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Synopsis: Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. In a storm of razor-sharp verbal jousting and large-scale set pieces, Four Lions is a comic tour de force; it shows that—while terrorism is about ideology—it can also be about idiots.
Buzz: From the writers of Peep Show. Also: It's going to be good (http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/1433).
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdFnLGKIDsE
No question, this will be amazing.
this is the chris morris movie. oh my god.
yes good point.
MODAGE your template could use a short list of director/writer/major creative ppl which you've only included occasionally.
this looks brilliant. the tone of the preview clip is amazingly handled.. it starts off feeling like it's going to revel in the worst of what cringe-comedy has to offer but then by the end SOMEHOW after being forced to listen to the dude's excruciating logic (lack of) it actually becomes logical in that last moment! haha. really really really good.
just think how hard that is to accomplish.. it's like they set out to make it as hard as possible for themselves and then to see just how miniscule a moment, how slight a gesture, it takes to change our allegiance. it bodes well for the premise which could easily fall into mindless farce or politically lowbrow bullshit, whatever that means.
it's obvious the title refers to the four jihadists, on that level it's just ironic play on their misguided efforts, but it also sounds serious..it's sort of suggesting great courage which would be justifiable in a standard genre like sports drama, but here with this premise it repeats the same challenge i described in the preview.. if they make that title work beyond an ironic level, that is to say if they manage one real moment of emotion.. JUST ONE perfectly timed moment of heart.. well.. that would be courageous.
the more i think of it i begin to see the film as Strangelove for the modern era.. a different kind of bomb.
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TRAILER: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/03/trailer-for-chris-morris-sundance-hit.html
It keeps getting better and better. This damn well better get picked up for US distribution.
I think this is already on DVD in the UK but still no release date for the US. The question is: do I download a torrent or wait indefinitely for release.
I downloaded the torrent. I don't regret it for a moment.
I saw it at Sundance. It was definitely hilarious, and it also didn't take the easy way out, somehow managing to be both a laugh-out-loud comedy and a no holds-barred portrayal of suicide jihadists. But somehow, it didn't really have enough of an impact to stick with me...I'd forgotten all about it until I saw this thread. Not quite sure why, as I definitely enjoyed the heck out of it while watching it.
I downloaded it. And then this: http://www.cinematical.com/2010/09/09/alamo-drafthouse-creates-distribution-arm-selects-four-lions/
Now I'm not sure if I'll wait to watch or not....
Quote from: Ghostboy on September 04, 2010, 09:20:40 PM
It was definitely hilarious, and it also didn't take the easy way out, somehow managing to be both a laugh-out-loud comedy and a no holds-barred portrayal of suicide jihadists. But somehow, it didn't really have enough of an impact to stick with me...I'd forgotten all about it until I saw this thread. Not quite sure why, as I definitely enjoyed the heck out of it while watching it.
^ This. Once again Ghostboy and I have eerily consistent responses to movies. The strange thing about this film is that, while not playing it safe, it manages to finally feel safe nonetheless. I think this is to do with tone: though it should feel bizarre and kind of terrifying to make a sitcom-esque film about jihadists, somehow the sitcom form/tone manages to win out against the content and ultimately dampens the sense of danger in its satire, and the pain in its pathos.
Quote from: modage on September 04, 2010, 06:05:57 PM
still no release date for the US.
"Alamo Drafthouse CEO and Founder Tim League announced today that he is expanding the renowned Alamo Drafthouse brand into film distribution under the banner Drafthouse Films. The first film to release under the new label will be Chris Morris's astonishing new comedy Four Lions.
Four Lions will kick off a 10 city promotional screening tour with Chris Morris in attendance in mid-October. The film is slated to release this fall in New York, Los Angeles and Austin and will expand wider in the following weeks."
Quote from: modage on September 09, 2010, 10:09:39 AM
And then this: http://www.cinematical.com/2010/09/09/alamo-drafthouse-creates-distribution-arm-selects-four-lions/
I guess I should have explained the link. :yabbse-undecided:
^lol
This was really funny. I just couldn't understand what they were saying a lot of the time. I needed subs!
TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg97xa_nQjs
I waited. Wanted to support the film and Drafthouse Films so I'm going to see it Nov 3 with Chris Morris (http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2765). I hope it's good!
from my blog (http://modage.tumblr.com/post/1479615113/four-lions):
Last night I saw a screening of Four Lions, the Jihadist farce from Peep Show writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, that I've been looking forward to since it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. The film is already on DVD in the UK and I was beginning to think it would never see a US release. Watching the film I can see why it had such a hard time finding a distributor. Because even 9 years after 9/11/01, it's still a little uncomfortable watching a movie about terrorists, especially one as smart and sharp as this one. This is not a toothless SNL parody of Osama Bin Laden, it's a film that may make you squirm in your seat in between fits of laughter.
Director Chris Morris did a lot of research on radicalized Muslims before making the film, and though you may find some of the situations hard to believe, they're not that far from the truth. Other than the subject matter, the other hurdle facing the film is that all the characters speak in such thick British accents (sometimes switching into another language), that at times it's hard to understand them. There are still plenty of laugh out loud moments, even if you may miss some of the films subtleties on first viewing. As the film goes on it gets a little darker and more poignant than I had expected, which is usually the sign of a great comedy.
chris morris has been doing a lot of press for this movie, i recommend googling them because, as i've said it before, he strikes me as one of the smartest persons working in entertainment.
four lions is a very low key classic, along with in the loop.
Yeah he seemed super-smart and quick witted, but I thought that was like, all British people.
Yes. We are.
^but you're a Texan now, so you're the opposite! :wink:
Damnit. :violin:
This is on Netflix Instant now!
If you haven't seen it yet, see it!
I really liked it, i'd give it a 7.5/10. I do think it's over-hyped though... not by much... but a little.
that over-hype comment caught my eye because i loved this film but i find myself talking about it in a way that suggests i REALLY FUCKING LOVED THIS FILM. to start, i should say that in fact i loved everything about this moviegoing experience (with matt, at an alamo drafthouse in austin) so there's some positive bias there. the film is also charming and well cut. for other people, i think the over-hype that it might be getting probably partly stems from the fact that it's a good comedy, and a good contemporary film from Britain. either one of those things individually is enough to get pretty excited about when it comes along. speaking for myself, it's a real shame that the film didn't get wider distribution. all that being said, i felt the film straining a bit to stay light if not funny (perhaps vice versa?) at the end-- but i have no good ideas on how i might have handled it. on the whole the film was very successful, extremely enjoyable, and even somewhat thought provoking. it's not the greatest thing i've ever seen but for those reasons it is one of the best films i've seen in the last year and it certainly demonstrates a lot of what i love about films in general. i guess my point is that it's hard not to describe this film without over-hyping it simply because it is so likable.
+++SPOILERS***
Quote from: Reinhold on April 07, 2011, 10:41:47 PM
i guess my point is that it's hard not to describe this film without over-hyping it simply because it is so likable.
Some of the jokes aren't that funny, and some are great. the scene at the university was gold, and when he drives the car into the wall shortly after had me laughing pretty hard. I actually really liked the ending and the tone change. I just think some of the early jokes could have been a little more developed.
I didn't like how the cops essentially made the same mistake twice in a row, once shooting the guy in the parade and then essentially we're given the same thing with the owner of the restaurant. my gripes are small, and i think it's a really good film, i just think if a tiny bit more was put into the script stage, it really coulda been something special.
the most fascinating part of the film was the one guy's wife, great choice in acting and well directed. The scenes with the family are very disturbing in how touching they are.