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Post by MarryMeOwen on Jan 21, 2009 22:18:33 GMT -5
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Post by kaz on Jan 22, 2009 0:11:14 GMT -5
I'm glad it made the list. I was pretty much obsessed with this movie and the cast and the book and the author of the book throughout my teens!
In fact, I am reading another Irvine Welsh book as we speak. Thankfully, however, it's not all written in the Scottish vernacular like Trainspotting (which was a bit of a challenge to get through).
I have no trouble understanding the Scottish accent but reading the words written just the way they sound is not so easy.
Perhaps Kevin should do a series of Irvine Welsh audio books!
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marcy
KMKonliner
Posts: 2,528
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Post by marcy on Jan 22, 2009 1:27:01 GMT -5
I've wanted to have him do audiobooks from the start. Such a great voice needs to be shared in all mediums.
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Post by kaz on Jan 22, 2009 5:19:45 GMT -5
Marcy, I can't stop looking at that photo in your signature. Seriously.
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marcy
KMKonliner
Posts: 2,528
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Post by marcy on Jan 22, 2009 14:40:30 GMT -5
OMG Kaz neither can I!!!! I'd love it in a larger size pic. It's a great shot!! I wish I could do fabulous banners like Rural to do the pic justice.
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Post by Leanne on May 12, 2009 12:58:51 GMT -5
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Post by kaz on May 12, 2009 20:13:36 GMT -5
This movie reminds me of my mid teens. I was so obsessed with the book, the movie, the author, the cast, everything about it. I'm not sure that I would have loved it as much had I first seen it as a 30 year old.
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Post by Leanne on May 18, 2009 14:28:57 GMT -5
Danny Boyle Kelly MacDonald and a distinctly nervous Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting (1996) Born: 1956 Rank: 68 Score: 545.60 Awards: Oscar / DGA / BAFTA / Golden Globe / LAFC / CFC / BFCA Nominations: Oscar / DGA / BAFTA / BFCA Feature Films: 8 Best: Trainspotting Worst: The Beach Top 5 Films: Trainspotting – 1996 Slumdog Millionaire – 2008 28 Days Later – 2003 Shallow Grave – 1994 A Life Less Ordinary – 1997 Top 10 Best Director Finishes (Nighthawk Awards): 1996 – 3rd – Trainspotting 2008 – 1st – Slumdog Millionaire In the mid-90’s, the amazing team of Danny Boyle, John Hodge (the screenwriter) and Ewan McGregor leapt into international cinematic success. Their first film (Shallow Grave) was new and interesting, their next film was one of the best films of the 90’s (and one of my favorite films of all-time) and their third film, while a step back, was daring and original (and the first film to show off Ewan’s singing abilities). After that, Boyle teamed with Leo for The Beach (in which my friend Tavis Sarmento is an extra in one scene), then stepped away from feature films for a few years, with some television and shorter work before finding new success teamed with Cilian Murphy in his pseudo-zombie film 28 Days Later no longer teaming with John Hodge). He followed that with Millions (Ebert loved it, I thought it was okay), teamed with Murphy again for Sunshine, then of course came Slumdog and we all know what happened then. It won everything and it deserved to because it was the best film of the year. Trainspotting – #2 film of 1996 We remember things the way we remember them, not necessarily the way they happened. The way I remember it, the first U.S. teaser for Trainspotting was the toilet scene. That’s it. Just the toilet scene. Ewan going into the toilet (the worst toilet in all of Scotland) after his suppositories, finding them, then climbing back out in success. That was the whole teaser as I remember it. And I thought, I have to see this film. And so I did. And I couldn’t understand half the Scottish dialogue (and if you think it’s hard to understand on film, try reading the novel, where it’s written phonetically – it’s almost easier to read the novel aloud). So I went and saw it again. And that time I understood and I also loved it, so I went and saw it again. And I knew I had seen one of the best films of the decade (but not, alas, the best film of the year because it is from the same year as Lone Star). How can I explain how much I love this film? First there is the directing. Pitch perfect. Boyle is fantastic from start to finish, starting with a frenetic pace and actually keeping it up until the end. Then there is the writing. It takes a much more episodic novel and makes a more coherent story out of it, complete with some of the most quotable dialogue in film history (”Choose life,” “That’s your theory” and of course “It’s crap being Scottish. Some people hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. But us, we were colonized by wankers. Couldn’t even find a decent civilization to be colonized by.”). There is of course the acting. Ewan McGregor began his rise to the top with this film before achieving stratospheric stardom as Obi-Wan and everything about his performance is spot-on. Kelly MacDonald is fantastic and witty and above all, sexy. Robert Carlyle is suitably psychotic a year before Full Monty made us rethink him. There is the editing. The way we come into the chase, right from the start. The way pieces slide together, then come apart. The amazing bookends to the movie with the titles and the speeches. But, perhaps, most of all, there is the music. They released two soundtracks to the film and I own both. And the soundtrack merges so perfectly with the film that the mix tape versions I use of “Lust for Life” and “Born Slippy” aren’t the versions from the CD’s but rather versions I recorded straight from the film with the dialogue intact over the songs. And will “Temptation” ever sound the same as it does when Kelly MacDonald is dressed in her school-girl outfit singing it on the end of the bed? Final note on the film: Because Jonny Lee Miller starred in my Mom’s favorite show, the short-lived Eli Stone and because Kevin McKidd is on Grey’s Anatomy, she decided to watch Trainspotting one day (because she doesn’t listen to me). She turned it off because there was too much male nudity. I tried to explain to her that she is the only straight female on the planet who would turn off a movie because of too much nude Ewan McGregor. nighthawknews.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/great-director-68-danny-boyle/
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Post by singer201 on May 18, 2009 15:47:29 GMT -5
Now being one of those "older moms", I recently watched Trainspotting because I enjoyed KMK's and Jonny Lee Miller's current roles on TV and wanted to see some of their early work. This gritty type of film wasn't what I was watching in 1996 with impressionable pre-teens in the household, so I'd never heard of it until I discovered KMK a couple of years ago. I appreciated TS for what it is, but the film is not one I'd want to watch over and over--once was plenty for me.
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Post by Leanne on Jun 5, 2009 11:24:29 GMT -5
Trainspotting: Tommy From clean-cut athlete to the horrors of heroin and HIV Tommy (Kevin McKidd) is Trainspotting's moral panic button. While the other characters seemingly waltz through their heroin habit coping with varying levels of addiction, Tommy's descent is rapid and fatal. It's interesting to compare his representation in Irvine Welsh's original novel and the film. The screenplay is at pains to point out his innocence: "He never told lies, never took drugs and never cheated on anyone," says Renton's narration. However, in the book he is a regular amphetamine user, with a great thirst for alcohol - his transformation to heroin casualty is, therefore, less extreme. It's Renton's theft of Tommy and Lizzy's homemade erotica that proves to be the final straw in the couple's relationship. This results in depression and a void in Tommy's life, which he decides to fill with heroin. His decline into addiction is played out behind the scenes, but when we see him again he has changed from fitness-conscious, clean-cut innocent to dilapidated junkie. Perhaps it was because he was new to heroin, or perhaps he just didn't consider the risks, but whatever the reason it is Tommy, and only Tommy, who contracts HIV. If Trainspotting can in any way be accused of preaching, it's through this character. When he first persuades Renton to score him some heroin, Tommy says: "I want to try it... I'm a f***ing adult, I can find out for myself." Later, during Renton's detox hallucinations, he admits, "Oh, I found out all right." Tommy's story is the closest the film comes to taking a moral standpoint. Paul Clarke www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1011774/index.html
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Post by Leanne on Jun 5, 2009 11:25:19 GMT -5
Trainspotting (1996) Courtesy of Channel 4 Television Director Danny Boyle Production Company Figment Films In association with Noel Gay Motion Picture Company For Channel Four Producer Andrew Macdonald Screenplay John Hodge From the novel by Irvine Welsh Cinematography Brian Tufano Cast: Ewan McGregor (Renton); Ewen Bremner (Spud); Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy); Kevin McKidd (Tommy); Robert Carlyle (Begbie); Kelly Macdonald (Diane); Peter Mullan (Swanney); Irvine Welsh (Mikey) Show full cast and credits Show full synopsis The cult success of Shallow Grave (1994) meant that the next project of the Figment Films team - Danny Boyle (director), Andrew Macdonald (producer) and John Hodge (writer) - was keenly anticipated. They had received plenty of offers, both domestically and from Hollywood, but wanted to maintain their independence. Macdonald was the first member of the team to be seduced by Irvine Welsh's novel, Trainspotting. Welsh, sceptical of London bigwigs, had rejected many previous offers but the boyish Scottish charm of Macdonald and Hodge persuaded him to relinquish his baby - under the proviso that they didn't take the "Ken Loach semi-documentary approach." By the mid-1990s, drugs had well and truly permeated everyday middle-class life. After the media uproar and youth embrace that had greeted the Ecstasy/Acid House relationship, people had realised that drugs weren't confined to the realms of the impoverished and socially excluded. Of course, Trainspotting deals with heroin rather than Ecstasy but it was this social environment that allowed a film without an overtly moralistic approach to drugs to be made. Trainspotting also encompasses the mentality of the acid culture - drugs-for-fun, hedonism and deliberate youthful rebellion. The links between heroin abuse and the club scene are made more obvious when Renton (Ewan McGregor) visits a London nightspot. Surrounded by thumping house music and anxiously dancing punters, he finds empathy: "In a thousand years there'll be no girls and no guys, just wankers," a thought he finds rather appealing. Trainspotting takes a pragmatic approach to drug use, capturing the exhausting, intensely uncomfortable daily routine of a group of heroin addicts. They stay together because of this common goal and it is not an attractive sight. Nonetheless, Boyle combines the macabre with the comical, and blurs the boundaries between realism and fantasy - notably in the scene where Renton to retrieve a lost suppository plunges through the 'worst toilet in Scotland' and into a deep blue abyss. Heroin is an escape for the protagonists - both from the responsibilities of life and from the restricting paths society has mapped out for them. Trainspotting does not glamorise drug abuse, but still manages to force us to look at the reasons behind it. Renton's narration confirms his hatred of the mundane existence Britain offers and the film's power lies in its ability to make us question the values we have been taught to hold dear - materialism, career, marriage, children. Are these dubious aspirations after all? Paul Clarke www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/526560/some video clips up on this site viewable in the UK only
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Post by Leanne on Jun 7, 2009 5:07:26 GMT -5
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Post by ella1967 on Jul 10, 2009 17:20:19 GMT -5
I'm not quite sure where this fits but this seems the likeliest spot.
Today I was strolling through our cable channels in an attempt to find something with which to occupy my mind after the death of our 20 year old kitty. (She died in my arms early this morning and the house is so quiet without her.) And I stumbled across a video for Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life' which features scenes from Trainspotting - a movie I haven't watched since seeing it in the theater oh so long ago.
It did my heart good to see Kevin so young along with all his fellow cast members in this one. I'm going to have to rent it, or maybe even pick up a copy of it for the home library. (One can really see the career trajectory from this film to 16 Years of Alcohol too...)
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marcy
KMKonliner
Posts: 2,528
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Post by marcy on Jul 10, 2009 18:12:59 GMT -5
Oh Ella, I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty. I've lost kitties before who were part of the family so I kind of understand. PM me if you want to talk.
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Post by Leanne on Jul 11, 2009 3:43:17 GMT -5
Oh I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty Ella ...20 is a very good age
Its amazing to watch these older movies and see how Kevin's career has grown....I do enjoy the Scottish ones they have a different beat to the US or English made and find them serious but humorous ......enjoy the re-watch Ella
Trainspotting is not everyones favorite movie my Hubby and even I to a degree still find the toilet scene really hard to watch and my favorite scene is when Kevin takes them out to the Highlands and wants them to be all so healthy and walk ..... of course his face when he realizes that they have lost there video tape is also priceless
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Geniusmentis
KMKonliner
McVid
I only have 2 neurons and one of them is usually sleeping.
Posts: 4,067
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Post by Geniusmentis on Jul 11, 2009 4:28:25 GMT -5
Ella, I'm so sorry.
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Post by ella1967 on Jul 12, 2009 2:06:15 GMT -5
First of all, thanks to everyone for their kind and generous words.
I sure felt a bit old as I watched the clips of the film in that Iggy Pop video. It seems like it came out such a long time ago. Heck, my husband was simply my boyfriend when we saw it in the theater. The weekend's been a bit rough around the house so I've not dug up a copy to rewatch yet but still plan to.
Though when I first saw it I had nothing close to the admiration I now have for Kevin's work, it'll be interesting to rewatch it through the filter of his other work. And I do have a soft spot in my heart for all that great music too.
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marcy
KMKonliner
Posts: 2,528
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Post by marcy on Jul 12, 2009 5:06:58 GMT -5
Ella, try Ebay for cheap DVDs of Trainspotting if you want to buy one.
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Post by kaz on Jul 13, 2009 1:59:26 GMT -5
I agree with all of that Leanne. I also like the scene between Tommy and I think it's Spud in the club as the girls talk in the bathroom (I think I'm recalling the right scene, it's been a while). It's pretty tough to understand what they're saying - firstly, the music is loud and secondly, the Scottish accents are certainly not watered down in the least but I love it.
There are parts that are really tough to watch though. You've mentioned a couple. I also really don't like the scene where Renton overdoses and sinks into the floor - it's like he's looking at the world from the bottom of a grave and it still freaks me out. All the stuff when he is trying to get clean is also a bit tough. And then there's Tommy near the end. So so heartbreaking.
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Post by sdevil on Sept 11, 2009 5:42:51 GMT -5
I'm really hunted by Kevin McKidd I think.
I opened my english-book today (in school) and suddenly I saw "TRAINSPOTTING". Starring: Kevin McKidd, ..........
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I watched it a few months ago and I loved it.
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