Following on from the recent Princess Bride entry it caused me to think about "big" films that you've never seen. For starters I've never watched any Jaws or Rocky films - both for the same reason - too much hype when first released.

Sure, they're evil or they kill loadsa people.
But hey! They're not ALL bad!
I've just started on the box set of Battlestar Galactica (again!) and the new series of Justified so here are my top 2.

"6" - Battlestar Galactica

"Boyd Crowder" - Justified

Any more suggestions from television, film or book?

Just now from a continuity announcer...

"And next on More 4, the Oscar-winning film, 'Sense and Sensibility', starring Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson and Rick Wakeman."

Now there's a film I'd like to see!

A recent misreading of a film title caused me to think of this:

Jedgar - Leonardo di Caprio plays Irish twins who head the CIA.

Any more?

*There will be spoilers*

I watched Kill List.

What compels a film-maker to make a film like this? You set up a cast of characters who are all quite (if not, extremely) difficult to warm to. So, there is no one that the audience can side with. If you do have a character of some warmth - Michael Smiley (Tyers, from Spaced) - they must die. Hideously, if possible.

It included some vague hints of a mystery. There was a section of dialogue which promised a twist but failed to deliver in any kind of authentic way. I think Stephanie Zacharek over at MovieLine is right on the money when she says, "Wheatley drops enough unnerving bread crumbs in the first two-thirds to leave you wondering where the hell he’s headed, and even the big finale should be satisfying enough: It just belongs to a different movie, and it’s unsettling in a way that doesn’t feel earned. The conclusion of Kill List would be more unsettling if the subtle gradation of clues leading up to it didn’t raise so many unanswered questions, just for the hell of it. A mysteriously infected hand, instances of people thanking other people for things they haven’t even done yet – those could have been superb little macabre touches, if only they’d been woven more tightly into the narrative and not just left dangling like shabby hangnails. By the time Kill List jumps off the deep end into occulty weirdness, it’s almost too late for shock value. The ending is designed to make us recoil in horror. But you might be left wondering why you’d bothered with any of it in the first place."

There is a reverberating pointlessness.

The French film Martyrs is another case in point: Set up a beautiful, compassionate, strong female lead, and then skin her alive.

I'm not talking about Great films you NEVER want to see again, and I'm not talking about REALLY crap films, I'm talking about films that leave you...empty.

I know it is subjective. If you liked Kill List (or Martyrs) perhaps you could defend it.

Any other examples of films with no redeeming qualities?

Another great year for movies, with nearly 100 films released this year that I’ve seen that have had something to recommend them (as well as a number of others that don’t). Whittling this list down to 10 has been near impossible, but I’ve finally done it by selecting the 20 that I enjoyed the most (and those that stayed with me) and considering the merits of each. In another year, the 11-20 could comfortably have fitted into the top 10.

I don’t need to say it, but I will anyway – film is, like most things, very subjective so what appeals to me may annoy you – I tend to make my decisions about what to see by trusting a few critics (Kermode, Bradshaw, Ebert), and they rarely (though occasionally) let me down. So whilst I’m no film critic, if you’ve seen some of the films recommended and like them, you might take that as a recommendation to see something else you’ve yet to catch.

Before we hit my final 20, a word on the films worthy of mention that didn’t make the final list (continues in comments).

There is a piece in The Guardian that runs under the above title.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/08/pathetic-female-film...

However the oldest film listed is Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, released in 1984. Which means the list ignores about 3/4 of the history of cinema.

Would anyone care to nominate any pre-1984 characters?

At the moment I'm struggling to think of any really pathetic characters, but off the top of my head I'll suggest two Katherine Ross roles - Elaine in The Graduate and Etta Place in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.

Ridley Scott shot his, er, proverbial in Alien and Blade Runner. End of.

Watching "Alien" wearing headphones – not only do the FX and cinematography stand up to 21st century standards, the soundscape is freaking perfect. The score is distinct from the dialogue and sound FX, and the interplay between them does – as in all horror – maketh the movie.

Take note of Bela Bartok's long shadow over the proceedings. Again, also, Ives's influence is felt in Jerry Goldsmith's score (French horn and strings).

I remember seeing the director's cut at the cinema and being totally exomorphed by it.

Plus, it's got Harry Dean Stanton in it, so what else do you want? Apart from John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and Sigourney (who underplays her performance until the final confrontation, to her credit*).

In contrast, the sound for the sequel "Aliens" lacks both a memorable score and a mix that gave a frick. Let's not even get started on the visuals, acting, hambone to the gallery, and cheeseball dialogue. The whole thing feels like ten steps back from its origins.

Easily a contender for "Last Best Film of the 1970s". And, perhaps, the end of the silver age of SF movies.

____

* "The Final Girl" indeed.

Much like Charles Ives (Unanswered Question), Bartok must be the go-to composer for creepy music.

Where Ives' piece is HAL ejecting an astronaut into space, Bartok conjures blooooood and maaaadness.

Off the top of my head, here's two movies that use his "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste":

* The Shining

* Alien

And I know I've heard it in many other movies, but I can't be arsed tracking down which ones.

The bit where someone hits a music-stand at 1:42 is fantastic, and in every movie.

They all seem to be this 1954 recording:

Please add!

Hello Word people its me again the bloke who mistook Gene Vincent for a Geordie!

This time I need your help to identify an old film probably from the 1960's.
Its set in a British barracks, one of the officers is set for promotion and has one night left to serve before moving on. It turns out to be a night of hell because one of the squaddies turns out to be a right one and endeavors to make the officers last night unbearable, culminating with him sawing down the regimental flagpole. I wont say what else he does in case anyone else wants to view it. Suffice to say its a very 'British" film quite claustrophobic and utterly brilliant. If only I could remember the title!

I've been getting it in the neck elsewhere on the internet for having opinions about movies that were so boring/rubbish that I didn't finish them.

Is it wrong to voice an opinion on a film in these circumstances? It's not like I'm deceiving anybody by pretending that I did finish it.

I'm truly incapable of seeing the evil in hating a film, giving up half an hour in and then telling other people that I hated it and had to give up half an hour in. I really can't see the crime. Others though appear to be massively insulted by this.

Years ago I watched the first 45 minutes of Heaven's Gate. I know it's a turd based on what I saw. Why do I have to watch all four hours of it before it's acceptable for me to call it a turd? A turd that I will always point out, as it's a very, very important part of why it's a turd, that I gave up 45 minutes in. The opinion of someone who was unable to suffer to the end of a movie is as valid as someone who got to the end; as the failure to get the end is a very good indication of how good or bad it was.

Am I wrong? Do you have to watched all of a bad film before you're allowed to voice an opinion?

An interesting, but unrelated article about bad movies by Joe Queenan:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/mar/21/1

Been MONTHS since we went to the cinema, all the 'serious', Oscar-would-be films burped out at once then nothing for another year....

I don't wanna see 'Thor' or 'X Men 5' or 'Transformers 3' or 'The Green Lantern' or 'The New Shmoo' or whatever other crap's on! I loved comics and graphic novels but I've seen enough superhero films now for one lifetime, and I'm in my forties, and I have a wife I'd like to take with me to the cinema!

(moan, moan, whine, whine.... Do feel free to join in.)

For those who may not be aware, this is Mos Def. The boogie man. Black Jack Johnson. I'm going to come out and say it. I have something of a hetero man crush on the little hobgoblin. And I'm not sure why. Yes he's a gifted individual. But I think its his status as something of an underdog (at least in this country) that secures his place in my life.

Discovering the track "I Against I", Mos' collaboration with Massive Attack in 2003 when watching the second Blade film, I thought I'd track down some of his music. I got a couple of Mp3s but I didn't really feel it. I wasn't into hip hop at that stage. I too was towing the party line that it's just music with talking over the top. It wasn't until my first year at university when I heard "Sex, Love And Money", one of Mos' singles that year. The fact that a rapper had a flute sample was fantastic, the drums were superb, and Mos Def's weird way with words had me hooked. I needed more. The leak/release of 2006's "True Magic" secured his place in my record collection. As well as the controversial "Katrina Klap", this record was unlike anything else I'd come across at that point. This wasn't just people talking over music (here's looking at you, Snoop), this was the utilisation of the voice as a rhythmic and melodic instrument, getting across a positive message, as well as sharing the usual bragadaccio that defines all rappers.

Whilst Mos is critically acclaimed, his music never seems to cross over into the mainstream. As much known for his acting as his tunes, Mos Def has carved out a place in the artistic landscape of our times. It seems that everything he gets involved in bears his unique stamp. "The Ecstatic", the fantastic album from 2009 got such widely supportive critical acclaim that it really was a shock that it didn't sell more. "Quiet Dog Bite Hard", as performed on Letterman accompanied by kettle drums and drum kit was a highlight of a nearly flawless album that despite its 16 tracks never outstayed its welcome. It even brought back Black Star (of sorts), collaborating with Talib Kweli on the Mary Wells sampling "History", going back to the essence of traditional hip hop, discussing life in the ghetto, one foot in the past, one foot in the future.

Perhaps best known for his collaborative work with others, the aforementioned "I Against I", "Tinseltown To The Boogiedown" with Scritti Politti, "Six Days" with DJ Shadow, and most successfully on the BlakRoc and Gorillaz' "Plastic Beach" albums, Mos always seems to feel the vibe of the song, never seeking to overpower the original authors on the song. His contributions are always unique, incorporating his singing and his rapping.

It isn't just his music that leads me to love Mos Def just a little too much. His place in film history I think is secured for his understated but effective portrayals of a variety of characters. An alien, a surgical technician, a video store assistant, a detective, a petty criminal, explosives expert with a fetish for shoes, south American drug smuggler and Chuck Berry. But every time he brings something new to his roles. Rather than the simple "little boy lost" persona with which he has been described as acting, Mos Def's acting is a subtle beast, but ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous.

In the Emmy winning TV movie "Something The Lord Made", Mos is outstanding in his portrayal of the incredibly humble surgical technician and heart surgery pioneer Vivien Thomas. Never overblown, its a great study of someone who helped make a massive change to modern medicine without ever having been to medical school. In "Be Kind Rewind", Mos plays Mike, the video store worker who has to try and cover up wiped tapes, but ends up pulling a community together to create something great. In "16 Blocks", he's a petty criminal talking about suits and cakes getting chased by crooked cops through the streets of Manhattan. And most importantly (or should that be Mos importantly) he plays Ford Prefect in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Yes I'm aware its a film with its doubters (many of them here in the Massive), but I love its overarching weirdness, and many of the best bits of the film are with Mos playing up to the fact that he may be human shaped but he's definitely an alien.

Here's one of my favourite scenes, with Mos and Martin Freeman in the pub (the "awkward" bit at 2:19-26) is particularly good.

Mos Def is a one off in this day and age. He looks to a time past (check out "It Ain't My Fault") as well as pioneering some of the most forward-thinking hip hop of the past few years ("Life In Marvellous Times"), and I think overall, that's why I love Mos Def. He may not be the originator, but he remakes things in his own image. He's a maverick, and a visionary. But to sum him up, let me quote the man himself - "M-Def the black, fantastic raw dynamic, True Ecstatic ghetto, outstanding classic active every place, I have the skill, power, passion to raise your red lantern".

Thanks.

http://www.coffeefilms.com/killingjoke/

featuring Dave Grohl, of course

I've been saying for years that When Harry Met Sally was the Citizen Kane of the romantic comedy genre.

Last night I watched While You Were Sleeping for the umpteenth time. It’s the Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman film were she saves a strangers life, he goes into a coma and in the confusion at the hospital she is mistaken for his fiancée.

It’s a better film than When Harry Met Sally.

Ergo: While You Were Sleeping is the Citizen Kane of the romantic comedy genre. It’s got great, likable actors working from a great, very solid script. The film is very near perfect.

The biggest complaint I can dredge up is that a few musical cues are a little treacly, but those moments last for seconds and don't go too far into sugary tweeness. The thing I dislike most about romantic comedies is any unsubtle orchestral music and the constant use of easy listen Rat Pack style crooner music. Didn’t American Beauty kill that music? I’ve abandoned more than a few rom-coms within five minutes because of the music (Norah Ephron seriously needs a new CD collection).

What’s your favourite?

(And did you notice I used the word “ergo”? Impressed? Or did I use it wrong?)