Went to see "Turner" this evening.
Fantastic film, best I have seen in a considerable time. The acting, from the entire cast, is superb, the cinematography is in parts breathtaking - the scene where Turner is being rowed out to see "The fighting temeraire" (has to be CGI clearly) is stunning, and the locations and attention to historical detail is spot on.
What the film lacks in drama, it makes up for with poignancy.
It has to be a Bafta winner and Spall must get best actor. If the yanks were not a bunch of cultural peasants it would stripe the Oscars.
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I've always thought, the amount of advertising is inversely proportional to the quality of the product.
I've seen an enormous amount of advertising for this product!
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Kermode and Mayo on 5Live gave a very good account of it yesterday. Particularly complimentary about the Temeraire scene Z mentions and the individual acting performances. Some on line contributors though thought it disjointed in a narrative sense - a set of scenes rather than a story.
Quite a bit of CGI involved, not least in the scenes of artist at work.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sat 8 Nov 14 at 09:10
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>> though thought it disjointed in a narrative sense - a set of scenes rather than
>> a story.
Yes that could be levelled against it, but that was Turner - scenes. The whole things come together as a story only right at the very end, the last three very poignant minutes in fact.
>> Quite a bit of CGI involved, not least in the scenes of artist at work.
Some of the CGI it has to be said, mostly of Turner out on location in landscapes, did strike you as a bit "middle earth" lord of the rings style.
All forgiven with the Fighting Temeraire scene, didn't look in the least bit CGI, tho logically one has to accept its the only way it could be done, but its a scene etched on my mind. Better in fact that Turners picture!
I think the fact that I stayed awake and enjoyed it for its immensely long 2.5 hours says it all.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 8 Nov 14 at 10:11
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Nice one Zero, I hadn't heard of that. Turner is my favourite painter, but if you find cinematography breathtaking, stand in front of a Turner in the National Gallery.
I'm looking forward to that (if they ever show it in Warsaw).
Talking of geniuses I believe the Stephen Hawkins bio film is out this month, The Theory of Everything, and I'm also looking forward to that too (if they ever... etc etc).
That covers art and science nicely.
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>> Nice one Zero, I hadn't heard of that. Turner is my favourite painter, but if
>> you find cinematography breathtaking, stand in front of a Turner in the National Gallery.
I have, and I went to the "turner and the sea" exhibition at the National Maritime Museum earlier this year.
www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/events/turner-and-the-sea
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Enjoyed the discussion on the growing of gooseberries. What on earth was Hannah suffering from? Like Turner'r earlier work. Fear Victoria might have been right regards some of the later stuff.
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Timothy Spall had 4 painting lessons a week for 2 years and got so good that there is to be an exhibition of his original paintings and his Turner "Copies" tinyurl.com/k7swv5v
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Yes, we saw 'Turner' it was well done and the camera work was commendable - but the film was flat; I wasn't moved. Surprisingly, when I discussed it with friends, they had all felt the same.
This evening, we saw 'The Imitation Game'. I would give it 4.5 stars against 2 stars for 'Turner'.
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>>>This evening, we saw 'The Imitation Game'. I would give it 4.5 stars against 2 stars for 'Turner'.
Glad you gave a good score to "The Imitation Game". I hope to see it next week.
If anyone is interested, Interstellar is good if a bit long at over 2.5 hours. I give it 8/10 but then I love sci-fi. My girlfriend who doesn't gives it 7/10.
The "in jokes" with 2001 and THHG2G are all over the place though.
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We went to see Turner this afternoon and we both enjoyed it. I like Tim Spall's work...I thought ' Pierrepoint 'was a good bit of acting by him. Turner wasn't a big action movie but even so , we both thought it was well done and very interesting.
My main gripe was that I had to waste about 40 precious minutes of my life watching all the crap leading up to the film.......dozens of noisy adverts which I can see on the telly anyway, trailers for loads of films which we're not interested in and wouldn't pay to go and see and notices exhorting us not to keep the phone on/smoke/ talk/play with yourself and a host of other things.
The matinee audience were mostly genteel retired persons...like us !
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>>
>> My main gripe was that I had to waste about 40 precious minutes of my
>> life watching all the crap leading up to the film..
If I'm going to one of the big cinemas I just start walking in about 15 mins after the start time to buy a ticket, by the time I've got in most of them having finished by then. Better are the small non chain ones round here, very few adverts.
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All you need to know is when the film actually starts. Cinemas are reluctant to tell you this but a little bit of arithmetic will give you the answer. Vue cinemas always publish the end time of the film and the running length so simple subtraction will give you the start time.
Picture Houses cinema don't publish the end time but they invariably leave 15 minutes between the end of one perfomance and the start of the next. They also publish the running time so again a little arithmetic is all you need. Not sure about other cinemas as these are the two I use.
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"a little arithmetic is all you need. "
We are members at our local independent cinema, and it's bloomin' annoying when a bunch of ignorant old gits arrive late, clutching their glasses of wine and talking loudly at one another because they're half-deaf. The adverts/trailer timings can vary from, say, 5 to 15 minutes, and sometimes include a 'short' that some folks might want to watch.
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Never take wine into the cinema. A few pints of beer and a couple of packets of noisy crisps for me. Never talk in the cinema either. Too busy looking at YouTube on my phone or texting the plot to my mates. Wot its all about innit.
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"A few pints of beer"
Don't forget the loud belching and frequent visits to the toilet. Ah well, that's Norfolk folks for you ;-)
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"frequent visits to the toilet."
No need. What the empty pint glass is for.
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"No need. What the empty pint glass is for."
The number twos? In the glass? That's Norfolk for you. Please spare me any more details! I shall not be visiting a Norwich cinema anytime soon!
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At my local cinema we all sit outside in the bar/lounge which is 10 steps away from the doors to the auditorium. They conveniently leave the doors open during the adds and then when the P&D music indicates the end we all grab our glasses of tipple, wander in, slide into the sumptuous soft sofa style seats, plonk the drink on the side table and settle in for the film.
Its an Everyman, the seats are not cheap (we are booked for the enigma thing tonight 26 quid the pair of us) the drinks are not spoons prices but not outrageous, but the sheer comfort, convenience and ambience of it is well worth it.
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Thanks Zero.
It's coming to our small local cinema soon, and I had mentally earmarked it. It sounds a must now.
The waiting time before the film starts is quite fun in our tiny cinema. It gives an opportunity to start munching on the various kinds of fodder provided, and to look round and wave at any aquaintancies in the audience, or go over and say hello.
Then the lights start very imperceptively to dim, and it's time for feet up and the performance starts.
The Imitation Game sounds good, but I'm put off by knowledge that Turing was not really the only star of Bletchley, just one of many clever, eccentric and rather odd people.
I suspect his role has been hyped up a bit because it tunes in with the current agenda of sneering at British prejudice and Establishment evil-doing.
It's also curious that a homosexual in a film has to have a rather attractive girlfriend to add to the poignancy, rather than the plain girl in reality.
I'm much more concerned about distortions and historical slant in period dramas than I am about spotting that the Mark 3 cartridge belt wasn't issued until 1946.
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I don't think we've got a single indy cinema at all in South Manchester now. They're all multiplexes...Lowry, Trafford Centre, Parrs Wood, etc.
I know about coming in after the ads but, with my balance problems, I like to get seated before the lights go out. I find stairs a problem anyway but there's no handrail in the cinema. I'm a lot more doddery in the dark !
Next time, I'll book seats in the front row of the tiered section....it's several rows back from the screen anyway.
Last edited by: Ted on Tue 18 Nov 14 at 11:29
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Once I've secured a loan for purchasing drinks and sweets, I may go and see Turner. Sounds good.
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By managing to buy 2 months' worth of train tickets in the one month FGW were doing quadruple nectar points, we managed to watch Interstellar last week from 'VIP' seats for nowt (sort of). So the idiots behind kicking our seats and laughing in the un-funny bits weren't quite as annoying as they would have been :)
Enjoyed the film - as mentioned earlier it is pretty long, but we both stayed awake!
Last edited by: Focusless on Tue 18 Nov 14 at 14:51
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"the idiots behind kicking our seats and laughing "
Weren't in Norwich, were you?
;-)
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Actually HW here in Norwich we have cinemas for all tastes. Down in Anglia Square, a 1970s brutalist concrete shopping centre we have the Hollywood Ciinema. A bit rough but cheap. Drugs normally available under the flyover.
Then we have the Odeon IMAX in The Riverside development. Has the best screen in Norwich but the cinema is located in the notorious Riverside/ Prince of Wales Road area. Prime binge drinking area and likely to encounters fights and anti social behaviour. Taxis don't want to go there after 10pm Saturday. On the whole best avoided. Unlikely to see anyone over 30 in the audience
Going more upmarket we have the Vue in the Castle shopping Mall. Decent family multiplex. nice comfy armchair seating for a small premium. Decent size screens and sound system. my cinema of choice for Blockbuster type films.
Then we have Cinema City. My favourite. Now part of the Picture Houses chain. Has 3 screens and located in a fifteenth century building in historic part of the City. Nice restaurant and bar. decent sound system. Only disadvantage is screens a bit on the small size.
As far as noise in cinema is concerned I think that the "de facto" etiquette is that talking and use of mobile phones is generally seen as OK prior to the main feature but quiet should prevail once the film starts.
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>> Then we have the Odeon IMAX in The Riverside development. Has the best screen in
>> Norwich but the cinema is located in the notorious Riverside/ Prince of Wales Road area.
>> Prime binge drinking area and likely to encounters fights and anti social behaviour. Taxis don't
>> want to go there after 10pm Saturday. On the whole best avoided. Unlikely to see
>> anyone over 30 in the audience
>>
I remember that area well, many a good night had that end of town. Prince of wales could be a little dodgy nothing more, Riverside was just loud. Never felt it properly 'rough' at all.
>> Going more upmarket we have the Vue in the Castle shopping Mall. Decent family multiplex.
>> nice comfy armchair seating for a small premium. Decent size screens and sound system. my
>> cinema of choice for Blockbuster type films.
>>
Went there a few times I know what you mean, suited big action films.
>> Then we have Cinema City.
>>
Never went that I can recall sadly.
Always enjoyed my many trips to Norwich, nice place.
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Marple too far for you Ted? There's a nice little independent one there.
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Other side of the tracks for us, Al .....Used to be 7 within walking distance of here when I was a kid !
One was just a wreck for years after a bomb hit but they rebuilt it in the 60s. Now demolished again and an Unlucky Fried Kitten drive through built.
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The last time we went to the cinema was in Puerto Banus. Can't remember the film.
We do have a brand new cinema in our little town, but I have yet to find a film I want to see enough before it surfaces on Film 4 !
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Do you not find a film at the cinema a totally different experience to one on TV? Something like "Gravity" or "Turner" just wouldn't be the same on TV.
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>> Do you not find a film at the cinema a totally different experience to one
>> on TV? Something like "Gravity" or "Turner" just wouldn't be the same on TV.
Indeed a point well made. Gravity would be unwatchable on TV. The cinema experience was boring enough, once the awe and wonder of the CGI had quickly worn off.
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You evidently have a low boredom threshold.
Admittedly not a plot driven film the experience of watching "Gravity" together with on a big screen with accompanying sound track on a decent sound system to me was amazing and the closest I suspect any of us will come to experiencing the disorientating world where there is no up and indeed no gravity. A truly cinematic experience.
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I'm afraid I'm with Zed on 'Gravity'. Terrific effects but was it a film that kept you thinking about it after you'd left the cinema? The only pathetic attempt to add some storyline interest was the bit about the astronaut's daughter who had been tragically killed - true American sick-making schmaltz.
Back to Mr Turner - a friend rang yesterday, saying that he'd been to to see it with his son, and both were incredibly bored by it. He reckoned that it was an hour too long, though admitted that he'd been asleep for half an hour. None of the folks I've talked to think that it lived up to the hype.
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I could have managed without the grunty and irrelevant rear entry s+x with his maid, who was suffering with scrofula, I believe. I was also puzzled by the random arrival and departures of the real Mrs Turner. I think I shall prefer the Imitation game.
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"I was also puzzled by the random arrival and departures of the real Mrs Turner."
There was no Mrs Turner. He never married. That was his first mistress
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>> "I was also puzzled by the random arrival and departures of the real Mrs Turner."
>>
>> There was no Mrs Turner. He never married. That was his first mistress
Whoever she was was, you have to admit she was a first class harridan. And such dreadful children.
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>> You evidently have a low boredom threshold.
And you evidently are easily enthralled by not much.
Unless you saw three projector cinerama in its hey day then you have no idea what a cinematic experience is
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 19 Nov 14 at 09:40
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"And you evidently are easily enthralled by not much. "
Very true. I am constantly amazed and delighted by the world.
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>> "And you evidently are easily enthralled by not much. "
>>
>> Very true. I am constantly amazed and delighted by the world.
the world is much.
CGI isn't. Specially space. Didn't take much CPU power to produce black did it.
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You are starting to break up. Your last message doesn't make a lot of sense. Repeat.
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>> You are starting to break up. Your last message doesn't make a lot of sense.
>> Repeat.
See? you are now speaking like a CGI character.
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I am a CGI character and have just passed the Turin test.
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>> and have just passed the Turin test.
>>
I don't think so. It's a trick question.
Your answer is a bit too glib, too over-eager to produce credentials.
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>> I am a CGI character and have just passed the Turin test.
Yes I have been there, did you see the shroud?
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"Very true. I am constantly amazed and delighted by the world."
I suspect that, living in Norwich, maybe you need a high cultural-pain threshold. A couple of months ago, a friend and I came up for the whole of the Sunday sessions at the Norwich Jazz Festival. It was 5 x 1.5hr sessions punctuated by half-hour breaks to come up for air and nourishment; it lasted from 1pm to 10.45 pm. In my books, the cultural equivalent to a 3-week trek across the Himalayas, taking in Everest.
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"I am constantly amazed and delighted by the world."
Amazing and delightful indeed.
tinyurl.com/mur28gh
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I read your earlier post, BBD, about your reaction to Turner's work. He doesn't do it for me, but Paul Rothko does and I was interested to discover recently that they have counsellors on hand at the Rothko Chapel in Houston to deal with people's reactions. There are some well-travelled members on here, so I wondered if anyone has been to it.
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>> I read your earlier post, BBD, about your reaction to Turner's work. He doesn't do it for me, but Paul Rothko does ...
Correction: it's Mark Rothko, not Paul.
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>> Correction: it's Mark Rothko, not Paul.
There's a room full of Rothkos in the Tate Gallery. They do have some texture but their overall effect on me is gloomy and overbearing. Perhaps the room is too small.
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I like Rothko - enough to buy a t-shirt of one of the paintings and a print for the ex-father in law too. I forget but I probably bought it in the Tate Liverpool, being as I married into a scouse clan.
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>> gloomy and overbearing.
Of course Rothko was severely depressive and committed suicide.
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I daresay you've read about those particular paintings, AC, but, just in case, they were originally for a restaurant and this is what he is reputed to have said about them:
"I hope to ruin the appetite of every s************* who ever eats in that room, with paintings that will make those rich b******s feel that they are trapped in a room where all the doors and windows are bricked up".
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>> I daresay you've read about those particular paintings
I don't remember reading that, or that Rothko was so misanthropic. I guess the restaurant didn't want them (or perhaps failed owing to their presence) and they were then given to the Tate as a 'bequest'.
I can't bear the paintings, but the idea of taking some fish and chips or a nice kebab in there has a certain appeal as an experiment. You'd have to be hungry of course, and prepared to face the wrath of the Tate.
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>> I guess the restaurant didn't want them ...
"Reputed" is probably a key word. Another account says that he kept the paintings when he found they were going to be displayed higher on the walls than he originally thought. Nevertheless, he returned the advance he'd been given.
They make me feel mellow and contemplative rather than gloomy.
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>> >> I read your earlier post, BBD, about your reaction to Turner's work. He
>> doesn't do it for me, but Paul Rothko does ...
>>
>> Correction: it's Mark Rothko, not Paul.
Is he the bloke that painted one half of a canvas grey and the other half black?
Riiiiiiiiigggghhhtttt
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>
>> The Imitation Game sounds good, but I'm put off by knowledge that Turing was not
>> really the only star of Bletchley, just one of many clever, eccentric and rather odd
>> people.
>> I suspect his role has been hyped up a bit because it tunes in with
>> the current agenda of sneering at British prejudice and Establishment evil-doing.
And so it proved. Saw the film last night and it was indeed "the Alan Turing Show" with no reference to any of the other great things done by the other huts at Bletchley and the briefest of references to the Poles who had broken Enigma in part and passed the knowledge on to the allies.
>> It's also curious that a homosexual in a film has to have a rather attractive
>> girlfriend to add to the poignancy, rather than the plain girl in reality.
Funnily enough Joan Clarke did exist, and was a brilliant crypto analyst, and Turing did propose to her.
>>
>> I'm much more concerned about distortions and historical slant in period dramas than I am
>> about spotting that the Mark 3 cartridge belt wasn't issued until 1946.
The Mk3 issue raised its head right at the start, the opening 1939 Railway Station scene, alongside BR Mk1 coaches that were not designed until 1951. Leave that to one side tho, such stuff is expected and fun to spot.
However he wrong historical slant was strongly prevalent throughout and scripted, depicting Turing fanatically only working on the Bombe when in fact he spent a lot of his early time working on and revolutionising traditional mathematical analysis of ciphers. The worse part was getting the relationship between the bombe and the "crib" completely the wrong way round.
The main problem with he film is that Turing is depicted by cucumberpatch as so far on the autistic scale as to be almost non functioning as a human being, which was clearly not the case.
In a way the best performance was Mark Strong playing the part of Head of MI6(SIS) Stewart Menzies.
The whole thing fell apart at the end when Turing was questioned by the Manchester Police detective, and supposedly told him the whole Enigma Story, something that would never have happened.
Nicole enjoyed it.
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"it was indeed "the Alan Turing Show" with no reference to any of the other great things done by the other huts at Bletchley"
Yes - I noticed that, too - but I assumed that was because the film was meant to give some insight into 'the life and work of Alan Turing', rather than a history of 'the entire goings on at Bletchley Park'. In the same way that 'Mr Turner' concentrated on, well, Mr Turner and not a load of other talented artists who were around at the same time.
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>> "it was indeed "the Alan Turing Show" with no reference to any of the other
>> great things done by the other huts at Bletchley"
>>
>> Yes - I noticed that, too - but I assumed that was because the film
>> was meant to give some insight into 'the life and work of Alan Turing', rather
>> than a history of 'the entire goings on at Bletchley Park'.
Agreed, but that manifested itself into "the rest were idiots" As I say my main gripe is that the character was too overplayed on the autistic front.
>>In the same way
>> that 'Mr Turner' concentrated on, well, Mr Turner and not a load of other talented
>> artists who were around at the same time.
Almost yes, but there was some good interaction between the various schools.
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"As I say my main gripe is that the character was too overplayed on the autistic front."
I can't argue with that - I didn't know the bloke.
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>> "As I say my main gripe is that the character was too overplayed on the
>> autistic front."
>>
>> I can't argue with that - I didn't know the bloke.
I didn't either, (I know someone who did tho - sadly now passed on) but from what was written about him and what he achieved clearly he was astute, able to provide a convincing argument, politically and socially aware enough to get stuff done.
Clearly not the socially crippled character portrayed on there.
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From what I've read there are differing views as to whether or not he was autustic but many found him odd and he did have many traits that perhaps would nowadays be perceived as signs of autism.
However leaving aside historical veracity, which doesn't really bother me in a film which isn't a documentary, I did find the film enjoyable as a piece of work and Cumberbatch, as usual, gave a first class performance. Well worth seeing.
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>> The Guardian's take on
>> acuracy though is scathing:
Just read it, can't disagree with a single word. More could have been made of his (and others) appalling treatment just for being homosexual.
Apparently these is some doubt about his suicide, nothing sinister or covert, just an accident with some electro plating that used cyanide.
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"The Guardian's take on acuracy though is scathing"
Going to the cinema is a bit like reading the Grauniad - it all has to be taken with a pinch of salt. In the past year or so, e.g. Argo and Captain Phillips were both slated for historic accuracy, but it didn't stop them being good* films.
Someone will be along shortly to tell me that Santa Claus doesn't exist …… and ruin my Christmas.
* Good = me not falling asleep
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>> "The Guardian's take on acuracy though is scathing"
>>
>> Going to the cinema is a bit like reading the Grauniad - it all has
>> to be taken with a pinch of salt
Depends on the film tho really. If I go to a Dirty Harry movie I don't expect any historical accuracy, as it has no basis there. I go to see macho action, humour and blown apart baddies.
However, as soon as you base a film drama on a person who is still in the public eye, had a fairly short exposure timeframe and is known for a, now well known certain series of events then you have to ensure that you reflect as closely as possible the scene and what happened.
>> Argo and Captain Phillips were both slated for historic accuracy, but it didn't stop them
>> being good* films.
Argo was good, Philips was, less so.
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>>Depends on the film tho really.
Quite. Which is why Braveheart and The Patriot were so damned annoying whereas Lethal Weapon and Ransom were enjoyable.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 21 Nov 14 at 15:54
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BTW, just clicked on the Mark Kermode review in the Graun; he summarised it as "an engrossing and poignant thriller".
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>> BTW, just clicked on the Mark Kermode review in the Graun; he summarised it as
>> "an engrossing and poignant thriller".
Surprised you trust him, he said Turner was brilliant and you didn't like it.
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"Surprised you trust him, he said Turner was brilliant and you didn't like it."
Well, I suppose he can't always be right.
;-)
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Saw Kajaki yesterday. Must be up there as one of the best British war movies. It's the true story of a a group of marines in Afghanistan who stumble into an old Russian minefield. Totally non political it's just the story of a group of soldiers doing their job. Don't go if you are squeamish about the sight of blood or horrific injuries.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Mon 1 Dec 14 at 18:07
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Turner .......... loved the paintings .......... the film was boring. (IMHO)
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>> What does CGI mean?
Computer Generated Images. Using electronics to create special effects.
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>> >> What does CGI mean?
>>
>> Computer Generated Images. Using electronics to create special effects.
>>
Thank you
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With more songs than you can shake a stick at in my life's soundtrack - went to see this as a rainy day distraction.
Excellent movie superbly acted by all involved including Anglesey lad Taron Egerton - not much of one for a musical but this was spot on. Warts and all, it was beautifully made.
Well worth seeing if you're an EJ fan.
Raspberries to pillocks and their scoffing during the showing.
Going to dig out my Captain Fantastic album from the attic in a minute.
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I concur. Saw it last week. Somewhat difficult childhood. Taron did I fantastic job of the role however I just couldn't stop seeing Eddie the Eagle :)
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At the Movies - Turner - bathtub tom
