Aaryk Noctivagus

Wolfie wrote that in the 'Could the 80s be the worst decade...' thread...

So the question is asked whether or not there are any notable British movies since the turn of the Century?

I'd say there have been several notable British movies...

'Chicken Run'
'Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'.
'The Descent'
'Dog Soldiers'
'Casino Royale'
'Keeping Mum'
'The Queen'
'Shaun of the Dead'
'Billy Elliot'
'Young Adam'
'Girl with a Pearl Earring'
'Sexy Beast'
'Freeze Frame'
'Notes on a Scandal'
'Enigma'
'Snow Cake'
'United 93'

Among others which some consider good, but I've been warned off of seeing... '28 Days Later' anybody?

oxfam1uk

"Girl with a pearl earrring" was superb - one of the few films that my wife and I both enjoyed (usually one of us hates whatever-it-is)

But could it seriously be called a British Film?

Steve Crook

Why? It's very good. An interesting idea, a good script, well filmed and well acted

Steve

Third Man

'28 Days Later' was very original just look how many films copied it, even the zombie maestro Romero did.


Simon

D Cairns

Er, I'd be interested in any explanation of what Romero borrowed from 28 DAYS LATER.

I don't think that film had a good script AT ALL, and have been known to go on at boring length about its many inanities and insults to the intelligence.

I'd add MY SUMMER OF LOVE to any list of good recent Britflicks.

I watched FESTIVAL last night, and while I didn't find it particularly brilliant, it was certainly of respectable intelligence and entertainment value. If we had five films of that quality a year, plus one excellent one, we'd be doing nicely. But we usually don't get any excellent ones and very few decent ones.

christoph404

I enjoyed "28 days later" though Im sure you are being ironic in saying that Romero borrowed from it ! The opposite being the case on my viewing........

Aaryk Noctivagus

Its a co-production involving the UK Film Council... so I believe it qualifies

DB7

Snow Cake wasn't a patch on Layer Cake.

I feel it's hard to judge the decade just yet as so many films go from ignored/cult standing to recognised classics years later. There's films like My Kingdom, Seperate Lies, Plots with a View etc that no doubt stiffed at the box office but have actors I admire and were enjoyable in some way.

Third Man

Yes, irony was present especially in the word ‘copied’ but there is a certain style and tone with films like ‘Land of the Dead’(2005) and ‘Dawn of the Dead’(2004) that stem from the film ‘28 Days Later’, that cannot be denied, can it?

Of course I accept that ‘28 Days Later’ most probably got inspiration from, for one, Romero’s ‘Day of the Dead’ (1985) the similarities with the soldiers being holed up in a bunker in ‘Day’ for one and a mansion in ‘28’ are there for all to see, if they care to look. I do like the way that in ‘28’ when the group come across a supermarket though, they take the goods and run, while as in ‘Dawn of the Dead’(1978) the escapees decide to take refuge in a massive supermarket/mall for much of the duration of the film, perhaps a little inside joke there?

Boyle has always stated that '28' was not a zombie film and I would agree with him, so why is it that in 'Land' (2005) and 'Dawn' (2004) zombies can suddenly run, was it because of the success of '28 Days Later' ?

Simon

Aaryk Noctivagus

But 'Layer Cake' was not nearly as refreshing

Wolfgang

I think "28 Days Later" is probably closer in tone to Romero's 'no zombie' zombie film, "The Crazies". I quite liked it when I saw it, but thought it lost its sense of purpose when Cillian Murphy went Rambo. It should have finished when those squaddies took Murphy outside to execute him, leaving his female companions without any hope whatsover, nicely juxtaposed by Christopher Eccleston's eloquent speech about 'hope' and what that means to his men in practical terms. I think they pandered to their American financiers too much, but still certainly one to watch from this decade.

Cheeky Bob

Here's the list I posted in another thread:

Gosford Park, 24 Hour Party People, Control, 28 Days Later, The Descent, London To Brighton, The Queen, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vera Drake, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Last Resort, My Summer of Love, The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, Touching the Void, Bend It Like Beckham, Billy Elliot, Red Road, This Is England, Dead Men's Shoes, Bridget Jones's Diary, Sexy Beast, Casino Royale, Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, A Cock and Bull Story, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Sweet Sixteen, The Magdalene Sisters, Finding Neverland - and a couple of the Harry Potter films weren't too bad either.

I'd say the Noughties is definitely ahead of the 1980s and 1990s in terms of worthwhile films, and the 1910s wasn't considered an outstanding Britfilm decade either.

Aaryk Noctivagus

I'm afraid I only rate the latest Harry Potter... and then not awfully highly. I've been entertained only by two of them... however, none are as totally awful as the first.

christoph404

I really love the 1978 "Dawn of the Dead", its just so relentless and scary! I loathed the remake and the fact that the zombies can now run somehow reduces the tension and scare factor because it would seem if you can run faster you can escape whereas before in the original film there was no escape from the relentless onslought of slow moving zombies and running was no use because they will eventually catch up..... and you can't run forever...that was a much scarier scenario! Maybe todays audiences are so used to fast cuts and flashy camera movements etc that the zombies are required to run to supposedley add more excitement.....I think it has the opposite effect. And yes I think that scene in "28 days later" where they raid the supermarket is a definite nod to the Romero film.

Third Man

Was the likening of Murphy to Rambo by yourself a first time feeling when you saw the film for the first time or on a repeat viewing because the first time I saw it, at the cinema, I thought he had been infected which was very effective .

Simon