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Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle
I ordered some clematis plants from a garden centre and the guy said they are putting on a foot a week now that the planting season is here. In reading about this film, I'm beginning to wonder if he actually meant real feet. At the moment they are standing in two buckets of water and I'm thinking it might be better to leave them there rather than plant them: especially as some varieties reach 40ft in height.
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This filmed version of Nigel Balchin's novel about an embittered civilian explosives' expert who has lost a foot defusing an explosive device and who is part of a small group of scientists assessing weapons for the British government during WWII, was directed by the eminent Powell & Pressburger team. It's a very good example of how Britain relied on brainpower as well as firepower in wartime. It's also a human drama that shows how, even in during a war, politicians seek to enhance their own status at the expense of the war effort. The Germans are dropping booby-trapped bombs that look perfectly innocuous but the main character in the film, who is strongly reliant on whiskey, decides to undertake the dismantling of one of the devices after an army officer colleague has been killed in a similar attempt. Forget storming the beaches while chewing a cigar, this is the other side of war and a lot more believable. 10/10
Just add some salt..hold on...SPOILER ALERT...to the water.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emil Miller
It turns out salt water was the triffids' Achilles heel so the speak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle
Too late! They are already planted but I shall be keeping an eye on those long tendrils that are the hallmark of clematis.
I saw it last year and gave it 7/10. It's quite good.Quote:
Originally Posted by YesNo
I've been watching some BBC Documentaries recently and immensely enjoyed these series. If you guys have teeny-tiny interest in the wildlife (like me) then I would recommend Africa: Eye to eye with the unknown. It is an amazing ride into the untouched wilderness - 9/10.
Now I long to visit Africa.
Also watched Himalayas (The Natural World) although there was no reference to K2 or Nanga Parbat, but it revealed the lives of beautiful animals like snow leopards and markhors. It gets 8/10.
Today saw Earth (2007) it was good but there was something missing (David Attenborough I guess :D). 7/10
Do you mean the one called Planet Earth, Snowqueen? Which has Sigourney Weaver instead of the omnipresent David Attenborough (:D) That was beautiful, so gorgeous. Made me want to get to see any part of the world besides where I am now.
I haven't seen Planet Earth yet. The one I saw is just Earth and here is the link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393597/
It's made by the same people, as far as I can tell. I'll give it a look see one of these days, Snowqueen.
Under the Skin. 9/10 I loved this movie. That said, it's unlikely I'll watch it again. It's not really the kind of thing you watch over and over. Particularly the scene with the baby, which is difficult to watch and haunting. But I'm really glad I saw it. I found this link to a series of discussions with the various people who were involved in making it; rather fascinating reading.
http://www.film4.com/special-feature...e-skin-casting
Captain America The Winter Soldier, 8/10; really picked up until halfway through, then it just died into what every other superhero movie is.
Barefoot: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2355495/
Two nuts who aren't all that nutty, although they both looked nutty to me, meet in a mental hospital and have an adventure and grow up. The girl hates wearing shoes. The best scene was when the guy tries to ditch her, but then goes back for her, arriving just as she despairs of ever seeing him again.
Score: 8/10
Only Lovers Left Alive directed by Jim Jarmusch, with Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. I give it a 9/10. I really enjoyed it. Not a lot of action, but very stylish. The two main characters played these very humane vampires-is that an oxymoron?
Grand Budapest Hotel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This film has the unbelievable casting of Dirk Bogarde as a Mexican bandit and John Bentley as the local police chief. It's a stereotypical story of good versus evil when a new priest, played by John mills, is sent to a small Mexican town under the control of the bandit's gang.
The issue is complicated by the local lollipop ( Mylene Demongeot) who falls for the priest, and the bandit's barely disguised homosexual attraction to him as well. It's possibly the most camp of Mexican dramas with the actors speaking in well modulated English with no concession to whom they are supposed to be portraying. Dirk Bogarde dressed in tight black leather trousers has to be seen to be believed.
British director Roy Ward Baker makes the best of a film that he initially had doubts about; suggesting, ironically, that it should have been given to Luis Buñuel but he does manage to create some acceptable visuals among the general banality.
4/10