What film did you watch last night?

[AndyRM]

Battle Mountain. Independently made documentary about Graeme Obree's attempt at the human-powered land speed record, and the extraordinary machine he built himself to do it. The footage of him lying face-down in a fibreglass coffin, wobbling down the highway and toppling over on test rides, was quite terrifying, but he did get the prone record eventually - 56.4 mph!

Obree himself was there last night, with the film's director, for a chat and Q&A afterwards which was very entertaining. Obree is just amazing, absolutely madly determined and indomitable in his approach to design problem solving, mostly using templates cut out of cardboard it seems. The film was crowd- and kickstarter-funded, as no mainstream companies were interested, and it needs a bit more editing, we thought, (and a few subtitles would have helped now and again, it's all broad Scots) but it's well worth a watch if you like Obree's approach to life, which I do.

Did they happen to mention if it was getting a wider or DVD release? I was hoping it might have been shown at my local indie cinema (Tyneside) but there's no sign of it yet.

 

[swee'pea99]

Battle Mountain. Independently made documentary about Graeme Obree's attempt at the human-powered land speed record, and the extraordinary machine he built himself to do it. The footage of him lying face-down in a fibreglass coffin, wobbling down the highway and toppling over on test rides, was quite terrifying, but he did get the prone record eventually - 56.4 mph!

Obree himself was there last night, with the film's director, for a chat and Q&A afterwards which was very entertaining. Obree is just amazing, absolutely madly determined and indomitable in his approach to design problem solving, mostly using templates cut out of cardboard it seems. The film was crowd- and kickstarter-funded, as no mainstream companies were interested, and it needs a bit more editing, we thought, (and a few subtitles would have helped now and again, it's all broad Scots) but it's well worth a watch if you like Obree's approach to life, which I do.

If you've never seen it, I'd highly recommend The World's Fastest Indian - another great tale of a lunatic on a mission. Unlike yours this one's a fictionalisation of a true story, but it's told with great charm and enthusiasm.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Saw that recently and agree absolutely. I particularly remember the bit where one of the locals is quizzing him about where he comes from and he says, if I remember rightly, Derby, and she says Oh I know someone from round that way...Nottingham, I think. And he says 'we hate Nottingham', and she asks him why. He looks momentarily baffled, as though this is the first time that question has ever occurred to him, before answering haltingly 'I don't know, really.' The Troubles in a nutshell, I thought. Blind, unreasoning tribalism.

Jack O'Connell is actually from Derby - he went to my old school.

 

[AndyRM]

They didn't, I'm afraid. The film was only released last Friday, and they've done five showings so far. They did say the audience last night was their biggest one yet, and they seemed very appreciative. Like a lot of independent films it will probably do the round of the small cinemas and then either get picked up by something like the Storyville strand on TV or sink without trace. You could contact your independent cinema and ask them to show it - they might like the draw of a personal appearance by Obree.

That's a great idea, thank you!

 

[AndyRM]

They didn't, I'm afraid. The film was only released last Friday, and they've done five showings so far. They did say the audience last night was their biggest one yet, and they seemed very appreciative. Like a lot of independent films it will probably do the round of the small cinemas and then either get picked up by something like the Storyville strand on TV or sink without trace. You could contact your independent cinema and ask them to show it - they might like the draw of a personal appearance by Obree.

Tyneside released their latest showings today and the film, Obree and his bicycle are coming to Newcastle!

Hooray!

It's Sunday April 24 @ 3pm for anyone else who's interested.

 

[swee'pea99]

The Man in the White Suit - an Ealing classic, with Alec Guinness as the inventor of a fabric that never gets dirty and lasts for ever, and the forces of capital and labour that unite to baulk him. A delight from start to finish, as well as a period piece that in so many ways shows how much things have changed in less than a lifetime.

 

[fossyant]

Allegiant 3rd film of the Insurgent/Divergent series (4th due some time). Not bad sci fi based after a nuclear war.

 

[NorthernDave]

Batman v Superman.

Nearly didn't go due to the mixed reviews and length of the film (it's pushing 3 hours with trailers / adverts at the start. Glad I did though, as I thought it was excellent.
I though Ben Affleck was excellent as an older, even more cynical Dark Knight.
Possibly the best film I've seen at the flicks this year.

Mrs ND wasn't so impressed, but what can you do?

 

[glenn forger]

Really? Getting a lot of hate for it but a lot of good stuff too. I guess you have to remember it's comic book stuff and the fans are..dedicated.

 

[Haitch]

Bit of a lengthy sit yesterday.

First off was Trumbo. Dalton Trumbo (crazy name) was a Hollywood screenwriter. Subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee and sent to jail for 11 months in 1947 basically for thinking his daughter should share her packed school lunch with her best friend if the friend had forgotten her own (crazy guy), on release he was blacklisted but made a living writing screenplays under pseudonyms (and winning two Oscars along the way (one for Roman Holiday and one for The Brave One)). The subsequent revelation that he also wrote Exodus and I Am Spartacus effectively ended the blacklisting. There's a good film to be made out of this story, but it's not this one. Trumbo is presented as an All-American Hero battling against unseen forces, the little man speaking truth unto power. Ironically one of his opponents is All-American Hero John Wayne and the film struggles to resolve such complexities. The acting is hammy and the characters overegged. It's like listening to a good ol' boy giving a social history lesson in very simplistic terms to someone he thinks is a dolt. The Coen Brothers' Hail, Caesar! is a far better take on the era and the industry (and Tilda Swinton (more of whom later) plays a far better gossip reporter than Helen Mirren). A pity because John McNamara's screenplay itself is, fittingly, rather good, with some funny and smart lines in it if you can listen through the delivery, and the subtle soundtrack by Theodore Shapiro is also worth listening to (a cross between Miles Davis circa Miles Ahead - biopic forthcoming!! - and Tom Waits's backing group circa Swordfishtrombones). My other half thought it was good. A grudging 6/10 from me.

Next up was Brooklyn. And it lived down to expectations. Irish girl emigrates to America, is homesick, falls in love with Italian boy but returns to Ireland when her sister dies, and falls in love (the girl not the dead sister) with an Irish boy. The film hinges on whether she returns to America or stays in County Wexford. A bit of a sloshy, slushy story with no real tension to elicit or sustain interest. However, it received rave reviews on release and was nominated for three Oscars. So it found its audience somewhere. Save the price of admission because it will be on television soon, just not at Christmas or Easter. Not really up to me to give it a mark out of 10 but my companion and I ranked it below Trumbo. A brief biographical note, my great-grandmother apparently emigrated from Ireland to Brooklyn and then returned to Ireland. If I'd had the nous to turn that into a film I could have been sat in LA's Dolby Theatre last February.

And finally the feature, feature film of the evening, as it were. A Bigger Splash, Tilda Swinton is a rock star recovering from a throat operation on a remote Italian island. She and her boyfriend are unexpectedly and awkwardly visited by her ex-lover and his Lolita-ish daughter. Friction builds as they sit around the pool, skinny-dipping, getting drunk (apart from Swinton's ex-alcoholic/ex-druggy current beau), reminiscing about the past and arguing. A bit of a flimsy excuse for a two-hour film but it is carried joyfully along by Ralph Fiennes, playing the loud-mouthed, self-obsessed, bore of an ex. His dancing to Emotional Rescue is a shaming lesson in how to throw shapes for all Dad dancers like me. A magnificent performance from him as a counterpoint to the mute Swinton (throat operation). 7/10.

 

[Incontinentia Buttocks]

Jurassic Park. Total shoot.
Oops that should have been Jurassic World. Utter utter shoot.

 

[John the Monkey]

Apocalypto (via Netflix)

A fairly conventional tale, I suppose (protagonist overcomes hardships in order to return to his loved ones) enlivened by its unusual setting (pre-conquistador Meso America). The action is handled very well, although the amount of stabbing, slashing and bludgeoning may be a bit much for some. On balance, I enjoyed it, although there are points at which the ratcheting up of the stakes facing the main character feel a little forced - similarly, two convenient deus ex machina moments may have viewers unwilling to go with the film rolling their eyes.

Spring (via Netflix)

Personal tragedy, and a need to escape his home town lead a young man to fly from the USA to Italy, where he meets a mysterious young woman. Part horror, sci-fi and romantic drama, I think this is a belter of a film, that mostly wrongfoots your expectations from each genre. Try to catch it without learning too much about it though.

 

[fossyant]

Star Wars for after Paris Roubaix, then Deadpool later. Must take control of the TV.

 

[slowmotion]

I watched a two and a half hour documentary about U-Boats and the Battle of the Atlantic. Absolutely gripping stuff.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-sq0nTaYdk

 

[Leaway2]

3 Days of the Condor. A spy/conspiracy film. Robert Redford stars as a lowly CIA researcher who gets involved in a conspiracy. Very slow. Redford somehow knows how to tap phones, from the books he has read and gets unchallenged access to all sorts of places. Faye Dunaway also stars although she does not have much of a part.
Some of the scenes were filmed in the twin towers.
5/10