Biutiful

[Celini]

Just saw this at a well packed Cineworld Haymarket (obviously not everybody was at the True Grit screening!); I am still a bit shaken by the movie, loved it to pieces!
is Javier Bardem nominated for an Oscar? definitely a better performance than Colin Firth's to me!

9/10

[kobbing]

Yes really good performance from Javier Bardem, but thats about it, overly pretentious and indulgent. 5/10

I agree with this though the end for me pushed it up to a 7. Way too long though.

[kevinknapman]

Hmm. Hard to judge this really. Outstanding performance from Javier Bardem and it was impressively shot, but boy was it grim and depressing.
Nice to see Inarritu doing a more linear story for once though, even if the end result was a little indulgent.
I did like the scenes where Bardem's reflection and shadow appeared to move slightly differently from him. Subtle at first but more obvious later on.

Question to FMUKers at tonight's Haymarket screening. Was there something wrong with the screen for about 2hrs of the film? After about 5 mins, black bars appeared at either side of the screen but then inexplicably disappeared about 30 mins before the end. At first I thought it was deliberate, but I'm guessing it was a projection issue.

[Celini]

Question to FMUKers at tonight's Haymarket screening. Was there something wrong with the screen for about 2hrs of the film? After about 5 mins, black bars appeared at either side of the screen but then inexplicably disappeared about 30 mins before the end. At first I thought it was deliberate, but I'm guessing it was a projection issue.

did not realised that at all!!
i was just very annoyed with people around me eating popcorn.... £1 a bag, bargain apparently!

[kevinknapman]

Question to FMUKers at tonight's Haymarket screening. Was there something wrong with the screen for about 2hrs of the film? After about 5 mins, black bars appeared at either side of the screen but then inexplicably disappeared about 30 mins before the end. At first I thought it was deliberate, but I'm guessing it was a projection issue.

did not realised that at all!!
i was just very annoyed with people around me eating popcorn.... £1 a bag, bargain apparently!

Yes they were definitely there. Appeared when it went from the forest scene at the beginning to Barcelona, which is why I thought it was deliberate at first. Then they disappeared almost 2hrs later when they showed the sea and the beach [spoiler]where the Chinese workers bodies had come ashore[/spoiler]

[hdaniel82]

Great movie, yes a tad long dark and depressing, but a great performance from Bardem.

8/10 from us

[Celini]

do you mean it looked like a 4:3 format projected on 16:9 screen?
i was obviously very captivated by the film (or most likely very blind )

[kevinknapman]

do you mean it looked like a 4:3 format projected on 16:9 screen?
i was obviously very captivated by the film (or most likely very blind )

It started 2.35:1 then changed to 16:9. The edges weren't even straight either, which is why I'm guessing it was a projection problem. Or I'm just going mad and imagined it!?!

[soonforgotten]

I didn't notice any aspect ratio issues, but what about the two scenes where you could hear mic static as if the actors were mic'd up? They were with Bardem and his wife and towards the end with his daughter. It was really odd.

A really disturbing film on a few levels. Bardem was excellent. Just really incredible. This film won't do any favours for Barcelona's tourism industry as it really made a beautiful city seem grim and foreboding. This was such a lengthy and busy film. I think I'd need another viewing to really take it all in properly. However, it's so dark, I don't think I could sit through it again. It's so strange to see how his special ability is a character trait and not the focus of the film. Yes, it brings things together, but that he has this ability is not pivotal to the plot itself. I'm not sure how to feel about this. It was gripping but clumsy. It probably would be a better film if it had 20 minutes cut from it. I'll go 8/10 with Bardem raising it several points.

Oh and that strip club scene - wtf?

[kevinknapman]

I didn't notice any aspect ratio issues, but what about the two scenes where you could hear mic static as if the actors were mic'd up? They were with Bardem and his wife and towards the end with his daughter. It was really odd.

I'd read somewhere that the sound man put microphones in their clothing so that when they hugged you could hear their heartbeats.