I still haven't seen it.
Four Lions - Chris Morris' Jihadi Comedy Page 10
Quote: Matthew Stott @ June 30 2010, 10:33 AM BSTI still haven't seen it.
WHAT?!
Did your girlfriend regurgitate on the way to the cinema?
Quote: Matthew Stott @ June 30 2010, 10:33 AM BSTI still haven't seen it.
If I was in charge of this site, that'd be a banning offence.
I love Chris Morris and I love this film, but I think- why are two of the gang mentally defective. Removes the bite that film should have, for cheapshit laffs.
I watched this recently and echo all the fanmania on here. I thought it was very good indeed. I was wary having read reviews that it might wimp out a bit in the second half but I don't think it pulled any punches at all. To do that while having loads of funny moments as well is some achievement.
Quote: robert aitken @ July 20 2010, 3:17 AM BSTI love Chris Morris and I love this film, but I think- why are two of the gang mentally defective. Removes the bite that film should have, for cheapshit laffs.
Yeah, if there is a criticism or two to be had then that is one. It could probably have worked with just one dimwit. The other minor crit is the wife and kid are very thinly drawn, but even so they serve a good purpose.
The story was remarkably and ferociously accurate and researched. So all the characters represented real archetypes of suicide bombers.
And that includes often the naieve, learning disabled etc. The subplot with the crow bombs was really sad, he didn't want to die.
In Israel and Afghanistan etc they've been finding the remains of bullet proof vests with the bombers remains. Reason being the trainer/mentors convince learning disabled bombers said vest will let them survive.
Quote: robert aitken @ July 20 2010, 3:17 AM BSTI love Chris Morris and I love this film, but I think- why are two of the gang mentally defective. Removes the bite that film should have, for cheapshit laffs.
Dimwits often seem like a bit of a cop out to me. No matter how much I love Neil in The Inbetweeners, I do think "What's the point of him being there?". Someone like Woody in Cheers works though as he gets decent storylines with emotion.
I think one would have been enough in Four Lions. The comedy rapper could have gone in my opinion.
Any news on a DVD release?
Quote: sootyj @ July 21 2010, 2:06 PM BSTThe story was remarkably and ferociously accurate and researched. So all the characters represented real archetypes of suicide bombers.
And that includes often the naieve, learning disabled etc. The subplot with the crow bombs was really sad, he didn't want to die.
In Israel and Afghanistan etc they've been finding the remains of bullet proof vests with the bombers remains. Reason being the trainer/mentors convince learning disabled bombers said vest will let them survive.
All very true, but too many cooks spoil the broth of a film. Or something.
Cursing myself for not coming to this thread earlier. I was actually in the UK on opening day and went to see it at an early showing at the Manchester Odeon.
I laughed hysterically all the way through; brilliant, brilliant stuff. It's also such a commendable effort, because there are about a million ways in which this could've gone wrong in some way, but didn't.
Even funnier was when during the credits, before the lights had turned on, some woman said "that wasn't very funny".
My only complaint is that Riz Ahmed is too fanciable to play a jihadist. But that's barely a complaint.
Four Lions opened with a whimper this week in Australia, where few people have heard of Chris Morris. It deserves to - but probably won't - do better than Sascha Baron Cohen's Bruno. Pretentious Australian film critics seem bewildered by Four Lions - because they feel the subject matter is too serious, and besides, everyone already knows terrorists are dumb, pathetic and dangerous.
Quote: Kenneth @ August 19 2010, 8:37 AM BSTand besides, everyone already knows terrorists are dumb, pathetic and dangerous.
I'm with you on the dangerous, but the other two, I'm very sure that isn't always, or even often the case. The '9/11' lot, they learned how to fly and navigate a jumbo jet, the Barder Meinhoff lot gathered info on their victims not even the secret services knew, and many terrorist cells hand picked the fittest, mentally strongest and least pathetic specimens they could find. What's different with the current Islamist terrorists is that they are very willing to die for their cause, and some are definitely picked and exploited for their lack of intelligence or confidence.
Was Four Lions a big hit at the UK box office? Is it still playing in cinemas? *googles* Wikipedia says it has already recouped its £2.5 million budget, grossing £2.9 million as of early August. So not a flop, but neither a smash hit?
Quote: chipolata @ June 17 2010, 10:06 AM BSTI quite like some of the criticism that has come from listeners on the Mayo/Kermode film show that a lot of the people laughing really hard at this in cinemas are twats keen to prove their liberal credentials.
Were they economic liberals or social liberals as I support Keynesian deficit spending and want to whether I have to laugh or not?
Or is this the creeping American definition of liberal; which is anyone to the left of Newt Gingrich or has read a book..
Looks like a copy of this has finally leaked onto the Internet. I don't think it ever made it to theaters over here so I won't feel too guilty about downloading it.
The DVD's out today. Just bought it!
Still haven't seen it. I'm such a terrible Chris Morris fan.