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Long, slow and complicated espionage film focused on institutional rivalries and intelligence methods, very well-cast, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman (RIP, great performance here as usual), Willem Dafoe (perfect casting), and Rachel McAdams (also convincing and sympathetic). Despite being confusing and slow especially around about the 2/3 mark, it pays off with an intense ending. The director is really good at filming urban environments; the portrayal of Hamburg and the way it was shot kind of reminded me of the way they show London in "Luther."
I thought it was great, very Tinker Tailoresque despite the more modern setting. So I would say if you liked that you should like this and if you didnt, you might still like this as it is a little more accessible but more chance of having the same reaction.
Snowpiercer on the other hand was wildly chaotic in both a good and bad way. Still not sure what to make of it. I liked season 1 in spite of (because of) its soap-operatic elements.
Watched the first couple episodes of season 2 and was kind of turned off for a number of reasons - didn't find the cases all that compelling, found the whole caretaker scenario stilted and meh. worth picking up again? yes, if only because Season 2 episode 3 and 4 feature some of the best criminals in the series (and, aside from Idris Elba's great performance, it's the criminals that make the show entertaining). Season 3 continues the same general declining quality (some predictable moments / bad writing, but same positive elements - unique criminals and Idris Elba - heh). With short seasons (4 episodes each) I'd say it's worth finishing the series.
Tinker Tailor I actually didn't like; it was indeed similar to A Most Wanted Man in being slow and confusing, but at the end of Tinker Tailor I actually didn't understand most of what happened, whereas this movie ended in a way that really tied everything together and explained it, no matter how frustrating. Tinker Tailor did have its moments though, like Oldman's speech on the Russian head guy's silence (a hardcore dedicated soviet... "some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money...." lol). and I am super pumped about A Most Wanted Man.
It's funny, I've never actually read one of Le Carre's novels. At the rate they're being adapted I guess I should just for the lit cred. another one coming up: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1995390/ Could be a good one. Kind of an odd director/screenwriter combo: Director of Nanny McPhee, and the screenwriter's filmography is just all over the place, re genre AND quality. dense maybe, but not confusing.
Drew, if you dont mind older films, I think the best Le Carre adaptation is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, a 60s film. Oh, and Luther is worth watching all the way through :) there is The Tailor of Panama although that is more of a satire than a straight Le Carre adaptation, but well worth watching. There is also The Constant Gardener although the novel was atypical Le Carre and the movie basically relegates the conspiracy stuff to the sidelines and focuses on the central relationship. It's a fine film though.
Apart from those, there are also The Russia House and The Little Drummer Girl. I'm not a fan of either but they are still quite watchable. Tinker Tailor I actually didn't like; it was indeed similar to A Most Wanted Man in being slow and confusing
TTSS managed the amazing feat of using time compression editing to such a degree that it was easy to get bewilderingly lost, while still seeming to move unbelievably slowly. Luther LOOFAH Season 3's last episode was...
- great as an ending in general - okay as a season ending - absolutely poor and unsatisfactory as the series finale. but only by a bit. Second season is still very strong. Looking forward to the third now.
Just watched Man of Steel and really enjoyed it. The action should have ended after the vortex thing, not resume with a another ott zod battle that ended [SPOILER] in just a simple fucking neck break that made no sense. So it's okay to let them destroy cities and millions of civilians just because you don't want to break his neck?
Also ditching the classic theme was a bad movie. But otherwise I don't get all the hate. Just goes to show there's too many armchair directors especially on imdb forums. I see lots trolled about too much action in the last hour. It's a Superman movie with indestructible (supposedly) villains!!! It's not likely to end in a punch up at the pub. The Avengers is just as action packed only also full of comedy. At least Nolan doesn't have to entertain the cinemas with Tony Stark wisecracks every 2 mins. Also saw Guardians of the Galaxy, I wasn't expecting to like it that much since it would be cluttered with weird cheesy characters and wisecracks-a-minute, but it kind of fit better in this movie. Never thought Batista would be the funny one though. And I'm a sucker for sci-fi, so I ended up loving it. Want to see more of marvels massive universe ie kree vs skrull etc on the big screen. Star Trek, Star Wars etc has gotten boring. "We are in talks at the moment to figure out a way to bring more Luther back to the TV" -Idris Elba
Watched this on the plane and enjoyed it (I guess I'm a sucker for taking the classic fairy stories and twisting them around, I loved shrek and stardust too). Thought the evil king still being a classic evil king was a bit of a missed opportunity.
I thought the old one was pretty good, with the exception of a couple of actors I find really annoying, to the point where they can wreck something for me just by being in it (whereas some great actors can make something good just by being in it). Can't stand Bruce Willis, but he's hardly in this one so that's good. Clive Owen is replaced by Josh Brolin, a huge improvement. The cast of this is great overall - even those with less screen time (Ray Liotta, Juno Temple) are great. Christopher Meloni was hilarious. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, good as always. Powers Boothe was awesome, so ridiculously evil (and didn't have enough screen time in the first one). Mickey Rourke continues to kill it as Marv. But the best performance was Eva Green, okay maybe she's typecast as villainous characters, but she is so entertaining in this type of role. She was the only good thing about the new 300; she was also the only good thing about the defunct Camelot series that Game of Thrones killed off so quickly (in another universe, she is Queen Cersei in Game of Thrones). Overall, I don't usually like dumb action movies (disliked both 300's), but I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a dumb action movie this much. Maybe because it's just so obviously extreme (and adult), and hilarious (Brolin, Green, Boothe, Meloni, Rourke, all of their characters are arguably very funny since so hyperbolic).
Agreed Bruce Willis and Clive Owen were the weak links in the first movie for me. I much prefer Brolin over Owen. Also I hated Elijah Wood in LOTR (pretty much spoiled the trilogy) but he was really good in SC1.
It's in the role of the tough action star that I don't like him. He's closer to a middle aged father role than the next Arny.
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/clive-owen-trust-los-angeles-special-screening-dga-west-hollywood-ca-35517532.jpg vs http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/SchwarzeneggerCommando.jpg
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