'Children of Men', the new Alfonso Cuaron sci-fi flick

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My main consideration is always "where would the students look for it?" and the answer to that is always "where the catalogue tells them". You can cross-ref. as much as you like on a bibliographic record, but there's only one DVD to go on the shelves...

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 22 January 2007 17:17 (nineteen years ago)

if king solomon posted to ilx he would tell you to cut the dvd into halves and put one in each section.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 22 January 2007 17:43 (nineteen years ago)

lord custos solomon

― and what (ooo), Monday, 22 January 2007 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

Does "The Birds" go in "England"?

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Monday, 22 January 2007 17:50 (nineteen years ago)

Saw this on Saturday night. Didn't know a thing about it, in fact I thought it was going to be a relationship drama about, you know, fathers and sons and their inability to, you know, communicate. But it's playing at the theatre near my house, and I was bored. I guess I was pretty surprised and overjoyed at stumbling into such a feast of a movie.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 22 January 2007 18:37 (nineteen years ago)

Ha, at the moment, tracer, Britain, American and Australia (etc) are all lumped in together. Now I'm charge though we're moving that out at Easter.

Where Hitchcock goes is a headache though, aye...

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 22 January 2007 18:55 (nineteen years ago)

i thought it was kickass, and don't have much to add. i will say, tho:

* theo breaking down in the woods was appropriate
* killing julianne moore was genuinely surprising. i figured they'd work on reconciliation and THEN she'd die
* the midwife speech was stupid and needlessly expository
* "The world they've set up has nothing to do with Iraq, so there's no one-to-one-correspondence being claimed for anything." UH. did we watch the same movie??
* the jasper death scene was a little wtf, just because, yeah, dude is running interference for you and you're BLOWING IT.
* i don't want to see this again soon, but i will eventually, just to better appreciate the technical aspects. the dialogue will probably seem much worse.
* animals LOVED theo.
* HEY KEE, BREASTFEED YR BABY.

― attack all monsters (skowly), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 05:50 (nineteen years ago)

The DVD has a making of thing that explains the filming inside the car for the ambush scene. The second time through, I noticed the cinematography a lot more, and a "how did they DO that?" level. Those insanely long shots. The claustrophobia of five people cooped up in a car.

It still caught me up and dragged me in, so that certain things (the betrayal of Julian by the Fishes) still caught me utterly by surprise, emotionally, even if I had seen it before. It was nice to have that utterly OHMIGODWHATWILLHAPPEN tension removed a bit, though (when you know that said person doesn't die here, they die later on) so that I could concentrate on the details. There was just so much going on.

Also, was struck by the film's utter Londonness (I would say Englishness, but it still felt like Future London was almost a character - even when only present in 2012 shirt) - Emsk and I were debating whether or not this film could have been made in an American setting, and I just don't think it would have worked. Jucara (sp?) and I thought it was quite religious in points, but Emsk still didn't.

I really *liked* the ambiguity of the ending even more, second time through (though I still don't see where Theo got shot) - and also I thought that the midwife scene was quite important, I thought it worked - it provided setting and emotional setting without giving any real explanation.

The Jaspar death scene was important for Theo to witness - his disconnection from everything he'd ever cared about, there really is no turning back for him now - but it did annoy me that it lost him time. Really he should have just seen it from a distance while driving out.

― Shoes and Shoegazeability (kate), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

gbx, the movie I saw took place in England. No Iraqis in sight! That's what I mean by "nothing to do with Iraq," but yeah that could have been clearer. There are images and vibes drawn directly from what's going on in Iraq, but rather than just make an allegory, which would have failed, it drags two different scenarios through each other: domestic fascism as filtered through our experience fighting wars of invasion and occupation. The echoes of today's Iraq (and Lebanon, and others) drew me further into the story because it wasn't just a case of going "see, THIS is like THAT", it was more like, once you start down a road of certain stances and techniques you may be surprised at how evil you can become.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:22 (nineteen years ago)

From Empire online: Mark Abraham, one of the producers on Children of Men, told The Courier Journal (based in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky) yesterday that he’s planning another film with Men star Clive Owen, with the laconic English star playing that iconic American detective, Philip Marlowe.

Now this is all early stuff, and hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s an interesting step for Owen, who with the worldweariness he displayed in Children of Men would seem ideally suited for the role. While the best-known Marlowe is probably still Humphrey Bogart (who only played the role once, in 1946’s The Big Sleep), actors like Dick Powell, Robert Mitchum (twice, in Farewell, My Lovely and The Big Sleep) and Elliot Gould have also played him.

This film will be based on one of Raymond Chandler’s stories, although it’s not clear yet whether it will be based on one of his original Marlowe stories, or one of the many other detective stories where Marlowe’s name was later substituted for that of one of Chandler’s less popular gumshoes (apparently with Chandler’s approval). It's not to be confused with the planned ABC Philip Marlowe crime series also being planned at the moment.

For those of you not familiar with Marlowe, rest assured that he’s cynical but, underneath it all, slightly idealistic sleuth, with a hardboiled honour code, a ruthless streak and a weakness for dames that look like Lauren Bacall. Chandler said, “I think he might seduce a duchess, and I am quite sure he would not spoil a virgin." So that makes it all clear. We’ll bring you more on this when it’s officially announced.

― DavidM* (unreal), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:23 (nineteen years ago)

Also, when, precisely, did Theo lose his shoes? Anyone?

― Shoes and Shoegazeability (kate), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:25 (nineteen years ago)

I think he forgot to put them on when he went to get Kee and Miriam out of the Fish's farmhouse.

― chap (chap), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

Philip Marlowe w/a Britishes accent?? Please

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:31 (nineteen years ago)

Did he have a "Britishes" accent in Sin City?

― DavidM* (unreal), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:35 (nineteen years ago)

No, a quite poor American one. And his character was kind of a Marlowe analogue.

― chap (chap), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 12:42 (nineteen years ago)

Based on "Sin City", I thought Clive Owen was an awful horrible unforgivable actor. Oops I was wrong.

― The Android Cat (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:22 (nineteen years ago)

Playing Marlowe is promising, but I'd rather see Owen star in Red Harvest.

― milo z (mlp), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

Clive Owen is the male Rachel Weisz when it comes to doing US accents.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

i'm not sure exactly what you mean, but i assume you mean that he can't do them. and you're right. dude should stay britishes in his movies.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:34 (nineteen years ago)

Or just do like Sean Connery. "Sho I'm shupposhed to be Egypshian? Fuck it."

― blotter Budweiser Hackeysadk (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:43 (nineteen years ago)

"Shixteenth shentury Italian monk you say?"

― chap (chap), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:44 (nineteen years ago)

There's acting in Sin City?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:47 (nineteen years ago)

Rachel Weisz is an order of magnitude better at American accents than Clive Owen (yes I fully grasp the magnitude of what I am asserting).

Sean Connery is kind of brilliant with his abject refusal to do accents other than his own; "Highlander" wouldn't have been nearly as awesome without him.

(xpost: Yes, there's acting in "Sin City"! Pulpy scene-chewing is still acting, even if you don't care for it; my gripe with Owen was that he wasn't in line with his costars. Brittany Murphy completely, totally and thoroughly showed him up and that should be kind of embarrassing for him.)

― The Android Cat (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:49 (nineteen years ago)

I thought Brittany Murphy was excellent in Sin City.

haha xpost

― blotter Budweiser Hackeysadk (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

(haha I love the I got up to get coffee before posting something so somehow it took me 5 minutes to xpost one sentence)

― blotter Budweiser Hackeysadk (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:54 (nineteen years ago)

The Continental Op in Red Harvest is supposed to be 50-something, short, solid, & plain, so I'd have to disagree with Milo on that one. Paul Giamatti, maybe. Ha.

― elmo argonaut (allocryptic), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't think Clive Owen's performance in Sin City stood out that much, but I was surprised to learn that he was attempting an American accent. Really?

― Fleischhutliebe! like a warm, furry meatloaf (Fluffy Bear Hearts Rainbows), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 15:17 (nineteen years ago)

I may be misremembering but I'm pretty sure he did a decent American in Inside Man...but I think he might've spoke with other accents in that movie?

― blotter Budweiser Hackeysadk (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 19:59 (nineteen years ago)

He speaks in a British accent throughout the entirety of Inside Man.

― Allyzay doesnt get into the monkeys or vindications (allyzay), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:11 (nineteen years ago)

actually in inside man he's got a weird half-half thing going on.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:12 (nineteen years ago)

His American was crap, dude needed a dialect coach. (Unrelated: the whole disguise conceit in Inside Man kind of strains credibility because you can easily see Clive's MASSIVE LIPS through the mask)

― elmo argonaut (allocryptic), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:19 (nineteen years ago)

Continental Op as described in the book doesn't have to translate directly to the movie. Owen looks rough enough to play the character even if he's tall and handsome.

― milo z (mlp), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:22 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know, I wouldn't call it half and half unless that's actually what his "American accent" sounds like, in which case it is crap and is actually a "mannered British accent"!

― Allyzay doesnt get into the monkeys or vindications (allyzay), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:23 (nineteen years ago)

British folk, which is a more difficult accent, American or Australian?

Also, do people from Bristol talk like pirates? Please say yes.

― Fleischhutliebe! like a warm, furry meatloaf (Fluffy Bear Hearts Rainbows), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:24 (nineteen years ago)

To be fair I only remember the weird completely-other-movie Denzel old-timey cop show parts of Inside Man.

― blotter Budweiser Hackeysadk (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:40 (nineteen years ago)

i.e. the good parts!

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 22:06 (nineteen years ago)

hahahahaha, OTM

― blotter Budweiser Hackeysadk (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 22:13 (nineteen years ago)

British folk, which is a more difficult accent, American or Australian?

American is more difficult, Australian is basically the same as Cockney. I always think I can do a really good version of both, but I always turn out to be wrong. I may also be wrong about Australian being the same as cockney.

― chap (chap), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 00:50 (nineteen years ago)

inside man is great

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 02:12 (nineteen years ago)

How the fuck is Australian "basically the same as Cockney"??!!

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 07:30 (nineteen years ago)

Oh fuck knows, I was pissed last night, disregard.

― chap (chap), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

i like inside man, too, slocki, i was just more interested in the spike lee stuff than the generic heist stuff.

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

yeah i wonder if it would have been totally boring with another director.

but i loved the jodie foster stuff too! does that fall into the spike lee stuff category?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 15:00 (nineteen years ago)

Just saw this last night. Dragging my son to it tomorrow.
Kee gets the best line—
Owen: "How is she?"
Kee: "Annoyed."

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 28 January 2007 04:10 (nineteen years ago)

Also, do people from Bristol talk like pirates? Please say yes.

A little bit. I saw famous son of Bristol Stephen Merchant on telly last night, and he was talking about how people, including him, find it easy to mock his sort of accent.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Sunday, 28 January 2007 08:43 (nineteen years ago)

i don't know if this is mentioned in this whale of a thread, but i really liked the part where they are in the housing project war zone and baby Bazooka starts crying, and everyone starts realizing it, from the refugees to the soldiers, and they walk out the front door and all the soldiers are gawking/marveling/paying respects, etc. and all is totally quiet and still (save the baby crying) and then BOOOOOOMMMM!! a Fish/refugee launches a RPG at the soldiers, and the battle continues right where it left off, chaos ensues, etc.

good stuff.

― tk (tk), Sunday, 28 January 2007 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

Watched it last night. We were all interested in the violence used by the Fishers. Real ends justifying the means stuff! Sid was great as well. The long cuts were great, really gripping and the shoot out was very atmospheric. Will never watch it again probably but will definitely try to check out 12 monkeys on the back of comments on this thread.

― Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Monday, 29 January 2007 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

this is at the prince charles from saturday, londoners.

― emsk ( emsk), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 16:59 (nineteen years ago)

Even better second time, esp for slow-on-the-uptake people like me. You get much more. And good to see after reading this thread. So many animals, yes. And my son loved it, too, which is always a plus. He's a big 12 Monkeys fan, like me. Nature or nurture...???
I was still minorly bothered that Theo didn't tie up to the buoy before dying, but the ship came, so it's all good. But really, ilxors, if you're ever in that situation, TIE UP TO THE BUOY.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:08 (nineteen years ago)

wtf this is so much better than 12 Monkeys

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 31 January 2007 19:13 (nineteen years ago)

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