Mr Pip

[danny_galaga]

What a beautiful movie! I bet no one here has heard of it, I didn't until today when looking at what movie to go and see. This fictional story is set on the Pacific island of Bouganville, during the civil war they had in the early 90's. Hugh Laurie stars as the only white man left on the island after the troubles start. Since the local school had been abandoned for some months, he decides to become its teacher, armed only with a copy of Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. One girl in particular is taken by the story and re-imagines it in her own way, with a very Pacific flair.

The whole story weaves through the classic story quite wonderfully. I've never read the book (only seen a movie adaption of it) but it makes me want to get to know the original story. This story is quite dark, but uplifting. It's set in Bouganville, Australia and London.

 5/5

Not a spoiler as such, but there is a scene that made me think of my late father. Papua New Guinea armed forces raid the village and shoot a kids dog, who obviously is really upset. When dad was a kid in WWII, Croatian collaborators came looking for his older brother. Since he wasn't home, they shot dads dog while he hid. Dad ran all the way to his grandmas house with the dead dog in his arms. Not a spoiler, just that scene hit a nerve I thought I'd share

my score for recent movies you may have seen:

  5/5 - The Way Back, The Kings Speech, Michael Clayton, In Bruges, Gran Torino, Mary and Max, Moonrise Kingdom

4.5/5 - Taken, Iron Man, Reign Over Me, Watchmen, The girl with the dragon tattoo

  4/5 - True Grit, Traitor, Bedtime Stories, Sunshine, pineapple express

3.5/5 - 300, Max Payne, You dont mess with the Zohan, Yes Man

  3/5 - That new Indiana Jones flick, Disturbia, That new TMNT flick,

2.5/5 - Angels and Demons, The Hangover III, Only God Forgives

  2/5 - The Love Guru. Note: My 2 is probably someone elses 1. Just leaving room for worse!

[pbj]

Hugh Laurie stars as the only white man left on the island after the troubles start.

Gosh!  I wonder who's going to save everyone?

Stop buying tickets to trash like this.

 

[Howard_Casto]

I hate to agree, but haven't we seen this film 12 times already?  Replace "pacific island" with "inner city" and bam there you go.  Actually in recent years I've seen a couple of these throw-aways set in rural Africa so it's the same deal. 


Danny, I've mentioned this before, but you can't be a movie critic unless you are critical.  99% of what you post gets a 4/5 or 5/5.  So you are just listing movies that you like (which appears to be everything, for better or worse), which is fine, but don't insult us by putting a score at the end like there was any chance of you not liking it. 

[Ond]

Danny's not a paid movie critic so I'm tipping he's choosing movies that he's got a fair idea he might like.  He does review movies he didn't like now and then.

[Howard_Casto]

I'm not denying any of that.  My point was quit pretending like you are critiquing movies instead of doing what you are actually doing... going to movies you think you will like and then ending up enjoying them.  I appreciate him sharing, but I don't appreciate him putting a score on things as if said scoring system should bear any kind of weight or merit.

Btw the "from time to time" bit was kind of my point.  Nearly every single movie released each year ranges from mediocre to absolute garbage.  Maybe one or two per year are truly worth watching.  If you enjoy nearly every movie you see each year then you've set the bar waaaaaay too low. 

[Ond]

Heh, ok, well, i didn't feel Danny claiming any 'weight' or 'merit' I don't feel insulted, it's his personal "Danny Rating" we are free to attribute any importance to it or otherwise.  Personally I don't agree with plenty of peoples movie reviews on here  or for that matter opinions in general - yours included Howard  .  BUT I do like reading your stuff and Danny's reviews as well.  I give your overall comments in this thread 3/5 on my personal opinions rating system (criteria available on request).  How do you score mine? 

[ark_ader]

I find it is quicker to read Wikipedia.

[danny_galaga]

I hate to agree, but haven't we seen this film 12 times already?  Replace "pacific island" with "inner city" and bam there you go.  Actually in recent years I've seen a couple of these throw-aways set in rural Africa so it's the same deal. 


Danny, I've mentioned this before, but you can't be a movie critic unless you are critical.  99% of what you post gets a 4/5 or 5/5.  So you are just listing movies that you like (which appears to be everything, for better or worse), which is fine, but don't insult us by putting a score at the end like there was any chance of you not liking it.

I've probably not made it clear, but it's not 'Great Expectations in a different setting'. It's a story about someone who comes to love the story. There are some parallels, but it's not 'Scrooged'.

A big spoiler, for PBJ who doesn't like movies because he thinks they are all made in Hollywood:

Hugh Lauries character does not save the day. he gets killed by an idiot army major maybe 2/3 into the movie, who then goes on a rampage and kills even more of the villagers. His soldiers rape the girls mother, and they feed all the dead people to the pigs.  In a 'Hollywood' sense, he has failed because not only doesn't he 'get the girl', but not long before he dies, he gets to see his wife die as well. Where his character wins is by enlightening this girl

If it's not for you, you are free to stick with your Michael Bay blockbusters. I apologise to everyone for offering an opinion, and I freely offer refunds on all advice I have given.


As Ond pointed out, I'm not claiming to be a critic. And unlike a critic, I don't see every single movie released (it's their job, they are going to have to watch movies they may not as a regular person go and see). I do see more than the average person perhaps, not lately though. As well, quite often I see a movie that is so-so, or even good but I can't be bothered writing about it. (but here you go: Gravity- 3.5/5. Two Guns- 4/5). Again, it's not my job so there's no compulsion to. Also, I normally list other movies I have liked (or not) at the bottom of my review. That's all the relevance you need- If you liked some of the movies I liked, and didn't like what I didn't like, maybe you'll like/hate this too. I forgot the list this time, so I'll just fix that...

[matt4949]

Oh how I love this forum.