Blade Runner and Withnail and I: why do people bang on about these pissing films?
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ska invita
back on the other side
interesting how much england has changed since then...the sense of being off grid and on another planet if you went to the countryside from a city doesnt really exist anymore for example - it was much more of a culture clash back then
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Pickman's model
sunset spires and twilight woods
Don't remember any passing in bladerunner. But there's certainly some in Withnail and i
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PursuedByBears
Go stick your head in a pig
They're both shit.
Steel Icarus
an attempt was made
They're both great.
Reno
The In Kraut
The movie doesn't condone Monty's behaviour and is an autobiographical detail from Bruce Robinson's life, based on the sexual harassment he experienced while shooting Romeo and Juliet, with Monty loosely based on that film's director, Franco Zeffirelli. Maybe it's more problematic that Monty is a gay stereotype (gay men have nothing but sex on their minds) at a time when there still weren't many positive depictions of gay men in mainstream films. Though the way that Marwood gets out of his predicament redeems that slightly.
I'm not a big fan of Withnail & I myself, Blade Runner does make pretty much every major list of 10 greatest sci-fi films of all time and even if you don't care for it, is one of the most influential films in that genre. It's a science fiction film with the sensibility of an art house film, so won't be for everybody. Anyways, weird to lump these two films together, among the gazillions of Withnail and I threads, this is not the one I would have chosen to revive.
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Steel Icarus
an attempt was made
"I sometimes wonder where Norman is now. Probably wintering with his mother in Guildford. A cat, rain, Vim under the sink, and both bars on. But old now, old. There can be no true beauty without decay."
What fucking writing that is. In a 'comedy'.
What fucking writing that is. In a 'comedy'.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Withnail and I was a bit dull. Never watched bladerunner despite buying a copy on DVD.
ska invita
back on the other side
yes its a great script, more the kind of thing I would associate with theater.That link between theatre and film has largely gone now, which is a real shame. Not just the words but the way scenes are set up and the speed in which a story is told. Bruce Robinson also did How to Get Ahead in Advertising, another film that just wouldn't get made now.
petee
no gods, no managers
monty is a stereotype, not so much, i thought, because he's after sex - he's fat and middle-aged and you don't have to be gay to pine for sex under those conditions - but because he's theater-addicted and dresses impeccably etc. the first scene with him in it, when he has his reverie about the time he realized he would never play hamlet, is acted to perfection.
i like danny because he's not just a scrounger who talks bullshit - another stereotype, of a hippie - but because at a few moments there's an air of threat to him. i'm juuuust old enough to have met a few like that and i thought it was a smart touch.
the ending is cringeworthy but not, thematically, inconsistent with the rest of the movie. it was grant's first big role and at points you can kind of feel him acting. mcgann was top-billed and gives a quieter, better performance. not that i myself could act my way out of a paper bag.
i like danny because he's not just a scrounger who talks bullshit - another stereotype, of a hippie - but because at a few moments there's an air of threat to him. i'm juuuust old enough to have met a few like that and i thought it was a smart touch.
the ending is cringeworthy but not, thematically, inconsistent with the rest of the movie. it was grant's first big role and at points you can kind of feel him acting. mcgann was top-billed and gives a quieter, better performance. not that i myself could act my way out of a paper bag.
ska invita
back on the other side
Just saw that Withnail was a Handmade Film... What a great production house that was, shame there isn't something like that out there today in the UK.
en.m.wikipedia.org
HandMade Films - Wikipedia
danny la rouge
Ninja swords for all disabled people
That’s just like your option.
Something about a carpet.
stdP
One Swiss dinosaur in Polly Gosling's anorak hood
If I was forced at gunpoint to make a top 10 films list, there's a strong possibility that both Blade Runner and Withnail & I would be in it. They're a million miles apart thematically but paint a perfect picture of the people and places in them and have a very rare visceral quality in films in that they both draw me in completely. They've both got a texture to them that feels completely realistic to me.
Whilst Griffiths plays Monty (or at least his outward appearance) to within an inch of "camp gay stereotype" parody, I've never seen the character as such (and I don't think anyone could if unless they'd only seen the "camp" scenes). Isn't the point that, despite his wealth and privilege, his sexuality has left him so utterly and desperately lonely that even the casually homophobic Marwood ends up feeling sorry for him? It's his anger at Withnail both for putting both he and Monty in that situation that's the last straw in the death-spiral of their relationship.
I don't know if it was ever explicitly stated by Robinson or not but I always felt that Withnail's whole character and most of the story was driven by his unrequited love of Marwood.
Whilst Griffiths plays Monty (or at least his outward appearance) to within an inch of "camp gay stereotype" parody, I've never seen the character as such (and I don't think anyone could if unless they'd only seen the "camp" scenes). Isn't the point that, despite his wealth and privilege, his sexuality has left him so utterly and desperately lonely that even the casually homophobic Marwood ends up feeling sorry for him? It's his anger at Withnail both for putting both he and Monty in that situation that's the last straw in the death-spiral of their relationship.
I don't know if it was ever explicitly stated by Robinson or not but I always felt that Withnail's whole character and most of the story was driven by his unrequited love of Marwood.
Ming
I shot a man in Reno...
I’m into both films heavily (i think the tears in rain soliloquy at the end of Bladerunner is the most moving in modern cinema). If you’d like more back story on the character of Withnail then Vivian and I by Colin Bacon is a must. It’s by a guy who was in the same group as Bruce Robinson and Vivian McKerral (the guy Withnail was based on).
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I don't have a problem with the Monty scenes. As Reno says, the film doesn't condone his behaviour. I have more of a problem with the walk-on part for a black man who doesn't speak and is just there to be the 'huge spade'. I tried to defend that bit to someone once, but my heart wasn't in it and I was wrong to even try. He's a walk-on exotic black man.
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Autocorrect changing your opinion?
danny la rouge
Ninja swords for all disabled people
Hadn’t spotted that. Fucking autocorrect.
Bus Honeygun
This week the score draws are plentiful
Haven't watched Blade Runner in decades. I suspect it looks a bit dated now, but I'll still look back and remember how impressive the dystopian future aspect looked at the time in the midst of all the shiny space epics.
No number of pisshead and pothead sofa wasters quoting and repeat watching Withnail & I will put me off that film. Just a genius script and brilliant acting. Thumbs up for the squalor too.
No number of pisshead and pothead sofa wasters quoting and repeat watching Withnail & I will put me off that film. Just a genius script and brilliant acting. Thumbs up for the squalor too.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
I found both films totally boring. Though Bladerunner has a good soundtrack so it gets a point for that at least.
Reno
The In Kraut
Last time I watched Blade Runner was right after I saw Blade Runner 2049 at the cinema and I still thought the original looked and sounded better and is a better film overall (and I actually think the sequel is decent enough)
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
I think I've joined this thread by mistake!
moochedit
Why isn't the christmas forum open yet?
I used to think Blade Runner was overated but it's grown on me as i've got older. I also liked the sequel 2049.
I think i've only seen Withnail and I once about 30 years ago and was probably pissed at the time so don't remember it very well. It had the "camblewell (sp?) carrot" didn't it? Or am i confusing it with something else?
I think i've only seen Withnail and I once about 30 years ago and was probably pissed at the time so don't remember it very well. It had the "camblewell (sp?) carrot" didn't it? Or am i confusing it with something else?
furluxor
snake with a claw
In my teens - early twenties Withnail & I was my favourite film and it's still very close to my heart. I've watched it many times and quoted it all over the place. I think it appealed to me also because that's the life I wanted to live - and subsequently lived for some time - it's so carefree and at the same time neurotic.
Bladerunner has a cool setting, all those neons and rain, but emotionally it did nothing for me, maybe because I never liked Tom Ford. When I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I was surprised how different it felt from the film. Such a wonderful book.
Bladerunner has a cool setting, all those neons and rain, but emotionally it did nothing for me, maybe because I never liked Tom Ford. When I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I was surprised how different it felt from the film. Such a wonderful book.
Reno
The In Kraut
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