Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted February 27, 2007 Paid Members Share Posted February 27, 2007 Letter To BrezhnevThe factories, pubs, clubs, hotels and streets of 1980s Liverpool form the backdrop for this tale of love, friendship, sex and a letter to the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. Two Liverpool lasses, Teresa and Elaine meet two Russian sailors, Sergei (a young Alfred Molina!!) and Peter and hook up for a night of fun and frolics. Teresa is looking for sex and a smile, Elaine wants love, romance and the dream of life far away from the grime of the Liverpool docklands.This film is a let down, superficially gliding over its redeeming factors such as the idea of an illconceived perception of Russia and the Soviet Union, instead it is over sentimental and embarasingly scripted.The photography and gloomy feel of Liverpool however is spot on, and despite a monotonous direction, the shots create a real broody feel to the film. Sadly this is let down by people falling in 'love' with each other within hours of meeting, unlikeable characters (the two main girls are annoying, possibly a glimpse into the darker side of the 'laddette' culture) and the film really doesn't pick up till the last half hour when things actually start getting interesting with the possibility of Elaine moving to Russia being shown.Certainly not the greatest British flick from the 80s, and I wouldn't recomend you bother with it despite its okayish factors.This is a film I've always wanted to track down. Good review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted February 27, 2007 Paid Members Share Posted February 27, 2007 Drunken Monkey I was so looking forward to this, and was so hoping it would be good. And it is. Sort of. It's good, but it could have been better (or at least better suited to my tastes). Basically it's a kung fu movie, with the classic "master gets betrayed, disappears for a few years, trains up a new student and returns to kicks ass" storyline. The kung fu master is question is Lau Kar Leung, who is a genuine old school kung fu master that trained in fields with logs and rocks and stuff. Also in the film is Lau Kar Fei (AKA: Gordon Lau from Kill Bill), who is Lau Kar Leung's adopted brother in real life, and also a fucking awesome traditional kung fu master. Now, Kar Leung isn't a young man (he was in his mid-late 60's when this was made) and so when his character is doing the flips and acrobatic stuff synonymous with monkey style kung fu, it's obviously a double. I wouldn't mind so much, but in other scenes he's doing rolls and showing agility that's perfectly acceptable for the style and pretty impressive for his age. It just seems so unecessary when he's in such good shape and is so impressive in his own right. Â Plotwise, it's an autopilot movie. You know pretty much what's going to happen, and some of it is a bit dated looking, like an old Shaw Bros movie. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, depending on taste. Â Choreographywise, it's everything you could hope for from Lau, that perfect balance of screen-flashiness and realistic looking technique. The fight in the temple against Kar Fei is breathtaking. Both men matching each other with crisp, precise technique delivered at lightning speed. Even at such an age, the Lau brothers are a fucking spectacle to watch, which is why I found it so annoying when we get a long shot of Kar Leung's character doing a backflip off a table. Â If you love The Pops, then it's a must-see-but-don't-go-out-of-your-way-to movie. Â Â Odd Couple Samo Hung's legendary weapon-fest. I've been wanting to see this for years, and thanks to Play.com's sale, I picked it up for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukedge87 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Letter To BrezhnevThe factories, pubs, clubs, hotels and streets of 1980s Liverpool form the backdrop for this tale of love, friendship, sex and a letter to the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. Two Liverpool lasses, Teresa and Elaine meet two Russian sailors, Sergei (a young Alfred Molina!!) and Peter and hook up for a night of fun and frolics. Teresa is looking for sex and a smile, Elaine wants love, romance and the dream of life far away from the grime of the Liverpool docklands.This film is a let down, superficially gliding over its redeeming factors such as the idea of an illconceived perception of Russia and the Soviet Union, instead it is over sentimental and embarasingly scripted.The photography and gloomy feel of Liverpool however is spot on, and despite a monotonous direction, the shots create a real broody feel to the film. Sadly this is let down by people falling in 'love' with each other within hours of meeting, unlikeable characters (the two main girls are annoying, possibly a glimpse into the darker side of the 'laddette' culture) and the film really doesn't pick up till the last half hour when things actually start getting interesting with the possibility of Elaine moving to Russia being shown.Certainly not the greatest British flick from the 80s, and I wouldn't recomend you bother with it despite its okayish factors.This is a film I've always wanted to track down. Good review. It was free in The Guardian last year, but I only just got round to watching it. PusherThis was a film I had heard of for a long time, before having any idea what it is about so when I saw it for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukedge87 Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 (edited) Gladiator  With Oscar weekend just passed I decided to dig out a film that had won loads of Oscars, and nominated for even more. I went for Gladiator, a flick I hadn't seen for at least five years, which five years ago I remember thinking wasn't anything special.  And apart from the action sequences, that view still holds. Sure, the collisieum scenes are something special - possibly some of the great action scenes ever shot, but they are let down by a mess of a film, full of bad dialogue, gaping plot holes and bad acting.  Russell 'I can only do one expression' Crowe, is perhaps one of the films biggest let downs, he can't decided whether he is a emtionless bad ass, not giving a damn whether he dies or not, or whether he is an emotionally fragile man. I've never been a big fan of Crowe, but especially in the role of Maximus, I feel it is one of the film's hinderances.  The dialogue is camp and cartoony, with one of the first lines "Why can't people just admit when they've been conquered?!" appearing completely inappropriate for a savage battle scene. Throughout the film the dialogue is one of the recurring problems, which makes itself apparent when it appears self-aware or over-sincere ("You must live or I shall die").  Also, we're meant to believe that Maximus can escape the Roman army and travel undected from Germania back to Spain, but wait he can't escape from a shoddy little slave ring. Its plot holes like this that mean that Gladiator can't be the classic it badly wants to be.  However, it does have quite a few redeeming factors, such as the fact that it is really well directed by Ridley Scott (his choice of panning camera shots and brillant intimate feel to the battle scenes have to be seen to be believed). And Joaquin Phoenix is spot on as Commodus, never choosing to protray him as a straight bad guy, but the most multi-diemensional character in the film.  Oh yeh, and the soundtrack is great too! Edited March 2, 2007 by ukedge87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Pedersen Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Letter To BrezhnevThe factories, pubs, clubs, hotels and streets of 1980s Liverpool form the backdrop for this tale of love, friendship, sex and a letter to the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. Two Liverpool lasses, Teresa and Elaine meet two Russian sailors, Sergei (a young Alfred Molina!!) and Peter and hook up for a night of fun and frolics. Teresa is looking for sex and a smile, Elaine wants love, romance and the dream of life far away from the grime of the Liverpool docklands.This film is a let down, superficially gliding over its redeeming factors such as the idea of an illconceived perception of Russia and the Soviet Union, instead it is over sentimental and embarasingly scripted.The photography and gloomy feel of Liverpool however is spot on, and despite a monotonous direction, the shots create a real broody feel to the film. Sadly this is let down by people falling in 'love' with each other within hours of meeting, unlikeable characters (the two main girls are annoying, possibly a glimpse into the darker side of the 'laddette' culture) and the film really doesn't pick up till the last half hour when things actually start getting interesting with the possibility of Elaine moving to Russia being shown.Certainly not the greatest British flick from the 80s, and I wouldn't recomend you bother with it despite its okayish factors.This is a film I've always wanted to track down. Good review. It was free in The Guardian last year, but I only just got round to watching it. PusherThis was a film I had heard of for a long time, before having any idea what it is about so when I saw it for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukedge87 Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 I like foreign films as much as I like any other sort of films - and usually they are much more true to life than Hollywood blockbusters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancuniankid Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 (edited) Norbit - Watched this yesterday and thought it was a brilliant family comedy which had me laughing on numerous occasions. Eddie Murphy doing it again as a fatty is great, if your a fan of The Nutty Professor or even Big Mommas House you will enjoy this. 4*You Got Served - What an absolutly shit film, i dont know if they even hired actors/actresess in this film and just hired dancers instead because it was terrible. Its about street/break dancing crews who battle it out for money, then something big happens a massive fall out between 2 best friends, the crew breaks up, a massive tournement with a chance to win big money, will the friends make up and get the crew back together blah blah blah. 1* Edited March 2, 2007 by mancuniankid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insert_name_here Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Does anyone know if Saw 3 and Jackass Number 2 are out on DVD yet, because i want to see both of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted March 2, 2007 Paid Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 Does anyone know if Saw 3 and Jackass Number 2 are out on DVD yet, because i want to see both of them. http://www.sendit.com/video/item/7001000130038 - Saw 3's been out since the 26th Feb.http://www.sendit.com/video/item/7001000130282 - Jackass 2 won't be out until the 26th March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 (edited) Norbit - Watched this yesterday and thought it was a brilliant family comedy which had me laughing on numerous occasions. Eddie Murphy doing it again as a fatty is great, if your a fan of The Nutty Professor or even Big Mommas House you will enjoy this. 4*You Got Served - What an absolutly shit film, i dont know if they even hired actors/actresess in this film and just hired dancers instead because it was terrible. Its about street/break dancing crews who battle it out for money, then something big happens a massive fall out between 2 best friends, the crew breaks up, a massive tournement with a chance to win big money, will the friends make up and get the crew back together blah blah blah. 1*I've just seen a trailer for Norbit last night at the cinema and need to see it now, looks like a good review, so I'll catch it ASAP.RE: You Got Served, I fucking loved it for some reason. As predictable as it is, everyone loves a bloody obvious film with some BAD MOVES!There's your order bitch! You just got SERVED!~.Anyway...watched BASEketball last night again, and it's another one of those films I love to watch due to it being a sport film. And WALLAH, great Psyche Outs and hot women. ****The Number 23. People and critics bitch and moan that Jim carrey can't do serious. Watch this and you'll change your opinion if it is like that. ****1/2.Dodgeball. Again, another DVD I watched last night. Awesome stuff from the comedy Stiller to the beautiful Christine Taylor, it's a hilarious story of MANING UP! and saving your ass. ***1/2And finally, School For Scoundrels. This film was just one I didn't expect much from when I decided to stay late at the Odeon and it surprised me to say the least.I've read boosk similar to the story (The Game by Neil Strauss) and it reminded me just how awesoem some of the stories from the play community are. Another *** here. Edited March 2, 2007 by Jambo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejeffjarrettone Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Hostel. Meh.The Wild Thornberrys. I didn't think I'd enjoy it. I was right. Oh and Click. That was ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Stevie C Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Samurai RebellionUsual great turn by Toshiro Mifune, good story following a father who's son is forced into a similar situation that he is in (a forced marraige) though his own is loveless, his son and his wife fall deeply in Love, so when the emperor commands the couple to split he rebels against the order splitting his family apart and causing the clan elders to take action. It loses a bit at the end but very good if you like your classic Samurai Drama's.The BrotherhoodTaped this off Film 4 the other day, forgot just how good it was. SEE IT. Think the first 20 mins of Saving Private Ryan for about 2 hours. Excellent.Tonight I'm off to see Hot Fuzz, and then Sunday Number 23. Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted March 2, 2007 Paid Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 Seen as Cheltenham is coming up, I might stick on "Champions" with John Hurt tonight. Tremendous film. Yes, I know "Champions" is about the Grand National. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukedge87 Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Tomorrow The Killing Fields is free with The Times. I urge anyone who hasdn't seen it to pick up a copy tomorrow, as it is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted March 2, 2007 Paid Members Share Posted March 2, 2007 Tomorrow The Killing Fields is free with The Times. I urge anyone who hasdn't seen it to pick up a copy tomorrow, as it is great.Thanks for reminding me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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