Saw "Life of Pi" today and have to say it is pretty close to being the "perfect" film. The imagery, the story, the acting...everything about this film oozes class and has restored my faith in Ang Lee as a director. There are a couple of scenes that didn't quite work so well, but overall it struck all of the right emotional chords without being too melodramatic. Not a violent film, not an action film (although there are a couple of scenes that have you on the edge of the seat) and despite it employing a lot of generated effects, it is not even a film that strikes as being effects laden.

I loved it, my partner loved it and my 10 year old son loved it. It's hard to describe and do it justice, but suffice to say that it works on so many levels and it had me wanting to see it again before we had reached home.

I have the double blu ray pack of Death Proof and Planet Terror, but am yet to watch them; will let you know my thoughts once I get a long enough kid-free moment to watch them :-)

Ah that would be great!

Saw "Life of Pi" today and have to say it is pretty close to being the "perfect" film. The imagery, the story, the acting...everything about this film oozes class and has restored my faith in Ang Lee as a director. There are a couple of scenes that didn't quite work so well, but overall it struck all of the right emotional chords without being too melodramatic. Not a violent film, not an action film (although there are a couple of scenes that have you on the edge of the seat) and despite it employing a lot of generated effects, it is not even a film that strikes as being effects laden.

I loved it, my partner loved it and my 10 year old son loved it. It's hard to describe and do it justice, but suffice to say that it works on so many levels and it had me wanting to see it again before we had reached home.

From what I've seen of the trailers it looks visually fantastic and my girlfriend who was reading the book just recently said it was a great story. I think I'll try and see it in the next couple of weeks.

Was it that 'Taking Woodstock' movie that soiled your opinion of Lee lol?

Ps just out of interest have you done any kind of study in film or are you just an enthusiast?

From what I've seen of the trailers it looks visually fantastic and my girlfriend who was reading the book just recently said it was a great story. I think I'll try and see it in the next couple of weeks.

Was it that 'Taking Woodstock' movie that soiled your opinion of Lee lol?

Ps just out of interest have you done any kind of study in film or are you just an enthusiast?

Actually, I didn't mind that "Taking Woodstock" film too much, but I really didn't like The Hulk at all. Until "Life of Pi", I had preferred his earlier material like "The Wedding Banquet" and "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" - and of course I liked "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Not a student of film, but have always been a fan since my teens - when I was studying at Swinburne in the early 70's, I used to go every Friday night to the late night supper show at the Trak Cinema where you would catch a lot of good European cinema... now I just collect films on DVD/Blu ray... anything and everything ranging from classics such as Metropolis, Cabinet of Dr Caligari, through animations such as early Disney, Bugs Bunny, Studio Ghibli, and current - lately getting into a bit of 3D now we have the big screen LG. I like to accumulate by director as well.. so I have a lot of Fellini, Lynch, Herzog, Kurosawa, Yimou, Tim Burton, Jarmusch, Tarantino etc.

Actually, I didn't mind that "Taking Woodstock" film too much, but I really didn't like The Hulk at all. Until "Life of Pi", I had preferred his earlier material like "The Wedding Banquet" and "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" - and of course I liked "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Not a student of film, but have always been a fan since my teens - when I was studying at Swinburne in the early 70's, I used to go every Friday night to the late night supper show at the Trak Cinema where you would catch a lot of good European cinema... now I just collect films on DVD/Blu ray... anything and everything ranging from classics such as Metropolis, Cabinet of Dr Caligari, through animations such as early Disney, Bugs Bunny, Studio Ghibli, and current - lately getting into a bit of 3D now we have the big screen LG. I like to accumulate by director as well.. so I have a lot of Fellini, Lynch, Herzog, Kurosawa, Yimou, Tim Burton, Jarmusch, Tarantino etc.

Sounds like you have quite a good collection!

Saw "Life of Pi" today and have to say it is pretty close to being the "perfect" film. The imagery, the story, the acting...everything about this film oozes class and has restored my faith in Ang Lee as a director. There are a couple of scenes that didn't quite work so well, but overall it struck all of the right emotional chords without being too melodramatic. Not a violent film, not an action film (although there are a couple of scenes that have you on the edge of the seat) and despite it employing a lot of generated effects, it is not even a film that strikes as being effects laden.

I loved it, my partner loved it and my 10 year old son loved it. It's hard to describe and do it justice, but suffice to say that it works on so many levels and it had me wanting to see it again before we had reached home.

Gee it's amazing isn't it, I wasn't a fan of it at all, nor my Mum who I took along to see it. No doubt some of the imagery was wonderful but I found the storyline deceptively weak and couldn't get emotionally invested in the lead character or the computer generated animals at all. A total miss for me.

Gee it's amazing isn't it, I wasn't a fan of it at all, nor my Mum who I took along to see it. No doubt some of the imagery was wonderful but I found the storyline deceptively weak and couldn't get emotionally invested in the lead character or the computer generated animals at all. A total miss for me.

I had a similar phenomenon with the Hobbit - saw it and loved it and then read in the Age the next day a review where Chris Mathieson (?) gave it one and a half stars.

Gee it's amazing isn't it, I wasn't a fan of it at all, nor my Mum who I took along to see it. No doubt some of the imagery was wonderful but I found the storyline deceptively weak and couldn't get emotionally invested in the lead character or the computer generated animals at all. A total miss for me.

Well, it would be pretty boring if we all liked the same things. I would have been a bit worried if you had said the only character you became emotionally attached to was the cook :-)

So after Django I did a bit of research on the net about Quentins next film and found some wild rumours, however a common theme seemed to be Lady Gaga appearing in it. She has set herself the goal of winning an Oscar in the next five years and her and Quentin meet up fairly often and are good mates (Quentin's own words). Could be an interesting combination - who's crazier?

So after Django I did a bit of research on the net about Quentins next film and found some wild rumours, however a common theme seemed to be Lady Gaga appearing in it. She has set herself the goal of winning an Oscar in the next five years and her and Quentin meet up fairly often and are good mates (Quentin's own words). Could be an interesting combination - who's crazier?

Not a big fan of Gaga myself as she strikes me as being a bit too "fabricated"... Tarantino on the other hand, I do feel is genuinely eccentric and seems to always be doing something... directing, acting, writing or producing.

I see that he is currently working on Kill Bill 3 with Uma Thurman, so I would think that if Gaga is going to be in one of his projects, it will be in whatever he plans to do after that is out of the way. While I was searching around for what that might be, I did see that Gaga is going to be appearing in Rodriguez's new film "Machete Kills" (sequel to "Machete") as someone named Le Chameleon... but I somehow doubt that will get her an Oscar nomination :-)

It's obvious that you are a Tarantino fan, so if you aren't aware of him already, I recommend you watch some movies by Japanese director Takashi Miike; Tarantino, appeared acting in one of his films which was coincidentally titled "Sukiyaki Western Django". He makes films that are very "out there" such as "13 Assassins", "Ichi the Killer", "Visitor Q" and "Happiness of the Katakuris" (my favourite) etc etc... now his films really are worth catching.Another Japanese director who has a connection with Tarantino is Katsuhito Ishii, who was responsible for the animated sequence in "Kill Bill 1" - I love his films (despite that KB1 segment, they are live action and NOT animations) and find him to be a bit of a Japanese David Lynch... films include "Shark Skin Man, Peach Hip Girl", "Party 7", "The Taste of Tea" etc.

Anyway, enough for now... I tend to get a bit carried away when I get onto film talk... sorry :-)

I am ridiculously fussy when it comes to films. One of the worst films I have ever seen is Red Dog. Corny, dreadfully overacted. If I hadnt taken my daughter to that film, I would have walked out half way.

I re-watched The Elephant Man the other day. Now there's a film! John Hurt's performance was brilliant. He was beaten to the Best Actor Oscar by De Niro in Raging Bull. The film was beautifully made and acted.

Another one i really liked was American Beauty.

As for comedies, my favourites are Napoleon Dynamite and Groundhog Day.

As for Australian films, I agree that Wake in Fright was a ripper. Lantana was great, and I didnt mind some of those quirky films in the early 80s like The Big Steal and Death in Brunswick.

I am ridiculously fussy when it comes to films. One of the worst films I have ever seen is Red Dog. Corny, dreadfully overacted. If I hadnt taken my daughter to that film, I would have walked out half way.

I re-watched The Elephant Man the other day. Now there's a film! John Hurt's performance was brilliant. He was beaten to the Best Actor Oscar by De Niro in Raging Bull. The film was beautifully made and acted.

Another one i really liked was American Beauty.

As for comedies, my favourites are Napoleon Dynamite and Groundhog Day.

Haven't seen Red Dog but I heard it was quite good. Saw Napoleon Dynamite when it first came out and hated every second of it but I now have two copies lying around and have probably watched it at least 5 times.

As for Australian films, I agree that Wake in Fright was a ripper. Lantana was great, and I didnt mind some of those quirky films in the early 80s like The Big Steal and Death in Brunswick.

Haven't seen the film of Wake in Fright but recently saw a theater performance of it and that was really great.

Edited February 1, 201312 yr by the passenger

Not a big fan of Gaga myself as she strikes me as being a bit too "fabricated"... Tarantino on the other hand, I do feel is genuinely eccentric and seems to always be doing something... directing, acting, writing or producing.

I see that he is currently working on Kill Bill 3 with Uma Thurman, so I would think that if Gaga is going to be in one of his projects, it will be in whatever he plans to do after that is out of the way. While I was searching around for what that might be, I did see that Gaga is going to be appearing in Rodriguez's new film "Machete Kills" (sequel to "Machete") as someone named Le Chameleon... but I somehow doubt that will get her an Oscar nomination :-)

It's obvious that you are a Tarantino fan, so if you aren't aware of him already, I recommend you watch some movies by Japanese director Takashi Miike; Tarantino, appeared acting in one of his films which was coincidentally titled "Sukiyaki Western Django". He makes films that are very "out there" such as "13 Assassins", "Ichi the Killer", "Visitor Q" and "Happiness of the Katakuris" (my favourite) etc etc... now his films really are worth catching.Another Japanese director who has a connection with Tarantino is Katsuhito Ishii, who was responsible for the animated sequence in "Kill Bill 1" - I love his films (despite that KB1 segment, they are live action and NOT animations) and find him to be a bit of a Japanese David Lynch... films include "Shark Skin Man, Peach Hip Girl", "Party 7", "The Taste of Tea" etc.

Anyway, enough for now... I tend to get a bit carried away when I get onto film talk... sorry :-)

Yeah well it'll be interesting to see how she goes acting in features. Looks like I have a bit of viewing to do, cheers!

Nah it's good to have a break from all the footy talk I think.

Just saw "Flight" Great movie on many many levels

Highly recommend.

I've been building a pile of blu ray discs to watch starting Sunday... a few on that pile I now have, in no particular order:

Wreck it Ralph (3D)

Life of Pi (3D)

Storm Surfers (3D)

Man With the Iron Fists

Seven Psychopaths

Samsara

Intouchable

Quatermass and the Pit

Earth Vs Flying Saucers

Marley

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (3D)

Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Qatsi Trilogy

Cabin in the Woods

The Who Live at the Isle of Wight 1970

Busy times ahead!

Hey Django

You may not see this for a while, but I'm curious. You mention your interests include 'writing for film'. What writing do you do in this area?

Cheers

Just saw "Flight" Great movie on many many levels

Highly recommend.

Really?

My wife and I couldn't get through it. The pacing was horrible I was falling asleep.

Ray Donovan has gone to the top of my "look for new episodes" list. Not for everyone and it Takes a little bit to get used to, but the character Jon Voight plays is a classic.

Really?

My wife and I couldn't get through it. The pacing was horrible I was falling asleep.

Didn't have that problem for me at all...but everyone is different and why making films can be so difficult...i have edited a few short films and getting agreement on a final edit can be very stressfull and sometime teary or rage induced i assure you!!!

took the missus to see

now you see me

not bad until the last 15 minutes you would swear they lost the script and got somebody off the street to finish the movie.very weird because for an hour it was a top movie and fell in a heap

also should have mentioned SEARCHING FOR THE SUGARMAN , best dvd ive seen in 5years

Edited August 10, 201311 yr by jazza

Watched Samsara the other day on Blu Ray... stunning to say the least! Now to sit down with the "Qatsi" trilogy with the same director of photography and music composed by Philip Glass.

Just watched this on Youtube

Absolutely superb

The players should all see this

Wow.

Caught the American version of the film Shall We Dance the other night on Foxtel (starring Richard Gere), so I decided to drag out my old DVD of the original Japanese version last night just to see how closely the remake managed to follow the original. While Hollyweird actually made a decent fist of this film, the Japanese original is still streets ahead. I really love the way the Japanese produce lovely feel good movies that manage to have a degree of quirkiness about them... Shall We Dance, Tampopo, Family Game and so on.

Edited August 19, 201311 yr by hardtack

Been getting into the exploitation stuff lately. Watched 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' (1971) and the original 'Shaft' for the first time. I also have 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' on my list, which I've never seen. 'Ilsa She Wolf of the SS', 'The Night Porter', 'Gone in 60 Seconds' (the original), 'Coffy' and 'Foxy Brown'. Then there's my reasonably recent obsession with wuxia films (Chinese martial arts) made by the Shaw Brothers during the '60s and '70s. The best ones I've seen are 'The 36th Chamber of Shaolin', 'Five Deadly Venoms' and 'Executioners from Shaolin'.

I also just watched 'Killer's Kiss' (Kubrick's second film), which had some nice shot making (as you'd expect from a Kubrick film), but a dull noir really.

Do Demonlanders go after directors or actors? Anyone have a few favourite directors?