Then he probably has a lot more sway than many other people, but age of the auteur def at an end, even with mid budget films (especially when financing coming in from 5+ sources at points)

If we include those parts, yes, he picks good scripts to work on and actors to take part. It's when it comes to putting it all together I find him generally a bit more workmanlike, which is a shame given how inventive and visually arresting Trainspotting and (to a lesser extent) Shallow Grave were.

I've been thinking more about T2 as I took the fog out for a walk and listened to Danny Boyle on the Kermode & Mayo podcast. Rather tellingly he said, "There isn't much of a plot because there isn't in these kind of films." That was fair enough in the original; the original novel (as I remember it) is a series of disjointed, disparate stories; episodes in these characters' lives which gradually begin to find cohesion and form into a narrative whole. The original film was similar; we were seeing snippets of lives that spent the first half of the film setting the scene and didn't settle into a story until late on.

The thing is, in the absence of a plot, this film lacks the ingredients of the first. And it's not that it lacks a plot, but just that it doesn't really get to grips with it until too late. while the first film was a largely sanitised, music video vision of heroin addiction, it went someway to showing us what an unpleasant life that is. In this film, Spud's continued grappling with addiction is washed over and largely ignored for convenience. There is a sequence which begins to address it, but it lacks any of the visceral energy or considered imagery of Renton's bedroom sequence in the original.

I don't think the lack of plot is as excusable here as it can be elsewhere.

Rogue One has now become the second highest grossing film release of 2016 (just behind Cap Am 3) and Disney's 2016 profits are record breaking wild. I believe 5/5 of the top grossing films of 2016 are theirs - cap am, rogue One, dory, zootopia, jungle book.


Also Resident Evil made $13 mill on its $45 mill budget in the states, but like $60+ million worldwide. I need to incvestigate the country breakdown to see who keeps this series and things like Underworld profitable, but a hunch tells me continental Europe.

I always end up watching the Resi films. I dont pay of course, will wait for Netflix or TV.
They are a special level of shit that makes them hilarious . Must be watched with beer and at least one other person though.

I disagree with Kermode about as much as I agree with him, but I'm fully with him on this one.

watched sing this weekend, its ok but not as funny as the trailer makes out it would be

Song has done $450 million already so expect sing 2.


Sony Is a little fucked tho. Movie division posted a $1billion loss. Bear in mind this is tied up with home filmstuff too.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/sony-announces-near-1-billion-write-down/

I saw Split this afternoon. Enjoyable tosh. The very, very end was not something I was expecting.

The shitter Affleck has stepped down from directing Reboot #58

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/ben-affleck-the-batman-will-not-direct-1201971566/

Ben Affleck has decided to step down as director of “The Batman” and remain on as a producer and star of the project.

Affleck is still on board to play the superhero, but sources close to the talent said Affleck and Warner Bros. discussed how to make the best film possible and this was the decision both parties came to.

“There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions,” Affleck said in a statement. “Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require. Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it, but we are currently looking for a director. I remain extremely committed to this project, and look forward to bringing this to life for fans around the world.

A shame, his films are always interesting if nothing else, and it was the main reason I was looking forward to The Batman.

I actually watched Argo last night. It was quite good, but if that's what won the best picture Oscar then it must have been a slow year in Hollywood. Fairly pedestrian thriller that plays incredibly fast and loose with the facts of the story it's based on. It did tension quite well, but there's really nothing else to it other than that.

not bad, but hardly essential

g.man

Oh also, don't google Split unless you want a massive fucking spoiler for the end of the film. Fucking internet, jesus.

g.man wrote:

I actually watched Argo last night. It was quite good, but if that's what won the best picture Oscar then it must have been a slow year in Hollywood. Fairly pedestrian thriller that plays incredibly fast and loose with the facts of the story it's based on. It did tension quite well, but there's really nothing else to it other than that. not bad, but hardly essential g.man

Academy, innit. There's been plenty of unworthy winners of best picture over the years. I recall there was a rash in the late 90s and 00s - Shakespeare in Love, Chicago and Crash all come to mind.

Shakespeare in Love winning was particularly egregious. I think Judi Dench won an Oscar for that having been in it for all of 5 minutes.

It's no Bugsy Malone.

I seem to remember some political/war shit going on at the time Chicago won. They wanted some light non-confrontational thing to win.