Four Lions [Sundance 10]

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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.

Clip:

[RegularKarate]

No question, this will be amazing.

[cronopio 2]

this is the chris morris movie. oh my god.

[Pubrick]

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

[polkablues]

It keeps getting better and better.  This damn well better get picked up for US distribution.

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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.

[polkablues]

I downloaded the torrent. I don't regret it for a moment.

[Ghostboy]

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.

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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....

[children with angels]

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.

[RegularKarate]

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."

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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.   

[Stefen]

^lol

This was really funny. I just couldn't understand what they were saying a lot of the time. I needed subs!

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TRAILER:

I waited.  Wanted to support the film and Drafthouse Films so I'm going to see it Nov 3 with Chris Morris.  I hope it's good!