So I watched 'Boca', and I'm happy to say it was very good. I'm a bit of a sucker for movies based on true stories and this one doesn't disappoint. Excellent story that doesn't slack at all, and a lot of tension throughout. Some of the cinematography was beautiful - there was some great close up shots such as Hiroito drowning the ants in the alcohol and the needle in the arm at the very start (very Trainspotting-esque). The lighting and colour palette reminded me of another Brazilian film - 'City Of God.' Tinted yellows through the beginning, then once Hiroito's life begin to unravel the scenes slowly got darker and murkier. This wasn't set in the favelas like 'City Of God' but it gave as a look at a more up-market Brazilian lifestyle. The actor that played Hiroito was excellent, too. Very intense.
Excellent film. Thanks for the recommendation, AJ.
Glad you like it, I agree with everything you said, it's quite unorthodox in its tempo, good to hear what you had to say. .
So I've just watched Chopper. A Brilliant piece of film making from Andrew Dominic, who I'm pleased to say I'm officially a huge fan of after this, Jesse James and Killing Them Softly. He's a seriously good director imo. This is a portrait of Australia's most notorious criminal 'Chopper'. It's not entirely true, but the fact that it is based on a real guy is pretty scary. Think Bronson but more psychotic. Such a conflicted character, Dominic manages to make him sympathetic one minute and then the next being an absolute monster, and sometimes both at once. This provides Eric Bana with the perfect material to give a completely amazing performance. His switches from calm, collected and friendly to violent and hysterical are seamless. I loved the character being so mentally unstable and troubled, this is a guy who is killing people and then suddenly regrets it afterwards but then brags about it after, and Bana is incredible at bringing that all together. I loved the characters development from being just an unstable guy to someone obsessed with the fame of being that 'unstable guy'. Loved the jet black humor injected by Bana's performance too, he'll have you laughing out loud and then suddenly gasping at something terrible. The tone of the film is really dark and gritty, and the low budget only adds to it by making it feel more raw and real. There's a surreal tone running through it right from the start, there's a scene near the start that had me convinced it wasn't real, but it was. It could have been how he saw/remembered that moment, or even how he would want you to think it happened. That's a theme that runs throughout, whether these are fictionalized accounts made up by the man himself or not. Such a dark and brutal film, the violence is really shocking in it's portrayal, but not in a 'shocking just to be shocking' way but rather in a way that adds to the characters inner conflict, even being disgusted at what he's just done. It's also thoroughly entertaining and funny. Just a brilliantly directed character study with a phenomenal performance at the center. If anyone liked Bronson and hasn't seen this, then you need to because this is better, and surely must have been Refn's main influence for that film, and Hardy echo's Bana's performance here. Fantastic movie. 9/10
My room is already something like a Cinema's Temple .
I have posters of: Night of the living death, L'Avventura, Vertigo and now the Nosferatu one, plus a Hitchcock image and one from The comedy of Horrors (a movie that everyone should see) with Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Jacques Tourneur and Vincent Price in caskets. The next objective is a Collage with images from Godard's movies.
About Dominic i loved Jesse James but i saw Killing Them Softly the last month with high expectatives and i hated it, i should see Chopper to form a better opinion on him
That Godard poster would be great. I watched loads of Godard in a short space of time and got a bit worn out, but I'm in the mood for him again now. Next on my list are 2 or 3 things, Made In USA, La Chinoise, Detective and A Woman Is A Woman.
I didn't love Killing Them Softly, but I liked it a lot more than a lot if people it seems. Didn't like the ridiculous anti-America/it's all a business and political undertones, it all felt way to forced, but I thought without that it was a really good straight forward gangster movie. I'd recommend Chopper obviously.
I've become a huge fan of Bardem. Earliest films of his I saw were Before Night Falls and that bit part in Collateral and No Country, Skyfall being the latest.
And speaking of Bardem, so many think he's Mexican for some reason. The dude is Spanish, born in Spain.
Last edited by Dexter Morgan : 03-19-2013 at 12:39 PM.
General Movie Discussion Part II (part III coming soon)
Re: General Movie Discussion Part II
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. The next objective is a Collage with images from Godard's movies.
