I can relate to that stuff far too well right now. That was just a more hokey version of it.Originally Posted by Jean
I can relate to that stuff far too well right now. That was just a more hokey version of it.
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My favourite aspect of Love Actually is Liam Neeson and his son. There is a fantastic deleted scene with them on the DVD lol
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Oh yes, the drums!Yes, I must admit, it was highly refreshing to see a story about a widowed man and his stepson
Spoiler:
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
right...
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of the greatest films of the last decade. I'm fairly certain you'll love it.
Shit, I still need to watch that as well. Hmmm, i think it's about time I set myself up a LoveFilm account...
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Seconded.One of the greatest films of the last decade. I'm fairly certain you'll love it.
Big town's got its losers, small town's got its vices...
The Ghost Writer
And again, another Polanski film that doesn’t fail to impress me. It’s a slow burner of a film, very slow paced, but also incredibly multi-layered and works on so many subtle levels. Then again, I never expected anything less from a Polanski movie.
Anyway, the plot of the film. The film follows an unnamed character (something I didn’t actually notice until after the film had finished) as he is given the job of finishing former Prime Minister Adam Lang’s autobiography as his ghostwriter, as the previous one had been killed in an accident/suicide. Now, this sounds like the setup for some kind of fast paced conspiracy thriller, but make no mistake: this film is no less than pure Polanski from start to finish. The main character isn’t charismatic or charming or even that inquisitive: he is, from the start, an awkward outsider at best, and a victim at worst. When asked what he could bring as a writer, his answer is of course, “Nothing.” This lets us know from the start just how much presence this guy has, how noticeable he is. Hell, the title itself is a clue: he is a shadow, a person who hardly registers to anyone else, certainly not to the person he is writing for. It’s clear that this isn’t something he’s had a choice in so he can do his job, but more something he’s just always been naturally that just makes him suited for the job. He’s funny, but it’s always in an awkward way. Even worse is that he’s a Brit on an American island, adding more to the general feeling of being an outsider. A huge contradiction right there: he’s invisible and yet he’s singled out. Whatever he is and wherever he is, he’s certainly not part of the group. He’s effectively on his own.
As you’ve noticed so far, I’ve focused more on the ghost writer himself than on the plot or the mystery of the film. That’s because it’s exactly what the film does, and it’s all the better for it. Oh yes, there’s a huge amount of suspense, of tension, but it takes its time to build it up, to let us get to know the characters first, to set up the world, before slowly revealing the cracks and the lies and drawing the main character into a world of fear and paranoia, effectively dragging us along with him.
There’s something else that needs to be mentioned: the humour. I don’t know about anyone else, but there were plenty of times where I found this film to be absolutely fucking hysterical, something that’s rare to find in a really good thriller. Sometimes it’s from the awkwardness of the ghost writer, whether he’s intentionally trying to be funny or not, other times, it comes from moments where there’s not a word spoken. One of my favourite moments in particular comes from a look passed between Adam and his media-handler Amelia that’s both subtle and so fucking obvious at the same time it had me burst out laughing. Another classic moment is of course: “Some peace protestors are trying to kill me!” Absolutely love that line!
One thing I do want to comment on is the title, or at least the title of the film in the UK: The Ghost. I absolutely love that title, not because it’s the original title of the novel it’s based on, since I’ve never actually read it, but simply because it works perfectly for the film on so many levels. On the most basic level, it refers to our main character’s job, but it refers to far more than that. As I said earlier, the character himself is at times little more than a shadow, a character whose name isn’t even given to us in the film. It can also refer to the dead writer, whose written manuscript effectively haunts our main character throughout the entire film and continuously acts as the key character to get our current ghostwriter dragged into it. (Also interesting to note that even the dead ghostwriter, Mike McAra, is not only given a name, but has far more respect in death to many of the other characters in the film than the current ghostwriter has in life.) It’s a title I think works excellently, but I can see why it was necessary to change it for marketing reasons.
In summary, this is, like all the other Polanski films I’ve watched, a film that cries out to be analysed, to make you pay close attention and re-watch it over and over again, and of course, to feel. It’s not quite as psychologically challenging as The Tenant or Cul-de-sac, but it’s still completely Polanski, and is a film I feel I shall be rewatching very soon. 9/10
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Did you like it more than Cul-de-sac and The Tenant? And did Jean have you watch Repulsion yet?
Thirded!Seconded.One of the greatest films of the last decade. I'm fairly certain you'll love it.Let us know when you watch it Jean.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Haven't watched Repulsion yet - I think Jean knows I still need to recover a little after the insanity of Cul-de-sac. Did I like The Ghost more than The Tenant or Cul-de-sac? It's an easier watch, I think, which is why I watched it tonight. It's difficult to say whether I liked it more than the other two, as they are just so different, even when they share similar themes. It's one I can have a slightly more comfortable experience viewing, but I'd say I like them all equally, really. There's just so much depth to see from each one, I think.
Now when are you going to review my favourite film ever of Withnail & I, a film that Jean has actually made valid comparisons to Polanski films that I had never noticed before? You'd love it Heather, I'm sure of it!
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
I'm going to try hard to get to it by this weekend. The Polanski parallels do definitely peak my interest in seeing it. And I can understand the break before Repulsion. It is a very intense film. But it's funny that you say The Ghost Writer was an easier watch, whereas for me the other three were far easier watches. Even though they were all pretty heavy films. I'd also recommend The Ninth Gate. I don't know what it is, but I love this one. I'm anxiously awaiting Jean's review of it!
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
*cough cough* ... that "boy" is Andrew Lincoln, the main star of one of my favorite television shows at the moment, The Walking Dead!
Some good movies being listed here, I have Dogtooth downloaded, I was gonna watch it last night but too many great tv shows were on. Maybe tonight ...
He was also in a few popular tv shows over here, including This Life and Teachers, although I'll be honest, it's mostly The Walking Dead I've seen him in!
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Yes, I know, long overdue! Every time I watch it, I am so melting with delight (seems like The Ninth Gate, Frantic and The Ghost Writer are the only three Polanski films up to date that are enjoyable in the primary sense of the word) that my analysing abilities get temporarily disabled.
DD: you've made my day, and the rest of the summer; what a fantastic review - again! I will post as soon as I get my thoughts together, which I am going to start doing tonight.
And, DD... there's also Knife in the Water... The Pianist... The Tragedy of Macbeth... ... ... ...
Heather: how about making something like Macbeth festival? There are at least three very worthy versions by the best directors of all times; we could try some comparative analysis.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't believe I haven't seen his Macbeth yet. I was in Macbeth a few months ago.
Big town's got its losers, small town's got its vices...
in Macbeth? was it a production? what were you doing?
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a part of this youth outreach program of a local theatre I'm involved with. I played Lennox, and understudied for Macbeth.
Big town's got its losers, small town's got its vices...
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh we should! That would be fun. I'm actually not sure if I've ever seen any version of MacbethHeather
Jean, have you ever done a ranking of Polanski's films? Or would that be too hard to do.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Asian film reviews by divemaster: #5 -- JUNK
Junk (2000)
Directed by Atsushi Muroga
Starring Shimamura Kaori, Nobuyuki Asano, and Tate Gouta
In Japanese with English subtitles
Film: 3 stars (out of 5)
I started getting interested in Asian film about 2002. When looking through internet message boards and review sites for suggestions, the same 4 films kept being mentioned for Asian zombie fans. Three Japanese films (Junk, Versus, and Wild Zero) and the Hong Kong effort Bio-Zombie. Junk is a worthy effort that falls somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed it much more than more than Wild Zero (which was too stupid for words) and more than Versus (which wins in style points but quickly becomes repetitious) and not quite as much as Bio-Zombie (which has that crazy Hong Kong humor that I like).
Anyway, on to Junk. We are treated to a prologue that borrows heavily from Re-Animator, even down to an anxious scientist/doctor injecting fluorescent green goop into a corpse. And just like Re-Animator, the dead do not wake up in a good mood.
The film proper opens with four 20-somethings pulling an armed robbery of a jewelry store. They plan on fencing the loot with a local Yakuza boss, who arranges to meet them at an abandoned U.S. military base.
These scenes are intercut with a couple of U.S. military types planning on how to cover up the strange experiments referred to in the prologue. It seems that the military decommissioned the base perfectly content to leave a few zombies shuffling about and beaker after beaker of the green goop just sitting around. Not good planning. (Strange that the entire military knowledge of such top secret groundbreaking research seems to be 1 Colonel and 1 Sergeant left to their own devices to clean up and cover up.) The two pressure the Japanese doctor who contributed to the research to help them.
So you can see where this is heading. The jewel thieves are on their way to the base, the Yakuza gang is on its way to the base, and the military clean-up crew is not far behind.
Before the Yakuza can even get there, the 4 thieves have been pared down to 3. The leader has already become zombie food as we get our first real look at the reanimated dead feasting on human flesh. The Yakuza show up and express typical skepticism when confronted by the hysterical thieves shouting off that the place is crawling with zombies. But they soon learn that they really should have listened.
The body count increases. The zombie horde increases as well, not only as the recently killed join the ranks of the undead but also due to a laboratory mishap. (Note to self: If I ever find myself in a room with a) 20 or 30 corpses and b) shelves of reanimating goop everywhere, do not; I repeat, DO NOT machine-gun up the room spraying goop all over the corpses.)
Enough plot. How are the zombies? Well, they are slow. Slower than slow. But with all the dead ends of the laboratory building they manage to feed okay. Lots of biting off chunks of neck and shoveling of entrails into hungry mouths. Good brain splatters from head shot kills. Points for all that. The zombies range from pallor make-up to all out rot. Not bad for low budget. The base is an effective setting. (Abandoned military bases are, by definition, tres creepy). So points for that as well.
Deduct points for the “it’s only a cat” cliché and a couple of “false-scare-sigh-of-relief- then-BAM!-real-scare” scenes. Deduct points for the Japanese doctor whose English is next to impossible to understand. (And I know we’re not really supposed to analyze the plot, but I’d think that taking on hordes of the undead would warrant more than a 2-man clean-up crew.)
Sounds good, I'm going to have to check that one out.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Well, it's "good" in the low-budget, campy, laughable plot holes, bad acting, better-with-friends-and-alcohol-and-a-MST3K-mindset viewing experience...
I love those types of films
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Well, I have a few more in my review queue, so keep your eyes on this thread over the next few weeks!
I think reading all the reviews about how slow paced The Ghost was helped better prepare me for it - if I had been expecting some kind of fast paced conspiracy thriller like the trailers suggested then I might not've been that interested, really, as was what happened when I first watched Blade Runner. It kind of had the air of a BBC drama, more than anything, which is probably why I was used to it: focus on characters, slow pace, good amount of humour (some of it awkward), and a lot of subtlety.
Also, I don't know whether I've gotten used to Polanski's style, or whether the last two I watched were so heavy, but what also helped make The Ghost an easier film to watch was that I found it quite a bit funnier. I just thought it was well made and, despite the fact that I never questioned my sanity at any point in the film, still felt clearly Polanski to me as the other two have done.
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
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