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    Another Round

    I know it's been out in various territories since September last year but I saw it in the cinema tonight in a preview screening ahead of it's UK release on Friday. It is my favourite film of the first half of the year, apt as I saw it right on the midpoint of 2021.

    The trailer seems to have being doing the rounds for over a year due to covid and has always piqued the interest of my wife and I. The whole Dogme movement passed us by so the only thing we'd seen by director/co-writer Thomas Vinterberg before was his version of 'Far From The Madding Crowd' a few years ago but his treatment of that was excellent.

    The central idea of four bored middle-aged men experimenting (literally) with upping their alcohol intake to improve their professional and social performance could make for a terrible movie in the wrong hands but it is fantastically well done. The film just has so much going for it ; hysterically funny at times, heartbreaking at others, really genuine characters & themes, wonderful acting & script, a brilliant eclectic soundtrack and even some pretty nifty dancing.

    In the video Q&A afterwards Vinterberg said the film wasn't about drinking but about living and that sums it up.

    Loved it, loved it, loved it.
    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 01-07-2021, 03:23.

    #2
    It’s an absolutely wonderful movie.

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      #3
      Agree w/ SB. A USA version will really suck.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
        middle-aged men experimenting (literally) with upping their alcohol intake to improve their professional and social performance
        If that were true I'd be Prime Minister and dating Neve Campbell.

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          #5
          It sounds like a feature length version of this

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            #6
            I have been a fan of Vinterberg since Festen ​so am looking fwd to this, saw the trailer in Dumfries last week and may go on saturday to avoid the England procession against Ukraine

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              #7
              I'm sure I commented more on it a couple of months ago but can't find what I wrote. The film is just so much more than I expected it to be. As Ray says, it could have been absolutely terrible in the wrong hands. It could have either been a dreadful piece of polemic abolitionism, or a dreadful piece of laddish boozey banter. Instead it walks a fine line brilliantly.

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                #8
                Originally posted by Southport Zeb View Post
                It sounds like a feature length version of this

                Ha ha, brilliant. There is actually a line in the film about peaking "at the exact point of being neither drunk nor sober".

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Cal Alamein View Post
                  Agree w/ SB. A USA version will really suck.
                  Think i've read that DiCaprio is already cast in the central role.

                  Loved the film, had the screening to myself as well.

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                    #10
                    DiCaprio's production company have bought the remake rights but I'm not sure if the idea that he'll star in it is just a presumption or actually confirmed.

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                      #11
                      We did say on exit 'imagine what HOllywood would've done to that ending?'...

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                        #12
                        Our local indie has added a few more showings so we're taking the second chance and going along on Saturday night. In a win some/lose some scenario for Mads M, they look to have bumped Riders of Justice down to the smaller studio screen to accommodate it.

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                          #13
                          Kermode was saying that although DiCaprio has bought the rights to this, it's very unclear whether they will work out how to make a US version. You have to find a part of the US where fun public drunkenness was a normal thing, where you can imagine the kids having the beer race at the start. It may just not be possible to find a cultural fit that works. Maybe in Boston academia? Or Seattle? Not, of course, that failing to find a locale that makes sense would always stop Hollywood making a film. But it is a barrier.

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                            #14
                            New Orleans.

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                              #15
                              I saw this at an outdoor screening at our local cultural centre on Tuesday evening. It's a fun location ; the centre itself is in an old railway station waiting room on a branch line out of town, and the screen for outdoor movies is mounted on a concrete strut that carries a major road over the railway. You'd worry about traffic noise disturbing the film, but it isn't really a factor. It's mostly a young person's place, and I'd say that perhaps 90% of the audience (150 or so) were 20-30 something, with the rest of us left to appreciate the mid-life crisis theme from first-hand experience.

                              Excellent film anyway, for all the reasons stated above. I also enjoyed the school setting, and identified with Martin's professional struggles in particular. I'm sure most teachers (at secondary level anyway) experience that kind of mid-career slump where you know what you're doing isn't working, but you struggle to come by the inspiration / motivation to make the necessary change.

                              I can confess here that I've even tried out a version of the guys' theory. When I first went to work in Olomouc (Czech Rep) in the late 90s, our deputy head would sometimes call us into her office during what they called 'main break', which ran from 0940-1000. Usually, it was to wish someone on the staff a happy birthday or name day. She would hand out a round of shots of fernet, slivovica or whatever and then we'd go merrily off to teach our classes. There's an excellent Slovak/Czech film from (I think) 2018 called Ucitelka (Teacher). It's set in communist times and is about one teacher's attempts to use the parents of all the kids in her class for her own ends - as her 'network'. The head and deputy deal with the fall-out, and always have a bottle of spirits handy for when tensions really rise.
                              Last edited by jameswba; 23-07-2021, 10:20.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                                Kermode was saying that although DiCaprio has bought the rights to this, it's very unclear whether they will work out how to make a US version. You have to find a part of the US where fun public drunkenness was a normal thing, where you can imagine the kids having the beer race at the start. It may just not be possible to find a cultural fit that works. Maybe in Boston academia? Or Seattle? Not, of course, that failing to find a locale that makes sense would always stop Hollywood making a film. But it is a barrier.
                                https://business.time.com/2013/12/05...-for-drinking/ (from 2013, so may be different now)

                                The Best

                                1. Missouri: There’s no place better in the country to get your drink on than the Show-Me State. Missouri has no restrictions against open containers, and the only places it’s illegal to be drunk in public are occupied schools, churches or courthouses. While localities can pass laws banning public intoxication, it’s prohibited for cities and towns to require arrest for such offenses.

                                2. Nevada: Nevada has a deserved reputation for enlightened attitudes towards the sin industries. Similar to Missouri, there is a ban on local laws that make public intoxication illegal. Alcohol can also be purchased 24 hours a day, 7 days per week by any business that’s willing to keep those hours, and in places like Las Vegas, there are plenty of vendors that fit that description.

                                3. Wisconsin: Wisconsin’s cultural affinity towards beer and brewing is well known, and it has helped encouraged the state’s lax liquor laws. State law only prohibits sale of liquor between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., and minors under the age of 21 are legally allowed to drink as long as they are accompanied by parents, guardians or spouses of legal drinking age. That’s right, one way to avoid needing that fake ID is marriage!

                                The Worst

                                1. Utah: Many of the restrictive drinking laws around the country derive from a religious skepticism of alcohol, and Utah’s strong religious culture has helped motivate the passage of sundry drinking restrictions. Only beer with less than 3.2% alcohol by weight can be sold in grocery and convenience stores or on tap. Like a strong drink? You’re out of luck in Utah, as cocktails can only contain 1.5 ounces of a primary liquor, while alcohol can’t be purchased in restaurants without food. Oh yeah, keggers are out of the question too, as keg sales are prohibited.

                                2. Massachusetts: Massachusetts is well-known for its many colleges and universities, but the state’s laws seemed aimed at preventing these students from having very much fun. Out of state drivers licenses aren’t acceptable proofs of age under state law, meaning that out-of-state visitors can get turned away from bars. Bars are also prohibited from allowing drinking games on their premises, and perhaps worst of all, happy hours are banned state wide.

                                3. Pennsylvania: If you’re not from the Keystone State, stocking up for a party can be a pretty confusing task. All wine and liquor sold in the state are done so by state-owned liquor stores, which don’t sell beer at all. If you want a six-pack of brews, you would think that a “beer distributor” would be the place to go, except that those establishments are only allowed to sell cases. For anything less you have to go to a restaurant with a liquor control board-issued license. Got all that? Me neither. Who needs a drink?

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