solaris

Just rewatching this now. It's held up pretty well. That final speech is wonderfully staged and scored.

I think they'd pull it out the bag... they've covered 'Nobody Does It Better', and some of the stuff from 'In Rainbows' is pretty hummable (& beautiful). Plus Jonny Greenwood is a bona fide soundtrack composer now so he'd definitely be able to create something epic sounding (if that's the direction they go in). My dream Bond song singer is Beth Gibbons from Portishead.... Sour Times is practically a Bond theme:

http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/07/uk-bookmakers-believe-radiohead-could-be-writing-theme-for-new-james-bond-movie/ Please God let it be Radiohead.

The last 3 minutes of this..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQ211FRsvE&list=PLcHOKlfZ6enPoHOd9dP7Y4YGAlcCRZllI&index=16

F*ck me sideways! That was incredible! And the OHMSS soundtrack nod.... YAAAS.

Skyfall made over £100m ($155m) at the UK box office. In my head, that's the equivalent of a film making $1bn at the US box office. Multiply UK gross in £ x 10 and you usually get something resembling the US gross - not an exact science but it works for the big grossers: Jurassic World - US $611m / UK £58m FF7 - US $350m / UK £38m AOU - US $450m / UK £49m So yeah.... Skyfall was crazy huge here and I really think the only way is down in the UK. CR & QOS both grossed about £55m in the UK, so I'm thinking this should land somewhere between - £75/80m (around $120m). Waiting for that trailer, but surely Skyfall earned enough good will to ensure a $100m opening in the US?

If you've seen Asif Kapadia's previous docu-biopic 'Senna' then you'll know what to expect here. A painstakingly crafted montage of archive footage, narrated by friends and family (but who are never seen in the usual 'talking head' format). Just as with 'Senna', this creates a hugely immersive experience, the overall effect feeling like a lucid memory. However, where 'Senna' was largely a heroic tragedy, 'Amy' is a much darker and more disturbing affair. Whatever your thoughts on Amy Winehouse the media persona, I defy anyone to watch this and not feel as though we were robbed of a startlingly talented voice and songwriter. What's more, 'Amy' doesn't shy away from pointing the finger of blame at those closest to her (it's telling that her father has since distanced himself from the film). Your thoughts on the film will probably depend largely on how you feel about the subject. For the record, I loved Amy Winehouse (I saw her live at one of those shambolic 2008 era gigs), so yes, I AM a little biased. That being said, I spent the last 20 minutes (probably more) a sobbing mess. The genius of 'Amy' isn't just that it hammers home how drugs are bad (it does), or how much of a waste and how sad it all was (it does that too), but that it paints a complete picture of an extremely complex character.

Visually stunning - the cinematography and art direction is amazing. But tonally TERRIBLE. It all amounts to a big pile of nothing. Such a squandered opportunity. My absolute favourite WTF moment: 'We saved the earth' (and started a mini nuclear holocaust somewhere)

I hated Birdman. Hated it a lot. But this looks incredible. Whoever drew the Kubrickian comparison is spot on. Has the look of a Kubrick film made with the best camera tech of today. Will this be released in Imax?

Seconding that request for AMY. Muchas gracias.

Tower of Joy / R+L=J confirmed for S6? http://www.idigitaltimes.com/game-thrones-season-6-spoilers-could-ned-stark-return-rumored-tower-joy-flashback-458142

Alien 3 was my introduction to the Alien franchise. I clandestinely recorded it on VHS in the summer of 1995 (I was 11). It was the summer holidays and I remember watching it at least 10 times that summer. So yeah, I'll always have a soft spot for this one. Visually stunning, ridiculously bleak, and an obscenely underrated soundtrack. It doesn't hold up nearly so well now having since come to love Alien and Aliens, but it's still a pretty unique and special film to have come out of the 90s studio system.

Just found this - pretty much perfectly encapsulates how I felt about the Stannis stuff this season http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/06/stannis-game-of-thrones-death

A classic, a flat out masterpiece. That very rare thing - a genre ('monster') film that doesn't really feel anything like it. It has the pace and intensity of a suspense thriller, and the scope & visuals of David Lean doing sci-fi. And at the same time it's utterly terrifying- Lambert's death is one of the most chilling ever. Oh, and it birthed some of the most iconic 'stuff' of sci-fi history (the Alien, the Facehugger, the Chestburster, evil android Ash, and, of course, god damn RIPLEY!).

The Dany chapters in Game are far and away the best. Starting Clash now, I'll let you know how I get on

True! Just need to find the time to read those other 4 books between now and then and I'm set! Although from what I understand Feast and Dance are both hard work.

I've finally finished aGoT! Only 4 more books / several thousand more pages and I can officially be a smug book reader with all the foreknowledge that entails. Oh... Wait... Dang.

Nailbiting stuff

Out of interest what's the most frontloaded 5 day opener going into the weekend (ie Weds or Weds/Thurs take vs rest of the weekend)? Surely MM2 has to be up there? I mean, you'd expect one of the mega franchises to possibly pull 35% of its 5 day on OD (as MM2 has), but when you're looking at numbers as small as this its just silly.

jesus christ... $100m here we come!

so where are we thinking JW will finish? Still see it landing right around $600m. Prob just a shade over for $610m.

10 years?! My god I feel old. I remember watching this after graduating university. My friends and I all loved it. It felt SO fresh and unique at the time. It's one of those films I always seem to catch on TV now. It still feels fresh & zippy, it's perfectly paced. I think I ultimately prefer TDK for the scope/scale/ambition, IMAX shots, and of course for Heath - but BB is a much less clunky & more streamlined movie.

I honestly think we can say $500m is a done deal (not using the L word)

Any news on how this has been holding up in the week here? Again, just going from office chat but a lot of people here are seeing this in the week - could this hit £30m before Friday? And the ultimate question - can this get to $100m USD (about £63m at the moment)? Doesn't seem impossible right now.