Audience Reaction: ‘Dheepan’

The audience gave ‘Dheepan‘ a score of 80%

Here are their comments:

  • Out of the frying pan into the fire  Very good acting by all
  • Fine film spoilt by the shooting spree at the end
  • Was the ending intended to represent the life they were expecting – in stark contrast to the one they found themselves living?
  • An incredibly well acted reminder of reality in some part of Europe and the world
  • Moving, dark and disturbing.  Not a  pleasing viewing but necessary perhaps.  Ending didn’t fit
  • Dirty Harry at the end???   Hard work.  Don’t think I like film
  • Acting outstanding.  Totally believable.  Quality film
  • Multi layered, excellent acting and the tears behind the smiles
  • Wow!  Why did we have lighting stands on the stage obscuring the film?
  • Another thought provoking film.  Life is difficult

SELECTION MEETING

Hello Pontardawe Film Fans

The next film selection meeting will take place on Wednesday 25th May at 7.00pm in the Arts Centre. Hope you can make it.

If you can’t, let us know what films you would like us to consider for next season.

Best wishes

John (Chair)

Audience Reaction: ’13 Minutes (Elser)’

The audience gave ‘13 Minutes‘ a score of 94.18%

Their comments were as follows:

  • Loving these factual films – loved the directing, the way it kept flicking back and forth. Tense.
  • Not my cup of tea but excellent film
  • A very moving, dramatic film – one must ask:- what if?
  • Hard to watch at times but one of the best films about eh war I have seen. Amazing story very well told
  • Brilliant
  • Very powerful
  • Knew nothing of this before seeing the film – story presented in an interesting way
  • A powerful drama and an important true story which needed to be brought to light. Tension and horrow of Nazi Germany well depicted
  • A grim watch and an important one – would never have heard of Elser. Inspiring
  • Moving convinving portrayal of daily life with Nazis but I cant stomach the violence
  • Enjoyable acting but hard to watch at times.

Audience Reaction: ‘Rams’

The audience gave ‘Rams‘ a score of 80.45%

And their comments were as follows:

  • Just love the pace and observations, the honest depiction of real life. One of the most powerful stories of redemption I have ever watched.  Thank you.
  • Beautifully filmed, deeply sad, just carried along by bits of humour.  Loved the beards and jumpers
  • Slow slow slow  sheep!!!
  • Who would have thought inaction could have been so gripping?  Well the storm was far from inactive!  Obsession or passion?  Perhaps the same.  Great visuals.  Sound psychology
  • Thomas Hardy type tale in the icy northern hemisphere – beautifully shot and very glad no sheep seemed to be harmed
  • Loved the story of two brothers, one common goal for the sheep.  Heart wrenching, felt for them when the sheep had to die.  Humour in parts.  Ending of the film, my conclusion is they all died – sheep, dog and brothers but on the hand all lived happily ever after.  Loved the bleakness of the scenery and how the whole film captivated you
  • Moving portrayal of relationship between brothers and impact of a disease like scrapie
  • Brilliant, evocative and so atmospheric
  • A good film spoiled by the lack of an ending
  • Realistic, superb acting
  • Powerful albeit bleak.   How much it takes to reunite two brothers after 40 years
  • Fascinating; felt like the first part of a two parter.  Felt real, want to go to Iceland
  • It takes sibling rivalry to its extremes  very moving experience
  • Like the dog and sheep    very moving
  • Very interesting story – excellent photography, slow pace added to the atmosphere – lovely music – sad end – message??? Life’s too short – keep talking!
  • A not so simple tale of two brothers told simply
  • Good dramatic cinematography.  A nice story but was it a happy ending!????
  • Showed how tough life is outside the cities and towns of Iceland.  Very sad film but enjoyed
  • Did they run out of money or film?
  • I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a drama or a comedy.  However I did enjoy it.  The ending was quite abrupt though

Audience Reaction: ‘A Second Chance’

The Pontardawe audience gave the film ‘A Second Chance‘ a score of 83.33 %

Their comments were:

  • Difficult to watch at times but a rewarding watch – good acting.  Brave story line
  • Excellent story
  • Was it a psychological exploration of grief or a thriller?  Good either way.  a little too much use of beautiful yet stark Scandi landscapes
  • Very dramatic – excellent acting – would have made a good TV series
  • Interesting film – what a twist
  • For the first half hour I thought I was going to hat eit … vbut then so many surprises in store.  Trouble is, I can never talk about the plot to anyone who hasn’t yet seen it!
  • Very interesting story, well told – twist at the end was very clever
  • Brilliant – so many twists and turns – beautiful photography, excellent acting – what he did was wrong but understandable – Happy ending
  • Very believable acting, beautifully shot, emotionally gripping tale
  • Emotional film.   A bit far fetched in what a senior Police Officer did but guess we all act differently in stressful situations.  A twist in the story, didn’t expect that, but all turned out good in the end.  Guess his actions saved the baby and mother’s life.  Recommended
  • Very moving
  • A good cast was wasted in a hopelessly unbelievable plot.  Totally implausible from start to finish, and a major disappointment.

Audience Reaction: ‘In a Lonely Place’ and ‘Trumbo’

Scores and comments from the Hollywood Film Festival this past weekend. Looks like you all had a really great time!

IN A LONELY PLACE
Audience Score 84%

  • Very engaging – powerful emotions and great tension in the story with the seed of doubt sown. Enjoyed the strong performances and the costumes.
  • Great character development showing the breakdown of faith between the lovers
  • Enjoyed the suspense. Strong female character – one unlucky guy!
  • Very dramatic music – did he or did not he?
  • Good casting of actors
  • Full of tension
  • Good to have two films about screenwriters to compare. Look forward to Trumbo
  • One of my favourite films – great to see on the big screen. Bogart and Grahame are a spectacular paring – very emotionally intense
  • Loved the dialogues, retorts and quips. Something not in modern films. Bogart is fab actor. Loved the story, gripping. Like reading a good book you cannot put down – brilliant performance. Kept you on the edge of your seat. Totally credible. Well worth watching
  • Totally compelling
  • Loved it …so atmospheric without hi-tec special effects of today – wonderful acting, so much expression in faces and body language – fantastic script with humour – black and white film evokes so much tension and wonderful imagery – great high speed car journey
  • Great ending.
  • Very engaging, powerful emotions, great tension in the story with the
  • Enjoyed the strong performances and the costumes. Naked intensity.
  • Predictable but enjoyed
  • Interesting from the perspective of how an abusive relationship was viewed in the 50s as opposed to today. Predictable and result end result with issues unresolved.
  • Very tense gripping drama

TRUMBO
Audience Score 93%

  • Very informative –showed warts and all – but what a dreadful episode in US history
  • Brilliantly portrayed of individual attempt to live up to b lists for
    An enjoyable slice of infamous American history well told. Could have done with a re-write to shorted it slightly
  • Use of black and white film with colour emphasized the time. Illustrated not only the madness of the time but the complexities of the characters and subversiveness of the fight back by the accused
  • Inspiring and moving. Interesting to see into the history and how it played out in individual lives. The toll it took
  • The film showed how paranoid the Americans were at that time. It showed how families were destroyed by the black list
  • Interesting period in USA history – could return if Donal Trump becomes president!
  • The film very effectively portrayed the strength of Trumbo and many others. It was extremely well written and performed brilliantly by Bryan Cranston. It was a joy to watch and extremely accurate historically also.
  • Brilliant film saw all sides of Trumbo’s character
  • Inspiring resistance to paranoia
  • Glad the good guys won in the end
  • Brilliant film – perfect casting, excellent cinematography – dreadful story – a bad time in America -= Helen Mirren as Hedda was great at the end as personification of right wing evil and bigotry – loved Billie Holiday at the end – just the right song!
  • Acting superb, the actors playing the ‘real’ actors were life like. Highly recommended I learned a lot in the film of what happed during those times.
  • Brilliantly acted – nice to know who were the good guys and who were the baddies

Audience Reaction: ‘Sicario’

The audience gave ‘Sicario‘ a score of 67.5%
 
Comments were as follows:
 
  • Gripping, tense, atmospheric, night vision scene. Directing was superb. Life like in the cartel drug world. Will watch again as in this type of film, you’ll see things you missed the first time round
  • Very gripping and tense. Some great set pieces and tense throughout. Excellent.
  • Cheer me up why don’t you!!
  • Very entertaining.
  • Morally challenging with no easy answers! Acting & cinematography were excellent!
  • Not a film you could sleep through – very tense. The border between right and wrong is very blurred in some situations.
  • Tense drama enhanced by great soundtrack.
  • Very atmospheric and bleak.
  • Bruce Willis eat your heart out! When you are up to your neck in —- it is hard to remember the intention was to clear the swamp!
  • Gritty and grim – I liked the dark music to accompany a dark tale…. Sicario – girl was a bit dippy.
  • I could appreciate that this was a very well directed film but this type of film isn’t my cup of tea. There were times when the dialogue was difficult to understand when the actors were mumbling.Great cinematography, very good casting, felt a bit sorry for the main protagonist, felt she had been used by the system. My guess is that the film is based on a certain amount of truth, and there lies the problem, we the good guys have turned into monsters that are just as bad as the bad guys! Food for thought.
  • Good acting, good soundtrack, good cinematography. Grim!
  • Hate stories of man’s inhumanity to man – Revenge killing at the end was appalling! No need to shoot the boys. Save good photography. Didn’t like Emily Blunt.
  • Some nice set pieces but a poor plot. Lead character was totally unconvincing + unsympathetic. Disappointing.

Please click here if you would like to add your comments on the film.

Hollywood Film Festival

Hi All

A reminder that we have a great Hollywood Film Festival coming up on Saturday April 2nd starting with the 1950 Bogart film ‘In a Lonely Place’ then the highly acclaimed film ‘Trumbo’.

In-a-Lonely-PlaceWe have met with Paul from Gatsby to discuss food for the event and I think we will have a really fantastic spread. We are having a mixed buffet to include sandwiches, Glamorgan sausage bites, mini quiches, dips, bowls of coleslaw, potatoes and bowls of pasta for you to graze over. And of course some fruit.

TRUMBO

Between the films – to keep that USA feel about the event – we will be having blueberry muffins!

Tickets are £12 for members and £15 non-members inclusive of the food of course.

So book now for what will be one of our best Film Festivals.

John

2016 AGM: April 5th after the film ‘A Second Chance’

Dear All

This is to give you notice that the AGM of the Film Club will take place on Tuesday, April 5th at the Arts Centre immediately following the Film ‘A Second Chance’.

Attached is the agenda for the meeting and the minutes from last year’s AGM.

I do hope you are able to attend.

All the best

John

2016 AGM Agenda – please click here (PDF)
Minutes 2015 AGM – please click here (PDF)

Audience Reaction: ‘Grandma’

The Pontardawe Film Club gave ‘Grandma‘ a score of 76.44%.
 
Here are their comments:
 
  • Great portrayal of relationships and how it dealt with abortion.
  • Humour and kept my attention.
  • Very thought provoking. Excellent again.
  • V. brave choice of film.
  • Great film. Well acted. It was good. Enjoying. Well made. Simple.
  • Fantastic film. Loved it! Simple plot-lines a story about the characters + how they interact with each other!
  • Loved characters & real life.
  • Ab.fab – entertaining – funny – poignant. Great film!
  • Beautifully acted. Very funny and poignant. Great selection. Thank you.
  • Enjoyed Lily Tomlin’s performance – Would not have been the film it was without her. Dealt with issues in interesting way – from 3 way perspective.
  • A really powerful film, ‘Grandma’ reminded me of my own Grandma on so many levels, mine wasn’t a lesbian, but she rocked, she kicked a$$ and didn’t give a hoot what people thought. A coming-of-age film I guess. I was in floods of tears before the end. Brilliant choice. Perfect film club film.
  • Different – language?
  • Good to see Lily Tomlin again.
  • Heart-warming+ Woman’s film maybe?
  • Funny & heart warming.
  • Excellent characterisation of the 3 women – ‘Grandma’ was complex, creative and caring.
  • Tomlin excellent. Story simple + profound. Contrast of Grandma & Sage (in every way) terrific, pale/dark; abstract/concrete etc. Real women’s life.
  • Light hearted, good acting, liked her. Love Lily anyway, liked her character, but I thought a bit OTT when she tipped the coffee in the shop. Not interesting enough for me, but enjoyable to watch.
  • Good photography, enjoyed the music, good acting – liked the characters – but ‘Grandma’ did get on my nerves on occasion.
  • Thought provoking.
  • Some good laughs and a few touching moments, but quite slow. It felt longer than its running time. Worth a look though.
  • What a grand-mother – different to mine! Interesting story.

Audience Reation: ‘Theeb’

The Pontardawe audience gave ‘Theeb‘ a score of 90%
 
Here are their comments:
 
  • Thanks for screening this film yesterday. It had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t believe the way in which Theeb grew up before our eyes in what (I can only imagine) was a short space in time.
  • Wonderful scenery (not that I would want to live there, mind). Excellent acting from the young lead actor. One of those films where you can never guess what is going to happen next – v. enjoyable twists and turns. For once a Film Club that I didn’t feel that was too long.
  • A remarkable achievement.
  • Enthralling if somewhat grim. Fantastic desert scenery.
  • Filming of the highest order – Brilliant.
  • Beautiful, thought provoking, poetic film. My kind of film. Loved it.
  • Beautifully shot. The clash between the old and new world.
  • Excellent plot. Good cast especially the boy Theeb. ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’!
  • Very interesting film. Arresting!
  • Beautiful and savage – beautifully slow paced.
  • For most of its length it was very gripping and interesting. It slowed down towards the end, but overall it was excellent.
  • Beautifully shot, excellent child actor – a moody slow-burner.
  • Great cinematography – wonderful use of scenery + sense of place.
  • Visually & aurally stunning. So much from the point of view of the child who spoke little.
  • Haunting music, lovely scenery, thought provoking.

Film is what we do