Romantic Robot » Film

Hang time

Mark — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:18:14 +0000

Portrait of a Glasgow prison’s execution chamber and a man that worked there in the 50′s. Hanging with Frank. (15 min)

Clint.

Mark — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:21:07 +0000

Good Guy Clint then? Well yes because what he says there is excellent. But then I read this:

Lucas’s comments echo those of Spike Lee, who criticised the lack of black faces in Hollywood war movies in 2008.

Speaking about Clint Eastwood’s movies Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, Lee said: “He did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and there was not one black soldier in both of those films”.
“I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It’s not like he didn’t know.”
BBC

and that is not the actions of a Good Guy. Not at all.

Crash

Mark — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:10:00 +0000

Love the film, love this track.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wary eyes

Mark — Sun, 01 May 2011 10:58:42 +0000

73 very interesting minutes.

The Mark of Cain documents the fading art form and language of Russian criminal tattoos, formerly a forbidden topic in Russia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A few things stand out. The level of access the maker was given, there seemed to be a lot of metal in teeth, the phrase “we permit more air”, the different cell tortures (water up to the neck so you can’t sleep), the marked contrast between male/female and the ‘it was better back then’ in different ways. Most of all though it is the eyes.

Been watching

Mark — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:59:58 +0000

Been watching a few films.
21 which is apparently based in the book Bringing down the house. The film is terrible. Shallow in every respect. Avoid. The book is excellent though and is highly recommended.

Hackers. Angelina Jolie. Mildly diverting in parts and if you have a clue about computers you need to forget them. Dated. But it has Angelina in. Won’t be watched again.

Beyond Borders. Angelina Jolie. Watched this today and about 2/3 of the way in realised I did actually want to watch it. So I spent the last 1/3 trying to not watch it but watching it to be sure I did want to watch it. Good, liked it so far.

Twin Town. No. Really. Not funny. If they give it away, give it back.

Beowulf. Didn’t finish it. A weird real person / computer graphic hybrid it seemed. I couldn’t decide what it was and it seemed just weird. Ejected.

Eastern Promises. This was a re-watch and it’s okay. If you want to see Viggo Mortensen’s naked bum as he wrestles in a turkish bath then this dvd is for you.

City of God (subtitled) Very very good. Will be watched again (and it must be good because I can’t watch/work with subtitles involved)

Changeling. Angelina again. Excellent film. Will be watched again properly.

Gran Turino. I thought it was a little set up, too contrived in parts but it’s a very good film that will be seen again.

Body of Lies. DiCaprio. Really liked this one, it stuck together well and kept me to the end. Rewatchable.

And I bought Leon again. I bought the original UK release, borrowed the US Director’s Cut release because it had extra film that had been cut but playing that on a mac was difficult so I ripped it but had no extras. The UK DC release has all of it together which makes me happy.

To watch again before deciding: Sideways, About Schmidt,

In the current dvd queue:
The Hurt Locker, Fever Pitch, Taxi to the Dark Side, The Fog of War, Dolores Claiborne, Secrets & Lies.

A film list

Mark — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:12:34 +0000

Some people believe that seeing what books and films people have gives them more of an idea about that person. If you do, here is what you need …

1408 – Director’s Cut Edition
15 Minutes
21 Grams
24 – Season One
24 – Season Three
24 – Season Two
28 Days Later…
28 Weeks Later
8MM
A Bronx Tale
A Clockwork Orange
A Fish Called Wanda
A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
A History Of Violence
A Scanner Darkly
A Time to Kill
A Very British Gangster
About Schmidt
Alien vs Predator
Aliens
All Access Europe (Eminem Tour)
American Buffalo
American Gangster Extended Edition
American History X
American Psycho
An American Werewolf in London
Angela’s Ashes
Animal Factory
Any Given Sunday
Apocalyse Now
Apocalypto
Apt Pupil
Armageddon
Babel
Baddiel & Skinner Unplanned Live from London’s West End
Big Brother – Uncut 3
Billy Connolly: Live 2002
Black Book
Black Hawk Down
Black Snake Moan
Blood Diamond
Blow
Blue Planet : Complete BBC Series (Special Edition 4 Disc Box Set)
Boogie Nights
Bowling for Columbine
Brass Eye
Brazil
Bringing Out the Dead
Capote
Carlito’s Way
Casino
Catch a Fire
Chopper
Cidade de Deus (also called City of God)
Con Air – Extended Cut
Crash
Days Of Glory
Death Proof
Deep Impact – Special Edition
Diagnosis Murder – The Complete 1st Season (USA)
Disturbia
Donnie Brasco
Eastern Promises
Elephant
Enemy at the Gates
Enemy Of The State
Evolution
Extreme Measures
Face
Face/Off
Fargo
Fawlty Towers (complete)
Fight Club
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2 Disc Special Edition)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Four Brothers
Full Metal Jacket
Get Shorty / Be Cool
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Good Night and Good Luck
GoodFellas
Green Street (Hooligans)
Hannibal
Heat
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Human Traffic
I, Robot
In The Valley Of Elah
Independence Day
Infamous
Jarhead
Jeepers Creepers
Jeremy Clarkson – The Good The Bad The Ugly
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Killing Zoe
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
La Femme Nikita
Layer Cake
Leaving Las Vegas
Leon – The Professional (USA)
Leon (UK)
Liar
Life of Brian
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lord Of War
Lost (not the TV series)
Lucky Number Slevin
Magic Roundabout
Manchurian Candidate, The
Manhunter
March of the Penguins – Luc Jacquet
Mean Streets (Special Edition)
Memento
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Men of Honor
Monster
Munich
Murder in the First
Mystic River
Narc
Natural Born Killers
Nil by Mouth
No Country For Old Men
Once Upon a Time in America
Outlaw
Pierrepoint
Pink Floyd The Wall
Pitch Black
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Pulp Fiction
Ransom
Red Dragon
Reservoir Dogs
Resident Evil
Ronin
Scarface
Scent of a Woman
Sea of Love
Secrets & Lies
Serenity
Seven
Sexy Beast
Shooters
Sideways
Single White Female
Sleepers
Smokin’ Aces
Snake Eyes
Snatch.
Stalingrad
Starship Troopers
Summer of Sam
Syriana
Taxi
Taxi Driver
Team America: World Police
Tell No-One (Ne Le Dis A Personne)
Terminator – The Trilogy (four disc edition)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Basketball Diaries
The Big Lebowski (Special Edition)
The Black Adder (complete)
The Blues Brothers / Blues Brothers 2000
The Bourne Identity / The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Constant Gardener
The Day After Tomorrow
The Deer Hunter
The Departed
The Family Man
The Fifth Element
The Godfather: Part III
The Good Shepherd
The Green Mile
The Hunted
The Last King Of Scotland
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Long Good Friday
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Machinist
The Michael Palin Collection – Complete 16 Disc Box Set
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns
The Professional
The Rock
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
The Thin Red Line
The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada
The Transporter
The Very Best of ‘Have I Got News for You’
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
To Kill A Mockingbird
Top Gear: The Challenges (BBC)
Total Recall
Traffic
Training Day
Trigger Happy TV
Trigger Happy TV 3
Trigger Happy TV: Best of Series One
True Romance
Twelve Monkeys
U-571
U.S. Marshals
Under Suspicion
Unforgiven
Unknown
Volcano
Without Evidence

On 5 films briefly.

Mark — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 06:23:22 +0000

The Dark Knight. Not my genre and this proved why. The Joker? Can’t see the performance myself. I swear there was someone other than Bale in the Batman costume. I can understand that Batman is meant to have a darker side but the voice as an indicator was pretty poor. Not a good film.

Hancock. Poor on every level.

Valley of Elah (DVD). Formula ‘by the numbers’ film. Why on earth it got the plaudits is amazing.

Taxi (DVD). Great fun, really enjoyed it. (French, english subs)

Want to see a film? elephant is the one to watch.

(Back to TDK. Sean Connery is an irritant in films for me. He is tall and Shcottish [sic] in everything. His performance in Red October is the same as the one in Untouchables, First Knight, The Rock. He is an actor that for me immediately pops any bubble of escapism. It’s the same for Michael Caine. It’s not a butler, it’s not a reflection of Wayne’s wealth, it is not anything else. It’s just Michael Caine. Bubble? Pop!)

Film truth

Mark — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:18:41 +0000

It was great to be Catholic and go to confession. You could start over every week.

A Bronx Tale

Playing one

Mark — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:57:00 +0000

So Apple lock the mac down at the firmware level so it can only play a single DVD region. And they do this to get into bed with the film studios. Stupid on many levels. But I have Region 1 DVD’s – right now the uncut Leon (which is infinitely better than the theatrical release) and the first season of the amazingly superb Diagnosis Murder. And I want more from not just R1. So what do I do? I buy a multi-region DVD player produced by Sony. The Sony DVP-NS36 is a cracking machine (little wide maybe). Cheaper from Amazon than ebay too. So why do Sony lock down Apple but make these machines? Because they can probably – that’s lock down Apple because they can.

E not U

Mark — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:27:29 +0000

The very start of Lord of War disc after clicking Play – at least on the region 2 DVD – shows a letter E (white background, mechanical animation). It is moved through the animation and it appears to stay as an E. But it’s shown as a U (in Manufacturing). I have no idea how many times I have watched LoW – it’s a lot – and it’s taken me until now to see this. Not important but details matter :)