocy, or test groups meddling, they end up Simply Kaka™.

latest case in point: Here After.

when it was finished i had that feeling of having been cheated not only out of 2 hours of my life, but the experience of the good film it could, and should have been.

 

[IdleRich]

We Need To Talk About Kevin - well shot and brilliantly acted but all in the service of an idea that feels totally wrong. Also, it seems that they missed out half the story, the character of the father is hugely underwritten and we never see the interactions of the evil teenager with anyone else except his family (and none of them ask him about his friends or anything at all at any point). So all we know is he is born as evil incarnate who hates his mother but fools his gormless father. It's basically The Omen without any of the good bits.
Edit - ha forgot that everyone was talking about The Omen above, that's not why I made the comparison, that was because the child is seemingly some kind of embodiment of evil.

 

[simon silverdollar]

Shame. What a poor film this is. I'm quite angry at how bad this film is, and how hyped it's been.

It lacks any narrative drive or interest in storytelling. It's content with just showing us the building blocks of a story - sex addiction and its ensuing obvious difficulties - but does absolutely nothing interesting with them. And, fuck me, it's clunky. That bit where we're introduced to Sissy and she's playing Chic's 'I want your love'... it's moronic in its attempts to be clever.

and the bit where carey mulligan sings New York New York really slowly, and we're meant to feel that this is really poignant and beautiful but also desperately sad, but it's doesn't really work because it's just a fucking dreadful, boring rendition of the tune.

i'm really quite angry about this film.

 

[IdleRich]

Oh, that's a bit of um, a shame, I'm gonna go and check it on Wednesday anyway but maybe it's good to lower my expectations a little.

 

[IdleRich]

Well, just watched it (Shame), and, while I wouldn't go as far as you, I was distinctly underwhelmed. Had read so much about the New York, New York scene it was hard to form any view of my own on it whatsoever - I certainly didn't find it particularly powerful. On top of that, it didn't really stand out as any different from most of the other scenes in that McQueen had obviously made the deliberate decision to make each scene last that little bit longer than necessary and longer than you wanted it to - presumably to force home the awkwardness of, well, everything, but also making you feel a little bit bored.
What did annoy me was the bit when he fails to get it up for the one woman he really likes. I was thinking "surely that isn't going to happen, there must be a million ways to show that he has problems with intimacy, please don't go for this old chestnut". That cliche was actually worth getting angry about.
Also, the dreadful boss was so badly overcooked that he detracted from any realism that the film otherwise possessed and made the whole thing seem a bit silly.
I wouldn't say it was terrible but it really wasn't anything to get excited about - there were a few positives but I can't think of them right now and this is the negative thread anyway so I won't bother.